Bible Strands

Leviticus 26:14

If, however, you fail to obey Me and to carry out all these commandments,

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God speaks to the Israelites through Moses at Sinai, immediately after recounting His deliverance from Egypt and the breaking of their yoke. He introduces the conditional consequences that follow their covenant commitment.

The words — The Hebrew verbs תִשְׁמְעוּ (tish'meu) and תַעֲשׂוּ (ta'asu) literally mean "you will listen" and "you will do," pairing auditory reception with physical action. These verbs are negated by לֹא (lo') "not" and linked to כָּל־הַמִּצְוֹת (kol-hamitzvot) "all the commandments" to establish a strict binary condition.

The thread — This conditional structure runs parallel to Deuteronomy 28:15, which warns of curses upon disobedience to God's commandments and statutes. The same covenantal pattern continues in Leviticus 26:18, where repeated refusal triggers escalated judgment.

Why it lands — The text demands a clear choice between covenant faithfulness and covenant breach before outlining the resulting consequences. It requires the reader to recognize that obedience functions as the structural baseline for remaining under the relationship established by God's prior deliverance.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְאִם־ve./'im-and/ ifלֹ֥אlo'notתִשְׁמְע֖וּtish.me.'Uyou will listenלִ֑יL/ito <the>/ meוְלֹ֣אve./Lo'and/ notתַעֲשׂ֔וּta.'a.Suyou will doאֵ֥ת'et<obj.>כָּל־kol-allהַמִּצְוֹ֖תha./mitz.Votthe/ commandmentsהָאֵֽלֶּה׃ha./'E.leh<the>/ these

King James Version

But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;

Cross-references