37 Bible Verses about Revenge, And Retaliation

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

And the LORD said to him, Therefore whoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him seven-fold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; I am the LORD.

To me belongeth 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.

Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.

As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand maketh a stroke with the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and falleth upon his neighbor, that he dieth: he shall flee to one of these cities, and live: Lest the avenger of blood shall pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past. Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.

Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian, because thou wast a stranger in his land.

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

And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray to the LORD for it: for in the peace of it ye shall have peace.

And if any mischief shall follow, then thou shalt 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.

And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death. And he that killeth a beast shall make it good; beast for beast. And if a man shall cause a blemish in his neighbor; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him;read more.
Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him. And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it: and he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death.

And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and behold, if the witness is a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother; Then shall ye do to him, as he had thought to do to his brother: so shalt thou remove the evil from among you. And those who remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.read more.
And thy eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, That ye resist not evil: but whoever shall strike thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.read more.
And whoever shall constrain thee to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy: But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to them who hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them who despitefully use you. And to him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke, forbid not to take thy coat also.read more.
Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods, ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them who love you, what thanks have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them who do good to you, what thanks have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them from whom ye hope to receive, what thanks have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much in return. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind to the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.

See that none render evil for evil to any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.

Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but on the contrary, blessing; knowing that ye are called to this, that ye should inherit a blessing.

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

But it came to pass after a while, in the time of wheat-harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in. And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her. And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.read more.
And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took fire-brands, and turned tail to tail, and put a fire-brand in the midst between two tails. And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives. Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire. And Samson said to them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter. And he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.

If it is possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity will cover a multitude of sins.

But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say to you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of man shall have come.

And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them, went away,

Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?

But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; Partly, while ye were made a gazing-stock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, while ye became companions of them that were so used. For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the seizing of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.

And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?

Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints will judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more, things that pertain to this life?read more.
If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that will be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before unbelievers.

Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them: for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

If thy enemy shall hunger, give him bread to eat; and if he shall thirst, give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD will reward thee.

And will not God avenge his own elect, who cry day and night to him, though he beareth long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, will he find faith on the earth?

Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful to his land, and to his people.

The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but my hand shall not be upon thee.

And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy 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.

It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.

And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great harlot, who corrupted the earth with her lewdness, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.