The Blessings of Obedience
(Leviticus 25:18–22)
“Now if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God and are careful to follow all His commandments I am giving you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. Isa 1:19Exo 23:22Lev 26:3-13Luk 11:28Jhn 15:14Exo 15:26Psa 91:14Deu 7:12-26 And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the voice of the LORD your God: Zec 1:6Deu 28:151Ti 4:8Deu 28:45
You will be blessed in the city Gen 39:5Psa 144:12-15Hag 2:19Gen 26:12Psa 107:36-37Isa 65:21-23Mal 3:10-11Psa 128:1-5
and blessed in the country.
The fruit of your womb will be blessed, Pro 10:22Gen 49:25Deu 7:13Psa 128:3Deu 28:11Lev 26:9Gen 22:17Psa 107:38
as well as the produce of your land
and the offspring of your livestock—
the calves of your herds
and the lambs of your flocks.
Your basket and kneading bowl will be blessed.
You will be blessed when you come in Psa 121:8Num 27:172Ch 1:102Sa 3:25Deu 31:2
and blessed when you go out.
The LORD will cause the enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. They will march out against you in one direction but flee from you in seven. 2Sa 22:38-41Lev 26:7-8Psa 89:232Ch 32:21-222Ch 19:4Jos 8:222Ch 31:20-21Deu 28:25
The LORD will decree a blessing on your barns and on everything to which you put your hand; the LORD your God will bless you in the land He is giving you. Deu 15:10Lev 26:10Pro 3:9-10Psa 133:3Lev 26:4-5Luk 12:18Mal 3:10-11Lev 25:21 The LORD will establish you as His holy people, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways. Deu 7:6Exo 19:5-6Deu 26:18-19Deu 13:171Pe 2:9-11Tit 2:141Pe 5:10Isa 62:12 Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will stand in awe of you. 2Ch 7:14Deu 11:25Dan 9:18-19Jer 33:9Num 6:27Deu 4:6-8Exo 12:33Mal 3:12
The LORD will make you prosper abundantly—in the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land—in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. Deu 30:9Pro 10:22Deu 28:4Lev 26:9Psa 132:11Job 19:17
The LORD will open the heavens, His abundant storehouse, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations, but borrow from none. Deu 15:6Jol 2:23-24Deu 11:14Lev 26:4Deu 15:10Deu 14:29Pro 22:7Psa 135:7
The LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you will only move upward and never downward, if you hear and carefully follow the commandments of the LORD your God, which I am giving you today. Deu 28:1Deu 4:6-9Php 1:27Isa 9:14-15Num 24:18-19 Do not turn aside to the right or to the left from any of the words I command you today, and do not go after other gods to serve them. Deu 5:32Isa 30:21Deu 11:16Pro 4:26-272Ki 22:2Deu 11:26-28Jos 23:6
The Curses of Disobedience
(Leviticus 20:1–9; Leviticus 26:14–39)
If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: Mal 2:2Deu 28:2Lam 2:17Rom 2:8-9Dan 9:11-13Deu 29:20Lev 26:14-46Jos 23:15
You will be cursed in the city Mal 3:9-12Hag 1:9-11Hag 2:16-17Isa 24:6-12Jer 14:18Jer 14:2-5Jer 44:22Jol 1:4
and cursed in the country.
Your basket and kneading bowl will be cursed. Deu 28:5Hag 1:6Luk 16:25Mal 2:2Pro 1:32Psa 69:22Zec 5:3-4
The fruit of your womb will be cursed, Lev 26:26Deu 28:16Deu 28:4Deu 5:9Hab 3:17Job 18:16-19Lam 2:20Lev 26:19-20
as well as the produce of your land,
the calves of your herds,
and the lambs of your flocks.
You will be cursed when you come in Deu 28:62Ch 15:5Jdg 5:6-7
and cursed when you go out.
The LORD will send curses upon you, confusion and reproof in all to which you put your hand, until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the wickedness you have committed in forsaking Him. 1 Isa 66:15Mal 2:2Deu 4:26Isa 51:20Jhn 3:36Isa 30:17Isa 28:19Jos 23:16
The LORD will make the plague cling to you until He has exterminated you from the land that you are entering to possess. Lev 26:25Jer 24:10Jer 15:2Jer 16:4Num 14:122Sa 24:15Jer 21:6-7Num 25:9 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, 2 and with blight and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish. Amo 4:9Lev 26:161Ki 8:37Hag 2:172Ch 6:28Jer 14:12 The sky over your head will be bronze, and the earth beneath you iron. Lev 26:19Jer 14:1-61Ki 17:11Ki 18:2Amo 4:7
The LORD will turn the rain of your land into dust and powder; it will descend on you from the sky until you are destroyed. Deu 28:12Amo 4:11Isa 5:24Job 18:15-21Gen 19:24
The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. Ezk 23:46Isa 30:17Jer 24:9Deu 28:7Deu 32:30Jer 15:2-9Lev 26:17Jer 29:18 Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the air and beasts of the earth, with no one to scare them away. Jer 16:4Jer 34:20Jer 7:33Jer 19:7Jer 8:11Sa 17:44-46Ezk 39:17-20Isa 34:3
The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors and scabs and itch from which you cannot be cured. 1Sa 5:6Exo 15:26Deu 28:35Exo 9:9Lev 21:201Sa 5:121Sa 5:9Deu 28:60-61
The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness, and confusion of mind, 2Th 2:9-11Isa 19:11-171Sa 16:14Isa 6:9-10Jer 4:9Act 13:41Ezk 4:17Psa 60:3 and at noon you will grope about like a blind man in the darkness. You will not prosper in your ways. Day after day you will be oppressed and plundered, with no one to save you. Isa 59:10Job 5:14Jdg 10:8Jdg 13:1Jdg 3:14Jdg 4:2-3Jdg 6:1-6Psa 106:40-42
You will be pledged in marriage to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house but will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but will not enjoy its fruit. Amo 5:11Jer 8:10Isa 5:9-10Jer 12:13Job 31:10Lam 5:2Deu 20:6-7Hos 4:2 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be taken away and not returned to you. Your flock will be given to your enemies, and no one will save you. Jdg 6:1Job 1:14-15
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. Deu 28:41Jol 3:62Ch 29:9Job 17:5Amo 5:27Deu 28:18Deu 28:65Ezk 24:25 A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed. Jer 5:17Lev 26:16Deu 28:29-30Deu 28:51Isa 1:7Jer 4:17Jer 5:15Jer 8:16 You will be driven mad by the sights you see. Deu 28:28Deu 28:68Isa 33:14Rev 16:10-11Jer 25:15-16
The LORD will afflict you with painful, incurable boils on your knees and thighs, from the soles of your feet to the top of your head. Deu 28:27Isa 1:6Isa 3:17Isa 3:24Job 2:6-7
The LORD will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone. 2Ki 25:11Deu 4:28Jer 16:132Ch 36:202Ch 36:62Ch 33:112Ch 36:17Deu 28:64 You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the nations to which the LORD will drive you. Jer 24:91Ki 9:7-8Jer 25:92Ch 7:20Psa 44:13-14Zec 8:13Deu 28:28Deu 29:22-28
You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it. Hag 1:6Jol 1:4Mic 6:15Amo 4:9Jol 2:25Amo 7:1-2Exo 10:14-15Isa 5:10 You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but will neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. Isa 17:10-11Isa 5:10Jol 1:4-7Jol 2:2-4Jon 4:7 You will have olive trees throughout your territory but will never anoint yourself with oil, because the olives will drop off. Mic 6:15Psa 104:15Psa 23:5 You will father sons and daughters, but they will not remain yours, because they will go into captivity. Deu 28:32Lam 1:52Ki 24:14 Swarms of locusts will consume all your trees and the produce of your land. Amo 7:1-2Deu 28:38-39
The foreigner living among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink down lower and lower. Deu 28:131Sa 13:19-232Ki 17:202Ki 17:232Ki 24:14-16Jdg 10:7-10Jdg 14:4Jdg 15:11-12 He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail. Deu 28:12-13Lam 1:5
All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, since you did not obey the LORD your God and keep the commandments and statutes He gave you. Deu 28:15Isa 1:20Isa 65:14-15Jer 24:9-10Jer 7:22-25Lam 2:15-172Ki 17:20Deu 11:27-28 These curses will be a sign and a wonder upon you and your descendants forever. Isa 8:18Deu 28:37Ezk 14:8Jer 25:181Co 10:11Deu 28:59Deu 29:20Deu 29:28
Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance, Deu 16:111Ti 6:17-19Deu 12:7-12Neh 9:35-37Deu 32:13-15 you will serve your enemies the LORD will send against you in famine, thirst, nakedness, and destitution. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you. Jer 28:13-14Ezk 17:12Ezk 4:16-17Jer 44:17-18Jer 44:22Jer 44:27Lam 5:2-6Neh 9:35-37
The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand, Lam 4:19Jer 48:40Jer 49:22Hos 8:1Jer 5:15-17Ezk 17:12Ezk 17:3Isa 5:26-30 a ruthless nation with no respect for the old and no pity for the young. Isa 47:62Ch 36:17Dan 7:7Dan 8:23Ecc 8:1Hos 13:16Luk 19:44Luk 21:23-24 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. Deu 28:33Isa 62:8Ezk 12:19Hab 3:16-17Isa 1:7Jer 15:13Jer 17:3Lev 26:26 They will besiege all the cities throughout your land, until the high and fortified walls in which you trust have fallen. They will besiege all your cities throughout the land that the LORD your God has given you. 2Ki 17:1-62Ki 18:132Ki 24:10-112Ki 25:1-4Dan 9:26Ezk 4:1-8Isa 1:7Isa 62:8
Then you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you. Lam 4:10Jer 19:9Lev 26:292Ki 6:28-29Deu 28:57Lam 2:20Ezk 5:10Deu 28:55
The most gentle and refined man among you will begrudge his brother, the wife he embraces, 3 and the rest of his children who have survived, Deu 15:9Deu 13:6Mat 20:152Sa 12:3Luk 11:11-13Mat 7:9-11Mic 7:5Pro 23:6 refusing to share with any of them the flesh of his children he will eat because he has nothing left in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you within all your gates. 4 Jer 34:2Jer 5:10Jer 52:6
The most gentle and refined woman among you, so gentle and refined she would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground, will begrudge the husband she embraces 5and her son and daughter Deu 28:54Isa 3:16Lam 4:3-6 the afterbirth that comes from between her legs and the children she bears, because she will secretly eat them for lack of anything else in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you within your gates. Gen 49:10Isa 49:15
If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God— Isa 42:8Deu 28:15Deu 6:13Exo 20:2Exo 3:14-15Exo 34:5-7Exo 6:2-3Heb 10:30-31 He will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary disasters, severe and lasting plagues, and terrible and chronic sicknesses. Dan 9:12Mrk 13:191Ki 16:3-41Ki 9:7-9Deu 28:46Deu 29:20-28Deu 31:17-18Deu 32:22 He will afflict you again with all the diseases you dreaded in Egypt, and they will cling to you. Deu 7:15Exo 15:26Deu 28:27
The LORD will also bring upon you every sickness and plague not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed. Deu 4:25-26 You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left few in number, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God. Deu 10:22Deu 4:27Neh 9:232Ki 24:14Isa 24:6Jer 42:2Mrk 13:20Neh 7:4
Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and multiply, so also it will please Him to annihilate you and destroy you. And you will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess. Pro 1:26Isa 1:24Ezk 5:13Ezk 33:11Jer 18:7Jer 45:4Jer 31:40Jer 32:41
Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. Deu 4:27-28Lev 26:33Deu 28:36Jer 16:13Neh 1:8Jer 50:17Luk 21:24Ezk 11:16-17 Among those nations you will find no repose, not even a resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul. Lev 26:36Amo 9:4Lev 26:16Gen 8:9Rom 11:10Amo 9:9-10Ezk 12:18-19Ezk 20:32-35
So your life will hang in doubt before you, and you will be afraid night and day, never certain of survival. Deu 28:67Heb 10:27Lam 1:13Rev 6:15-17 In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and in the evening you will say, ‘If only it were morning!’—because of the dread in your hearts of the terrifying sights you will see. Deu 28:34Job 7:3-4Rev 9:6
The LORD will return you to Egypt in ships by a route that I said you should never see again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.” Jer 44:12Jer 43:7Hos 8:13Hos 9:3Deu 17:16Exo 20:2Est 7:4Jol 3:3-7