Leviticus 26:16

Translations

Modern

…then this is what I will do to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting disease, and fever that will destroy your sight and drain your life. You will sow your seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.

Traditional

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.

Literal

…then I also will do this to you: I will appoint over you terror, wasting disease, and fever, which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart, and you shall sow your seed in vain, and your enemies shall eat it.

Latin

…ego quoque hæc faciam vobis: visitabo vos velociter in egestate, et ardore, qui conficiat oculos vestros, et consumat animas vestras. Frustra seretis sementem, quæ ab hostibus devorabitur.

Original

Hebrew

English

…then this is what I will do to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting disease, and fever that will destroy your sight and drain your life. You will sow your seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.

Notes

Leviticus 26:14–39

God punishes his people to change their behavior and restore their relationship with him. He acts like a perfectly righteous and loving parent would with a disobedient child. The punishments, meant to stop rebellious behavior, gradually increase. This gives Israel a chance to repent at any time (Leviticus 26:18–28). Even when Israel faced exile from the land in 722 and 586 BC, God was working to restore them (see, for example, Isaiah 40–66; Jeremiah 29:10; Amos 9:11–15).

Leviticus 26:3–39

These blessings and curses are similar to a key part of ancient Near Eastern treaties between a suzerain (a powerful king) and a vassal (a lesser king). In these treaties, the suzerain king promised to protect the vassal king and his land. In return, the vassal swore loyalty to the suzerain.

Blessings and curses followed, with curses usually being longer (compare Leviticus 26:3–13 with 26:14–39; see also Deuteronomy 27:15–28:68). These treaties often called upon gods as witnesses and enforcers. Yet, in God's covenant with Israel, God was one of the treaty parties, with Israel as the other. Since God could not swear by anyone greater, he swore by himself (see Hebrews 6:13; Genesis 22:16).

Theme notes and profiles

Ancient Law Codes Blessing Counsel from Others Curses and Blessings Famine God’s Covenants Oppression of God’s People Promised Land Retribution The Dangers of Sin The Land True Success

Related verses

Job 31:8
…then may another eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted.
Jeremiah 5:17
They will devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust.”
Micah 6:15
You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.
1 Samuel 2:33
And every one of you that I do not cut off from My altar, I will cause your eyes to fail and your heart to grieve. All your descendants will die by the sword of men.
Deuteronomy 28:32–35
Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, while your eyes grow weary looking for them day after day, with no power in your hand.
Haggai 1:6
You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.”
Deuteronomy 28:21–22
The LORD will make the plague cling to you until He has exterminated you from the land that you are entering to possess.
Deuteronomy 28:51
They will eat the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain or new wine or oil, no calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks, until they have caused you to perish.
Psalm 78:33
So He ended their days in futility, and their years in sudden terror.
Judges 6:3–6
Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east would come up and invade them,
Psalm 73:19
How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors!
Jeremiah 20:4
For this is what the LORD says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They will fall by the sword of their enemies before your very eyes. And I will hand Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will carry them away to Babylon and put them to the sword.

Leviticus 26:16

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