63 Bible Verses about Murder

They lie in wait for their [own] blood. They ambush their [own] lives. Thus are the ways of all who are greedy [for] gain-- it will take the life of its possessors.

They kill widow and stranger, and they murder orphans,

Then the two men, {scoundrels}, came, sat opposite him, and the {scoundrels} witnessed against Naboth before the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king," so they brought him outside of the city and stoned him with stones, and he died.

Let not my person be joined to their company. For in their anger they killed men, and at their pleasure they hamstrung cattle.

Then Herod, [when he] saw that he had been deceived by the wise men, became very angry, and he sent [soldiers] [and] executed all the children in Bethlehem and in all the region [around] it from [the age of] two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined precisely from the wise men.

Then Cain said to his brother Abel, ["Let us go out into the field."] And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

And [after they] had driven [him] out of the city, they began to stone [him], and the witnesses laid aside their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.

"[As for] the one shedding the blood of humankind, by humankind his blood shall be shed, for God made humankind in his own image.

" '{Whoever strikes someone} and he dies will surely be put to death.

" 'And when a man kills any human being, he certainly shall be put to death.

" 'But if he hit him with an object of iron, so that he dies, the killer must surely be put to death.

Also, you will not take a ransom payment for the life of a killer who [is] guilty of death; indeed, he must surely be put to death.

so that upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on the earth from the blood of righteous Abel up to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

Rejoice over her, heaven and the saints and the apostles and the prophets, because God has pronounced your judgment on her!"

Call for songs of joy, O nations, [concerning] his people, for the blood of his servants he will avenge, {and he will take reprisals against his foes}, and he will make atonement [for] his land, his people."

And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints and all those who had been slaughtered on the earth.

He said to him, "Which [ones]?" And Jesus said, "Do not commit murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,

"[As for] the one shedding the blood of humankind, by humankind his blood shall be shed, for God made humankind in his own image.

For the [commandments], "You shall not commit adultery, you shall not commit murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet," and if [there is] any other commandment, are summed up in this statement: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that every murderer does not have eternal life residing in him.

By all means do not let anyone of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.

"[As for] the one shedding the blood of humankind, by humankind his blood shall be shed, for God made humankind in his own image.

" 'If anyone kills a person, the killer will be put to death {according to the testimony} of witnesses, but someone cannot die on testimony of one person.

When you till the ground {it shall no longer yield its strength to you}. You shall be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth." And Cain said to Yahweh, "My punishment [is] greater than [I can] bear. Look, you have driven me out today from the face of the ground, and from your face I must hide. I will be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth, and it will happen that whoever finds me will kill me." read more.
Then Yahweh said to him, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain will be avenged sevenfold." Then Yahweh put a sign on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him.

They returned and told him, and he said, "This [is] the word of Yahweh which he spoke by the hand of his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 'On the plot of ground of Jezreel, the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel.'" So the dead body of Jezebel became dung on the surface [spread] on the field in the plot of ground of Jezreel, so one cannot say, "This [is] Jezebel."

" 'If anyone kills a person, the killer will be put to death {according to the testimony} of witnesses, but someone cannot die on testimony of one person.

{The testimony of a single witness may not be used to convict} [with respect to] any crime and for any wrongdoing in any offense that a person committed; on the {evidence} of two witnesses or on the {evidence} of three witnesses {a charge shall be sustained}.

But if someone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him {and murders him}, and [the murderer] flees to one of these cities,

and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and {to the sprinkled blood} that speaks better than Abel's [does].

And he said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground.

and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "{How long}, holy and true Lord, will you not judge and avenge our blood from those who live on the earth?"

And Yahweh said to him, "{Name him} Jezreel; because in a little while {I will punish} the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.

You shall say to him, 'Thus says Yahweh: "Have you committed murder and also taken possession?" ' You shall also say to him, 'Thus says Yahweh: "In the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, the dogs will also lick your blood." '"

Call for songs of joy, O nations, [concerning] his people, for the blood of his servants he will avenge, {and he will take reprisals against his foes}, and he will make atonement [for] his land, his people."

Yahweh will return his blood on his head, because he fell upon two men, more righteous and better than he, and he killed them with the sword, even though my father did not know it; [namely] Abner son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah.

And {your lifeblood} I will require; from {every animal} I will require it. And from the hand of humankind, from the hand of [each] man to his brother I will require the life of humankind.

So you will not pollute the land in which you are; because blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is poured out on it except with the blood of the one who poured it out.

Then Herod, [when he] saw that he had been deceived by the wise men, became very angry, and he sent [soldiers] [and] executed all the children in Bethlehem and in all the region [around] it from [the age of] two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined precisely from the wise men.

And he sent [orders] [and] had John beheaded in the prison,

So he executed James the brother of John with a sword.

Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand about the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become,

who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and who persecuted us, and [who are] not pleasing to God and [are] opposed to all people,

So Pilate, [when he] saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but instead an uproar was developing, took water [and] washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this man. You see to [it]!"

{And then} the nearest city to the slain one, the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd that has not been worked with [in the field], that has not pulled a yoke, and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a {wadi that flows with water all year} and [that] has not been plowed and has not been sown; [then] {there they shall break the neck of the heifer in the wadi}. Then the priests, the descendants of Levi, shall come near, for Yahweh your God has chosen them to bless in the name of Yahweh, and every legal dispute and every [case of] assault will be {subject to their ruling}. read more.
And all of the elders of that city nearest to the slain person shall wash their hands over the heifer [with] the broken neck in the wadi. And they shall declare, and they shall say, 'Our hands did not shed this blood, and our eyes did not see [what was done]. Forgive your people, Israel, whom you redeemed, Yahweh, and [do] not {allow} the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, and let them be forgiven [with regard to] blood.' And [so] you shall purge the innocent blood from your midst, because you must do the right thing in the eyes of Yahweh.

But if someone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him {and murders him}, and [the murderer] flees to one of these cities,

If he shoves him in hatred, or he throws something at him with intention, and he dies,

envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, [things] which I am telling you [in advance], just as I said before, that the ones who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Outside [are] the dogs and the sorcerers and the sexually immoral people and the murderers and the idolaters and everyone who loves and who practices falsehood.

So she wrote letters in the name of Ahab and sealed them with his seal. She sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who [were] dwelling with Naboth in his city. She had written in the letters, saying, "Call a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people. Seat two men, {scoundrels}, opposite him. Let them witness against him saying, 'You cursed God and the king.' Then you shall bring him out and stone him so that he dies."

If they say, "Come with us! We shall lie in wait for blood; we shall ambush the innocent without cause.

"You shall not murder.

'You shall not murder.

And Reuben said to them, "You must not shed blood. Throw him into this pit that [is] in the desert, but do not lay a hand on him"--so that he might rescue him from their hand to return him to his father.

Only you must certainly know that if you put me to death, you will bring on yourselves innocent blood, and on this city and on its inhabitants, for {truly} Yahweh sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears."

The blood avenger himself will put the killer to death; he must put him to death when meeting him.

or if he hits him in hostility with his hand, and he dies, the one that struck him will put to death the killer when meeting him.

And they saw him from a distance. And before he drew near to them, they conspired against him to kill him.

Then Esau held a grudge against Jacob on account of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my father are coming, then I will kill Jacob my brother."

He took his firstborn son who was to become king in his place and offered him [as] a burnt offering on the wall. Great wrath came upon Israel, and they withdrew from him and returned to the land.

And you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "A city pouring out blood in the midst of her; {its time has come}, and it made idols for itself, becoming unclean. By your blood that you poured out you have become guilty, and by your idols that you made you have become unclean, and you have brought your days near, {and your appointed years have come}. Therefore I have made you a disgrace for the nations and a laughingstock to all of the countries.

and they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and [so] the land was defiled with the blood.

So you will not pollute the land in which you are; because blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is poured out on it except with the blood of the one who poured it out.

Also on your skirts is found [the] blood of [the] life of [the] innocent, [the] poor. You did not find them in the act of breaking into a house. But in spite of all these [things],

For look! Yahweh [is] about to come out from his place to punish the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth against him, and the earth will disclose her blood and will no longer cover her slain.

Then Hazael asked, "Why [is] my lord crying?" He said, "Because I know what evil you will do to the {Israelites}. You will {set their fortifications on fire}, and you will kill their young men with the sword. Their little ones you will dash to pieces, and their pregnant women you will rip open!"

On the next day, he took the bed cover, dipped [it] in the water, and spread [it] over his face so that he died. Then Hazael became king in his place.

for their feet run to evil, and they hurry to shed blood,

Their feet [are] swift to shed blood;

And when you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I [will] not be listening. Your hands are full of blood.

Rather, your iniquities have been {barriers} between you and your God, and your sins have hidden [his] face from you, from hearing. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies, your tongue speaks wickedness.

{At dusk} the murderer rises; he kills [the] needy and [the] poor, and in the night he is like a thief.

Now I went into the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined [at home], and he said, "Let us meet in the house of God, inside the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple; for they are coming to kill you--during the night they are coming to kill you."

{At dusk} the murderer rises; he kills [the] needy and [the] poor, and in the night he is like a thief.

And you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "A city pouring out blood in the midst of her; {its time has come}, and it made idols for itself, becoming unclean.

But if someone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him {and murders him}, and [the murderer] flees to one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and they shall give him into the hand of the avenger of blood, and he shall be put to death.

Because of the sins of her prophets, the guilt of her priests, who shed blood in her midst, of righteous people. They wander blindly in the streets; they were defiled with the blood, their clothes could not be touched.

"If someone slain is found in the land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you to take possession of it [and] [is] lying in the field, [and] it is not known who {killed him}, then your elders and your judges shall go out and shall measure [the distance] to the cities that [are] around the slain one. {And then} the nearest city to the slain one, the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd that has not been worked with [in the field], that has not pulled a yoke,

Your eye shall not take pity on him, and you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, {so that good will be directed toward you}.

If he shoves him in hatred, or he throws something at him with intention, and he dies, or if he hits him in hostility with his hand, and he dies, the one that struck him will put to death the killer when meeting him.

There are six [things] Yahweh hates, and seven [things are] abominations of his soul: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

Then the king said to him, "Do as he spoke; fall upon him and bury him, and so you shall remove the innocent blood that Joab shed from on me and from on the house of my father. Yahweh will return his blood on his head, because he fell upon two men, more righteous and better than he, and he killed them with the sword, even though my father did not know it; [namely] Abner son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah.

"You have heard that it was said to the {people of old}, 'Do not commit murder,' and 'whoever commits murder will be subject to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry at his brother will be subject to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, 'Stupid fool!' will be subject to the council, and whoever says, 'Obstinate fool!' will be subject to fiery hell.

When the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Recab and Baanah, set out, they came at the heat of the day to the house of Ish-Bosheth while {he [was] taking a noontime rest}. They came as far as the middle of the house [as if] takers of wheat, and they struck him in the stomach. Then Recab and Baanah his brother escaped. When they had come [into] the house, he [was] lying on his couch {in his bedchamber}, and they attacked him and killed him. Then they {beheaded him}, and they took his head and went on the way of the Arabah all night.

"But there is nothing [in] your eyes and your heart {except} your unlawful gain, and on shedding the blood of the innocent, and on committing oppression and extortion."

envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, [things] which I am telling you [in advance], just as I said before, that the ones who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Then Esau held a grudge against Jacob on account of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my father are coming, then I will kill Jacob my brother."

" 'But if he hit him with an object of iron, so that he dies, the killer must surely be put to death.

Or if he hit him with a wooden object, by which he will die, and he does die, he [is] a killer; the killer must surely be put to death.

And if he hit him with a stone in the hand, by which he will die, and he does die, he [is] a killer; the killer must surely be put to death.

You will not take a ransom payment for the one that flees to the city of his refuge, so that he may return to live in the land before the death of the priest.

And {your lifeblood} I will require; from {every animal} I will require it. And from the hand of humankind, from the hand of [each] man to his brother I will require the life of humankind. "[As for] the one shedding the blood of humankind, by humankind his blood shall be shed, for God made humankind in his own image.

Then the two men, {scoundrels}, came, sat opposite him, and the {scoundrels} witnessed against Naboth before the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king," so they brought him outside of the city and stoned him with stones, and he died.

Now then, come, let us kill him and throw him in one of the pits. Then we will say a wild animal devoured him. Then we will see what his dreams become."

It happened that he [was] worshiping in the temple of Nisroch his god, and Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him with the sword. Then they escaped [into] the land of Ararat, and Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.

Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he filled Jerusalem {from one end to another}, apart from his sin which he caused Judah to sin by doing evil in the eyes of Yahweh.

Baasha son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. Now Nadab and all of Israel [were] laying siege to Gibbethon,

Zimri came and struck him down and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah and became king in his place.

Why have you despised the word of Yahweh by doing evil in his eyes? Uriah the Hittite you have struck down with the sword, and his wife you have taken to yourself as wife! You have killed him with the sword of the {Ammonites}!

You shall say to him, 'Thus says Yahweh: "Have you committed murder and also taken possession?" ' You shall also say to him, 'Thus says Yahweh: "In the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, the dogs will also lick your blood." '"

He sits in ambush in villages; in the hiding places he kills [the] innocent. His eyes {lurk} for [the] helpless. He lies in ambush {secretly,} like a lion in a thicket. He lies in ambush to seize [the] poor; he seizes [the] poor by catching him in his net. He is crushed; he is bowed down; so the helpless host falls by his {might}.

Also, you will not take a ransom payment for the life of a killer who [is] guilty of death; indeed, he must surely be put to death.

knowing this, that the law [is] not given for a righteous [person] but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and totally worldly, for the one who kills his father and the one who kills his mother, for murderers,

For from the heart come evil plans, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, abusive speech.

But if a man schemes against his neighbor to kill him by treachery, you will take him from my altar to die.

But if a man schemes against his neighbor to kill him by treachery, you will take him from my altar to die.

And Cain went out from the presence of Yahweh, and he settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Look, you have driven me out today from the face of the ground, and from your face I must hide. I will be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth, and it will happen that whoever finds me will kill me."

Look, you have driven me out today from the face of the ground, and from your face I must hide. I will be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth, and it will happen that whoever finds me will kill me."

So now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive the blood of your brother from your hand.

You made your slain ones numerous in this city, and you have filled its streets [with] slain ones." '

Now [when it] was early morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus in order to put him to death.

saying, "I have sinned [by] betraying innocent blood!" But they said, "What [is that] to us? You see to [it]!"

By all means do not let anyone of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.

So now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive the blood of your brother from your hand.

And he said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground.

being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greediness, malice, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malevolence. [They are] gossipers,

Then Cain said to his brother Abel, ["Let us go out into the field."] And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

so that the violence done to the seventy brothers of Abimelech would be avenged and their blood be placed on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the lords of Shechem, {who helped} to kill his brothers.

And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "Every son who is born you will throw into the Nile, and every daughter you will let live."

For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies, your tongue speaks wickedness.

And when you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I [will] not be listening. Your hands are full of blood.

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation; [then] my tongue will sing aloud [of] your righteousness.

(If the sun has risen over him, [there is] bloodguilt for him. He will make full restitution. If {he does not have enough}, he will be sold for his theft.

How has a faithful city become like a whore? Full of justice, righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.

Then Cain said to his brother Abel, ["Let us go out into the field."] And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

"[As for] the one shedding the blood of humankind, by humankind his blood shall be shed, for God made humankind in his own image.

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that every murderer does not have eternal life residing in him.

for he [who] {avenges bloodshed} remembers them. He does not forget the distressed cry of [the] afflicted.

Gilead [is] a city of evil, a cunning [city] because of blood.

You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father! That one was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand firm in the truth, because truth is not in him. Whenever he speaks the lie, he speaks from his own [nature], because he is a liar and the father {of lies}.

For I hear [the] rumor of many, "Terror on every side!" When conspiring together against me, they have plotted to take my life.

Slanderous men are {among you} to shed blood, and they, {among you}, eat upon the mountains; they do wickedness in the midst of you.