They will stumble over one another as before the sword, though no one is behind them. So you will not be able to stand against your enemies.
Parallel translations
- WEB They will stumble over one another, as it were before the sword, when no one pursues. You will have no power to stand before your enemies.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV They shall stumble over one another, as it were before a sword, when no one pursues; and you shall have no power to stand before your enemies.
- NASB They will then stumble over each other as if running from the sword, although no one is pursuing; and you will have no strength to stand before your enemies.
- NLT Though no one is chasing you, you will stumble over each other as though fleeing from a sword. You will have no power to stand up against your enemies.
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
In their panic the exiles will stumble over one another, powerless before their enemies. Without God's help they cannot stand.
Overview
The fear of the previous verse leads to chaotic collapse, with people falling though none pursues. Their inability to stand before enemies reverses the earlier promise of victory. The scene shows that strength and courage are gifts of God's presence, lost when His people turn from Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Judg 2:14Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.
- Josh 7:12–13This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They will turn their backs and run from their enemies, because they themselves have been set apart for destruction. I will no longer be with you unless you remove from among you whatever is devoted to destruction.
- Isa 10:4Nothing will remain but to crouch among the captives or fall among the slain. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
- Num 14:42Do not go up, lest you be struck down by your enemies, because the LORD is not among you.
- Jer 37:10Indeed, if you were to strike down the entire army of the Chaldeans that is fighting against you, and only wounded men remained in their tents, they would still get up and burn this city down.”
- Judg 7:22And when the three hundred rams’ horns sounded, the LORD set all the men in the camp against one another with their swords. The army fled to Beth-shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.
- 1 Sam 14:15–16Then terror struck the Philistines in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. Even those in the outposts and raiding parties trembled. Indeed, the earth quaked and panic spread from God.
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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 26:37 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.