Leviticus 26:2 (ASV)

Passage

Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am Jehovah.

Nearby Context

Leviticus 26:1 Ye shall make you no idols, neither shall ye rear you up a graven image, or a pillar, neither shall ye place any figured stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am Jehovah your God.

Leviticus 26:2 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am Jehovah.

Leviticus 26:3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;

Leviticus 26:4 then I will give your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "keep", "sabbaths", "reverence", "sanctuary", and "jehovah". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "keep", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "Ye shall make you no idols neither..." into verse 3's "If ye walk in my statutes and...", so "shall" and "keep" belong inside that flow. In Leviticus context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "shall" and "keep" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.