The Curses

In initio transgressionis Adae, sicut enarrat Sciptura, non ipsum maledixit Adam, sed terram in operibus ejus, quemadmodum ex veteribus quidam ait: quoniam quidem transtulit Deus maledictum in terram, ut non perseveraret in homine. Condemnationem autem transgressionis accepit homo taedia et terrenum laborem, et manducare panem in sudore vultus sui, et converti in terram, ex qua assumptus est; similiter autem mulier taedia, et labores, et gemitus, et tristitias partus, et servitium, id est ut serviret viro suo: ut neque maledicti a Deo in totum perirent, neque sine increpatione perseverantes Deum contemnerent. Omnis autem maledictio decurrit in serpentem, qui seduxerat eos. Et dixit, inquit, Deus serpenti: Quoniam fecisti hoc, maledictus tu ab omnibus pecoribus, et ob omnibus bestiis terrae. Hoc idem autem et Dominus in Evangelio his qui a sinistris inveniuntur, ait: Abite, maledicti, in ignem aeternum, quem praeparavit Pater meus diabolo et angelis ejus; significans quoniam non homini principaliter praeparatus est aeternus ignis, sed ei qui seduxit, et offendere fecit hominem, et, inquam, qui princeps apostasiae est, principi abscessionis, et his angeis qui apostatae facti sunt cum eo: quem quidem juste percipient etiam hi, qui similiter ut illi, sine poenitentia et sine regressu in malitiae perseverant operibus. Sanctus Ireneaus Lugdunensis, Adversus Haereses, Liber III Cap XXXIII Source: Migne PG 7.961c-b

Immediately after Adam transgressed, as the Scripture relates, God did not curse Adam himself, but the ground in relation to his works, as a certain one of the ancients says: 'God transferred the curse to the earth, that it might not remain in man.' 1 But man received as the punishment of his transgression the wearisome task of working the earth, and to eat bread in the sweat of his face, and to return to the dust from which he was taken. Similarly the woman also received toil, and labour, and groans, and the pangs of birth, and subjection, that is, that she should serve her husband, so that they should neither perish utterly when cursed by God, nor, lacking chastisement, persist in scorning God. But the complete curse fell upon the serpent which had seduced them. 'And God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all the beasts of the earth.' 2 And this same thing the Lord says in the Gospel, to those who are found on the left: 'Depart from me, you accursed ones, into everlasting fire, which my Father has prepared for the devil and his angels,' 3 indicating that the eternal fire was not originally prepared for man, but for the one who seduced man, and caused him to sin, for the one, I say, who is the prince of apostasy, who is the prince of division, and for those angels who became apostates along with him; which indeed they shall also justly feel, who, like him, without repentance and without turning back, persevere in works of wickedness Saint Ireneaus of Lyons, Against Heresies, Book 3, Chapter 33 1 Gen 3.16 2 Gen 3.14 3 Mt 25.41