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And I will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who dwell in it will be appalled.
Leviticus 26:32 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB I will bring the land into desolation; and your enemies that dwell therein will be astonished at it.
  • KJV And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.
  • NKJV I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it.
  • NASB And I will make the land desolate so that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled at it.
  • NLT Yes, I myself will devastate your land, and your enemies who come to occupy it will be appalled at what they see.

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

God will so desolate the land that even Israel's enemies are astonished. The judgment will be visible to the watching nations.

Overview

The devastation will be so thorough that conquering enemies marvel at it. This public ruin reverses Israel's calling to display God's blessing among the nations. Yet even in judgment God's hand is evident, and the desolation sets the stage for the later promise of restoration that points to His unbreakable covenant faithfulness.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 26

  • Jer 9:11“And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
  • Jer 18:16They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.
  • Jer 19:8I will make this city a desolation and an object of scorn. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.
  • Jer 25:11And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
  • 1 Kgs 9:8And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’
  • Ezek 5:15So you will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror to the nations around you, when I execute judgments against you in anger, wrath, and raging fury. I, the LORD, have spoken.
  • Jer 25:18to make them a ruin, an object of horror and contempt and cursing, as they are to this day—Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials;
  • Deut 28:37You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
  • Dan 9:2in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the sacred books, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.
  • Jer 44:22So the LORD could no longer endure the evil deeds and detestable acts you committed, and your land became a desolation, a horror, and an object of cursing, without inhabitant, as it is this day.
  • Isa 6:11Then I asked: “How long, O Lord?” And He replied: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left unoccupied and the land is desolate and ravaged,
  • Isa 24:1Behold, the LORD lays waste the earth and leaves it in ruins. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants—
  • Dan 9:18Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You because of our righteous acts, but because of Your great compassion.
  • Luke 21:20But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you will know that her desolation is near.
  • Isa 1:7–8Your land is desolate; your cities are burned with fire. Foreigners devour your fields before you—a desolation demolished by strangers.
  • Deut 29:23–28All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His fierce anger.
  • Lam 5:18because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate, patrolled by foxes.
  • Ezek 33:28–29I will make the land a desolate waste, and the pride of her strength will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will become desolate, so that no one will pass through.
  • Hab 3:17Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls,
  • Jer 25:38He has left His den like a lion, for their land has been made a desolation by the sword of the oppressor, and because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
  • Isa 5:6I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.”
  • Isa 64:10Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wasteland and Jerusalem a desolation.
  • Jer 44:2“This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: You have seen all the disaster that I brought against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, they lie today in ruins and desolation
  • Lam 4:12The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any people of the world, that an enemy or a foe could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
  • Isa 32:13–14and for the land of my people, overgrown with thorns and briers—even for every house of merriment in this city of revelry.
  • Isa 5:9I heard the LORD of Hosts declare: “Surely many houses will become desolate, great mansions left unoccupied.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (9)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Leviticus videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Leviticus 26:32YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LeviticusMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 26:32 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.