Leviticus 26:24

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
then will I also walk contrary to you; and I will strike you, even I, seven times for your sins.

King James Version
Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.

Lexham English Bible
then I myself will also go against you in hostility, and I myself also will strike you seven times for your sins.

New Century Version
I will also turn against you. I will punish you seven more times for your sins.

New English Translation
I myself will also walk in hostility against you and strike you seven times on account of your sins.

Amplified Bible
then I also will act with hostility against you, and I will strike you seven times for your sins.

New American Standard Bible
then I in turn will show hostility toward you; and I, even I, will strike you seven times for your sins.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then wil I also walke stubburnly against you, and I will smite you yet seuen times for your sinnes:

Legacy Standard Bible
then I will walk in hostility against you; and I, even I, will strike you seven times for your sins.

Contemporary English Version
I'll remain your enemy and punish you even worse.

Complete Jewish Bible
then I too will go against you; and I, yes I, will strike you seven times over for your sins.

Darby Translation
then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will smite you, even I, sevenfold for your sins.

Easy-to-Read Version
then I will also turn against you. I—yes, I myself—will punish you seven times for your sins.

English Standard Version
then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins.

George Lamsa Translation
Then I also will walk contrary to you and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.

Good News Translation
then I will turn on you and punish you seven times harder than before.

Christian Standard Bible®
then I will act with hostility toward you; I also will strike you seven times for your sins.

Literal Translation
then I, I also, shall walk contrary to you, and shall smite you, even I, seven times more for your sins;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
then wyl I walke contrary vnto you also, & wyll punysh you yet seuen tymes for youre synnes.

American Standard Version
then will I also walk contrary unto you; and I will smite you, even I, seven times for your sins.

Bible in Basic English
Then I will go against you, and I will give you punishment, I myself, seven times for all your sins.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then wyll I also walke contrarie vnto you, and wyl punishe you yet seuen tymes for your sinnes.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
then will I also walk contrary unto you; and I will smite you, even I, seven times for your sins.

King James Version (1611)
Then will I also walke contrary vnto you, and will punish you yet seuen times for your sinnes.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
I also will walk with you with a perverse spirit, and I also will smite you seven times for your sins.

English Revised Version
then will I also walk contrary unto you; and I will smite you, even I, seven times for your sins.

Berean Standard Bible
then I will act with hostility toward you and strike you sevenfold for your sins.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
also Y schal go aduersarie ayens you, and Y schal smyte you seuen sithis for youre synnes;

Young's Literal Translation
then I have walked -- I also -- with you in opposition, and have smitten you, even I, seven times for your sins;

Update Bible Version
then I will also walk contrary to you; and I will smite you, even I, seven times for your sins.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then will I also walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins.

World English Bible
then will I also walk contrary to you; and I will strike you, even I, seven times for your sins.

New King James Version
then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins.

New Living Translation
then I myself will be hostile toward you. I will personally strike you with calamity seven times over for your sins.

New Life Bible
then I will go against you. I Myself will punish you seven times for your sins.

New Revised Standard
then I too will continue hostile to you: I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then will, I also, go in opposition to you. And, I, even I, will plague you seven times for your sins;

Douay-Rheims Bible
I also will walk contrary to you, and will strike you seven times for your sins.

Revised Standard Version
then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will smite you sevenfold for your sins.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
then I will act with hostility against you; and I, even I, will strike you seven times for your sins.

Contextual Overview

¹⁴"But if you refuse to obey me and won't observe my commandments, despising my decrees and holding my laws in contempt by your disobedience, making a shambles of my covenant, I'll step in and pour on the trouble: debilitating disease, high fevers, blindness, your life leaking out bit by bit. You'll plant seed but your enemies will eat the crops. I'll turn my back on you and stand by while your enemies defeat you. People who hate you will govern you. You'll run scared even when there's no one chasing you. ¹⁸"And if none of this works in getting your attention, I'll discipline you seven times over for your sins. I'll break your strong pride: I'll make the skies above you like a sheet of tin and the ground under you like cast iron. No matter how hard you work, nothing will come of it: No crops out of the ground, no fruit off the trees. ²¹"If you defy me and refuse to listen, your punishment will be seven times more than your sins: I'll set wild animals on you; they'll rob you of your children, kill your cattle, and decimate your numbers until you'll think you are living in a ghost town. ²³"And if even this doesn't work and you refuse my discipline and continue your defiance, then it will be my turn to defy you. I, yes I, will punish you for your sins seven times over: I'll let war loose on you, avenging your breaking of the covenant; when you huddle in your cities for protection, I'll send a deadly epidemic on you and you'll be helpless before your enemies; when I cut off your bread supply, ten women will bake bread in one oven and ration it out. You'll eat, but barely—no one will get enough. ²⁷"And if this—even this!—doesn't work and you still won't listen, still defy me, I'll have had enough and in hot anger will defy you, punishing you for your sins seven times over: famine will be so severe that you'll end up cooking and eating your sons in stews and your daughters in barbecues; I'll smash your sex-and-religion shrines and all the paraphernalia that goes with them, and then stack your corpses and the idol-corpses in the same piles—I'll abhor you; I'll turn your cities into rubble; I'll clean out your sanctuaries; I'll hold my nose at the "pleasing aroma" of your sacrifices. I'll turn your land into a lifeless moonscape—your enemies who come in to take over will be shocked at what they see. I'll scatter you all over the world and keep after you with the point of my sword in your backs. There'll be nothing left in your land, nothing going on in your cities. With you gone and dispersed in the countries of your enemies, the land, empty of you, will finally get a break and enjoy its Sabbath years. All the time it's left there empty, the land will get rest, the Sabbaths it never got when you lived there. ³⁶"As for those among you still alive, I'll give them over to fearful timidity—even the rustle of a leaf will throw them into a panic. They'll run here and there, back and forth, as if running for their lives even though no one is after them, tripping and falling over one another in total confusion. You won't stand a chance against an enemy. You'll perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will eat you up. Any who are left will slowly rot away in the enemy lands. Rot. And all because of their sins, their sins compounded by their ancestors' sins.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

2 Samuel 22:27, Job 9:4, Psalms 18:26, Isaiah 63:10

Reciprocal: Genesis 4:15 - sevenfold Exodus 9:2 - General Leviticus 4:6 - seven times Leviticus 26:18 - seven times Leviticus 26:21 - contrary unto me Leviticus 26:27 - General Leviticus 26:40 - and that Deuteronomy 32:23 - heap mischiefs 2 Samuel 7:6 - walked Nehemiah 9:32 - little before thee Psalms 90:11 - General Isaiah 9:1 - afterward Isaiah 15:9 - more Jeremiah 4:20 - upon destruction Jeremiah 36:32 - there Ezekiel 7:26 - Mischief shall Ezekiel 21:14 - let the Ezekiel 39:24 - General Daniel 3:19 - one seven Amos 4:7 - I have Zechariah 14:12 - Their flesh Mark 12:9 - he will John 5:14 - lest Revelation 22:18 - God

Cross-References

Genesis 15:1
After all these things, this word of God came to Abram in a vision: "Don't be afraid, Abram. I'm your shield. Your reward will be grand!"

Genesis 22:19
Then Abraham went back to his young servants. They got things together and returned to Beersheba. Abraham settled down in Beersheba.

Genesis 26:1
There was a famine in the land, as bad as the famine during the time of Abraham. And Isaac went down to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar.

Genesis 26:2
God appeared to him and said, "Don't go down to Egypt; stay where I tell you. Stay here in this land and I'll be with you and bless you. I'm giving you and your children all these lands, fulfilling the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. I'll make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky and give them all these lands. All the nations of the Earth will get a blessing for themselves through your descendants. And why? Because Abraham obeyed my summons and kept my charge—my commands, my guidelines, my teachings."

Genesis 28:13
Then God was right before him, saying, "I am God , the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. I'm giving the ground on which you are sleeping to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will be as the dust of the Earth; they'll stretch from west to east and from north to south. All the families of the Earth will bless themselves in you and your descendants. Yes. I'll stay with you, I'll protect you wherever you go, and I'll bring you back to this very ground. I'll stick with you until I've done everything I promised you."

Exodus 3:6
Then he said, "I am the God of your father: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob." Moses hid his face, afraid to look at God.

Isaiah 12:2
"Yes, indeed—God is my salvation. I trust, I won't be afraid. God —yes God !—is my strength and song, best of all, my salvation!"

Isaiah 51:7
"Listen now, you who know right from wrong, you who hold my teaching inside you: Pay no attention to insults, and when mocked don't let it get you down. Those insults and mockeries are moth-eaten, from brains that are termite-ridden, But my setting-things-right lasts, my salvation goes on and on and on."

Isaiah 51:12
"I, I'm the One comforting you. What are you afraid of—or who? Some man or woman who'll soon be dead? Some poor wretch destined for dust? You've forgotten me, God , who made you, who unfurled the skies, who founded the earth. And here you are, quaking like an aspen before the tantrums of a tyrant who thinks he can kick down the world. But what will come of the tantrums? The victims will be released before you know it. They're not going to die. They're not even going to go hungry. For I am God , your very own God, who stirs up the sea and whips up the waves, named God -of-the-Angel-Armies. I teach you how to talk, word by word, and personally watch over you, Even while I'm unfurling the skies, setting earth on solid foundations, and greeting Zion: ‘Welcome, my people!'"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then I will also walk contrary unto you,.... Opposing himself unto them as their enemy, fighting against them in his providence, whetting his sword, bending his bow, and causing the arrows of his wrath and vengeance to fall upon them; or behaving towards them in a careless and indifferent manner, not regarding what befell them, showing no peculiar concern for them, or as exercising any particular providence over them; but as if everything came by chance to them, which was the language of their actions, if not of their lips:

and will punish you yet seven times for your sins; add fresh corrections, and these greater than before, and more numerous in proportion to their aggravated transgressions.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

As “the book of the covenant” Exodus 20:22-33 concludes with promises and warnings Exodus 23:20-33, so does this collection of laws contained in the Book of Leviticus. But the former passage relates to the conquest of the land of promise, this one to the subsequent history of the nation. The longer similar passage in Deuteronomy Deut. 27–30 is marked by broader and deeper promises and denunciations having immediate reference not only to outward consequences, but to the spiritual death incurred by transgressing the divine will.

Leviticus 26:4

Rain in due season - The periodical rains, on which the fertility of the holy land so much depends, are here spoken of. There are two wet seasons, called in Scripture the former and the latter rain Deuteronomy 11:14; Jeremiah 5:24; Joel 2:23; Hosea 6:3; James 5:7. The former or Autumn rain falls in heavy showers in November and December. In March the latter or Spring rain comes on, which is precarious in quantity and duration, and rarely lasts more than two days.

Leviticus 26:5

Compare the margin reference; Joel 2:19; Job 11:18.

Leviticus 26:8

Five of you shall chase - A proverbial mode of expression for superiority in warlike prowess Deuteronomy 32:30; Isaiah 30:17.

Leviticus 26:9

Establish my covenant - All material blessings were to be regarded in the light of seals of the “everlasting covenant.” Compare Genesis 17:4-8; Nehemiah 9:23.

Leviticus 26:10

Bring forth the old because of the new - Rather, clear away the old before the new; that is, in order to make room for the latter. Compare the margin reference.

Leviticus 26:16

The first warning for disobedience is disease. “Terror” (literally trembling) is rendered trouble in Psalms 78:33; Isaiah 65:23. It seems here to denote that terrible affliction, an anxious temperament, the mental state ever at war with Faith and Hope. This might well be placed at the head of the visitations on a backslider who had broken the covenant with his God. Compare Deuteronomy 32:25; Jeremiah 15:8; Proverbs 28:1; Job 24:17; Psalms 23:4.

Consumption, and the burning ague - Compare the margin reference. The first of the words in the original comes from a root signifying to waste away; the latter (better, fever), from one signifying to kindle a fire. Consumption is common in Egypt and some parts of Asia Minor, but it is more rare in Syria. Fevers of different kinds are the commonest of all diseases in Syria and all the neighboring countries. The opposite promise to the threat is given in Exodus 15:26; Exodus 23:25.

Leviticus 26:18

For all this - i. e. for all the afflictions in Leviticus 26:16-17.

Seven times - The sabbatical number is here proverbially used to remind the people of the covenant. Compare Genesis 4:15, Genesis 4:24; Psalms 119:164; Proverbs 24:16; Luke 17:4.

Leviticus 26:19, Leviticus 26:20

The second warning is utter sterility of the soil. Compare Deuteronomy 11:17; Deuteronomy 28:18; Ezekiel 33:28; Ezekiel 36:34-35.

Leviticus 26:21, Leviticus 26:22

The third warning is the multiplication of destructive animals, etc. Compare Deuteronomy 32:24; Ezekiel 5:17; Ezekiel 14:15; Judges 5:6-7; Isaiah 33:8.

Leviticus 26:23-26

The fourth warning. Yahweh now places Himself as it were in a hostile position toward His people who “will not be reformed” (rather, brought unto God: Jeremiah 2:30). He will avenge the outraged cause of His covenant, by the sword, pestilence, famine, and captivity.

Leviticus 26:26

Omit “and.” “To break the staff of bread,” was a proverbial expression for cutting off the supply of bread, the staff of life (Psalms 105:16; Ezekiel 4:16; Ezekiel 5:16; Ezekiel 14:13; compare Isaiah 3:1). The supply was to be so reduced that one oven would suffice for baking the bread maple by ten women for ten families, and when made it was to be dealt out in sparing rations by weight. See 2 Kings 6:25; Jeremiah 14:18; Lamentations 4:9; Ezekiel 5:12; Hosea 4:10; Micah 6:14; Haggai 1:6.

Leviticus 26:27-33

The fifth warning. For Leviticus 26:29 see 2 Kings 6:28-29; Jeremiah 19:8-9; Lamentations 2:20; Lamentations 4:10; Ezekiel 5:10, for Leviticus 26:30 see 2 Chronicles 34:3; Ezekiel 6:4; Jeremiah 14:19, for Leviticus 26:31 see 2 Kings 25:9; Psalms 74:6-7 : for Leviticus 26:32-33 see Deuteronomy 28:37; Psalms 44:11; Jeremiah 9:16; Jeremiah 18:16; Ezekiel 5:1-17; Jeremiah 4:7; Ezekiel 9:6; Ezekiel 12:15; Zechariah 7:14.

Leviticus 26:30

High places - There is no doubt that the word here denotes elevated spots dedicated to false worship (see Deuteronomy 12:2), and especially, it would seem, to that of Baal Numbers 22:41; Joshua 13:17. Such spots were, however, employed and approved for the worship of Yahweh, not only before the building of the temple, but afterward (Judges 6:25-26; Judges 13:16-23; 1 Samuel 7:10; 1 Samuel 16:5; 1 Kings 3:2; 1 Kings 18:30; 2 Kings 12:3; 1 Chronicles 21:26, etc.). The three altars built by Abraham at Shechem, between Bethel and Ai, and at Mamre, appear to have been on heights, and so was the temple.

The high places in the holy land may thus have been divided into those dedicated to the worship of Yahweh, and those which had been dedicated to idols. And it would seem as if there was a constant struggle going on. The high places polluted by idol worship were of course to be wholly condemned. They were probably resorted to only to gratify a degraded superstition. See Leviticus 19:31; Leviticus 20:2-5. The others might have been innocently used for prayer and religious teaching. But the temptation appears to have been too great for the temper of the people. They offered sacrifice and burnt incense on them; and hence, thorough reformers of the national religion, such as Hezekiah and Josiah, removed the high places altogether 2 Kings 18:4; 2 Kings 23:5.

Your images - The original word is rendered in the margin of our Bible sun images (2 Chronicles 14:5; Isaiah 17:8; Ezekiel 6:4, etc.). Phoenician inscriptions prove that the word was commonly applied to images of Baal and Astarte, the god of the sun and the goddess of the moon. This exactly explains 2 Chronicles 34:4 following.

Idols - The Hebrew word here literally means things which could be rolled about, such as a block of wood or a lump of dirt. It was no doubt a name given in derision. Compare Isaiah 40:20; Isa 44:19; 2 Kings 1:2.

Leviticus 26:31

Sanctuaries - The holy places in the tabernacle and the temple (Psalms 68:35. Compare Psalms 74:7).

I will not smell the savor ... - See Leviticus 1:9.

Leviticus 26:35

More literally: All the days of its desolation shall it rest that time which it rested not in your Sabbaths while ye dwelt upon it. That is, the periods of rest of which the land had been deprived would be made up to it. Compare 2 Chronicles 36:20-21.

Leviticus 26:38

The land of your enemies shall eat you up - Compare Numbers 13:32; Ezekiel 36:13.

Leviticus 26:39

Iniquity - The meaning here is, in the punishment of their iniquity, and, in the next clause, in the punishment of the iniquity (as in Leviticus 26:41, Leviticus 26:43) of their fathers. In the next verse the same Hebrew word is properly represented by “iniquity.” Our translators have in several places put one of the English words in the text and the other in the margin (Genesis 4:13; Genesis 19:15; 2 Kings 7:9; Psalms 69:27, etc.). The language of Scripture does not make that trenchant division between sin and punishment which we are accustomed to do. Sin is its own punishment, having in itself, from its very commencement, the germ of death. “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” James 1:15; Romans 2:5; Romans 5:12.

Leviticus 26:40

trespass - The Hebrew word signifies an injury inflicted on the rights of a person, as distinguished from a sin or iniquity regarded as an outrage of the divine law. Every wrong act is of course both a sin and a trespass against God. In this place Yahweh takes the breach of the covenant as a personal trespass.

Leviticus 26:41

Uncircumcised hearts - The outward sign of the covenant might be preserved, but the answering grace in the heart would be wanting (Acts 7:51; Romans 2:28-29; Jeremiah 6:10; Jeremiah 9:26; compare Colossians 2:11).

Accept of the punishment of their iniquity - literally, enjoy their iniquity. The word here and in Leviticus 26:43 rendered “accept” in this phrase, is the same as is rendered “enjoy” in the expression “the land shall enjoy her sabbaths” Leviticus 26:34. The antithesis in Leviticus 26:43 is this: The land shall enjoy her sabbaths - and they shall enjoy the punishment of their iniquity. The meaning is, that the land being desolate shall have the blessing of rest, and they having repented shall have the blessing of chastisement. The feelings of a devout captive Israelite are beautifully expressed in Tobit 13:1-18.