Lev. 26:14-46 Renewing Our Broken Covenant with God

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church of Manhattan KS, 16 Apr. 2017

Greyed-out text was omitted to keep the presentation under 45 minutes.

Introduction

· In my last sermon on the first half of Leviticus 26, I pointed out that this chapter is written in the form of a traditional contract between a king and his people. It contains the names of the parties on the bottom line – verse 46: “Yahweh” and “Israel,” as well as the name of the person authorized to deliver the contract: “Moses.” And this covenantal format includes the:

1. Exclusivity of relationship (vs. 1-4) – no idols allowed to compete b/w God and His people,
2. The Blessings and privileges of being in the relationship (vs. 4-13), including: Productive agriculture, Freedom from conflict, Victory in military offensives, Children, God’s personal favor and presence, and Liberty. Great perks!
3. and finally, the traditionally-longer list of Curses and consequences of breaking the relationship in verses (14ff), which I plan to get into today.

1. In the last sermon, I also pointed out that God still relates to us using the form of a covenant and that the New Covenant is presented to us in similar form in the Gospel of Matthew with beatitudes and woes (cf. the seven blessings and seven bowls of wrath in Revelation.)

· Even though it is unpleasant to meditate on curses for unfaithfulness, we need reminders like this of how high the stakes are as to whether or not we have a right relationship with God. It also reveals to us how to get into a right relationship with God and escape these terrible curses. So let’s look at them, starting with verse…

13. I am Yahweh, y’all’s God who delivered y’all out of the land of Egypt from being slaves to them – yes, I shattered the bondages of y’all’s yoke; I caused y’all to rise up and walk. 14. But if y’all don’t give heed to me and y’all don’t do all of these commands, 15. and if you despise my statutes, and if your souls disdain my judgments, failing to do any of my commands such that y’all break my covenant, 16. indeed, I myself will do the following to y’all: I will visit dismay upon y’all, emaciation and scarlet fever that fades out eyes and causes a soul to pine away, and y’all will sow your seed in vain, for y’all’s enemies will consume it. 17. Also I will set my face regarding y’all, and y’all will be struck down before the faces of your enemies, and those who hate y’all will tyranize you; y’all will flee when there is not even anyone hunting you down.

· I have provided a chart that attempts to organize the curses in terms of the list of blessings we reviewed in the previous sermon, so this may help you keep track, although I will plan to comment on things in the order in which the curses are presented instead of the order in which the blessings are presented.

· At any rate, my chart should demonstrate that the curses are the direct opposites of the blessings: sickness, famine, enemy hostilities, loss of God’s favor, and loss of peace.

· Another way that these curses could be organized is in terms of the five stages of evaluation and punishment marked by the conditional phrases in verses 18, 21, 23, and 27: “if you don’t give heed and you keep walking defiantly against me,” and each stage results in resumed punishment “sevenfold.” I can’t, however, discern any pattern of the discipline becoming more severe, except that the fifth one starting in v. 27 does seem more intense and comprehensive with a clear description of exile.

§ This indicates that throughout the process of God’s discipline in our lives, He does not get into a kind of rage where He is just taking it out on us; rather He uses measured doses of punishment, constantly evaluating what it will take to change our thick little hearts and always eagerly looking for us to submit in trust and obedience so He will not have to discipline us further.

§ Parents, we can learn from God’s example what kind of attitude to have when disciplining our own children.

18. And if to this point y’all won’t give heed to me, then I will add on sevenfold to y’all’s discipline because of your sins. 19. Thus I will shatter y’all’s strong arrogance, and I will set the sky for y’all like iron and your land like bronze, 20. and y’all’s effort will end in vain, and your land will not give its yield and the tree of the field will not give its fruit.

· And all of us can use this to recognize when God is bringing discipline into our lives and what kind of response He is looking for. You know those days when everything goes wrong and everybody is getting on your nerves and you are totally losing control? In verses 19-20, it’s a farmer who’s working his tail off, but the rain just isn’t coming and the crops aren’t growing. What gives?

· In situations like that, our natural response is to use the power of anger to exercise more control over people and things in an attempt to get back on track, but that never works very well, does it? Consider that when you have a day like that, maybe God is trying to get your attention.

· What does He want? V.18 “listen to Him,” v.19 humble your “arrogant pride” – repent of your sins. That is the counter-intuitive path up from being out-of-control: surrender control to God.

21. If y’all still walk defiantly in relation to me and y’all don’t want to heed me, I will add seven more strokes upon y’all, corresponding to y’all’s sins. 22. I will also send an animal from the field among y’all, and it will bereave y’all [of children] and cut off y’all’s cattle, and it will cause y’all to diminish, and y’all’s roads will become desolate.

· What a picture of defiance and hostility – walking contrary to God. Not merely not listening, not merely not obeying, but not even willing to! The picture I get is that of a child throwing a fit even while getting a spanking. The parent says, “Hold still or I’ll have to give you seven more licks,” not at all wanting to spank the child any more, but needing to teach the child the consequences of rebellion to help them gain the will to bring himself properly under authority.

· Isaiah 33:7ff speaks of when this came to pass in Israel’s history: “Look, their lions bellowed outside [perhaps that’s the ‘beast of the field’ who would bereave them of their children]; messengers of peace will bitterly weep. Highways were desolated; passing over the way has ceased. He has broken covenant; he has despised cities; He had no regard for mankind. The land mourned and drooped...” (NAW, cf. Isa 49:19-21)

23. If, even by these, y’all are not disciplined back to me and y’all keep walking defiantly in relation to me, 24. then I – yes I – will walk defiantly in relation to y’all, and I – even I – will strike y’all sevenfold because of y’all’s sins, 25. and I will cause a sword to come upon y’all avenging the veangeance of the covenant, and though y’all may be gathered into your cities even then I will send a plague into the midst of y’all, and y’all will be given into the hand of the enemy. 26. When I shatter y’all’s food supply, then ten women will bake yall’s bread in one oven, and they will bring back y’all’s bread in ounce-measures; although y’all will eat, you will not be satisfied.

• On the side of one of the church buildings downtown is a banner proclaiming that “a religion of love affirms all.” This of course raises the question of whether they also affirm people who hate, or whether they are inconsistent on that point, but the point is that to love is also to hate. You can’t have one without the other, because if you affirm everything then you don’t love anything. The moment you begin loving one thing, you hate whatever theatens the thing you love.
• People today affirm that God is love, but they have a problem understanding that God also hates. He must hate whatever threatens what He loves, and we see that reflected in the covenantal structure of the way He relates to people.
• The covenant has not only blessings for faithfulness but also curses against unfaithfulness, thus, in verse 25, when people break faith with God, their sin brings into effect the “justice-system (LXX δίκην) of the covenant” the “quarrel/breaking/veangance” of the covenant (a word which unfortunately the NASB and ESV omit).
• The word for “plague/pestilence” later on in v.25 comes from Exodus 6, describing the deadly plagues of cattle murrain and hail, so the Hebrews knew well and good that God could send such terrors upon His enemies; they had seen it in Egypt.
• But despite God’s threat of sending it again upon those of His people who broke His covenant – a threat which He repeated in Exodus and Leviticus and Deuteronomy and in the prophets (especially Jeremiah and Ezekiel), the Jews nevertheless broke faith with God, and so the events described in v.26 are what literally played out some 600 years after Moses prophesied them (2 Kings 17, 2 Chron. 36:17-21).
• The Chaldeans swarmed across the land killing everybody with their swords,
• the people retreated into their walled city of Jerusalem to escape the marauding army,
• plagues killed many of the people inside the walls of Jerusalem,
• eventually the city was overthrown, and the people who were left inside were killed by the hands of their enemies or taken captive to be ruled by their enemies in Babylon (or in Egypt).
• God is faithful to His curses as well as to His promises.

27. If y’all don’t give heed to me even by means of this, and y’all keep walking defiantly in relation to me, 28. then I will walk with furious defiance in relation to you, and I – yes I – will discipline y’all sevenfold because of y’all’s sins. 29. So y’all will eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters y’all will eat.

• This is terrifying, the picture of God being moved from defiance to wrathful fury against a human being. “Who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a blacksmith’s fire…!” (Malachi 3:2) superheated by bellows so as to be able to make steel melt like water. If you continue in rebellion against Him, this is how He will come to you, and the heat of His fury will be more than you can stand.
• And it goes from terrifying to sickening in v.29-30. Sin, when indulged over time makes us do more and more disgusting things and become less and less aware of it’s disgusting-ness. “Eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters you will eat…” (cf. Deut. 28:53) God wants His people to feel nauseated about that. It’s o.k. to allow that image to cause you to shudder with horror. God wants you to associate that feeling with disobedience to Him. It is that bad. And, of course, it did get that bad in Israel during the Syrian army’s siege of the Israelite city of Samaria (2 Kings 6:28, cf. Lam. 4:10); and it has happened in our own country too.

30. Then I will cause the destruction of y’all’s high-places and I will cut off the use of y’alls incense-altars and I will put y’all’s corpses on top of the corpses of y’all’s idols, and my soul will disdain y’all. 31. I will also destine y’all’s cities to be wasteland, and I will cause y’all’s holy places to be desolated, and I will not breathe in the aroma of y’all’s pleasantries. 32. And I myself will cause the land to be desolate, and y’all’s enemies who settle in it will wreak desolation upon it.

• Merely offering sacrifices to smooth things over with God doesn’t cut it. He says in v.31 that He wouldn’t even bend down and inhale that barbeque aroma as long as His people are worshipping other gods as well. The threats in verse 31 to desolate the cities and their places of worship was finally enacted in Isaiah 64:10-11 “Cities of your holiness have become wilderness. Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. The house of our holiness and of our beauty, where our fathers praised you, has become for the burning of fire, and all our valuables have gone to ruin.” (NAW)
• The way I read v.32, God is revealing the means by which He would desolate the cities: He would send enemies in to do it.
• In Hebrew, the action of the enemies in the second half of verse 32 is the same verb as the action of God in the first half of v.32, and both are active verbs; the only difference between the two verbs is that God’s action of desolation is causative, whereas the enemies’ action of desolation is direct.
• Ezekiel 6:111-14 also describes the situation “…Alas, for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! … He who is far off shall die by the pestilence, he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged shall die by the famine. Thus will I spend My fury upon them. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when their slain are among their idols all around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, under every green tree, and under every thick oak, wherever they offered sweet incense to all their idols. So I will stretch out My hand against them and make the land desolate, yes, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblah, in all their dwelling places. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.” (NKJV)
•  Ezekiel 20:28-42 explains further, “When I brought them into the land concerning which I had raised My hand in an oath to give them, and they saw all the high hills and all the thick trees, there they offered their sacrifices and provoked Me with their offerings. There they also sent up their sweet aroma and poured out their drink offerings… I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will plead My case with you face to face. Just as I pleaded My case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead My case with you," says the Lord GOD.  "I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; I will purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD… For on My holy mountain, on the mountain height of Israel," says the Lord GOD, "there all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, shall serve Me; there I will accept them, and there I will require your offerings and the firstfruits of your sacrifices, together with all your holy things. I will accept you as a sweet aroma when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered; and I will be hallowed in you before the Gentiles. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for which I raised My hand in an oath to give to your fathers.” (NKJV)

33. And it is y’all that I will scatter into the nations, and I will unsheathe a sword behind y’all, and y’all’s land will become desolate, and y’all’s cities will become wasteland. 34. Then the land will accept its rest-times all the days of its desolation while y’all are in the land of your enemies; then the land will rest and will accept its rest-times - 35. all the days of its desolation it will get the rest which it did not rest during your rest-days when y’all were residing upon it. 36. As for those of y’all who are left, I will cause cowardice to enter their heart in the lands of their enemies, such that the sound of a leaf being driven along will hunt them down, and they will flee retreating from a sword – and they will even fall, even though there is no one hunting them down!

37. So they will stumble, each with his brother, as from the blade of a sword – even when there is no one pursuing, and there will not be for them any uprising before the faces of their enemies. 38. And y’all will perish among the nations, and the land of y’all’s enemies will consume you,

• When Ishmael assasinated Gedaliah, the governor of Jerusalem set up by the Chaldeans, then 2 Kings 25:26 tells us, “ And all the people, small and great, and the captains of the armies, arose and went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.” Even though the Chaldeans did not pursue them. These curses really came to pass when the covenant was broken.
• Lamentations 1:3-6 “Judah has gone into captivity, Under affliction and hard servitude; She dwells among the nations, She finds no rest; All her persecutors overtake her in dire straits. The roads to Zion mourn Because no one comes to the set feasts. All her gates are desolate; Her priests sigh, Her virgins are afflicted, And she is in bitterness. Her adversaries have become the master, Her enemies prosper; For the LORD has afflicted her Because of the multitude of her transgressions. Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy. And from the daughter of Zion All her splendor has departed. Her princes have become like deer That find no pasture, That flee without strength Before the pursuer.” (NKJV)

39. and as for those of y’all who are left, they will degenerate in their iniquity in the lands of your enemies, moreover in the iniquities of their fathers with them they will degenerate.

• The curses in verses 38-39 can be taken literally: they will die in a foreign country, be buried in foreign soil, and be subject to wasting diseases that come with the territory of being led astray by idolatries, behind which are literal demons that are actively trying to promote behaviors that waste the life and health God created. All this will be “because of” their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers.
• However, the pronoun “them” at the end of most English versions of v.39 is masculine in Hebrew, and the only masculine nouns in the verse that they could refer to is the “enemies” or the “fathers.” Since the word for “fathers” is next to the word “them” in Hebrew, I think that it should be translated “in addition, it is in the sins of the fathers who are with them that they will degenerate.” This shifts the focus in my mind toward a figurative interpretation describing the disintegration of the culture of God’s people that these Israelites represent. This would happen “in the course of events as they commit iniquity together with their parents.”
• As they assimilate into the cultures of foreign nations, and as their parents slack off on diligently teaching their children God’s ways, they will lose their identity as the people of God and fade as the representatives of His holy character on earth.
• To the extent that they accept as normal the sins that are socially acceptable to the Gentiles in the countries they live in, they will degenerate in their own morals, loose their saltiness, as it were, and disappear as an influence.
• Here is a sobering warning to us who live as God’s people dispursed among the nations: If we reject God’s standards and we tolerate sin, and we don’t teach God’s ways to our children, that’s what will happen to us too! So, is there no hope? Is waste and rottenness and degeneration inevitable? No! Look at verse 40:

40. But then they shall confess their iniquity – and the iniquity of their forefathers, with their treachery by which they committed treachery towards me - moreover by which they walked with defiance in relation to me, 41. over which I myself should walk with defiance toward them and exile them into the land of their enemies, unless then their uncircumcised heart should be subordinated and then they will become acceptable despite their iniquity.

• Atonement and pardon for this kind of guilt was the subject of the earlier chapters of Leviticus, for example Lev. 5:5-6 “When he is guilty of breaking one of these commands and he shall confess concerning it what he sinned, and he shall bring his guilt-offering to Yahweh for his sin which he sinned: a female lamb from the flock or a kid from the goats as a sin-offering, then the priest will make atonement for him from his sin, and it will be pardoned for him.” (NAW) This is the heart of the covenant God made at the time of Moses.
• We see confession of sin as the way of covenant renewal throughout scripture:
• During the time of the Isrealite kings (Ps. 32:5, 1 Ki. 8:33),
• During the exhile (Dan. 9),
• During the reconstruction period (Ezra 10:1, Neh. 1:8),
• And, of course, in the New Testament (1 John 1:9).
• This confession of sin includes not only our individual sins, but also the sins of our forefathers because God relates to humans not only as individuals but also as families and as nations.
• When we confess sin, two things happen, both marked in verse 41 with the Hebrew word “az,” both of which the KJV (and no other English version) renders consistently as the English word “then.”
• The first thing that happens is that “confession” of sin “humbles the uncircumcised heart” – that is, the mind of a person who is acting as though he or she has no relationship or accountability to God and who is operating outside the bounds of a covenant with Him; it returns that person to subordination under God and under the provisions of His covenant.
• And when this is done with hope that God will save the sinner from the curses of breaking covenant with God, the second thing mentioned in v.41 also happens: that person “becomes acceptable,” for nothing but faith can make us acceptable to God.
• I think it is important to note that the standard English versions made a major departure in verses 41 & 43 from the way they translate this Hebrew word ratzah. Everywhere else in the Bible, they translate it “enjoy, accept, delight in” (as they did in v.34), but here they translate it “accept punishment/make amends/pay for,” which is a fairly different - and I believe incongruous - meaning.
• We don’t “confess” and “then” have to “pay for” our sin, rather we “confess” and “then” we “become acceptable despite our sin.”
• Remember Lev. 1:3-4? “…he shall offer it [‘a perfect male from the herd’], for his acceptance (ratzan) before the face of Jehovah. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sacrifice to be burned up, and it will be accepted (ratzah) for him, to make atonement on his behalf.” (NAW)
• When we humbly confess our sins to God, trusting His covenant of grace to come into effect, then He will remember His everlasting covenant (which is what it means in 1 John 1:9 that God will be “faithful and just to forgive our sins.” God would not be faithful to absolute justice if he just forgave sins willy-nilly; rather it is to His covenant - by which He atones for sin - that He is being “faithful and just”!)
• Otherwise, as the first half of v.41 says, without the provisions of that covenant brought into force through humble confession and submission to the terms of His covenant of Grace, God would do as absolute justice requires: show “hostility/defiance” toward us and move us from His immediate jurisdiction and give us over to our “enemies,” which is what we would totally deserve.

42. Then I will remember my covenant with Jacob – which was also my covenant with Isaac, which was also my covenant with Abraham; I will remember, and I will also remember the land - 43. and the land will be parted from them, and then it will accept its times of rest during its desolation apart from them. Then they themselves will become acceptable despite their iniquity – inasmuch as they despised my judgments, and my statutes their soul disdained.

• Note that the word “covenant” is singular, even though it refers to several covenants made to various people. The way the Hebrew grammar is constructed, it uses an additive conjunction rather than a simple “and,” which indicates that the covenant with Jacob and the covenant with Isaac and the covenant with Abraham (Gen. 12, 15, & 17) are all progressions of what is the same covenant in essence:
• Genesis 15:18 the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates…” cf. 12:2 “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.” (NKJV) 
• Genesis 26:3-4 to Isaac He said, “Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed…” (NKJV)
• And to Jacob in Gen. 28:13-14 "I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (NKJV)
• Land to grow a nation on is the first promise in all three of these covenants to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, so the Promised Land is also a focal point of the Mosaic installation of God’s covenant mentioned v.45 – which would be especially important to a group of homeless people looking for a homeland, like the Jews were when the message of Leviticus was delivered.

44. And also, in addition to this, during their existence in the land of their enemies I will not despise them, and I will not disdain them by finishing them off to break my covenant with them, for I am Yahweh, their God. 45. And I will remember for their sakes the covenant with their ancestors in which I brought them out from the land of Egypt before the eyes of the nations to be in the role of a god for them; I am Yahweh.”

• God looks into the future in v.45 to bless future generations of Israelites who would look back on the people of Moses’ day as their ancestors.
• And the nations were indeed watching the Hebrews’ escape from Egypt and their progress toward the Promised Land. Ancient Canaanite documents have been discovered by archaeologists in which Canaanites kings and officials expressed worry over this renegade nation of Hebrews who had a God so powerful that they overcame every nation in their path.
• But this God threatened to withdraw the covenental blessing of a homeland in the event that His covenant was broken (by the people not acknowledging Yahweh to be their God), nevertheless the covenant could be renewed if the people confessed and repented of their idolatry and trusted Yahweh to be their God again – and the covenantal blessing of a homeland could also be restored, which we see is exactly what happened under Ezra and Nehemiah. (It may have been the case again under the Maccabees, but I don’t know for sure. As for the modern state of Israel, it doesn’t seem like that is related to a renewal of a covenant relationship with the Lord, but hopefully it is a blessing God has sent in advance of a spiritual revival.)
• Note the contrast from verse 15: “if you despise my statutes, and if your souls disdain my judgments, failing to do any of my commands such that y’all break my covenant” then all these curses will fall upon you, nevertheless v.44 “I will not despise them, and I will not disdain them by finishing them off to break my covenant with them” because it is not my character to do such things.
• What a God is this that does not harbor spite and disdain when He is despised and disdained,
• who does not break promises when His associates break their promises,
• who guides rebels through discipline and cares for them while they kick and scream at Him all the way,
• who stands ready to restore undeserved blessings if they will only confess their sin, accept the covenantal terms for atonement for their sin (which we know to be the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ) and trust Him as God again! What a marvelous God we have!

Conclusion:

· Can you see that the grace of God shines through even His covenantal threats?

· His agenda is the restoration of relationships, and that should give us the courage and fortitude to latch onto Jesus and His New Covenant where His “blood was shed for many for the forgiveness of sin,”

· Let us confess our failures to listen to God and obey Him, and let us trust Him to be faithful to the terms of His own covenant and forgive us and find us acceptable in Christ.

Leviticus 26 comparison of blessings and curses

3. If it is in my statutes that y’all walk and if it is my commands that y’all keep - and y’all act on them,	14. But if y’all don’t give heed to me and y’all don’t do all of these commands, 15. and if you despise my statutes, and if your souls disdain my judgments, failing to do any of my commands such that y’all break my covenant,
4. then I will give your rains in time for them, and the land will give its yield, and the tree of the field will give its fruit,	19. Thus I will shatter y’all’s strong arrogance, and I will set the sky for y’all like iron and your land like bronze, 20. and y’all’s effort will end in vain, and your land will not give its yield and the tree of the field will not give its fruit. 43. and the land will be parted from them, and then it will accept its times of rest during its desolation apart from them...
5. and threshing will last for y’all until grape-harvest and grape-harvest will last until seeding, and y’all will eat your bread to satisfaction, and y’all will reside confidently in your land.	16. indeed, I myself will do the following to y’all: I will visit dismay upon y’all, emaciation and scarlet fever that fades out eyes and causes a soul to pine away, and y’all will sow your seed in vain, for y’all’s enemies will consume it. 29. So y’all will eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters y’all will eat. 32. And I myself will cause the land to be desolate, and y’all’s enemies who settle in it will wreak desolation upon it. 33. And it is y’all that I will scatter into the nations, and I will unsheathe a sword behind y’all, and y’all’s land will become desolate, and y’all’s cities will become wasteland.
6. I will also extend peace within the land, and y’all will lie down and there will be no cause for trembling.	17. Also I will set my face regarding y’all, and y’all will be struck down before the faces of your enemies, and those who hate y’all will tyranize you; y’all will flee when there is not even anyone hunting you down. 36. As for those of y’all who are left, I will cause cowardice to enter their heart in the lands of their enemies, such that the sound of a leaf being driven along will hunt them down, and they will flee retreating from a sword – and they will even fall, even though there is no one hunting them down!
6b Furthermore, I will turn out bad animals from the land, and the sword will not slash over y’alls land.	22. I will also send an animal from the field among y’all, and it will bereave y’all [of children] and cut off y’all’s cattle, and it will cause y’all to diminish, and y’all’s roads will become desolate .
7. Then y’all will hunt down your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before your faces - 8. so five of y’all will hunt down a hundred, and a hundred of y’all will hunt down ten-thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before your faces.	25. and I will cause a sword to come upon y’all avenging the veangeance of the covenant, and though y’all may be gathered into your cities even then I will send a plague into the midst of y’all, and y’all will be given into the hand of the enemy. 37. So they will stumble, each with his brother, as from the blade of a sword – even when there is no one pursuing, and there will not be for them any uprising before the faces of their enemies . 38. And y’all will perish among the nations, and the land of y’all’s enemies will consume you,
9. And I will face toward y’all, and I will cause y’all to be fruitful, and I will cause y’all to become many, and I will confirm my covenant with y’all.	24. then I – yes I – will walk defiantly in relation to y’all, and I – even I – will strike y’all sevenfold because of y’all’s sins, 28. then I will walk with furious defiance in relation to you, and I – yes I – will discipline y’all sevenfold because of y’all’s sins. 39. and as for those of y’all who are left, they will degenerate in their iniquity in the lands of your enemies, moreover in the iniquities of their fathers with them they will degenerate .
10. Y’all will still be eating old stock while y’all bring out old [stock] in front of new [stock].	26. When I shatter y’all’s food supply, then ten women will bake yall’s bread in one oven, and they will bring back y’all’s bread in ounce-measures; although y’all will eat, you will not be satisfied.
11. Also I will extend my residence into the midst of y’all and my soul will not disdain y’all. 12. I will walk around within the midst of y’all and I will be [in the role] of a god for y’all, and, as for y’all, y’all will be [in the role] of a people for me.	30. Then I will cause the destruction of y’all’s high-places and I will cut off the use of y’alls incense-altars and I will put y’all’s corpses on top of the corpses of y’all’s idols, and my soul will disdain y’all. 31. I will also destine y’all’s cities to be wasteland, and I will cause y’all’s holy places to be desolated, and I will not breathe in the aroma of y’all’s pleasantries

Comparative translations of Leviticus 26:14-46

When a translation adds words not in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use of italics (or greyed-out text), I put the added words in [square brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different from all the other translations, I underline it. When a version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs too far from the grammar form of the original Hebrew, I use strikeout. And when a version omits a word which is in the Hebrew text, I insert an X. (Sometimes I will place the X at the end of a word if the original word is plural but the English translation is singular.) I occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between the various editions and versions when there are more than two different translations of a given word. Hebrew text that is colored purple matches the Dead Sea Scrolls, and variants between the DSS and the MT are noted in endnotes with the following exceptions: When a holem or qibbutz pointing in the MT is represented in the DSS by a vav, when a hireq pointing in the MT is represented in the DSS by a yod (the corresponding consonantal representation of the same vowel), or when the tetragrammaton is spelled with paleo-Hebrew letters, I did not record it a variant. Dead Sea Scrolls which are known to contain Lev. 26 are: 11Q1 paleoLeviticus^a  (Vs. 17-26) 4Q23 Leviticus-Num^a  (Vs. 26, 28-33) 4Q119 LXX Lev^a (Vs. 2-16)

LXX	Brenton	KJV	NAW	MT
14 Ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ὑπακούσητέ μου μηδὲ ποιήσητε τὰ προστάγματά μου ταῦτα[A],	14 But if ye will not hearken to me, nor obey these my ordinances,	14 But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;	14. But if y’all don’t give heed to me and y’all don’t do all of these commands,	14 וְאִם-לֹא תִשְׁמְעוּ לִי וְלֹא תַעֲשׂוּ אֵת כָּל-הַמִּצְוֹת הָאֵלֶּה:
15 ἀλλὰ ἀπειθήσητε αὐτοῖς X καὶ τοῖς [B]κρίμασίν μου προσοχθίσῃ ἡ ψυχὴ ὑμῶν ὥστε ὑμᾶς μὴ ποιεῖν πάσας τὰς ἐντολάς μου[C] ὥστε διασκεδάσαι τὴν διαθήκην μου,	15 but disobey them X, and your soul should loathe my judgments, so that ye should not keep all my commands, so as to break my covenant,	15 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:	15. and if you despise my statutes, and if your souls disdain my judgments, failing to do any of my commands such that y’all break my covenant,	15 וְאִם-בְּחֻקֹּתַי תִּמְאָסוּ וְאִם אֶת-מִשְׁפָּטַי תִּגְעַל נַפְשְׁכֶם לְבִלְתִּי עֲשׂוֹת אֶת-כָּל-מִצְוֹתַי לְהַפְרְכֶם אֶת-בְּרִיתִי:
16 καὶ ἐγὼ ποιήσω οὕτως ὑμῖν καὶ ἐπισυστήσω ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς τὴν ἀπορίαν τήν τε ψώραν καὶ τὸν ἴκτερον καὶ σφακελίζοντας τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς [ὑμῶν] καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν [ὑμῶν] ἐκτήκουσαν, καὶ σπερεῖτε διὰ κενῆς τὰ σπέρματα ὑμῶν, καὶ ἔδονται οἱ ὑπεναντίοι ὑμῶν·	16 then will I do thus to you: I will even bring upon you perplexity and the itch, and the fever that causes [your] eyes to waste away, and disease that consumes [your] life; and ye shall sow your seeds in vain, and your enemies shall eat them.	16 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[D] of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.	16. indeed, I myself will do the following to y’all: I will visit dismay upon y’all, emaciation and scarlet fever that fades out eyes and causes a soul to pine away, and y’all will sow your seed in vain, for y’all’s enemies will consume it.	16 אַף-אֲנִי אֶעֱשֶׂה-זֹּאת לָכֶם וְהִפְקַדְתִּי עֲלֵיכֶם בֶּהָלָה[E] אֶת-הַשַּׁחֶפֶת[F] וְאֶת-הַקַּדַּחַת מְכַלּוֹת עֵינַיִם וּמְדִיבֹת נָפֶשׁ וּזְרַעְתֶּם לָרִיק זַרְעֲכֶם וַאֲכָלֻהוּ אֹיְבֵיכֶם:
17 καὶ ἐπιστήσω τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς, καὶ πεσεῖσθε ἐναντίον τῶν ἐχθρῶν ὑμῶν, καὶ διώξονται ὑμᾶς οἱ μισοῦντες ὑμᾶς, καὶ φεύξεσθε οὐθενὸς διώκοντος ὑμᾶς. --	17 And I will set my face against you, and ye shall fall before your enemies, and they that hate you shall pursue you; and ye shall flee, no one pursuing you.	17 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.	17. Also I will set my face regarding y’all, and y’all will be struck down before the faces of your enemies, and those who hate y’all will tyranize you; y’all will flee when there is not even anyone hunting you down.	17 וְנָתַתִּי פָנַי בָּכֶם וְנִגַּפְתֶּם לִפְנֵי אֹיְבֵיכֶם וְרָדוּ בָכֶם שֹׂנְאֵיכֶם וְנַסְתֶּם וְאֵין-רֹדֵף אֶתְכֶם: ס
18 καὶ ἐὰν ἕως τούτου μὴ ὑπακούσητέ μου, καὶ προσθήσω τοῦ παιδεῦσαι ὑμᾶς ἑπτάκις ἐπὶ ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν	18 And if ye still refuse to hearken to me, then will I chasten you yet more even seven times for your sins.	18 And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.	18. And if to this point y’all won’t give heed to me, then I will add on sevenfold to y’all’s discipline because of your sins.	18 וְאִם-עַד-אֵלֶּה לֹא תִשְׁמְעוּ לִי וְיָסַפְתִּי לְיַסְּרָה אֶתְכֶם שֶׁבַע עַל-חַטֹּאתֵיכֶם:
19 καὶ συντρίψω τὴν ὕβριν τῆς ὑπερηφανίας ὑμῶν καὶ θήσω τὸν οὐρανὸν ὑμῖν σιδηροῦν καὶ τὴν γῆν ὑμῶν ὡσεὶ χαλκῆν,	19 And I will break down the haughtiness of your pride; and I will make your heaven iron, and your earth as it were brass.	19 And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:	19. Thus I will shatter y’all’s strong arrogance, and I will set the sky for y’all like iron and your land like bronze,	19 וְשָׁבַרְתִּי אֶת-גְּאוֹן עֻזְּכֶם וְנָתַתִּי אֶת-שְׁמֵיכֶם כַּבַּרְזֶל וְאֶת-אַרְצְכֶם כַּנְּחֻשָׁה[G]:
20 καὶ ἔσται εἰς κενὸν ἡ ἰσχὺς ὑμῶν, καὶ οὐ δώσει ἡ γῆ ὑμῶν τὸν σπόρον αὐτῆς, καὶ τὸ ξύλον τοῦ ἀγροῦ ὑμῶν οὐ δώσει τὸν καρπὸν αὐτοῦ. --	20 And your strength shall be in vain; and your land shall not yield its seed, and the tree of your field shall not yield its fruit.	20 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 fruit[s].	20. and y’all’s effort will end in vain, and your land will not give its yield and the tree of the field will not give its fruit.	20 וְתַם לָרִיק כֹּחֲכֶם וְלֹא-תִתֵּן אַרְצְכֶם אֶת-יְבוּלָהּ וְעֵץ הָאָרֶץ[H] לֹא יִתֵּן פִּרְיוֹ:
21 καὶ ἐὰν μετὰ ταῦτα πορεύησθε πλάγιοι καὶ μὴ βούλησθε ὑπακούειν μου, X προσθήσω ὑμῖν πληγὰς ἑπτὰ κατὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὑμῶν	21 And if after this ye should walk perversely, and not be willing to obey me, X I will further bring upon you seven plagues according to your sins.	21 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.	21. If y’all still walk defiantly in relation to me and y’all don’t want to heed me, I will add seven more strokes upon y’all, corresponding to y’alls sins.	21 וְאִם-תֵּלְכוּ עִמִּי קֶרִי[I] וְלֹא תֹאבוּ לִשְׁמֹעַ לִי וְיָסַפְתִּי עֲלֵיכֶם מַכָּה שֶׁבַע כְּחַטֹּאתֵיכֶם[J]:
22 καὶ ἀποστελῶ ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς τὰ θηρία τὰ ἄγρια [τῆς γῆς,] καὶ κατέδεται ὑμᾶς καὶ ἐξαναλώσει τὰ κτήνη ὑμῶν καὶ ὀλιγοστοὺς ποιήσει ὑμᾶς, καὶ ἐρημωθήσονται αἱ ὁδοὶ ὑμῶν. --	22 And I will send upon you the wild beast[s of the land,] and they shall devour you, and shall consume your cattle: and I will make you few [in number], and your ways shall be desolate.	22 I will also send wild beast[s] 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.	22. I will also send an animal from the field among y’all, and it will bereave y’all [of children] and cut off y’all’s cattle, and it will cause y’all to diminish, and y’all’s roads will become desolate.	22 וְהִשְׁלַחְתִּי[K] בָכֶם אֶת-חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה וְשִׁכְּלָה אֶתְכֶם וְהִכְרִיתָה אֶת-בְּהֶמְתְּכֶם וְהִמְעִיטָה אֶתְכֶם וְנָשַׁמּוּ דַּרְכֵיכֶם:
23 καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐὰν μὴ παιδευθῆτε, ἀλλὰ πορεύησθε πρός με πλάγιοι,	23 And if hereupon ye are not corrected, but walk perversely towards me,	23 And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;	23. If, even by these, y’all are not disciplined back to me and y’all keep walking defiantly in relation to me,	23 וְאִם-בְּאֵלֶּה לֹא תִוָּסְרוּ לִי וַהֲלַכְתֶּם עִמִּי קֶרִי:
LXX	Brenton	KJV	NAW	MT
24 πορεύσομαι κἀγὼ μεθ᾿ ὑμῶν [θυμῷ] πλαγίῳ καὶ πατάξω ὑμᾶς κἀγὼ ἑπτάκις ἀντὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ὑμῶν	24 I also X X will walk with you with a perverse spirit, and I also X will smite you seven times for your sins.	24 Then will I also X walk contrary unto you, and X X will punish you yet seven times for your sins.	24. then I – yes I – will walk defiantly in relation to y’all, and I – even I – will strike y’all sevenfold because of y’all’s sins,	24 וְהָלַכְתִּי אַף[L]-אֲנִי עִמָּכֶם בְּקֶרִי וְהִכֵּיתִי אֶתְכֶם גַּם-אָנִי שֶׁבַע עַל-חַטֹּאתֵיכֶם:
25 καὶ ἐπάξω ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς μάχαιραν ἐκδικοῦσαν δίκην διαθήκης, καὶ καταφεύξεσθε εἰς τὰς πόλεις ὑμῶν· καὶ ἐξαποστελῶ θάνατον εἰς ὑμᾶς, καὶ παραδοθήσεσθε εἰς χεῖρας ἐχθρῶν.	25 And I will bring upon you a sword avenging the cause of my covenant, and ye shall flee for refuge to your cities; and I will send out death against you, and ye shall be delivered into the hand[s] of your enemies.	25 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.	25. and I will cause a sword to come upon y’all avenging the veangeance of the covenant, and though y’all may be gathered into your cities even then I will send a plague into the midst of y’all, and y’all will be given into the hand of the enemy.	25 וְהֵבֵאתִי עֲלֵיכֶם חֶרֶב נֹקֶמֶת נְקַם-בְּרִית וְנֶאֱסַפְתֶּם אֶל-עָרֵיכֶם וְשִׁלַּחְתִּי דֶבֶר[M] בְּתוֹכְכֶם וְנִתַּתֶּם בְּיַד-אוֹיֵב:
26 ἐν τῷ θλῖψαι ὑμᾶς σιτοδείᾳ ἄρτων καὶ πέψουσιν δέκα γυναῖκες τοὺς ἄρτους ὑμῶν ἐν κλιβάνῳ ἑνὶ καὶ ἀποδώσουσιν τοὺς ἄρτους ὑμῶν ἐν σταθμῷ, καὶ φάγεσθε καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐμπλησθῆτε. --	26 When I afflict you with famine of bread, then ten women shall bake your loaves in one oven, and they shall render your loaves by weight; and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.	26 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.	26. When I shatter y’all’s food supply, then ten women will bake yall’s bread in one oven, and they will bring back y’all’s bread in ounce-measures; although y’all will eat, you will not be satisfied.	26 בְּשִׁבְרִי לָכֶם מַטֵּה-לֶחֶם וְאָפוּ עֶשֶׂר נָשִׁים לַחְמְכֶם בְּתַנּוּר אֶחָד וְהֵשִׁיבוּ לַחְמְכֶם בַּמִּשְׁקָל וַאֲכַלְתֶּם וְלֹא תִשְׂבָּעוּ: ס
27 ἐὰν δὲ ἐπὶ τούτοις μὴ ὑπακούσητέ μου καὶ πορεύησθε πρός με πλάγιοι,	27 And if hereupon ye will not obey me, but walk perversely towards me,	27 And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me;	27. If y’all don’t give heed to me even by means of this, and y’all keep walking defiantly in relation to me,	27 וְאִם-בְּזֹאת לֹא תִשְׁמְעוּ לִי וַהֲלַכְתֶּם עִמִּי בְּקֶרִי:
28 καὶ [αὐτὸς] πορεύσομαι μεθ᾿ ὑμῶν ἐν θυμῷ πλαγίῳ καὶ παιδεύσω ὑμᾶς ἐγὼ X ἑπτάκις κατὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὑμῶν,	28 then will I walk with you with a froward mind, and I X X will chasten you seven-fold according to your sins.	28 Then I will walk contrary unto you [also] in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.	28. then I will walk with furious defiance in relation to you, and I – yes I – will discipline y’all sevenfold because of y’all’s sins.	28 וְהָלַכְתִּי עִמָּכֶם בַּחֲמַת-קֶרִי וְיִסַּרְתִּי אֶתְכֶם אַף-אָנִי שֶׁבַע עַל-חַטֹּאתֵיכֶם:
29 καὶ φάγεσθε τὰς σάρκας τῶν υἱῶν ὑμῶν καὶ τὰς σάρκας τῶν θυγατέρων ὑμῶν φάγεσθε·	29 And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.	29 And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.	29. So y’all will eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters y’all will eat.	29 וַאֲכַלְתֶּם בְּשַׂר בְּנֵיכֶם וּבְשַׂר בְּנֹתֵיכֶם תֹּאכֵלוּ:
30 καὶ ἐρημώσω τὰς στήλας ὑμῶν καὶ ἐξολεθρεύσω τὰ ξύλινα [χειροποίητα] ὑμῶν καὶ θήσω τὰ κῶλα ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τὰ κῶλα τῶν εἰδώλων ὑμῶν, καὶ προσοχθιεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου ὑμῖν·	30 And I will render your pillars desolate, and will utterly destroy your wooden images [made with hands]; and I will lay your carcases on the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall loathe you.	30 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.	30. Then I will cause the destruction of y’all’s high-places and I will cut off the use of y’alls incense-altars and I will put y’all’s corpses on top of the corpses of y’all’s idols, and my soul will disdain y’all.	30 וְהִשְׁמַדְתִּי אֶת-בָּמֹתֵיכֶם וְהִכְרַתִּי אֶת-חַמָּנֵיכֶם וְנָתַתִּי אֶת-פִּגְרֵיכֶם עַל-פִּגְרֵי גִּלּוּלֵיכֶם[N] וְגָעֲלָה נַפְשִׁי אֶתְכֶם:
31 καὶ θήσω τὰς πόλεις ὑμῶν ἐρήμους καὶ ἐξερημώσω τὰ ἅγια ὑμῶν καὶ οὐ μὴ ὀσφρανθῶ τῆς ὀσμῆς τῶν θυσιῶν ὑμῶν·	31 And I will lay your cities waste, and I will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell the savour of your sacrifices.	31 And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.	31. I will also destine y’all’s cities to be wasteland, and I will cause y’all’s holy places to be desolated, and I will not breathe in the aroma of y’all’s pleasantries	31 וְנָתַתִּי אֶת-עָרֵיכֶם חָרְבָּה וַהֲשִׁמּוֹתִי אֶת-מִקְדְּשֵׁיכֶם[O] וְלֹא אָרִיחַ בְּרֵיחַ נִיחֹחֲכֶם:
32 καὶ ἐξερημώσω ἐγὼ τὴν γῆν [ὑμῶν], καὶ θαυμάσονται ἐπ᾿ αὐτῇ οἱ ἐχθροὶ ὑμῶν οἱ ἐνοικοῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ·	32 And I X will lay [your] land desolate, and your enemies who dwell in it shall wonder at it.	32 And I X will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.	32. And I myself will cause the land to be desolate, and y’all’s enemies who settle in it will wreak desolation upon it.	32 וַהֲשִׁמֹּתִי אֲנִי אֶת-הָאָרֶץ וְשָׁמְמוּ עָלֶיהָ אֹיְבֵיכֶם הַיֹּשְׁבִים בָּהּ:
33 καὶ διασπερῶ ὑμᾶς εἰς τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ ἐξαναλώσει ὑμᾶς ἐπιπορευομένη ἡ μάχαιρα· καὶ ἔσται ἡ γῆ ὑμῶν ἔρημος, καὶ αἱ πόλεις ὑμῶν ἔσονται ἔρημοι.	33 And I will scatter you among the nations, and the sword shall come upon you [and] consume you; and your land shall be desolate, and your cities shall be desolate.	33 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.	33. And it is y’all that I will scatter into the nations, and I will unsheathe a sword behind y’all, and y’all’s land will become desolate, and y’all’s cities will become wasteland.	33 וְאֶתְכֶם אֱזָרֶה בַגּוֹיִם וַהֲרִיקֹתִי אַחֲרֵיכֶם חָרֶב וְהָיְתָה אַרְצְכֶם שְׁמָמָה וְעָרֵיכֶם יִהְיוּ חָרְבָּה:
34 τότε εὐδοκήσει ἡ γῆ τὰ σάββατα αὐτῆς [καὶ] πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ἐρημώσεως αὐτῆς, καὶ ὑμεῖς [ἔσεσθε] ἐν τῇ γῇ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ὑμῶν· τότε σαββατιεῖ ἡ γῆ καὶ εὐδοκήσει τὰ σάββατα αὐτῆς.	34 Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths all the days of its desolation. And ye shall be in the land of your enemies; then the land shall keep [its] sabbaths, and [the land] shall enjoy its sabbaths	34 Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, [as] long as X it [lieth] desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.	34. Then the land will accept its rest-times all the days of its desolation while y’all are in the land of your enemies; then the land will rest and will accept its rest-times - .	34 אָז תִּרְצֶה הָאָרֶץ אֶת-שַׁבְּתֹתֶיהָ כֹּל יְמֵי הֳשַּׁמָּה[P] וְאַתֶּם בְּאֶרֶץ אֹיְבֵיכֶם אָז תִּשְׁבַּת הָאָרֶץ וְהִרְצָת אֶת-שַׁבְּתֹתֶיהָ:
35 πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ἐρημώσεως αὐτῆς σαββατιεῖ ἃ οὐκ ἐσαββάτισεν ἐν τοῖς σαββάτοις ὑμῶν, ἡνίκα κατῳκεῖτε X αὐτήν.	35 all the days of its desolation: it shall keep sabbaths which it kept not among your sabbaths, when ye dwelt in it.	35 [As] long as X it [lieth] desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.	35. all the days of its desolation it will get the rest which it did not rest during your rest-days when y’all were residing upon it.	35 כָּל-יְמֵי הָשַּׁמָּה תִּשְׁבֹּת אֵת אֲשֶׁר לֹא-שָׁבְתָה בְּשַׁבְּתֹתֵיכֶם בְּשִׁבְתְּכֶם עָלֶיהָ:
LXX	Brenton	KJV	NAW	MT
36 καὶ τοῖς καταλειφθεῖσιν ἐξ ὑμῶν ἐπάξω δειλίαν εἰς τὴν καρδίαν αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ γῇ τῶν ἐχθρῶν αὐτῶν, καὶ διώξεται αὐτοὺς φωνὴ φύλλου φερομένου, καὶ φεύξονται [ὡς] φεύγοντες [ἀπὸ] πολέμου καὶ πεσοῦνται οὐθενὸς διώκοντος·	36 And to those who are left of you I will bring bondage into their heart in the landX of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them, and they shall flee [as] fleeing [from] war, and shall fall when none pursues them.	36 And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their heart[s] 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.	36. As for those of y’all who are left, I will cause cowardice to enter their heart in the lands of their enemies, such that the sound of a leaf being driven along will hunt them down, and they will flee retreating from a sword – and they will even fall, even though there is no one hunting them down!	36 וְהַנִּשְׁאָרִים בָּכֶם וְהֵבֵאתִי מֹרֶךְ[Q] בִּלְבָבָם בְּאַרְצֹת אֹיְבֵיהֶם וְרָדַף אֹתָם קוֹל עָלֶה נִדָּף[R] וְנָסוּ מְנֻסַת-חֶרֶב וְנָפְלוּ וְאֵין רֹדֵף:
37 καὶ ὑπερόψεται ὁ ἀδελφὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν ὡσεὶ ἐν πολέμῳ οὐθενὸς κατατρέχοντος, καὶ οὐ δυνήσεσθε ἀντιστῆναι τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ὑμῶν.	37 And brother shall disregard brother as in war, when none pursues; and ye shall not be able to withstand your enemies.	37 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.	37. So they will stumble, each with his brother, as from the blade of a sword – even when there is no one pursuing, and there will not be for them any uprising before the faces of their enemies.	37 וְכָשְׁלוּ אִישׁ-בְּאָחִיו כְּמִפְּנֵי-חֶרֶב וְרֹדֵף אָיִן וְלֹא-תִהְיֶה לָכֶם תְּקוּמָה[S] לִפְנֵי אֹיְבֵיכֶם:
38 καὶ ἀπολεῖσθε ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, καὶ κατέδεται ὑμᾶς ἡ γῆ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ὑμῶν.	38 And ye shall perish among the Gentiles, and the land of your enemies shall devour you.	38 And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.	38. And y’all will perish among the nations, and the land of y’all’s enemies will consume you,	38 וַאֲבַדְתֶּם בַּגּוֹיִם וְאָכְלָה אֶתְכֶם אֶרֶץ אֹיְבֵיכֶם:
39 καὶ οἱ καταλειφθέντες ἀφ᾿ ὑμῶν καταφθαρήσονται διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὑμῶν, ἐν τῇ γῇ τῶν ἐχθρῶν αὐτῶν X X X X X τακήσονται X X.	39 And those who are left of you shall perish, because of their sins, and because of the sins of their fathers: in the land of their enemies X X X X X shall they consume away X X.	39 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.	39. and as for those of y’all who are left, they will degenerate in their iniquity in the lands of your enemies, moreover in the iniquities of their fathers with them they will degenerate.	39 וְהַנִּשְׁאָרִים בָּכֶם יִמַּקּוּ בַּעֲוֹנָם בְּאַרְצֹת אֹיְבֵיכֶם וְאַף בַּעֲוֹנֹת אֲבֹתָם אִתָּם יִמָּקּוּ:
40 καὶ ἐξαγορεύσουσιν τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας τῶν πατέρων αὐτῶν, ὅτι παρέβησαν καὶ ὑπερεῖδόν με, καὶ ὅτι ἐπορεύθησαν ἐναντίον μου πλάγιοι,	40 And they shall [redeem] their sins, and the sins of their fathers, that they have transgressed and neglected me, and that they have walked perversely before me,	40 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;	40. But then they shall confess their iniquity – and the iniquity of their forefathers, with their treachery by which they committed treachery towards me - moreover by which they walked with defiance in relation to me,	40 וְהִתְוַדּוּ אֶת-עֲוֹנָם[T] וְאֶת-עֲוֹן אֲבֹתָם בְּמַעֲלָם אֲשֶׁר מָעֲלוּ-בִי וְאַף אֲשֶׁר-הָלְכוּ עִמִּי בְּקֶרִי:
LXX	Brenton	KJV	NAW	MT
41 καὶ ἐγὼ ἐπορεύθην μετ᾿ αὐτῶν ἐν [θυμῷ] πλαγίῳ καὶ ἀπολῶ αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ γῇ τῶν ἐχθρῶν αὐτῶν·X  τότε ἐντραπήσεται ἡ καρδία αὐτῶν ἡ ἀπερίτμητος, καὶ τότε εὐδοκήσουσιν τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν.	41 and I X walked with them with a perverse [mind]; and I will destroy them in the land of their enemies: X then shall their uncircumcised heart be ashamed, and then shall they acquiesce in [the punishment of] their sins.	41 And that I X 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:	41. over which I myself should walk with defiance toward them and exile them into the land of their enemies, unless then their uncircumcised heart should be subordinated and then they will become acceptable despite their iniquity.	41 אַף-אֲנִי אֵלֵךְ עִמָּם בְּקֶרִי וְהֵבֵאתִי[U] אֹתָם בְּאֶרֶץ אֹיְבֵיהֶם אוֹ-אָז יִכָּנַע לְבָבָם הֶעָרֵל וְאָז יִרְצוּ אֶת-עֲוֹנָם:
42 καὶ μνησθήσομαι τῆς διαθήκης Ιακωβ καὶ τῆς διαθήκης Ισαακ καὶ τῆς διαθήκης Αβρααμ μνησθήσομαι καὶ τῆς γῆς μνησθήσομαι.	42 And I will remember the covenant of Jacob, and the covenant of Isaac, and the covenant of Abraam will I remember. And I will remember the land,	42 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.	42. Then I will remember my covenant with Jacob – which was also my covenant with Isaac, which was also my covenant with Abraham; I will remember, and I will also remember the land -	42 וְזָכַרְתִּי אֶת-בְּרִיתִי יַעֲקוֹב וְאַף אֶת-בְּרִיתִי יִצְחָק וְאַף אֶת-בְּרִיתִי אַבְרָהָם אֶזְכֹּר וְהָאָרֶץ אֶזְכֹּר:
43 καὶ ἡ γῆ ἐγκαταλειφθήσεται ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν· τότε προσδέξεται ἡ γῆ τὰ σάββατα αὐτῆς ἐν τῷ ἐρημωθῆναι αὐτὴν δι᾿ αὐτούς, καὶ αὐτοὶ προσδέξονται τὰς αὐτῶν ἀνομίας, ἀνθ᾿ ὧν τὰ κρίματά μου ὑπερεῖδον καὶ τοῖς προστάγμασίν μου προσώχθισαν τῇ ψυχῇ αὐτῶν.	43 and the land shall be left of them; then the land shall enjoy her sabbaths, when it is deserted through them: and they shall accept [the punishment] of their iniquitie[s], because they neglected my judgments, and in their soul loathed my ordinances.	43 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.	43. and the land will be parted from them, and then it will accept its times of rest during its desolation apart from them. Then they themselves will become acceptable despite their iniquity – inasmuch as they despised my judgments, and my statutes their soul disdained.	43 וְהָאָרֶץ תֵּעָזֵב מֵהֶם וְתִרֶץ אֶת-שַׁבְּתֹתֶיהָ בָּהְשַׁמָּה[V] מֵהֶם וְהֵם יִרְצוּ אֶת-עֲוֹנָם יַעַן וּבְיַעַן[W] בְּמִשְׁפָּטַי מָאָסוּ וְאֶת-חֻקֹּתַי גָּעֲלָה נַפְשָׁם:
44 καὶ οὐδ᾿ ὧς ὄντων αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ γῇ τῶν ἐχθρῶν αὐτῶν οὐχ ὑπερεῖδον αὐτοὺς οὐδὲ προσώχθισα αὐτοῖς ὥστε ἐξαναλῶσαι αὐτοὺς τοῦ διασκεδάσαι τὴν διαθήκην μου τὴν πρὸς αὐτούς· ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι κύριος ὁ θεὸς αὐτῶν.	44 And yet not even thus, while they were in the land of their enemies, did I overlook them, nor did I loathe them so as to consume them, to break my covenant made with them; for I am the Lord their God.	44 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.	44. And also, in addition to this, during their existence in the land of their enemies I will not despise them, and I will not disdain them by finishing them off to break my covenant with them, for I am Yahweh, their God.	44 וְאַף-גַּם-זֹאת בִּהְיוֹתָם בְּאֶרֶץ[X] אֹיְבֵיהֶם לֹא-מְאַסְתִּים וְלֹא-גְעַלְתִּים לְכַלֹּתָם לְהָפֵר בְּרִיתִי אִתָּם כִּי אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיהֶם:
45 καὶ μνησθήσομαι αὐτῶν τῆς διαθήκης τῆς προτέρας, ὅτε ἐξήγαγον αὐτοὺς ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου [ἐξ οἴκου δουλείας] ἔναντι X X τῶν ἐθνῶν τοῦ εἶναι αὐτῶν θεός· ἐγώ εἰμι κύριος.	45 And I will remember X X their former covenant, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, [out of the house of bondage] before X X X the nationX, to be X their God; I am the Lord.	45 But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought X forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be X their God: I am the LORD.	45. And I will remember for their sakes the covenant with their ancestors in which I brought them out from the land of Egypt before the eyes of the nations to be in the role of a god for them; I am Yahweh.”	45 וְזָכַרְתִּי לָהֶם בְּרִית רִאשֹׁנִים אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִי-אֹתָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לְעֵינֵי הַגּוֹיִם לִהְיֹת לָהֶם לֵאלֹהִים אֲנִי יְהוָה:
46 Ταῦτα τὰ κρίματα καὶ τὰ προστάγματα καὶ ὁ νόμος, ὃν ἔδωκεν κύριος ἀνὰ μέσον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ ἐν τῷ ὄρει Σινα ἐν χειρὶ Μωυσῆ.	46 These are my judgments and my ordinances, and the lawX which the Lord gave between himself and the children of Israel, in the mount Sina, by the hand of Moses.	46 These are the statutes and X judgments and X laws, which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.	46. These are the statutes and the judgments and the instructions which Yahweh gave between Himself and the children of Israel on Mount Sinai through the agency of Moses.	46 אֵלֶּה הַחֻקִּים וְהַמִּשְׁפָּטִים וְהַתּוֹרֹת אֲשֶׁר נָתַן יְהוָה בֵּינוֹ וּבֵין בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּהַר סִינַי בְּיַד-מֹשֶׁה: פ

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[A] DSS (4Q119LXX) omits ταῦτα, but since it’s in the LXX and MT and SP, it’s probably another edit for brevity. Again it doesn’t change the meaning of the verse.

[B] DSS (4Q119LXX) = προσταγμασι = statutes

[C] DSS (4Q119LXX) adds αλλα (“but instead” – which fits the meaning of the verse.

[D] ESV=ache

[E] SP בחלה (“she was greedy”) – a nonsense mistake from substituting a Hebrew letter chet for the very similar-looking letter he. LXX supports MT, which makes sense.

[F] This word and the following noun occur only here and Deut. 28:22.

[G] DSS 11Q1 has an odd ending to this verse. The previous line of the manuscript was much longer, and it appears that the scribe decided to change line lengths in v.19 and ran out of space on the next-to-last word of v.19 and had to carry the last letter of the next-to-last word over to the next line. This seems to have affected his copying of the last word in v.19 by dropping the next-to-last letter of that last word. With the last letter of the next-to-last word added to the front of the last word, the last word may have looked like it had the right number of letters despite missing its next-to-last letter. The manuscript reads מכנחה, a nonsense word which might be construed to mean something like “from being like a guide” instead of “like brass/bronze.” The MT makes sense, and the LXX supports the MT, so 11Q1 is probably miscopied. This Dead Sea Scroll also dropped out the direct object indicator before “sky/heaven,” but the Hebrew would mean the same with or without that indicator word. (The verb already has the first person “I” as its subject, so Hebrew grammar would assume that “sky” was the object.)

[H] The LXX, SP, Targums, and Cairo Geniza all have the word “field,” whereas the MT and DSS 11Q1 have the word for “land” here. This means this variant goes at least back to the time before Christ. I am pretty certain of copy errors in 11Q1 but I’m also pretty certain of copy errors in the Cairo Geniza. There is also the fact that this phrase “trees of the land” occurs nowhere else in the Bible, whereas “trees of the field” does occur five other times in the Bible. Because of slightly more ancient manuscript evidence backing “field” I will go with that, but it doesn’t really make a difference in meaning – either way, it’s talking about fruit trees.

[I] This word qri is not found anywhere else in the O.T. except for this chapter of Leviticus, where it occurs 7 times. It appears to be related to the verb crh which denotes “meeting/encountering.”

[J] DSS 11Q1 drops the two alephs that are colored black in this verse. It does not appear to be a change in meaning but rather a form of abbreviation by removing a vowel. On the other hand this same manuscript spells the same word with the aleph two verses later, so maybe it was spelled both ways back then - or maybe it was a defective copy. The fact that it was a vowel, however, keeps the omission from changing the meaning of the word itself. By the way, the verbs in this verse are poignantly echoed in Isa. 42:24.

[K] SP and DSS 11Q1 read this verb as Qal (simple action) instead of Hiphil (caused action), and the LXX supports them. The causative form would not really make a difference in translation into English since we don’t have a causative component to our verb structure, but it could potentially disassociate God from something wild and evil and show Him to be a bit more of a king who commands others to do His work instead of Him doing it all Himself. However, this is all speculation. I will support the agreement of the DSS, LXX, and SP against the MT.

[L] The DSS 11Q1 omits the emphatic subject in the first half of the verse (“even I”), and inserts the word “wrath/fury/anger” to match v.28 (which uses the word “hamas,” for anger instead of “af” which is here, and which can mean “anger” too), but I will go with the agreement of the MT, LXX, and SP.

[M] It was known early in Moses’ ministry that God could send “deber” or “cherev” as punishment (Gen. 5:3), and two of the plagues He sent upon Egypt are called “deber” (Gen. 9:3 –cattle plague & 15 - hail). Later on, the three-day plague punishing David for his census was called a “deber” (2 Sam. 24:13-15), and still later in Israel’s history, the overthrow and captivitiy of the Jews was called “deber” by the prophets (Jeremiah 14:12; 21:7-9; 24:10; 27:8-13; 29:17-18; 32:24&36; 34:17; 38:2; 42:17-22; 44:13; Ezekiel 5:12-17; 6:11-12; 7:15; 12:16; 14:21; 28:23; 33:27; Amos 4:10). Nevertheless, the hope of grace is extended in Hosea 13:14 "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction! Pity is hidden from My eyes." (NKJV)

[N] These gillulim idols are mentioned by Ezekiel (20:7, etc) as being from Egypt and popular among idolatrous Judah, meanwhile 1 Kings (15:12) mentions the Israelite King Abijah making them in Israel from Ammonite influences (21:26). The Hebrew word itself means “round thing,” so that would suggest its shape. Whether they made round incense altars on the high places or whether it was some sort of portable charm, I don’t know. Ezekiel 6:5 repeats this prophecy from Leviticus about laying dead bodies on them.

[O] Despite the fact that the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Syriac make “holy place” singular (the DSS is too obscured at this point), the LXX and MT agree it is plural, indicating either the idol-worship sites (“YOUR high places” in contradistinction to “MY holy place”) or perhaps, as some Jewish scholars have suggested, it refers to multiple synagogue sites in addition to the singular tabernacle/temple. Cf. Isa 64:10-11

[P] SP changes the first letter of this word to an aleph, rendering it “guilt,” but the LXX agrees with the MT “desolation”. SP also adds a he to the end of the next verb, but that appears to be nothing more than a spelling variation of the same word.

[Q] The only other occurrence of this word in the O.T. is Deut. 28:56, referring to soft, tender feet of people who are basically couch potatoes.

[R] These two words occur also in Psalm 1:3-4

[S] Hapex legomenon

[T] The Cairo Geniza manuscript appears to render their “sins” spuriously as “their cheese” (חמאתם), the LXX uses the curious word “redeem” which seems closer, but not quite right. In the absence of any DSS of this verse, I will go with the agreement of the MT and SP “confess” – “put out on the table,” as it were.

[U] LXX reads “destroy” instead of “exile” – both actions are found in the curses, so this variant is not a theological gamechanger. I wish a DSS could be found to settle this!

[V] SP renders this word with the synonym באשׁמה (asham instead of shamam being the root - and a noun form instead of a Hophal infinitive verbal form). It renders the previous verb Hiphil (causative) by adding a couple of letters, but this too doesn’t substantially change the meaning.

[W] The only other place this double causal phrase occurs is Ezek. 13:10.

[X] SP makes this plural (“landS of their enemies”) which appears to be a more recent edition based on the logic that there would be multiple enemy nation lands.