Leviticus Chapter 26
Showing all 46 verses for Leviticus Chapter 26.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God. "
"Don't make idols for yourselves - no carved images, no standing sacred stones, no engraved stone monuments - and don't bow down to any of them. I am the LORD your God."
God asks His people not to bow to lifeless images because nothing carved or built can love you back the way He does. Jesus calls you to notice what you're really trusting for security and meaning, and to keep your heart's deepest devotion for the living God who actually knows and loves you.
"Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD. "
"Keep my Sabbaths, and treat my sacred place with proper respect and awe. I am the LORD."
Keeping the sabbath and honouring the sanctuary was about making space and showing respect for God's presence in ordinary life. Jesus calls you to keep making room for God amid a busy life, treating your time with Him as something worth protecting.
"If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; "
"If you live by my laws, and keep my commands, actually doing them..."
Walking in God's ways was never about earning His love, but about living in step with the good path He'd already set out. Jesus calls you to walk closely with Him, trusting that His instructions lead somewhere good, not somewhere restrictive.
"Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. "
"then I will send rain at the right times, the land will produce its crops, and the trees will bear their fruit."
Rain in season and abundant harvest pictures how a life aligned with God tends towards flourishing rather than scarcity. Jesus calls you to trust that living in step with Him leads to real, tangible good in your life, even if it doesn't look exactly like you'd plan it.
"And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. "
"Your threshing season will run right into the grape harvest, and the grape harvest will run into planting time again; you will eat your fill of bread and live safely in your land."
Abundance so full that harvest overlapped with planting time again pictures a life with enough - enough to eat, enough to feel safe. Jesus calls you to trust Him for real sufficiency in your life rather than living in constant fear of not having enough.
"And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. "
"I will give peace in the land - you'll lie down to sleep with nothing to fear. I will remove dangerous wild animals from the land, and no war will pass through it."
Peace, safety, and freedom from fear are described as gifts flowing from a right relationship with God. Jesus calls you to receive His peace as a real gift for your heart and your circumstances, not something you have to manufacture yourself.
"And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. "
"You will chase down your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword."
Facing down opposition successfully pictures how living aligned with God gives you real strength against what threatens you. Jesus calls you to trust that with Him on your side, you have more strength against life's real challenges than you feel like you do alone.
"And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. "
"Five of you will chase off a hundred, and a hundred of you will rout ten thousand; your enemies will fall before you by the sword."
The wildly disproportionate numbers - five chasing a hundred - picture how much God's presence multiplies what little strength His people bring. Jesus calls you to bring what little courage or ability you have and trust Him to make it more than enough.
"For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you. "
"I will look on you with favour, make you fruitful, increase your numbers, and keep my covenant with you firmly in place."
God says He will have respect - literally turn His face towards - His people, showing that His attention and delight, not distance, is His posture towards them. Jesus calls you to know that God's face is turned towards you with fondness, not indifference.
"And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new. "
"You'll still be eating last year's stored grain when you have to clear it out to make room for this year's new harvest."
Having so much stored surplus that old harvest had to be cleared out for new pictures overflowing provision beyond mere survival. Jesus calls you to trust God not just for scraping by, but for a genuinely abundant, generous life.
"And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. "
"I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not be repelled by you."
God promises to dwell among His people and not be repelled by them - real, close presence rather than distant disapproval. Jesus calls you to know that He wants to be near you, not to keep you at arm's length because of your flaws.
"And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. "
"I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people."
'I will walk among you... and ye shall be my people' describes an intimate, ongoing companionship, not a distant deity issuing rules from afar. Jesus calls you into that same close companionship - walking through daily life with Him, not just observing Him from a distance.
"I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright. "
"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt so you would not be slaves there any longer; I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk with your heads held high."
God reminds His people that He broke the bonds of their slavery and let them walk upright - freedom and dignity restored, not just physical rescue. Jesus calls you to walk upright too, with the dignity of someone truly set free, not the posture of someone still bent under an old burden.
"But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; "
"But if you will not listen to me, and will not carry out all these commands..."
God names the real possibility of turning away from Him honestly, not pretending it won't happen. Jesus calls you to be honest with yourself about the ways you drift from Him, since naming the drift is the first step back.
"And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: "
"and if you despise my laws, or your very soul is repelled by my rulings, so that you refuse to do all my commands and break my covenant..."
Despising God's ways and breaking covenant describes a real rejection, not a minor slip - it matters when a relationship is treated with contempt. Jesus calls you to take seriously how you treat your relationship with Him, since contempt for it has real consequences for your own life.
"I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. "
"then I in turn will do this to you: I will bring sudden terror on you, wasting disease, and fever that will destroy your eyesight and drain the life out of you; you'll plant your seed for nothing, because your enemies will eat what grows from it."
These hard consequences describe what naturally unfolds when a community turns away from the God who protects and provides - not arbitrary cruelty, but the real fallout of broken trust. Jesus calls you to see that turning from love and truth has real costs, and to let that awareness draw you back rather than further away.
"And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you. "
"I will turn against you; you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will run even when nobody is chasing you."
Fleeing when no one pursues pictures the fear and instability that come from losing trust in God's protection - a description of what happens, not a wish for it. Jesus calls you to notice how much anxiety and fear grow when you drift from trusting Him, and to let that be an invitation back to peace.
"And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. "
"And if after all this you still won't listen to me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins."
The repeated warnings show God's patience - He doesn't give up after one round of consequence, but keeps giving chances to turn back. Jesus calls you to trust that God's patience with you is real and repeated, never running out after just one failure.
"And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass: "
"I will break your proud strength; I will make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze."
Pride in one's own power is named as something God actively wants to break - self-reliance that crowds Him out. Jesus calls you to release your grip on self-sufficient pride, and let humility open the door back to real dependence on Him.
"And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits. "
"Your strength will be used up for nothing, because the land will not produce its crops, and the trees of the land will not bear their fruit."
Strength spent in vain describes the exhausting futility of working hard while cut off from the God who actually gives increase. Jesus calls you to root your effort in Him, so your work bears real fruit instead of feeling endlessly draining.
"And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. "
"And if you walk against me, refusing to listen to me, I will multiply your plagues seven times over, to match your sins."
Walking 'contrary' to God describes a stubborn, ongoing resistance, not a single stumble - and the consequences match the pattern of resistance. Jesus calls you to notice patterns of resistance in your own heart and to soften rather than harden further.
"I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate. "
"I will also send wild animals among you, which will take your children, kill your livestock, and reduce your numbers until your roads stand empty."
Loss of children and safety pictures the devastating ripple effects of a community unravelling under sustained wrongdoing - the consequences reach the most vulnerable first. Jesus calls you to remember that your choices affect those who depend on you, and to choose paths that protect rather than endanger them.
"And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me; "
"And if in spite of all this you still won't be corrected by me, but keep walking against me..."
God describes wanting His people 'reformed' - shaped back towards good - through hardship, showing His purpose even in discipline is restoration, not destruction. Jesus calls you to see hard seasons in your own life as potential invitations to change, not proof that God has abandoned you.
"Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins. "
"then I too will walk against you, and I will punish you seven times more for your sins."
God 'walking contrary' mirrors back the posture His people first took towards Him - relationship breaks down from both sides when trust is abandoned. Jesus calls you to take the first step back towards Him rather than waiting to see who moves first, since He is always ready to meet you.
"And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. "
"I will bring war against you to avenge the broken covenant; and when you gather together inside your cities for safety, I will send plague among you, and you will be handed over to the enemy."
Even here, the sword is described as avenging a broken covenant - underlining that relationship, not random punishment, is what's at stake throughout this whole passage. Jesus calls you to see even hard consequences in your life through the lens of a relationship worth repairing, not an arbitrary sentence.
"And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied. "
"When I cut off your food supply, ten women will be able to bake all your bread in a single oven, and they'll ration it out to you by weight - and you'll eat, but never feel full."
Bread rationed by weight and never satisfying pictures scarcity and anxiety replacing the trust and provision described earlier in the chapter. Jesus calls you to notice the anxious scarcity that grows when trust in God fades, and to let it point you back towards Him rather than deeper into fear.
"And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me; "
"And if after all this you still won't listen to me, but keep walking against me..."
Even after so many warnings, God's patience continues - the invitation to turn back is never fully closed while there's still time. Jesus calls you to believe it is never too late to turn back to Him, however long you've drifted.
"Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. "
"then I will walk against you in fury too; I myself will punish you seven times over for your sins."
The escalating language here reflects how deeply painful ongoing rebellion is, more than a literal roadmap - a broken relationship with the source of all good inevitably brings real anguish. Jesus calls you to feel how much God grieves distance from Him, and to trust that His anger at sin is really grief over what it costs the people He loves.
"And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. "
"You will eat the flesh of your own sons, and you will eat the flesh of your own daughters."
This terrible image describes the real horror of ancient siege warfare that can follow a society's total collapse, not something God delights in - it is a sober warning about how far things can unravel when a people abandon every restraint. Jesus calls you to take seriously how devastating unchecked sin and division can become for a whole community, and to work instead for the peace and provision that keeps people safe and fed.
"And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you. "
"I will destroy your hilltop shrines, cut down your sacred images, and throw your dead bodies on top of the corpses of your idols; I will be repelled by you."
God's rejection here targets the idols and false worship that displaced Him, not people themselves - His grief is over what stole their hearts. Jesus calls you to let go of whatever has quietly taken God's place in your affections, trusting there's nothing there worth losing Him for.
"And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours. "
"I will turn your cities to rubble and your sacred places to ruins, and I will no longer take pleasure in the smell of your offerings."
God withdrawing pleasure even from formal worship shows that ritual without a genuine heart means nothing to Him. Jesus calls you to bring real devotion to whatever you offer God, since He is never impressed by empty form alone.
"And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it. "
"I will bring the land itself to ruin, so that even your enemies who come to live in it will be shocked at its state."
Even enemies are said to be astonished at the desolation, showing the scale of loss when a whole society turns from God is visible to everyone, not hidden. Jesus calls you to remember that the fruit of a life - or a community - reveals itself for all to see, so let your life bear fruit worth showing.
"And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. "
"I will scatter you among other nations, and I will pursue you with the sword; your land will lie desolate and your cities in ruins."
Scattering among the nations describes the painful unravelling of community and belonging that follows sustained unfaithfulness. Jesus calls you to value the community and belonging you have, and to guard it rather than let drift and neglect scatter what love could have kept together.
"Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies’ land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. "
"Then the land will finally enjoy its Sabbath rests, all the time it lies desolate while you're away in your enemies' land - the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths at last."
The land finally gets the rest it was denied, showing that the rhythms God built into creation eventually assert themselves one way or another. Jesus calls you to build rest into your own life proactively, rather than have it forced on you by exhaustion or crisis later.
"As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye upon it. "
💡 Highlighted words feature Jacobean 1611 tooltips to clarify shifted 17th-century English terms.
"All the time it lies desolate, it will rest - because it did not get its rest during the Sabbath years when you lived on it."
The land resting 'because it did not rest' shows how ignoring a good rhythm doesn't erase the need for it - it just delays and compounds the debt. Jesus calls you to honour the rhythms of rest and renewal in your own life now, rather than storing up exhaustion for later.
"And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth. "
"As for those of you who survive, I will fill their hearts with dread in the lands of their enemies; the sound of a rustling leaf will send them running as if fleeing a sword, and they'll fall even when nobody is chasing them."
Fear so intense that a shaken leaf terrifies pictures the exhausting anxiety of a life or community cut off from God's peace. Jesus calls you to notice when unfounded fear has taken over your heart, and to bring it back to the God who offers real peace instead.
"And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies. "
"They will stumble over one another as though fleeing a sword, even though nobody is chasing them, and you will have no strength left to stand against your enemies."
Stumbling over one another with no one pursuing pictures the chaos and lack of unity that follows when trust breaks down within a community. Jesus calls you to be a source of steadiness and unity for others, not adding to chaos through fear or division.
"And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. "
"You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will consume you."
Even amid this bleak picture, the underlying grief is over a relationship lost, not a delight in destruction. Jesus calls you to hear the sorrow beneath even the hardest passages of Scripture, recognising a God who wants relationship restored, not people destroyed.
"And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them. "
"Those of you who are left will waste away because of their own wrongdoing in the lands of their enemies, and also because of the wrongdoing of their ancestors before them."
Pining away 'in their iniquity' names the corrosive, wearying effect that unresolved wrongdoing has on a person or people over time. Jesus calls you not to let guilt fester unaddressed in your own heart, but to bring it into the light where it can actually be healed.
"If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; "
"But if they confess their own wrongdoing and the wrongdoing of their ancestors - the offence they committed against me, and how they walked against me..."
The turning point of the whole chapter begins here - simple, honest confession, admitting the truth of what went wrong. Jesus calls you to bring honest confession whenever you've drifted, trusting that naming the truth is the doorway back to Him.
"And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: "
"and that I in turn walked against them and brought them into the land of their enemies - if their stubborn, unyielding hearts are humbled, and they accept the consequences of their wrongdoing..."
A humbled heart - one that stops resisting and accepts responsibility - is what actually opens the door back to God, not perfect behaviour. Jesus calls you to let your heart soften rather than staying defensive, since humility, not perfection, is what restores relationship with Him.
"Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. "
"then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and my covenant with Isaac, and my covenant with Abraham too - and I will remember the land."
God's memory of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob shows His faithfulness isn't contingent on His people's perfect behaviour - He remembers His promises even when they've failed. Jesus calls you to rest in the fact that God's commitment to you rests on His own faithful character, not on your flawless track record.
"The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes. "
"The land will be left empty by them and will enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them; and they will accept the punishment for their wrongdoing, because - simply because - they despised my rulings and their very souls were repelled by my laws."
The land's rest and the people's discipline both find their purpose in eventual restoration - even the hard middle of this story is heading somewhere good. Jesus calls you to trust that whatever hard season you're in is not the end of the story, if you keep turning back towards Him.
"And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the LORD their God. "
"And yet, even then, while they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or be repelled by them to the point of destroying them completely and breaking my covenant with them - because I am the LORD their God."
Even in the depth of exile, God explicitly promises not to utterly reject or destroy His people - His anger never has the final word. Jesus calls you to trust that no matter how far you feel you've wandered, God's love for you has not run out.
"But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the LORD. "
"Instead, for their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of Egypt in full view of the nations, so that I might be their God. I am the LORD."
God ties His continued faithfulness to the original rescue from Egypt, witnessed by the watching nations - His reputation and His promise are both at stake in staying faithful. Jesus calls you to trust that God's own character guarantees He'll follow through on His promises to you, whatever it takes.
"These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses. "
"These are the statutes, rulings, and laws that the LORD established between himself and the people of Israel at Mount Sinai, given through Moses."
This whole body of law was given at Sinai through Moses as part of a real, personal relationship between God and His people, not an impersonal rulebook. Jesus calls you to see even the hardest parts of Scripture as coming from a God who was, and is, deeply invested in relationship with you.