Leviticus 26:14 (KJV)

Passage

But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;

Nearby Context

Leviticus 26:12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.

Leviticus 26:13 I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.

Leviticus 26:14 But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;

Leviticus 26:15 And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:

Leviticus 26:16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "hearken" and "commandments". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "hearken" and "commandments", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 13's "I am the LORD your God which..." into verse 15's "And if ye shall despise my statutes...", so "hearken" and "commandments" 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 "hearken" and "commandments" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.