Deuteronomy 27:15-26

27:15 ‘Cursed is the one ¹  who makes a carved or metal image – something abhorrent ²  to the Lord, the work of the craftsman ³  – and sets it up in a secret place.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ ⁴  27:16 ‘Cursed ⁵  is the one who disrespects ⁶  his father and mother.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:17 ‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s boundary marker.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:18 ‘Cursed is the one who misleads a blind person on the road.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:19 ‘Cursed is the one who perverts justice for the resident foreigner, the orphan, and the widow.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:20 ‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with ⁷  his father’s former wife, ⁸  for he dishonors his father.’ ⁹  Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:21 ‘Cursed is the one who commits bestiality.’ ¹⁰  Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:22 ‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his sister, the daughter of either his father or mother.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:23 ‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his mother-in-law.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:24 ‘Cursed is the one who kills ¹¹  his neighbor in private.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:25 ‘Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 27:26 ‘Cursed is the one who refuses to keep the words of this law.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

Deuteronomy 29:18-21

29:18 Beware that the heart of no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you turns away from the Lord our God today to pursue and serve the gods of those nations; beware that there is among you no root producing poisonous and bitter fruit. ¹²  29:19 When such a person ¹³  hears the words of this oath he secretly ¹⁴  blesses himself ¹⁵  and says, “I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit.” ¹⁶  This will destroy ¹⁷  the watered ground with the parched. ¹⁸  29:20 The Lord will be unwilling to forgive him, and his intense anger ¹⁹  will rage ²⁰  against that man; all the curses ²¹  written in this scroll will fall upon him ²²  and the Lord will obliterate his name from memory. ²³  29:21 The Lord will single him out ²⁴  for judgment ²⁵  from all the tribes of Israel according to all the curses of the covenant written in this scroll of the law.

Matthew 25:41

25:41 “Then he will say ²⁶  to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels!

Matthew 25:1

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

25:1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

Colossians 1:22

1:22 but now he has reconciled you ²⁷  by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him –

Galatians 3:10

3:10 For all who ²⁸  rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law.” ²⁹ 

Galatians 3:2

3:2 The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law ³⁰  or by believing what you heard? ³¹ 

Galatians 2:14

2:14 But when I saw that they were not behaving consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas ³²  in front of them all, “If you, although you are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you try to force ³³  the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

¹ tn Heb “man,” but in a generic sense here.

² tn The Hebrew term translated here “abhorrent” (תּוֹעֵבָה, to’evah) speaks of attitudes and/or behaviors so vile as to be reprehensible to a holy God. See note on the word “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25.

³ tn Heb “craftsman’s hands.”

⁴ tn Or “So be it!” The term is an affirmation expressing agreement with the words of the Levites.

⁵ tn The Levites speak again at this point; throughout this pericope the Levites pronounce the curse and the people respond with “Amen.”

⁶ tn The Hebrew term קָלָה (qalah) means to treat with disdain or lack of due respect (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV “dishonors”; NLT “despises”). It is the opposite of כָּבֵד (kaved, “to be heavy,” that is, to treat with reverence and proper deference). To treat a parent lightly is to dishonor him or her and thus violate the fifth commandment (Deut 5:16; cf. Exod 21:17).

⁷ tn Heb “who lies with” (so NASB, NRSV); also in vv. 22, 23. This is a Hebrew idiom for having sexual relations (cf. NIV “who sleeps with”; NLT “who has sexual intercourse with”).

⁸ tn See note at Deut 22:30.

⁹ tn Heb “he uncovers his father’s skirt” (NASB similar). See note at Deut 22:30.

¹⁰ tn Heb “lies with any animal” (so NASB, NRSV). “To lie with” is a Hebrew euphemism for having sexual relations with someone (or in this case, some animal).

¹¹ tn Or “strikes down” (so NRSV).

¹² tn Heb “yielding fruit poisonous and wormwood.” The Hebrew noun לַעֲנָה (la’anah) literally means “wormwood” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB), but is used figuratively for anything extremely bitter, thus here “fruit poisonous and bitter.”

¹³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the subject of the warning in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴ tn Heb “in his heart.”

¹⁵ tn Or “invokes a blessing on himself.” A formalized word of blessing is in view, the content of which appears later in the verse.

¹⁶ tn Heb “heart.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “thus destroying.” For stylistic reasons the translation begins a new sentence here.

¹⁸ tn Heb “the watered with the parched.” The word “ground” is implied. The exact meaning of the phrase is uncertain although it appears to be figurative. This appears to be a proverbial observation employing a figure of speech (a merism) suggesting totality. That is, the Israelite who violates the letter and even spirit of the covenant will harm not only himself but everything he touches – “the watered and the parched.” Cf. CEV “you will cause the rest of Israel to be punished along with you.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “the wrath of the Lord and his zeal.” The expression is a hendiadys, a figure in which the second noun becomes adjectival to the first.

²⁰ tn Heb “smoke,” or “smolder.”

²¹ tn Heb “the entire oath.”

²² tn Or “will lie in wait against him.”

²³ tn Heb “blot out his name from under the sky.”

²⁴ tn Heb “set him apart.”

²⁵ tn Heb “for evil”; NAB “for doom”; NASB “for adversity”; NIV “for disaster”; NRSV “for calamity.”

²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

²⁷ tc Some of the better representatives of the Alexandrian and Western texts have a passive verb here instead of the active ἀποκατήλλαξεν (apokathllaxen, “he has reconciled”): ἀποκατηλλάγητε (apokathllaghte) in (Ì⁴⁶) B, ἀποκατήλλακται [sic] (apokathllaktai) in 33, and ἀποκαταλλαγέντες (apokatallagente") in D* F G. Yet the active verb is strongly supported by א A C D² Ψ 048 075 [0278] 1739 1881 Ï lat sy. Internally, the passive creates an anacoluthon in that it looks back to the accusative ὑμᾶς (Juma", “you”) of v. 21 and leaves the following παραστῆσαι (parasthsai) dangling (“you were reconciled…to present you”). The passive reading is certainly the harder reading. As such, it may well explain the rise of the other readings. At the same time, it is possible that the passive was produced by scribes who wanted some symmetry between the ποτε (pote, “at one time”) of v. 21 and the νυνὶ δέ (nuni de, “but now”) of v. 22: Since a passive periphrastic participle is used in v. 21, there may have a temptation to produce a corresponding passive form in v. 22, handling the ὑμᾶς of v. 21 by way of constructio ad sensum. Since παραστῆσαι occurs ten words later, it may not have been considered in this scribal modification. Further, the Western reading (ἀποκαταλλαγέντες) hardly seems to have arisen from ἀποκατηλλάγητε (contra TCGNT 555). As difficult as this decision is, the preferred reading is the active form because it is superior externally and seems to explain the rise of all forms of the passive readings.

²⁸ tn Grk “For as many as.”

²⁹ tn Grk “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the things written in the book of the law, to do them.”

³⁰ tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law,” a reference to observing the Mosaic law.

³¹ tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith.”

³² sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211).

³³ tn Here ἀναγκάζεις (anankazei") has been translated as a conative present (see ExSyn 534).