Numbers 23:8

He says, then: "What shall I curse, whom the Lord does not curse? Or what shall I over-curse, whom the Lord does not over-curse?" "Over-curses" we venture to say according to the manner of the Greek speech, desiring to show the force of the word from the addition of the preposition. What, then, shall we say? The Lord indeed does not curse Jacob, nor Israel, but does he perhaps curse some other? We read it written that the Lord says to the serpent: "Cursed are you among all the beasts of the earth"; and again to Adam: "Cursed is the earth in your works"; but also to Cain: "And now cursed are you from the earth, which opened its mouth to receive the blood of your brother from your hands"; and: "Cursed is everyone who makes a graven or molten image." But lest you think that these things are contained only in the old writings, you will find similar things also in the Gospels; for it is written that the Lord will say to those who are on the left: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire." But also when he says: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" and: "Woe to you rich!" and each thing of this kind, with what else than curses does he seem to press them? But what shall we say to the fact that a commandment is given through the Apostle, where he says: "Bless and do not curse"? Does he, then, himself do that which he does not wish to be done by men—he who sets an example of life for men? It is not so. For God, when he curses any, designates the desert of him who is cursed, and pronounces sentence, inasmuch as neither the quality of the sin nor the disposition of the sinner escapes him. But since a man cannot know these things—for one cannot see or know the purpose and mind of another—therefore, even if he utters a curse with the intent of one judging or pronouncing sentence, there cannot be a just cause for cursing where the disposition of the sinner is unknown, especially since human vice knows how to utter curses precisely when it is perhaps provoked by insults or injuries. Wishing to cut away this vice, that we may not provoke curses with curses and insults with insults, the Apostle lays down a necessary commandment, that we bless and do not curse; whereby the vice of reviling may be cut away, not whereby the truth of judging—which is hidden from men—and the authority of pronouncing sentence may be destroyed.