God’s Word Translation
Leviticus 26:31
31I will make your cities deserted and ruin your sacred places. I will no longer accept the soothing aroma from your sacrifices.
Leviticus 26:31 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.
- New International Version (NIV)I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And I will lay your cities waste and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing aromas.
- New King James Version (NKJV)I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas.
Context of Leviticus 26:31
29You will eat the bodies of your sons and daughters. 30I will destroy your worship sites, cut down your incense altars, and pile your dead bodies on top of your dead idols. I will look at you with disgust. I will make your cities deserted and ruin your sacred places. I will no longer accept the soothing aroma from your sacrifices. 32I will make your land so deserted that your enemies will be shocked as they settle in it. 33I will scatter you among the nations. War will follow you. Your country will be in ruins. Your cities will be deserted.
Read all of Leviticus 26Leviticus 26:31 word by word
וְנָתַתִּ֤י אֶת־עָֽרֵיכֶם֙ חָרְבָּ֔ה וַהֲשִׁמּוֹתִ֖י אֶת־מִקְדְּשֵׁיכֶ֑ם וְלֹ֣א אָרִ֔יחַ בְּרֵ֖יחַ נִיחֹֽחֲכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And I will makeנָתַןnâthan · to give: makeH5414
- your citiesעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
- wasteחׇרְבָּהchorbâh · desolationH2723
- and bringשָׁמֵםshâmêm · be desolate: destroyedH8074
- your sanctuariesמִקְדָּשׁmiqdâsh miqqedâsh · sanctuaryH4720
- and I will not smellרִיחַrûach · to smellH7306
- the savourרֵיחַrêyach · aromaH7381
- of your sweet odoursנִיחֹחַnîychôach nîychôach · soothingH5207
Cross-references for Leviticus 26:31
- 2 Kings 25:4The enemy broke through the city walls that night. All Judah’s soldiers left on the road of the gate between the two walls beside the king’s garden. While the Babylonians were attacking the city from all sides, the king took the road to the plain ⌞of Jericho⌟.
- 2 Chronicles 36:19They burned God’s temple, tore down Jerusalem’s walls, burned down all its palaces, and destroyed everything of value.
- Nehemiah 2:3“May the king live forever!” I said to the king. “Why shouldn’t I look sad when the city, the place where my ancestors are buried, is in ruins and its gates are burned down?”
- Isaiah 1:7“Your country is devastated. Your cities are burned down. Your fields are destroyed right before your eyes by foreigners. Your fields are devastated and taken over by foreigners.
- Isaiah 24:10The ruined city lies desolate. The entrance to every house is barred shut.
- Jeremiah 4:7A lion has come out of its lair. A destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place to destroy your land. Your cities will be ruined, and no one will live in them.
- Jeremiah 9:11I will turn Jerusalem into a pile of rubble, a home for jackals. I will destroy the cities of Judah so that no one can live there.
- Lamentations 1:1“Look how deserted Jerusalem is! Once the city was crowded with people. Once it was important among the nations. Now it is a widow. Once it was a princess among the provinces. Now it does forced labor.
- Lamentations 2:7The Lord rejected his altar and disowned his holy place. He handed the walls of Zion’s palaces over to its enemies. The enemies made noise in the Lord’s temple as though it were a festival day.
- Ezekiel 6:6Wherever people live, the cities will be ruined, and the worship sites will be wrecked. Your altars will be ruined and demolished. Your idols will be smashed and completely destroyed. Your incense burners will be cut down, and everything you have done will be wiped out.
- Ezekiel 21:15I have appointed my sword to slaughter people at all their gates so that their hearts will sink and many will die. Yes! It’s ready to flash like lightning. It’s polished to kill.
- Micah 3:12Because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a pile of rubble, and the temple mountain will become a worship site covered with trees.
- Psalms 74:3Turn your steps toward these pathetic ruins. The enemy has destroyed everything in the holy temple.
- Jeremiah 22:5But if you don’t do what I say, I will take an oath on myself,” declares the Lord, “that this palace will become a pile of rubble.
- Jeremiah 26:6Then I will do to this temple what I did to Shiloh. I will turn this city into something that will be cursed by all the nations on earth.’ ”
- Jeremiah 52:13He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem. Every important building was burned down.
Commentaries on Leviticus 26:31
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3-45Verses 3-45 As “the book of the covenant” Exodus 23:20-33, so does this collection of laws contained in the Book of Leviticus. But the former passage relates to the conquest of the land of promise, this one to the subsequent history of the nation. The longer similar passage in Deuteronomy Leviticus 26:4 Rain in due season - The periodical rains, on which the fertility of the holy land so much depends, are here spoken of. There are two wet seasons, called…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-39Verses 14-39 After God has set the blessing before them which would make them a happy people if they would be obedient, he here sets the curse before them, the evils which would make them miserable, if they were disobedient. Two things would bring ruin. 1. A contempt of God's commandments. They that reject the precept, will come at last to renounce the covenant. 2. A contempt of his corrections. If they will not learn obedience by the things they suffer…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14-39God punishes his people to change their behavior and restore their relationship with him. He acts like a perfectly righteous and loving parent would with a disobedient child. The punishments, meant to stop rebellious behavior, gradually increase. This gives Israel a chance to repent at any time (Leviticus 26:18–28). Even when Israel faced exile from the land in 722 and 586 BC, God was working to restore them (see, for example, Isaiah 40–66; Jeremiah…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3131. I will make your cities waste--This destruction of its numerous and flourishing cities, which was brought upon Judea through the sins of Israel, took place by the forced removal of the people during, and long after, the captivity. But it is realized to a far greater extent now. bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours--the tabernacle and temple, as is evident from the tenor of the subsequent clause…Read the comment
Topics related to Leviticus 26:31
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Leviticus 26
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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