Leviticus 26:33 (ASV)

Passage

And you will I scatter among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you: and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.

Nearby Context

Leviticus 26:31 And I will make your cities a waste, and will bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savor of your sweet odors.

Leviticus 26:32 And I will bring the land into desolation; and your enemies that dwell therein shall be astonished at it.

Leviticus 26:33 And you will I scatter among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you: and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.

Leviticus 26:34 Then shall the land enjoy its sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye are in your enemies` land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy its sabbaths.

Leviticus 26:35 As long as it lieth desolate it shall have rest, even the rest which it had not in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "scatter", "nations", "draw", "sword", "after", "land", "shall", and "desolation". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "scatter" and "nations", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 32's "And I will bring the land into..." into verse 34's "Then shall the land enjoy its sabbaths...", so "scatter" and "nations" 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 "scatter" and "nations" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.