40 Bible Verses about Curses
Imagine you're walking through an ancient, winding path, feeling the cool breeze carrying the murmurs of thousands of years. As you stroll amidst the mossy stones, there's a sense of profound interconnectedness, a sacred understanding that life's blessings and its hardships, its boons and its curses, are all woven into the same grand tapestry.
Such is the narrative of the Bible. It's a timeless saga of humanity's journey towards divine understanding, highlighting the multifaceted complexities of life. And nestled within its divine teachings is a fascinating, often misunderstood, aspect: curses.
Curses, as depicted in the Bible, aren't fantastical enchantments nor are they simple condemnations of wickedness. They are, in fact, deeply intricate spiritual and moral concepts intertwined with notions of sin, retribution, blessing, and redemption.
Genesis commences with a divine curse imposed on the serpent, a symbol of deception, and mankind for their disobedience in Eden. However, as the biblical narrative unfolds, we see that curses are not meant to be eternal or unescapable. They serve as dire warnings, prompts for repentance, and, in their profound depths, offer roads to redemption.
The apostle Paul reminds us in Galatians that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, providing a path for salvation. In this light, studying Bible verses about curses is not an exploration of doom, but an expedition into understanding the wisdom of divine justice, the transformative power of repentance, and the boundless mercy of God's love.
Join us as we explore these profound verses about curses. Not with fear or apprehension, but with the open-hearted curiosity of those eager to unearth deeper layers of biblical truth, and to see how even in the shadows of curses, the radiant light of God's wisdom shines brightly.
Curses in the Bible
Genesis 3:14
"So the LORD God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.'"
Genesis 3:17
And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life.”
Genesis 4:11
"Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand."
Exodus 22:28
"Do not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people."
Exodus 34:7
“Maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
Leviticus 20:9
"'Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. Because they have cursed their father or mother, their blood will be on their own head.'"
Numbers 14:18
“The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
Deuteronomy 21:23
“You must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.”
Deuteronomy 27:15
"Cursed is anyone who makes an idol—a thing detestable to the LORD, the work of skilled hands—and sets it up in secret.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!'"
Deuteronomy 28:15
“However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you.”
Deuteronomy 28:20
"The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him."
Deuteronomy 28:47-48
“Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you.”
Romans 3:10
"As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.'"
Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 13:4
“For he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.”
1 Corinthians 16:22
"If anyone does not love the Lord, let that person be cursed! Come, Lord!"
Galatians 1:8-9
"But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!"
Curses and Blessings
Genesis 4:10-12
The LORD said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”
Genesis 6:11-13
“Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh,[c] for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”
Genesis 12:3
"I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
Exodus 21:17
“Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.”
Leviticus 20:9
Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. Because they have cursed their father or mother, their blood will be on their own head.
Proverbs 3:33
"The LORD's curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous."
Proverbs 20:20
"If someone curses their father or mother, their lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness."
Proverbs 26:2
"Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest."
Jeremiah 15:10
“Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth, a man with whom the whole land strives and contends! I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.”
Jeremiah 31:29-30
“In those days people will no longer say, ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—their own teeth will be set on edge.”
Ezekiel 18:20
The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.”
Zechariah 5:3
"And he said to me, 'This is the curse that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be banished.'"
Malachi 3:9
"You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me."
Matthew 5:22
“But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”
Luke 6:28
“Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
Romans 12:14
“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.”
God's Redemption from Curses
Romans 5:8
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Romans 8:1
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
Galatians 3:13
"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.'"
Galatians 5:1
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
Ephesians 1:7
"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace."
Colossians 2:13-14
"When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross."
Revelation 22:3
"No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him."
A Prayer to Break Curses
Heavenly Father,
I approach Your throne of grace and mercy, leaving behind fear and stepping into Your loving presence with a heart yearning for deliverance. I acknowledge You as my Lord, my Savior, the Supreme One who holds all power and authority in heaven and on earth.
Lord, Your word tells us that Jesus became a curse for us when He died on the cross, redeeming us from the curse of the law and setting us free. Today, I claim this freedom. I stand on the promise of Your word, confident in Your love and Your power.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray for the breaking of any curse that has taken hold in my life or the lives of those I love. I rebuke any dark forces that may be influencing us and declare them powerless under the mighty name of Jesus.
I declare that no weapon formed against us shall prosper, and every tongue that rises against us in judgment we shall condemn. I command all generational curses, curses spoken against us, or self-imposed curses to be broken right now, in Jesus’ mighty name.
Replace, O Lord, these curses with Your blessings. Pour out Your love, Your grace, Your mercy, and Your peace upon us. Let the blood of Jesus wash over us, cleansing us and setting us free.
Father, help us to walk in this freedom, to step into the destiny you've ordained for us, unshackled from the past. As we move forward, may we carry a testimony of Your liberating power and boundless love.
I thank You, Lord, for You are good, Your mercy is everlasting, and Your truth endures to all generations. I believe and receive my deliverance, in Jesus’ mighty name, I pray. Amen.
