Then he said to me,“ This scroll contains the curse that is going out over the entire land. One side of the scroll says that those who steal will be banished from the land; the other side says that those who swear falsely will be banished from the land.

他对我说：“这是发出行在遍地上的咒诅。凡偷窃的必按卷上这面的话除灭；凡起假誓的必按卷上那面的话除灭。

他对我说：“这就是向全地面发出的诅咒。凡偷窃的必按书卷这面的话除灭，凡起假誓的必按书卷那面的话除灭。

他对我说：“这就是向全地面发出的诅咒。凡偷窃的必按书卷这面的话除灭，凡起假誓的必按书卷那面的话除灭。

他说：“这是临到全天下的咒诅，因为书卷一面写着‘凡偷盗的必被清除’，另一面写着‘凡起假誓的必被清除’。”

他对我说：“这是向全地发出的咒诅：凡偷盗的必照着书卷这面所写的被清除；凡起假誓的必照着那面所记的被清除。

他對我說：「這是發出行在遍地上的咒詛。凡偷竊的必按卷上這面的話除滅；凡起假誓的必按卷上那面的話除滅。

他對我說：「這就是向全地面發出的詛咒。凡偷竊的必按書卷這面的話除滅，凡起假誓的必按書卷那面的話除滅。

他對我說：「這就是向全地面發出的詛咒。凡偷竊的必按書卷這面的話除滅，凡起假誓的必按書卷那面的話除滅。

他說：「這是臨到全天下的咒詛，因為書卷一面寫著『凡偷盜的必被清除』，另一面寫著『凡起假誓的必被清除』。」

他對我說：“這是向全地發出的咒詛：凡偷盜的必照著書卷這面所寫的被清除；凡起假誓的必照著那面所記的被清除。

他對我說：『這是發出的咒詛、行於全地上的：凡偷竊的必按卷上這面的話被清除；凡奉我名起假誓的必按卷上那面的話被清除。

他對我說：「這是向全地面發出的詛咒。凡偷竊的都必照著書卷這一面上的話被清除，凡起假誓的都必照著書卷另一面上的話被清除。

彼曰、此乃呪詛、遍行斯土、凡盜竊者、必按卷此面之文而見絕、凡妄誓者、必按卷彼面之文而見絕、

天使曰、此咒詛之詞、遍行天下、凡盜竊者、必殲滅於左、凡妄誓者、必殲滅於右、俱循此言。

彼曰、此載咒詛咒詛或作降災之詞、遍行天下、凡盜竊者、必循卷此面之言被除、凡妄誓者、必循卷彼面之言被除、凡盜竊者必循卷此面之言被除凡妄誓者必循卷彼面之言被除或作凡盜竊者必循此卷見除於此凡妄誓者必循此卷見除於彼

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.

He said to me,“ A curse sent by the Lord is written on it. It is going out over the whole land. Every thief will be driven out of the land. That is what it says on one side of the scroll. Everyone who lies when promising to tell the truth will also be driven out. That is what it says on the other side.

Then he said to me,“ This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who steals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who swears falsely shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side.

Then he said to me,“ This is the curse that is going out over the whole land, for everyone who is a thief, contrary to what is written on one side, has gone unpunished, and everyone who swears falsely, contrary to what is written on the other side, has gone unpunished.

Then he said to me,“ This is the curse that is going forth over the face of the entire land; everyone who steals certainly will be purged away according to the writing on one side, and everyone who swears falsely will be purged away according to the writing on the other side.

Then he said to me,“ This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole earth:‘ Every thief shall be expelled,’ according to this side of the scroll; and,‘ Every perjurer shall be expelled,’ according to that side of it.”

Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole land: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off on the one side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off on the other side according to it.

Then he said to me,“ This is the curse that is going out over the whole land, for every thief will be removed according to what is written on one side, and everyone who swears falsely will be removed according to what is written on the other side.

Then said he unto me, This[ is] the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off[ as] on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off[ as] on that side according to it.

The speaker went on to say,“ This is a curse traveling across the whole earth. For example, according to the curse whoever steals will be removed from the community; or on the other hand( according to the curse) whoever swears falsely will suffer the same fate.”

Then he said to me,“ This is the curse that goes out over the surface of the whole land; for everyone who steals shall be cut off according to it on the one side; and everyone who swears falsely shall be cut off according to it on the other side.

“ You must not steal.

Therefore, a curse consumes the earth. Its people must pay the price for their sin. They are destroyed by fire, and only a few are left alive.

That is why I have disgraced your priests; I have decreed complete destruction for Jacob and shame for Israel.

“ Listen to me, O family of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and born into the family of Judah. Listen, you who take oaths in the name of the Lord and call on the God of Israel. You don’t keep your promises,

His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

“ Do not bring shame on the name of your God by using it to swear falsely. I am the Lord.

And this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: I am sending this curse into the house of every thief and into the house of everyone who swears falsely using my name. And my curse will remain in that house and completely destroy it— even its timbers and stones.”

But even when they are under oath, saying,‘ As surely as the Lord lives,’ they are still telling lies!”

then I will destroy this Temple as I destroyed Shiloh, the place where the Tabernacle was located. And I will make Jerusalem an object of cursing in every nation on earth.’”

But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before.“ When the Lord your God brings you into the land and helps you take possession of it, you must pronounce the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal.

Outside the city are the dogs— the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.

For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say,“ Who is the Lord?” And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.

‘ Cursed is anyone who carves or casts an idol and secretly sets it up. These idols, the work of craftsmen, are detestable to the Lord.’ And all the people will reply,‘ Amen.’‘ Cursed is anyone who dishonors father or mother.’ And all the people will reply,‘ Amen.’‘ Cursed is anyone who steals property from a neighbor by moving a boundary marker.’ And all the people will reply,‘ Amen.’‘ Cursed is anyone who leads a blind person astray on the road.’ And all the people will reply,‘ Amen.’‘ Cursed is anyone who denies justice to foreigners, orphans, or widows.’ And all the people will reply,‘ Amen.’‘ Cursed is anyone who has sexual intercourse with one of his father’s wives, for he has violated his father.’ And all the people will reply,‘ Amen.’‘ Cursed is anyone who has sexual intercourse with an animal.’ And all the people will reply,‘ Amen.’‘ Cursed is anyone who has sexual intercourse with his sister, whether she is the daughter of his father or his mother.’ And all the people will reply,‘ Amen.’‘ Cursed is anyone who has sexual intercourse with his mother in law.’ And all the people will reply,‘ Amen.’‘ Cursed is anyone who attacks a neighbor in secret.’ And all the people will reply,‘ Amen.’‘ Cursed is anyone who accepts payment to kill an innocent person.’ And all the people will reply,‘ Amen.’‘ Cursed is anyone who does not affirm and obey the terms of these instructions.’ And all the people will reply,‘ Amen.’

“ But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars— their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say,“ Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.”So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say,“ It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says,“ It is through obeying the law that a person has life.”But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures,“ Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

Don’t scheme against each other. Stop your love of telling lies that you swear are the truth. I hate all these things, says the Lord.”

For the law was not intended for people who do what is right. It is for people who are lawless and rebellious, who are ungodly and sinful, who consider nothing sacred and defile what is holy, who kill their father or mother or commit other murders.

He made a treaty with a member of the royal family and forced him to take an oath of loyalty. He also exiled Israel’s most influential leaders,so Israel would not become strong again and revolt. Only by keeping her treaty with Babylon could Israel survive.“ Nevertheless, this man of Israel’s royal family rebelled against Babylon, sending ambassadors to Egypt to request a great army and many horses. Can Israel break her sworn treaties like that and get away with it?No! For as surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, the king of Israel will die in Babylon, the land of the king who put him in power and whose treaty he disregarded and broke.

For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

The Lord curses the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the upright.

You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere— one murder after another.

“ Then the King will turn to those on the left and say,‘ Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.

Do you really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and burn incense to Baal and all those other new gods of yours,

Even to have such lawsuits with one another is a defeat for you. Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Why not let yourselves be cheated?Instead, you yourselves are the ones who do wrong and cheat even your fellow believers.Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality,

“ At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

“ Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me!“ But you ask,‘ What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’“ You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me.You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me.Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,“ I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!

“ But if you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and do not obey all the commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overwhelm you:Your towns and your fields will be cursed.Your fruit baskets and breadboards will be cursed.Your children and your crops will be cursed. The offspring of your herds and flocks will be cursed.Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be cursed.“ The Lord himself will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in everything you do, until at last you are completely destroyed for doing evil and abandoning me.The Lord will afflict you with diseases until none of you are left in the land you are about to enter and occupy.The Lord will strike you with wasting diseases, fever, and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew. These disasters will pursue you until you die.The skies above will be as unyielding as bronze, and the earth beneath will be as hard as iron.The Lord will change the rain that falls on your land into powder, and dust will pour down from the sky until you are destroyed.“ The Lord will cause you to be defeated by your enemies. You will attack your enemies from one direction, but you will scatter from them in seven! You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.Your corpses will be food for all the scavenging birds and wild animals, and no one will be there to chase them away.“ The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, scurvy, and the itch, from which you cannot be cured.The Lord will strike you with madness, blindness, and panic.You will grope around in broad daylight like a blind person groping in the darkness, but you will not find your way. You will be oppressed and robbed continually, and no one will come to save you.“ You will be engaged to a woman, but another man will sleep with her. You will build a house, but someone else will live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will never enjoy its fruit.Your ox will be butchered before your eyes, but you will not eat a single bite of the meat. Your donkey will be taken from you, never to be returned. Your sheep and goats will be given to your enemies, and no one will be there to help you.You will watch as your sons and daughters are taken away as slaves. Your heart will break for them, but you won’t be able to help them.A foreign nation you have never heard about will eat the crops you worked so hard to grow. You will suffer under constant oppression and harsh treatment.You will go mad because of all the tragedy you see around you.The Lord will cover your knees and legs with incurable boils. In fact, you will be covered from head to foot.“ The Lord will exile you and your king to a nation unknown to you and your ancestors. There in exile you will worship gods of wood and stone!You will become an object of horror, ridicule, and mockery among all the nations to which the Lord sends you.“ You will plant much but harvest little, for locusts will eat your crops.You will plant vineyards and care for them, but you will not drink the wine or eat the grapes, for worms will destroy the vines.You will grow olive trees throughout your land, but you will never use the olive oil, for the fruit will drop before it ripens.You will have sons and daughters, but you will lose them, for they will be led away into captivity.Swarms of insects will destroy your trees and crops.“ The foreigners living among you will become stronger and stronger, while you become weaker and weaker.They will lend money to you, but you will not lend to them. They will be the head, and you will be the tail!“ If you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and to obey the commands and decrees he has given you, all these curses will pursue and overtake you until you are destroyed.These horrors will serve as a sign and warning among you and your descendants forever.If you do not serve the Lord your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received,you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. You will be left hungry, thirsty, naked, and lacking in everything. The Lord will put an iron yoke on your neck, oppressing you harshly until he has destroyed you.“ The Lord will bring a distant nation against you from the end of the earth, and it will swoop down on you like a vulture. It is a nation whose language you do not understand,a fierce and heartless nation that shows no respect for the old and no pity for the young.Its armies will devour your livestock and crops, and you will be destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine, olive oil, calves, or lambs, and you will starve to death.They will attack your cities until all the fortified walls in your land— the walls you trusted to protect you— are knocked down. They will attack all the towns in the land the Lord your God has given you.“ The siege and terrible distress of the enemy’s attack will be so severe that you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you.The most tenderhearted man among you will have no compassion for his own brother, his beloved wife, and his surviving children.He will refuse to share with them the flesh he is devouring— the flesh of one of his own children— because he has nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns.The most tender and delicate woman among you— so delicate she would not so much as touch the ground with her foot— will be selfish toward the husband she loves and toward her own son or daughter.She will hide from them the afterbirth and the new baby she has borne, so that she herself can secretly eat them. She will have nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns.“ If you refuse to obey all the words of instruction that are written in this book, and if you do not fear the glorious and awesome name of the Lord your God,then the Lord will overwhelm you and your children with indescribable plagues. These plagues will be intense and without relief, making you miserable and unbearably sick.He will afflict you with all the diseases of Egypt that you feared so much, and you will have no relief.The Lord will afflict you with every sickness and plague there is, even those not mentioned in this Book of Instruction, until you are destroyed.Though you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, few of you will be left because you would not listen to the Lord your God.“ Just as the Lord has found great pleasure in causing you to prosper and multiply, the Lord will find pleasure in destroying you. You will be torn from the land you are about to enter and occupy.For the Lord will scatter you among all the nations from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship foreign gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods made of wood and stone!There among those nations you will find no peace or place to rest. And the Lord will cause your heart to tremble, your eyesight to fail, and your soul to despair.Your life will constantly hang in the balance. You will live night and day in fear, unsure if you will survive.In the morning you will say,‘ If only it were night!’ And in the evening you will say,‘ If only it were morning!’ For you will be terrified by the awful horrors you see around you.Then the Lord will send you back to Egypt in ships, to a destination I promised you would never see again. There you will offer to sell yourselves to your enemies as slaves, but no one will buy you.”

and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God’s blessing.But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless. The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it.

like a trap. For that day will come upon everyone living on the earth.

All Israel has disobeyed your instruction and turned away, refusing to listen to your voice.“ So now the solemn curses and judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured down on us because of our sin.

“ Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear‘ by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear‘ by the gold in the Temple.’Blind fools! Which is more important— the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred?And you say that to swear‘ by the altar’ is not binding, but to swear‘ by the gifts on the altar’ is binding.How blind! For which is more important— the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred?When you swear‘ by the altar,’ you are swearing by it and by everything on it.And when you swear‘ by the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God, who lives in it.And when you swear‘ by heaven,’ you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne.

If you assist a thief, you only hurt yourself. You are sworn to tell the truth, but you dare not testify.

If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.

He loved to curse others; now you curse him. He never blessed others; now don’t you bless him.Cursing is as natural to him as his clothing, or the water he drinks, or the rich food he eats.Now may his curses return and cling to him like clothing; may they be tied around him like a belt.”May those curses become the Lord’s punishment for my accusers who speak evil of me.

But most of all, my brothers and sisters, never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else. Just say a simple yes or no, so that you will not sin and be condemned.

For the land is full of adultery, and it lies under a curse. The land itself is in mourning— its wilderness pastures are dried up. For they all do evil and abuse what power they have.

“ You have also heard that our ancestors were told,‘ You must not break your vows; you must carry out the vows you make to the Lord.’But I say, do not make any vows! Do not say,‘ By heaven!’ because heaven is God’s throne.And do not say,‘ By the earth!’ because the earth is his footstool. And do not say,‘ By Jerusalem!’ for Jerusalem is the city of the great King.Do not even say,‘ By my head!’ for you can’t turn one hair white or black.Just say a simple,‘ Yes, I will,’ or‘ No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.

“ Those who hear the warnings of this curse should not congratulate themselves, thinking,‘ I am safe, even though I am following the desires of my own stubborn heart.’ This would lead to utter ruin!The Lord will never pardon such people. Instead his anger and jealousy will burn against them. All the curses written in this book will come down on them, and the Lord will erase their names from under heaven.The Lord will separate them from all the tribes of Israel, to pour out on them all the curses of the covenant recorded in this Book of Instruction.“ Then the generations to come, both your own descendants and the foreigners who come from distant lands, will see the devastation of the land and the diseases the Lord inflicts on it.They will exclaim,‘ The whole land is devastated by sulfur and salt. It is a wasteland with nothing planted and nothing growing, not even a blade of grass. It is like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger.’“ And all the surrounding nations will ask,‘ Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why was he so angry?’“ And the answer will be,‘ This happened because the people of the land abandoned the covenant that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.Instead, they turned away to serve and worship gods they had not known before, gods that were not from the Lord.That is why the Lord’s anger has burned against this land, bringing down on it every curse recorded in this book.In great anger and fury the Lord uprooted his people from their land and banished them to another land, where they still live today!’