'Curses' in the Bible

"'If anyone curses his father and mother he must be put to death. He has cursed his father and mother; his blood guilt is on himself.

Moreover, you are to tell the Israelites, 'If any man curses his God he will bear responsibility for his sin,

"'Then the priest will write these curses on a scroll and then scrape them off into the bitter water.

They crouch and lie down like a lion, and as a lioness, who can stir him? Blessed is the one who blesses you, and cursed is the one who curses you!'"

"But if you ignore the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force:

All these curses will fall on you, pursuing and overtaking you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping his commandments and statutes that he has given you.

These curses will be a perpetual sign and wonder with reference to you and your descendants.

The Lord will be unwilling to forgive him, and his intense anger will rage against that man; all the curses written in this scroll will fall upon him and the Lord will obliterate his name from memory.

The Lord will single him out for judgment from all the tribes of Israel according to all the curses of the covenant written in this scroll of the law.

That is why the Lord's anger erupted against this land, bringing on it all the curses written in this scroll.

"When you have experienced all these things, both the blessings and the curses I have set before you, you will reflect upon them in all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you.

Then the Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies, on those who hate you and persecute you.

Then Joshua read aloud all the words of the law, including the blessings and the curses, just as they are written in the law scroll.

Then King David reached Bahurim. There a man from Saul's extended family named Shimei son of Gera came out, yelling curses as he approached.

As he yelled curses, Shimei said, "Leave! Leave! You man of bloodshed, you wicked man!

But the king said, "What do we have in common, you sons of Zeruiah? If he curses because the Lord has said to him, 'Curse David!', who can say to him, 'Why have you done this?'"

So David and his men went on their way. But Shimei kept going along the side of the hill opposite him, yelling curses as he threw stones and dirt at them.

Yes, the wicked man boasts because he gets what he wants; the one who robs others curses and rejects the Lord.

His mouth is full of curses and deceptive, harmful words; his tongue injures and destroys.

They speak sinful words. So let them be trapped by their own pride and by the curses and lies they speak!

They spend all their time planning how to bring him down. They love to use deceit; they pronounce blessings with their mouths, but inwardly they utter curses. (Selah)

All day long my enemies taunt me; those who mock me use my name in their curses.

He loved to curse others, so those curses have come upon him. He had no desire to bless anyone, so he has experienced no blessings.

He made cursing a way of life, so curses poured into his stomach like water and seeped into his bones like oil.

The one who curses his father and his mother, his lamp will be extinguished in the blackest darkness.

The one who gives to the poor will not lack, but whoever shuts his eyes to them will receive many curses.

I will bring such disaster on them that all the kingdoms of the earth will be horrified. I will make them an object of reproach, a proverbial example of disaster. I will make them an object of ridicule, an example to be used in curses. That is how they will be remembered wherever I banish them.

I made Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and its officials drink it. I did it so Judah would become a ruin. I did it so Judah, its kings, and its officials would become an object of horror and of hissing scorn, an example used in curses. Such is already becoming the case!

If you do not obey me, then I will do to this temple what I did to Shiloh. And I will make this city an example to be used in curses by people from all the nations on the earth.'"

That is what will result from your making me angry by what you are doing. You are making me angry by sacrificing to other gods here in the land of Egypt where you live. You will be destroyed for doing that! You will become an example used in curses and an object of ridicule among all the nations of the earth.

Finally the Lord could no longer endure your wicked deeds and the disgusting things you did. That is why your land has become the desolate, uninhabited ruin that it is today. That is why it has become a proverbial example used in curses.

For I solemnly swear," says the Lord, "that Bozrah will become a pile of ruins. It will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example to be used in curses. All the towns around it will lie in ruins forever."

If you do not listen and take seriously the need to honor my name," says the Lord who rules over all, "I will send judgment on you and turn your blessings into curses -- indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart.