Let loose the wild beasts: this is the opposite of what is promised for obedience in the previous passage. Although the words are not identical, wild beasts here corresponds to “evil beasts” in verse 6.

Rob you of your children: or “make you childless.” New Jerusalem Bible has “bereave you of your children.” A literal translation of the verb rob may seem to hold out some hope to the children being recovered, but the meaning is clearly “destroy” or “kill,” so that the people have no descendants.

Destroy your cattle: as in 19.19 this may be taken to refer to all domestic animals. New American Bible translates “wipe out your livestock.”

So that your ways shall become desolate: the result of the reduced population will be that there will be scarcely anyone traveling on the roads. They will be deserted.

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 .