And you are to tell the Israelites, ‘If anyone curses his God, he shall bear the consequences of his sin.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin.
- KJV And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin.
- NKJV “Then you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin.
- NASB You shall also speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If anyone curses his God, then he will bear the responsibility for his sin.
- NLT Say to the people of Israel: Those who curse their God will be punished for their sin.
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
Anyone who curses his God must bear the guilt of his sin. Cursing God is a personal accountability before him.
Overview
God establishes the general principle: whoever curses God will answer for that sin. This frames the specific penalty that follows and applies it to all. It reminds every person that contempt for God incurs real guilt, from which only the cross provides deliverance.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Lev 5:1“If someone sins by failing to testify when he hears a public charge about something he has witnessed, whether he has seen it or learned of it, he shall bear the iniquity.
- Num 9:13But if a man who is ceremonially clean and is not on a journey still fails to observe the Passover, he must be cut off from his people, because he did not present the LORD’s offering at its appointed time. That man will bear the consequences of his sin.
- Exod 22:28You must not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.
- Lev 20:16–17If a woman approaches any animal to mate with it, you must kill both the woman and the animal. They must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 24:15 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.