Leviticus 26:14-26

Common English Bible

Covenant curses

¹⁴ But if you do not obey me and do not carry out all these commands— ¹⁵ if you reject my rules and despise my regulations, not doing all my commands and breaking my covenant— ¹⁶ then I will do the following to you:

I will bring horrific things:^[a] wasting diseases and fevers that make the eyes fail and drain life away.

You will plant seed for no reason because your enemies will eat the food.

¹⁷ I will turn my face against you: you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you; and you will run away even when no one is chasing you.

¹⁸ If, despite all that, you still do not obey me, I will punish you for your sins seven more times: ¹⁹ I will destroy your prideful power. I will turn your sky to iron and your land to bronze ²⁰ so that your strength will be spent for no reason: your land will not produce its yield, and the trees of the land won’t produce their fruit.

²¹ If you continue to oppose me and are unwilling to obey me, I will strike you for your sins seven more times: ²² I will send wild animals against you, and they will kill your children and destroy your livestock. They will make you so few in number that your roads will seem deserted.

²³ If, despite these things, you still do not accept my discipline and continue to oppose me, ²⁴ then I will continue to oppose you. I will strike you for your sins seven more times: ²⁵ I will bring the sword against you, avenging the breaking of the covenant.^[b] If you retreat into your cities, I will send a plague on you, and you will be handed over to the enemy. ²⁶ When I destroy your food supply, ten women will bake bread in a single oven, and they will ration out bread by weight. You will eat but will never get full.