Leviticus 26:20 (DRB)

Passage

Your labour shall be spent in vain: the ground shall not bring forth her increase: nor the trees yield their fruit.

Nearby Context

Leviticus 26:18 But if you will not yet for all this obey me: I will chastise you seven times more for your sins.

Leviticus 26:19 And I will break the pride of your stubbornness: and I will make to you the heaven above as iron, and the earth as brass.

Leviticus 26:20 Your labour shall be spent in vain: the ground shall not bring forth her increase: nor the trees yield their fruit.

Leviticus 26:21 If you walk contrary to me, and will not hearken to me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you for your sins.

Leviticus 26:22 And I will send in upon you the beasts of the field, to destroy you and your cattle, and make you few in number: and that your highways may be desolate.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "labour", "shall", "spent", "vain", "ground", "bring", and "forth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "labour" 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 "If you walk contrary to me and...", so "labour" 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 "labour" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.