Leviticus 26:14-26
New English Translation
The Consequences of Disobedience
14 “‘If, however,[a] you do not obey me and keep[b] all these commandments— 15 if you reject my statutes and abhor my regulations so that you do not keep[c] all my commandments and you break my covenant— 16 I for my part[d] will do this to you: I will inflict horror on you, consumption and fever, which diminish eyesight and drain away the vitality of life.[e] You will sow your seed in vain because[f] your enemies will eat it.[g] 17 I will set my face against you. You will be struck down before your enemies, those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when there is no one pursuing you.
18 “‘If, in spite of all these things,[h] you do not obey me, I will discipline you seven times more on account of your sins.[i] 19 I will break your strong pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze. 20 Your strength will be used up in vain, your land will not give its yield, and the trees of the land[j] will not produce their fruit.
21 “‘If you walk in hostility against me[k] and are not willing to obey me, I will increase your affliction[l] seven times according to your sins. 22 I will send the wild animals[m] against you and they will bereave you of your children,[n] annihilate your cattle, and diminish your population[o] so that your roads will become deserted.
23 “‘If in spite of these things[p] you do not allow yourselves to be disciplined and you walk in hostility against me,[q] 24 then I myself will also walk in hostility against you and strike you[r] seven times on account of your sins. 25 I will bring on you an avenging sword, a covenant vengeance.[s] Although[t] you will gather together into your cities, I will send pestilence among you and you will be given into enemy hands.[u] 26 When I break off your supply of bread,[v] ten women will bake your bread in one oven; they will ration your bread by weight,[w] and you will eat and not be satisfied.
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- Leviticus 26:14 tn Heb “And if.”
- Leviticus 26:14 tn Heb “and do not do.”
- Leviticus 26:15 tn Heb “to not do.”
- Leviticus 26:16 tn Or “I also” (see HALOT 76 s.v. אַף 6.b).
- Leviticus 26:16 tn Heb “soul.” These expressions may refer either to the physical effects of consumption and fever as the rendering in the text suggests (e.g., J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 452, 454, “diminishing eyesight and loss of appetite”), or perhaps the more psychological effects, “which exhausts the eyes” because of anxious hope “and causes depression” (Heb “causes soul [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh] to pine away”), e.g., B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 185.
- Leviticus 26:16 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have causal force here.
- Leviticus 26:16 tn That is, “your enemies will eat” the produce that grows from the sown seed.
- Leviticus 26:18 tn Heb “And if until these.”
- Leviticus 26:18 tn Heb “I will add to discipline you seven [times] on your sins.”
- Leviticus 26:20 tn Heb “the tree of the land will not give its fruit.” The collective singular has been translated as a plural. One Hebrew ms from Cairo Geniza, other medieval Hebrew mss, Smr, LXX, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “the field” as in v. 4, rather than “the land.”
- Leviticus 26:21 tn Heb “hostile with me,” but see the added preposition ב (bet) on the phrase “in hostility” in v. 24 and 27.
- Leviticus 26:21 tn Heb “your blow, stroke”; cf. TEV “punishment”; NLT “I will inflict you with seven more disasters.”
- Leviticus 26:22 tn Heb “the animal of the field.” This collective singular has been translated as a plural. The expression “animal of the field” refers to a wild (i.e., nondomesticated) animal.
- Leviticus 26:22 tn The words “of your children” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
- Leviticus 26:22 tn Heb “and diminish you.”
- Leviticus 26:23 tn Heb “And if in these.”
- Leviticus 26:23 tn Heb “with me,” but see the added preposition ב (bet) on the phrase “in hostility” in vv. 24 and 27.
- Leviticus 26:24 tn Heb “and I myself will also strike you.”
- Leviticus 26:25 tn Heb “vengeance of covenant”; cf. NAB “the avenger of my covenant.”
- Leviticus 26:25 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) has a concessive force in this context.
- Leviticus 26:25 tn Heb “in hand of enemy,” but Tg. Ps.-J. and Tg. Neof. have “in the hands of your enemies” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 454).
- Leviticus 26:26 tn Heb “When I break to you staff of bread” (KJV, ASV, and NASB all similar).
- Leviticus 26:26 tn Heb “they will return your bread in weight.”
Leviticus 26:14-26
Common English Bible
Covenant curses
14 But if you do not obey me and do not carry out all these commands— 15 if you reject my rules and despise my regulations, not doing all my commands and breaking my covenant— 16 then I will do the following to you:
I will bring horrific things:[a] wasting diseases and fevers that make the eyes fail and drain life away.
You will plant seed for no reason because your enemies will eat the food.
17 I will turn my face against you: you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you; and you will run away even when no one is chasing you.
18 If, despite all that, you still do not obey me, I will punish you for your sins seven more times: 19 I will destroy your prideful power. I will turn your sky to iron and your land to bronze 20 so that your strength will be spent for no reason: your land will not produce its yield, and the trees of the land won’t produce their fruit.
21 If you continue to oppose me and are unwilling to obey me, I will strike you for your sins seven more times: 22 I will send wild animals against you, and they will kill your children and destroy your livestock. They will make you so few in number that your roads will seem deserted.
23 If, despite these things, you still do not accept my discipline and continue to oppose me, 24 then I will continue to oppose you. I will strike you for your sins seven more times: 25 I will bring the sword against you, avenging the breaking of the covenant.[b] If you retreat into your cities, I will send a plague on you, and you will be handed over to the enemy. 26 When I destroy your food supply, ten women will bake bread in a single oven, and they will ration out bread by weight. You will eat but will never get full.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Leviticus 26:16 Precise nature of the diseases uncertain
- Leviticus 26:25 Or executing covenant vengeance
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