Leviticus 26:20 (ASV)

Passage

and your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruit.

Nearby Context

Leviticus 26:18 And if ye will not yet for these things hearken unto me, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins.

Leviticus 26:19 And I will break the pride of your power: and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass;

Leviticus 26:20 and your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruit.

Leviticus 26:21 And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.

Leviticus 26:22 And I will send the beast of the field among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your ways shall become desolate.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "strength", "shall", "spent", "vain", "land", "yield", and "increase". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "strength" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "And I will break the pride of..." into verse 21's "And if ye walk contrary unto me...", so "strength" and "shall" 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 "strength" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.