Leviticus 26:20
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This verse highlights a crucial consequence of disobedience: not only will your efforts be fruitless, but the very land God blessed you with will turn against you. It's a stark reversal from the promised abundance, showing that even hard work is futile when disconnected from God's favor and the blessings tied to obedience.
And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.
English Standard Version (ESV)
This passage continues a stern warning from God in Leviticus 26, laying out the consequences of disobedience to His commands. Following the promises of blessing for obedience, this section details a series of escalating curses that will befall Israel if they turn away from Him. The verse in question describes the futility of their efforts in farming and cultivation, as God’s judgment will render their labor fruitless and their land barren.
What happens when the very land God designed to sustain you turns against you? Your hardest work can become your deepest frustration.
In Leviticus 26, God lays out the consequences for His people if they choose to ignore His commands. This verse, Leviticus 26:20, describes a profound disruption of the natural world. The land, meant to provide food and sustenance, becomes barren. The trees, expected to bear fruit, yield nothing.
This isn't just about bad luck; it's a direct consequence of breaking covenant with God. When the natural order that God established is disregarded through disobedience, His creation itself reflects that broken relationship. The energy and effort put into farming, cultivating, and harvesting are rendered 'in vain' because the fundamental source of increase—God's blessing—is withdrawn. It's a stark reminder that our labor is only fruitful when aligned with God's purposes.
Disobedience doesn't just bring one consequence; it can trigger a cascade of divine discipline, escalating with persistent rebellion.
Looking at the broader context of Leviticus 26, this verse is part of a escalating series of judgments. Calvin and others note that God's discipline often increases in severity if His people do not respond to His initial corrections. The phrase 'seven times more' (mentioned earlier in Leviticus 26:18, 21, 24, 28) isn't a precise mathematical count, but signifies a complete and intense measure of punishment.
Leviticus 26:20, detailing the land's unfruitfulness, represents one facet of this intensified discipline. It signifies that not only will external enemies afflict them (as mentioned earlier in the chapter), but the very provision God granted them will be withheld. This demonstrates that God's judgment targets all aspects of life, including the fundamental resources for survival, when His people harden their hearts.
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Understand the original words
koach · Hebrew Noun
The vitality, resources, or defensive capacity of a people. When God removes this, the people are rendered ineffective and vulnerable, showing that human self-sufficiency is futile apart from God's blessing.
This passage directly parallels Leviticus 26:20 by describing the consequence of disobedience as the land being eaten up, and the inability to enjoy its produce, highlighting God's judgment on the land itself.
Jeremiah 5:17This verse echoes the futility of labor when God's judgment is upon the land, stating 'It shall devour the land and all that is in it, the cities and their inhabitants,' showing a similar theme of wasted effort due to divine displeasure.
Haggai 1:6This passage speaks to the people eating but not having enough, and drinking but not being filled, directly relating to the idea of strength being spent in vain because the land's yield is insufficient or cursed, despite their efforts.
Psalm 107:34This verse describes a land turned into a 'barren waste' because of the wickedness of its inhabitants, connecting the unfruitfulness of the land directly to the people's sin, mirroring the consequence in Leviticus 26:20.
calvinLeviticus 26:14-45: "But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;"
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.
Etiam ego faciam hoc vobis: constituam super vos terrorem, tabem, et febrem, consumentia oculos, et dolore afficientia animam, seretisque frustra semen vestrum: nam co…
ellicottLeviticus 26:20: "And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits."
(20) And your strength shall be spent in vain. —That is, with the heaven over them as metal, their labour expended in ploughing, digging, and sowing will be perfectly useless. Your land shall not yield her increase, as no amount of human labour will make up for the want of rain. In Deuteronomy 11:17, where the same punishment is threate…
This verse highlights a crucial consequence of disobedience: not only will your efforts be fruitless, but the very land God blessed you with will turn against you. It's a stark reversal from the promised abundance, showing that even hard work is futile when disconnected from God's favor and the blessings tied to obedience.
This passage continues a stern warning from God in Leviticus 26, laying out the consequences of disobedience to His commands. Following the promises of blessing for obedience, this section details a series of escalating curses that will befall Israel if they turn away from Him. The verse in question describes the futility of their efforts in farming and cultivation, as God’s judgment will render their labor fruitless and their land barren.
This passage continues a stern warning from God in Leviticus 26, laying out the consequences of disobedience to His commands. Following the promises of blessing for obedience, this section details a series of escalating curses that will befall Israel if they turn away from Him. The verse in question describes the futility of their efforts in farming and cultivation, as God’s judgment will render their labor fruitless and their land barren.
"And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit." — This verse highlights a crucial consequence of disobedience: not only will your efforts be fruitless, but the very land God blessed you with will turn against you. It's a stark reversal from the prom…
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Last reviewed October 2026
