Leviticus 26:40 (KJV)

Passage

If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;

Nearby Context

Leviticus 26:38 And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.

Leviticus 26:39 And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.

Leviticus 26:40 If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;

Leviticus 26:41 And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:

Leviticus 26:42 Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "confess", "iniquity", "fathers", "trespass", "trespassed", and "against". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "confess", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 39's "And they that are left of you..." into verse 41's "And that I also have walked contrary...", so "shall" and "confess" 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 "confess" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.