Walk among you: the idea of “walking” is not intended literally. As in verse 3 (and 18.3), it means “to live.” So New Jerusalem Bible translates here “I will be ever present in your midst.”

I … will be your God, and you shall be my people: these two phrases are simply two ways of looking at the same fact. The future tense here must not be taken to mean that the LORD was not their God previously. (The next verse states “I am [present tense] your God.”) In some languages one may have to say “I will continue to be your God.” This formula appears several times in the books of Jeremiah (7.23; 11.4; 24.7; 30.22; 31.1, 33; 32.38), Ezekiel (11.20; 14.11; 36.28; 37.23, 27), and Zechariah (8.8). It is also quoted in 2 Corinthians 6.16 and Revelation 21.3.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .