Leviticus 26:31 (WEB)

Passage

I will lay your cities waste, and will bring your sanctuaries to desolation. I will not take delight in the sweet fragrance of your offerings.

Nearby Context

Leviticus 26:29 You will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters.

Leviticus 26:30 I will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and cast your dead bodies upon the bodies of your idols; and my soul will abhor you.

Leviticus 26:31 I will lay your cities waste, and will bring your sanctuaries to desolation. I will not take delight in the sweet fragrance of your offerings.

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

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

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "light", "cities", "waste", "bring", "sanctuaries", "desolation", "take", and "delight". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "light" and "cities", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 30's "I will destroy your high places and..." into verse 32's "I will bring the land into desolation...", so "light" and "cities" 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 "light" and "cities" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.