If you walk in hostility toward Me and refuse to obey Me, I will multiply your plagues seven times, according to your sins.
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘If you walk contrary to me, and won’t listen to me, then I will bring seven times more plagues on you according to your sins.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV ‘Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins.
- NASB ‘Yet if you show hostility toward Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you seven times according to your sins.
- NLT “If even then you remain hostile toward me and refuse to obey me, I will inflict disaster on you seven times over for your sins.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
If Israel keeps walking contrary to God, He will multiply their plagues sevenfold. Persistent opposition to God brings intensified judgment.
Overview
To walk 'contrary' to God is to set oneself in deliberate opposition to Him. The repeated escalation underscores both human stubbornness and God's measured response. These warnings reveal that judgment matches the persistence of rebellion, while still leaving the door open to repentance and restoration.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 26:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.