Deuteronomy 28:16-20

28:16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field. 28:17 Your basket and your mixing bowl will be cursed. 28:18 Your children ¹  will be cursed, as well as the produce of your soil, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. 28:19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. ² 

Curses by Disease and Drought

28:20 “The Lord will send on you a curse, confusing you and opposing you ³  in everything you undertake ⁴  until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the evil of your deeds, in that you have forsaken me. ⁵ 

Psalms 69:22

69:22 May their dining table become a trap before them!

May it be a snare for that group of friends! ⁶ 

Proverbs 3:33

3:33 The Lord’s curse ⁷  is on the household ⁸  of the wicked, ⁹ 

but he blesses ¹⁰  the home ¹¹  of the righteous. ¹² 

Malachi 2:2

2:2 If you do not listen and take seriously ¹³  the need to honor my name,” says the Lord who rules over all, “I will send judgment ¹⁴  on you and turn your blessings into curses – indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart.

¹ tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

² sn See note on the similar expression in v. 6.

³ tn Heb “the curse, the confusion, and the rebuke” (NASB and NIV similar); NRSV “disaster, panic, and frustration.”

⁴ tn Heb “in all the stretching out of your hand.”

⁵ tc For the MT first person common singular suffix (“me”), the LXX reads either “Lord” (Lucian) or third person masculine singular suffix (“him”; various codices). The MT’s more difficult reading probably represents the original text.

⁶ tc Heb “and to the friends for a snare.” The plural of שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) is used in Ps 55:20 of one’s “friends.” If the reading of the MT is retained here, the term depicts the psalmist’s enemies as a close-knit group of friends who are bound together by their hatred for the psalmist. Some prefer to revocalize the text as וּלְשִׁלּוּמִים (ulÿshillumim, “and for retribution”). In this case the noun stands parallel to פַּח (pakh, “trap”) and מוֹקֵשׁ (moqesh, “snare”), and one might translate, “may their dining table become a trap before them, [a means of] retribution and a snare” (cf. NIV).

⁷ tn Heb “the curse of the Lord.” This expression features a genitive of possession or source: “the Lord’s curse” or “a curse from the Lord.” The noun מְאֵרַה (mÿ’erah, “curse”) connotes banishment or separation from the place of blessing. It is the antonym of בְּרָכָה (bÿrakhah, “blessing”). The curse of God brings ruin and failure to crops, land in general, an individual, or the nation (Deut 28:20; Mal 2:2; 3:9; see BDB 76 s.v. מְאֵרַה; HALOT 541 s.v.).

⁸ tn Heb “house.” The term בֵּית (bet, “house”) functions as a synecdoche of container (= house) for the persons contained (= household). See, e.g., Exod 1:21; Deut 6:22; Josh 22:15 (BDB 109 s.v. 5.a).

⁹ sn The term “wicked” is singular; the term “righteous” in the second half of the verse is plural. In scripture such changes often hint at God’s reluctance to curse, but eagerness to bless (e.g., Gen 12:3).

¹⁰ sn The term “bless” (בָּרַךְ, barakh) is the antithesis of “curse.” A blessing is a gift, enrichment, or endowment. The blessing of God empowers one with the ability to succeed, and brings vitality and prosperity in the material realm, but especially in one’s spiritual relationship with God.

¹¹ tn Heb “habitation.” The noun נָוֶה (naveh, “habitation; abode”), which is the poetic parallel to בֵּית (bet, “house”), usually refers to the abode of a shepherd in the country: “habitation” in the country (BDB 627 s.v. נָוֶה). It functions as a synecdoche of container (= habitation) for the contents (= people in the habitation and all they possess).

¹² tn The Hebrew is structured chiastically (AB:BA): “The curse of the Lord / is on the house of the wicked // but the home of the righteous / he blesses.” The word order in the translation is reversed for the sake of smoothness and readability.

¹³ tn Heb “and if you do not place upon [the] heart”; KJV, NAB, NRSV “lay it to heart.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “the curse” (so NASB, NRSV); NLT “a terrible curse.”