'Curse' in the Bible

When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, He said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, even though man’s inclination is evil from his youth. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.

I will bless those who bless you,I will curse those who treat you with contempt,and all the peoples on earthwill be blessed through you.

Suppose my father touches me. Then I will be revealed to him as a deceiver and bring a curse rather than a blessing on myself.”

His mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey me and go get them for me.”

May peoples serve youand nations bow down to you.Be master over your brothers;may your mother’s sons bow down to you.Those who curse you will be cursed,and those who bless you will be blessed.

“You must not blaspheme God or curse a leader among your people.

You must not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but you are to fear your God; I am Yahweh.

After the priest has the woman stand before the Lord, he is to let down her hair and place in her hands the grain offering for remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. The priest is to hold the bitter water that brings a curse.

The priest will require the woman to take an oath and will say to her, ‘If no man has slept with you, if you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, be unaffected by this bitter water that brings a curse.

at this point the priest must make the woman take the oath with the sworn curse, and he is to say to her—‘May the Lord make you into an object of your people’s cursing and swearing when He makes your thigh shrivel and your belly swell.

May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach, causing your belly to swell and your thigh to shrivel.’“And the woman must reply, ‘Amen, Amen.’

He will require the woman to drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her and cause bitter suffering.

“When he makes her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter her and cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, and her thigh will shrivel. She will become a curse among her people.

Please come and put a curse on these people for me because they are more powerful than I am. I may be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that those you bless are blessed and those you curse are cursed.”

‘Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the surface of the land. Now come and put a curse on them for me. I may be able to fight against them and drive them away.’”

Then God said to Balaam, “You are not to go with them. You are not to curse this people, for they are blessed.”

for I will greatly honor you and do whatever you ask me. So please come and put a curse on these people for me!’”

Balaam proclaimed his poem:Balak brought me from Aram;the king of Moab, from the eastern mountains:“Come, put a curse on Jacob for me;come, denounce Israel!”

How can I curse someone God has not cursed?How can I denounce someone the Lord has not denounced?

“What have you done to me?” Balak asked Balaam. “I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have only blessed them!”

Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp; you won’t see all of them. From there, put a curse on them for me.”

There is no magic curse against Jacoband no divination against Israel.It will now be said about Jacob and Israel,“What great things God has done!”

Then Balak told Balaam, “Don’t curse them and don’t bless them!”

Again Balak said to Balaam, “Please come. I will take you to another place. Maybe it will be agreeable to God that you can put a curse on them for me there.”

He crouches, he lies down like a lionor a lioness—who dares to rouse him?Those who bless you will be blessed,and those who curse you will be cursed.

Then Balak became furious with Balaam, struck his hands together, and said to him, “I summoned you to put a curse on my enemies, but instead, you have blessed them these three times.

“Look, today I set before you a blessing and a curse:

and a curse, if you do not obey the commands of the Lord your God and you turn aside from the path I command you today by following other gods you have not known.

When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal.

you are not to leave his corpse on the tree overnight but are to bury him that day, for anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

This is because they did not meet you with food and water on the journey after you came out of Egypt, and because Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim was hired to curse you.

Yet the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam, but He turned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God loves you.

And these tribes will stand on Mount Ebal to deliver the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

The Lord will not be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that person, and every curse written in this scroll will descend on him. The Lord will blot out his name under heaven,

Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against this land, and He brought every curse written in this book on it.

I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live,

At that time Joshua imposed this curse:The man who undertakesthe rebuilding of this city, Jericho,is cursed before the Lord.He will lay its foundationat the cost of his firstborn;he will set up its gatesat the cost of his youngest.

Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, set out to fight against Israel. He sent for Balaam son of Beor to curse you,

“Curse Meroz,” says the Angel of the Lord,“Bitterly curse her inhabitants,for they did not come to help the Lord,to help the Lord against the mighty warriors.”

And God also returned all the evil of the men of Shechem on their heads. So the curse of Jotham son of Jerubbaal came on them.

He said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver taken from you, and that I heard you utter a curse about—here, I have the silver with me. I took it. So now I return it to you.”Then his mother said, “My son, you are blessed by the Lord!”

Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut his head off!”

The king replied, “Sons of Zeruiah, do we agree on anything? He curses me this way because the Lord told him, ‘Curse David!’ Therefore, who can say, ‘Why did you do that?’”

Then David said to Abishai and all his servants, “Look, my own son, my own flesh and blood, intends to take my life—how much more now this Benjaminite! Leave him alone and let him curse me; the Lord has told him to.

because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I Myself have heard you—this is the Lord’s declaration—

because they did not meet the Israelites with food and water. Instead, they hired Balaam against them to curse them, but our God turned the curse into a blessing.

But stretch out Your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”

But stretch out Your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”

His wife said to him, “Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die!”

Let those who curse certain dayscast a spell on it,those who are skilled in rousing Leviathan.

I have seen a fool taking root,but I immediately pronounced a curse on his home.

I have not allowed my mouth to sinby asking for his life with a curse.

They only plan to bring him downfrom his high position.They take pleasure in lying;they bless with their mouths,but they curse inwardly.Selah

My enemies taunt me all day long;they ridicule and curse me.

Though they curse, You will bless.When they rise up, they will be put to shame,but Your servant will rejoice.

The Lord’s curse is on the household of the wicked,but He blesses the home of the righteous;

People will curse anyone who hoards grain,but a blessing will come to the one who sells it.

Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent”—people will curse him, and tribes will denounce him;

Like a flitting sparrow or a fluttering swallow,an undeserved curse goes nowhere.

If one blesses his neighborwith a loud voice early in the morning,it will be counted as a curse to him.

To be a thief’s partner is to hate oneself;he hears the curse but will not testify.

Don’t slander a servant to his masteror he will curse you, and you will become guilty.

Do not curse the king even in your thoughts,and do not curse a rich person even in your bedroom,for a bird of the sky may carry the message,and a winged creature may report the matter.

They will wander through the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged, and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God.

Therefore a curse has consumed the earth,and its inhabitants have become guilty;the earth’s inhabitants have been burned,and only a few survive.

You will leave your name behindas a curse for My chosen ones,and the Lord God will kill you;but He will give His servants another name.

You must tell them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let a curse be on the man who does not obey the words of this covenant,

For the land is full of adulterers;the land mourns because of the curse,and the grazing lands in the wilderness have dried up.Their way of life has become evil,and their power is not rightly used

I will pursue them with sword, famine, and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth—a curse and a desolation, an object of scorn and a disgrace among all the nations where I have banished them.

Based on what happens to them, all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will create a curse that says, ‘May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire!’

For by Myself I have sworn”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“Bozrah will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will become ruins forever.”

You will give them a heart filled with anguish.May Your curse be on them!

Then he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the whole land, for every thief will be removed according to what is written on one side, and everyone who swears falsely will be removed according to what is written on the other side.

As you have been a curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you will be a blessing. Don’t be afraid; let your hands be strong.”

People will live there, and never again will there be a curse of complete destruction. So Jerusalem will dwell in security.

If you don’t listen, and if you don’t take it to heart to honor My name,” says Yahweh of Hosts, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse your blessings. In fact, I have already begun to curse them because you are not taking it to heart.

You are suffering under a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me.

And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”