Curses to Deter Misconduct
Deuteronomy 27:14–26
Biblical Period
14The Levites shall then proclaim in a loud voice to all the people of Israel:
15Cursed be anyone who makes a sculptured or molten image, abhorred by the Lord, a craftsman’s handiwork, and sets it up in secret.—And all the people shall respond, Amen.
16Cursed be he who insults his father or mother.— And all the people shall say, Amen.
17Cursed be he who moves his fellow countryman’s landmark.—And all the people shall say, Amen.
18Cursed be he who misdirects a blind person on his way.—And all the people shall say, Amen.
19Cursed be he who subverts the rights of the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.—And all the people shall say, Amen.
20Cursed be he who lies with his father’s wife, for he has removed his father’s garment.—And all the people shall say, Amen.
21Cursed be he who lies with any beast.—And all the people shall say, Amen.
22Cursed be he who lies with his sister, whether daughter of his father or of his mother.—And all the people shall say, Amen.
23Cursed be he who lies with his mother-in-law.— And all the people shall say, Amen.
24Cursed be he who strikes down his fellow countryman in secret.—And all the people shall say, Amen.
25Cursed be he who accepts a bribe in the case of the murder of an innocent person.—And all the people shall say, Amen.
26Cursed be he who will not uphold the terms of this Teaching and observe them.—And all the people shall say, Amen.
Credits
Reprinted from Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures by permission of the University of Nebraska Press. Copyright 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 1.
