78 Bible Verses about Retribution

You shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.

For we know him that has said, Vengeance belongs unto me, I will recompense, says the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.

To me belongs vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto you: behold, my Angel shall go before you: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.

And if you will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me; Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins. And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall bring the vengeance of my covenant: and when you are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

Know therefore that the LORD your God, he is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; And repays them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hates him, he will repay him to his face.

If I whet my glittering sword, and my hand takes hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to my enemies, and will reward them that hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the heads of the leaders of the enemy. Rejoice, O you nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.

For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways.

If you say, Behold, we knew it not; does not he that weighs the heart consider it? and he that keeps your soul, does not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?

Therefore says the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will rid myself of my adversaries, and avenge myself of my enemies:

God is jealous, and the LORD avenges; the LORD avenges, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserves wrath for his enemies.

That be far from you to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from you: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

Because I will proclaim the name of the LORD: ascribe you greatness unto our God. He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are justice: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him. And it came to pass, that in the fifth year of king Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the LORD, With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Libyans, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians.read more.
And he took the fortified cities which belonged to Judah, and came to Jerusalem. Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus says the LORD, You have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak. Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, The LORD is righteous.

The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God who judges in the earth.

How shall I pardon you for this? your children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses. They were as fed horses in the morning: everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife. Shall I not punish for these things? says the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you shall be no priest to me: because you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.

He made a pit, and dug it, and has fallen into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own crown.

The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright behavior. Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.

And they lie in wait for their own blood; they lurk secretly for their own lives.

Whosoever digs a pit shall fall in it: and he that rolls a stone, it will return upon him.

Whosoever causes the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit: but the upright shall have good things in possession.

Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again your sword into its place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Whoever sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

And if any mischief follows, then you shall give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

For he is the minister of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid; for he bears not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, an avenger to execute wrath upon him that does evil.

And he that kills any man shall surely be put to death. And he that kills an animal shall make it good; animal for animal. And if a man causes a disfigurement in his neighbor; as he has done, so shall it be done to him;read more.
Fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he has caused a disfigurement in a man, so shall it be done to him again. And he that kills an animal, he shall restore it: and he that kills a man, he shall be put to death. You shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the LORD your God.

But if he strikes him with an instrument of iron, so that he dies, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. And if he strikes him with throwing a stone, by which he may die, and he dies, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. Or if he strikes him with a hand weapon of wood, by which he may die, and he dies, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.read more.
The avenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meets him, he shall slay him. But if he pushes him from hatred, or hurls at him by lying in wait, that he dies; Or in enmity strikes him with his hand, that he dies: he that struck him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meets him. But if he pushes him suddenly without enmity, or has cast upon him anything without lying in wait, Or used any stone, by which a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, that he dies, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm: Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments: And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, where he had fled: and he shall abide in it until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.

Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.

Say not, I will do so to him as he has done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.

You have heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That you resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavors: give them after the work of their hands; render to them what they deserve.

Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:read more.
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

Why should the nations say, Where is their God? let him be known among the nations in our sight by the revenging of the blood of your servants which is shed.

O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongs; O God, to whom vengeance belongs, show yourself. Lift up yourself, you judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.

O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewards you as you have served us. Happy shall he be, that takes and dashes your little ones against the stones.

Render unto them a recompense, O LORD, according to the work of their hands. Give them sorrow of heart, your curse unto them. Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the LORD.

And the sea gave up the dead who were in it; and death and hades delivered up the dead who were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

God has spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongs unto God. Also unto you, O Lord, belongs mercy: for you render to every man according to his work.

Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of condemnation.

But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart treasure up unto yourself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life:read more.
But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that does evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Greek; But glory, honor, and peace, to every man that works good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek: For there is no respect of persons with God.

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon your belly shall you go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life:

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in sorrow you shall bring forth children; and your desire shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you.

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for I am sorry that I have made them.

And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built. And the LORD said, Behold, the people are one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;

And you shall say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews has sent me unto you, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, before you would not hear. Thus says the LORD, In this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, I will strike with the rod that is in my hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go from here: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out from here altogether.

And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.

And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be you idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.read more.
Neither let us test Christ, as some of them also tested him, and were destroyed by serpents. Neither murmur you, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed by the destroyer.

And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomits out its inhabitants.

Speak not you in your heart, after that the LORD your God has cast them out from before you, saying, For my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD does drive them out from before you.

That the land vomit you not out also, when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you.

Because you served not the LORD your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore shall you serve your enemies which the LORD shall send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon your neck, until he has destroyed you.

Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will repay, even repay into their bosom, Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, says the LORD, who have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills: therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom.

A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the LORD that renders recompense to his enemies.

Therefore, as I live, says the Lord GOD; Surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things, and with all your abominations, therefore will I also diminish you; neither shall my eye spare, neither will I have any pity. A third part of you shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of you: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about you; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. Thus shall my anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the LORD have spoken it in my zeal, when I have accomplished my fury in them.

Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense.

That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

For you, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for you also have suffered the same things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.

And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and died.

But if the LORD makes a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth, and swallows them up, with all that belongs unto them, and they go down alive into the pit; then you shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.

And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah; and God struck him there for his irreverence; and there he died by the ark of God.

Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house; because you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.

Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds that feed my people; You have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, says the LORD.

But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land? While it remained, was it not your own? and after it was sold, was it not in your own power? why have you conceived this thing in your heart? you have not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and died: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

For he that eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered scraps under my table: as I have done, so God has requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.

Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren: And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him: and all Israel fled every one to his tent.

And you shall smite the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.

And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is shameful, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was fitting.

But evil men and seducers shall grow worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

And Joshua said, Why have you troubled us? the LORD shall trouble you this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.

And the king said unto him, Do as he has said, and strike him down, and bury him; that you may take away the innocent blood, which Joab shed, from me, and from the house of my father. And the LORD shall return his blood upon his own head, who struck down two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing of it, Abner the son of Ner, captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the army of Judah.