Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen.
Parallel translations
- WEB ‘Cursed is he who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
- BSB ‘Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- NKJV ‘Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’
- NASB ‘Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to attack an innocent person.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
- NLT ‘Cursed is anyone who accepts payment to kill an innocent person.’ And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A curse falls on accepting a bribe to kill an innocent person, corrupting justice for gain.
Overview
This condemns the hired taking of innocent life, joining greed to murder. God abhors the perversion of justice for money. Tragically, this very sin would later appear in the betrayal of the innocent Christ for thirty pieces of silver.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ps 15:5He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.
- Deut 10:17For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:
- Exod 23:7–8Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.
- Deut 16:19Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
- Mic 7:2–3The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
- Acts 1:18Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.
- Matt 26:15And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.
- Matt 27:3–4Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
- Prov 1:11–29If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
- Ezek 22:12–13In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.
- Mic 3:10–11They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 27:25 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.