Leviticus 26:16 (LSB)

Passage

I, in turn, will do this to you: I will appoint over you a sudden terror, consumption and fever that will waste away the eyes and cause the soul to pine away; also, you will sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies will eat it up.

Nearby Context

Leviticus 26:14 ‘But if you do not obey Me and do not do all these commandments,

Leviticus 26:15 if, instead, you reject My statutes, and if your soul loathes My judgments so as not to do all My commandments and so break My covenant,

Leviticus 26:16 I, in turn, will do this to you: I will appoint over you a sudden terror, consumption and fever that will waste away the eyes and cause the soul to pine away; also, you will sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies will eat it up.

Leviticus 26:17 And I will set My face against you so that you will be defeated before your enemies; and those who hate you will have dominion over you, and you will flee when no one is pursuing you.

Leviticus 26:18 If also after these things you do not obey Me, then I will discipline you seven times more for your sins.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "turn", "appoint", "over", "sudden", "terror", "consumption", "fever", and "waste". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "turn" and "appoint", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "if instead you reject My statutes and..." into verse 17's "And I will set My face against...", so "turn" and "appoint" 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 "turn" and "appoint" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.