11 A curse on them! They have gone in the way of Cain, running uncontrolled into the error of Balaam for reward, and have come to destruction by saying evil against the Lord, like Korah.
Turning out of the true way, they have gone wandering in error, after the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who was pleased to take payment for wrongdoing;
Not being of the Evil One like Cain, who put his brother to death. And why did he put him to death? Because his works were evil and his brother's works were good.
And after a time, Cain gave to the Lord an offering of the fruits of the earth. And Abel gave an offering of the young lambs of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord was pleased with Abel's offering; But in Cain and his offering he had no pleasure. And Cain was angry and his face became sad. And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? and why is your face sad? If you do well, will you not have honour? and if you do wrong, sin is waiting at the door, desiring to have you, but do not let it be your master. And Cain said to his brother, Let us go into the field: and when they were in the field, Cain made an attack on his brother Abel and put him to death. And the Lord said to Cain, Where is your brother Abel? And he said, I have no idea: am I my brother's keeper? And he said, What have you done? the voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the earth. And now you are cursed from the earth, whose mouth is open to take your brother's blood from your hand; No longer will the earth give you her fruit as the reward of your work; you will be a wanderer in flight over the earth. And Cain said, My punishment is greater than my strength. You have sent me out this day from the face of the earth and from before your face; I will be a wanderer in flight over the earth, and whoever sees me will put me to death.
But I have some things against you, because you have with you those who keep the teaching of Balaam, by whose suggestion Balak made the children of Israel go out of the right way, taking food which was offered to false gods, and going after the desires of the flesh.
Their respect for a man's position is a witness against them; and their sin is open to the view of all; like that of Sodom, it is not covered. A curse on their soul! for the measure of their sin is full.
And the sons of Eliab: Nemuel and Dathan and Abiram. These are the same Dathan and Abiram who had a place in the meeting of the people, who together with Korah made an outcry against Moses and Aaron and against the Lord: And they went down into the open mouth of the earth, together with Korah, when death overtook him and all his band; at the time when two hundred and fifty men were burned in the fire, and they became a sign.
Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Pallu, the son of Reuben, made themselves ready, And came before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty chiefs of the people, men of good name who had a place in the meeting of the people. They came together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, You take overmuch on yourselves, seeing that all the people are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them; why then have you put yourselves in authority over the people of the Lord? And Moses, hearing this, went down on his face; And he said to Korah and his band, In the morning the Lord will make clear who are his, and who is holy, and who may come near him: the man of his selection will be caused to come near him. So do this: let Korah and all his band take vessels for burning perfumes; And put spices on the fire in them before the Lord tomorrow; then the man marked out by the Lord will be holy: you take overmuch on yourselves, you sons of Levi. And Moses said to Korah, Give ear now, you sons of Levi: Does it seem only a small thing to you that the God of Israel has made you separate from the rest of Israel, letting you come near himself to do the work of the House of the Lord, and to take your place before the people to do what has to be done for them; Letting you, and all your brothers the sons of Levi, come near to him? and would you now be priests? So you and all your band have come together against the Lord; and Aaron, who is he, that you are crying out against him? Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: and they said, We will not come up: Is it not enough that you have taken us from a land flowing with milk and honey, to put us to death in the waste land, but now you are desiring to make yourself a chief over us? And more than this, you have not taken us into a land flowing with milk and honey, or given us a heritage of fields and vine-gardens: will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up. Then Moses was very angry, and said to the Lord, Give no attention to their offering: not one of their asses have I taken, or done wrong to any of them. And Moses said to Korah, You and all your band are to come before the Lord tomorrow, you and they and Aaron: And let every man take a vessel for burning perfumes, and put sweet spices in them; let every man take his vessel before the Lord, two hundred and fifty vessels; you and Aaron and everyone with his vessel. So every man took his vessel and they put fire in them, with spices, and came to the door of the Tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. And Korah made all the people come together against them to the door of the Tent of meeting: and the glory of the Lord was seen by all the people. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Come out from among this people, so that I may send sudden destruction on them. Then falling down on their faces they said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, because of one man's sin will your wrath be moved against all the people? And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the people, Come away from the tent of Korah Dathan, and Abiram. So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the responsible men of Israel went with him. And he said to the people, Come away now from the tents of these evil men, without touching anything of theirs, or you may be taken in the punishment of their sins. So on every side they went away from the tent of Korah Dathan, and Abiram: and Dathan and Abiram came out to the door of their tents, with their wives and their sons and their little ones. And Moses said, Now you will see that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and I have not done them of myself. If these men have the common death of men, or if the natural fate of all men overtakes them, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord does something new, opening the earth to take them in, with everything which is theirs, and they go down living into the underworld, then it will be clear to you that the Lord has not been honoured by these men. And while these words were on his lips, the earth under them was parted in two; And the earth, opening her mouth, took them in, with their families, and all the men who were joined to Korah, and their goods. So they and all theirs went down living into the underworld, and the earth was shut over them, and they were cut off from among the meeting of the people. And all Israel round about them went in flight at their cry, For fear, said they, that we go down into the heart of the earth. Then fire came out from the Lord, burning up the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the perfume.
But a curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! because you are shutting the kingdom of heaven against men: for you do not go in yourselves, and those who are going in, you keep back. [] A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! for you go about land and sea to get one disciple and, having him, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. A curse is on you, blind guides, who say, Whoever takes an oath by the Temple, it is nothing; but whoever takes an oath by the gold of the Temple, he is responsible.
But a curse is on you, Pharisees! for you make men give a tenth of every sort of plant, and give no thought to right and the love of God; but it is right for you to do these things, and not let the others be undone. A curse is on you, Pharisees! for your desires are for the most important seats in the Synagogues and for words of respect said to you in the market-place. A curse is on you! for you are like the resting-places of dead men, which are not seen, and men go walking over them without knowledge of it. And one of the teachers of the law, answering, said to him, Master, in saying this, you give a bad name to us as to them. And he said, A curse is on you, teachers of the law! for while other men are crushed under the weight of the rules you make for them, you yourselves do not put so much as one finger to them. A curse is on you! for you make resting-places for the bodies of the prophets, but your fathers put them to death.
Then the children of Israel, journeying on, put up their tents in the lowlands of Moab, on the other side of Jordan at Jericho. Now Balak, the son of Zippor, saw what Israel had done to the Amorites. And in Moab there was great fear of the people, because their numbers were so great: and the feeling of Moab was bitter against the children of Israel. Then Moab said to the responsible men of Midian, It is clear that this great people will be the destruction of everything round us, making a meal of us as the ox does of the grass of the field. At that time Balak, the son of Zippor, was king of Moab. So he sent men to Balaam, son of Beor, at Pethor by the River in the land of the children of his people, saying to him, See, a people has come out of Egypt, covering all the face of the earth, and they have put up their tents opposite to me: Come now, in answer to my prayer, and put a curse on this people, for they are greater than I: and then I may be strong enough to overcome them and send them out of the land: for it is clear that good comes to him who has your blessing, but he on whom you put your curse is cursed. So the responsible men of Moab and Midian went away, taking in their hands rewards for the prophet; and they came to Balaam and said to him what Balak had given them orders to say. And he said to them, Take your rest here tonight, and I will give you an answer after hearing what the Lord says; so the chiefs of Moab kept there with Balaam that night. And God came to Balaam and said, Who are these men with you? And Balaam said to God, Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent them to me, saying, See, the people who have come out of Egypt are covering all the earth: now, put a curse on this people for me, so that I may be able to make war on them, driving them out of the land. And God said to Balaam, You are not to go with them, or put a curse on this people, for they have my blessing. In the morning Balaam got up and said to the chiefs of Balak, Go back to your land, for the Lord will not let me go with you. So the chiefs of Moab went back to Balak and said, Balaam will not come with us. So Balak sent more chiefs, greater in number and of higher position than the others. And they came to Balaam and said, Balak, son of Zippor, says, Let nothing keep you from coming to me: For I will give you a place of very great honour, and whatever you say to me I will do; so come, in answer to my prayer, and put a curse on this people. But Balaam, in answer; said to the servants of Balak, Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, it would not be possible for me to do anything more or less than the orders of the Lord my God. So take your rest here this night, till I have knowledge what more the Lord has to say to me. And that night God came to Balaam and said to him, If these men have come for you, go with them: but do only what I say to you. So in the morning Balaam got up and, making his ass ready, went with the chiefs of Moab. But God was moved to wrath because he went: and the angel of the Lord took up a position in the road to keep him from his purpose. Now he was seated on his ass, and his two servants were with him. And the ass saw the angel of the Lord waiting in the road with his sword in his hand; and turning from the road, the ass went into the field; and Balaam gave the ass blows, to get her back on to the road. Then the angel of the Lord took up his position in a narrow road through the vine-gardens, with a wall on this side and on that.
Unhappy are you, Chorazin! Unhappy are you, Beth-saida! For if the works of power which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have been turned from their sins in days gone by, clothing themselves in haircloth and putting dust on their heads.
A curse on the foolish keeper who goes away from the flock! the sword will be on his arm and on his right eye: his arm will become quite dry and his eye will be made completely dark.
O my people, keep in mind now what was designed by Balak, king of Moab, and the answer which Balaam, son of Beor, gave him; the events, from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may be certain of the upright acts of the Lord.
I have seen your disgusting acts, even your false behaviour and your cries of desire and your loose ways on the hills in the field. Unhappy are you, O Jerusalem, you have no desire to be made clean; how long will you be in turning back to me?
Unhappy is the sinner! for the reward of his evil doings will come on him.
Then Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, went up to war against Israel; and he sent for Balaam, the son of Beor, to put a curse on you: But I did not give ear to Balaam; and so he went on blessing you; and I kept you safe from him. Then you went over Jordan and came to Jericho: and the men of Jericho made war on you, the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Hivites and the Jebusites: and I gave them up into your hands.
Because they gave you no bread or water on your way, when you came out of Egypt: and they got Balaam, the son of Peor, from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to put curses on you.