38 Bible Verses about Criminals

Most Relevant Verses

Judges 9:5

Then he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and put his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, to death on the same stone; however, Jotham, the youngest, kept himself safe by going away to a secret place.

1 Samuel 22:18

Then the king said to Doeg, You are to put the priests to death. And Doeg the Edomite, turning on the priests and attacking them, put to death that day eighty-five men who took up the ephod.

2 Samuel 11:14-17

Now in the morning, David gave Uriah a letter to take to Joab. And in the letter he said, Take care to put Uriah in the very front of the line, where the fighting is most violent, and go back from him, so that he may be overcome and put to death. So while Joab was watching the town, he put Uriah in the place where it was clear to him the best fighters were.read more.
And the men of the town went out and had a fight with Joab: and a number of David's men came to their death in the fight, and with them Uriah the Hittite.

2 Samuel 13:23-29

Now after two full years, Absalom had men cutting the wool of his sheep in Baal-hazor, which is near Ephraim: and he sent for all the king's sons to come to his feast. And Absalom came to the king and said, See now, your servant is cutting the wool of his sheep; will the king and his servants be pleased to come? And the king said to Absalom, No, my son, let us not all go, or the number will be over-great for you. And he made his request again, but he would not go, but he gave him his blessing.read more.
Then Absalom said, If you will not go, then let my brother Amnon go with us. And the king said to him, Is there any reason for him to go with you? But Absalom went on requesting him till he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him. And Absalom made a great feast like a feast for a king. Now Absalom had given orders to his servants, saying, Now take note when Amnon's heart is glad with wine; and when I say to you, Make an attack on Amnon, then put him to death without fear: have I not given you orders? be strong and without fear. So Absalom's servants did to Amnon as Absalom had given them orders. Then all the king's sons got up, and every man got on his beast and went in flight.

Matthew 2:16

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was very angry; and he sent out, and put to death all the male children in Beth-lehem and in all the parts round about it, from two years old and under, acting on the knowledge which he had got with care from the wise men.

Mark 15:7

And there was one named Barabbas, in prison with those who had gone against the government and in the fight had taken life.

Luke 23:19

Now this man was in prison because of an attack against the government in the town, in which there had been loss of life

2 Samuel 11:2-5

Now one evening, David got up from his bed, and while he was walking on the roof of the king's house, he saw from there a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent to get knowledge who the woman was. And one said, Is this not Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent and took her; and she came to him, and he took her to his bed: (for she had been made clean;) then she went back to her house.read more.
And the woman became with child; and she sent word to David that she was with child.

Hosea 3:1

And the Lord said to me, Give your love again to a woman who has a lover and is false to her husband, even as the Lord has love for the children of Israel, though they are turned to other gods and are lovers of grape-cakes.

Genesis 31:19

Now Laban had gone to see to the cutting of the wool of his sheep; so Rachel secretly took the images of the gods of her father's house.

Joshua 7:21

When I saw among their goods a fair robe of Babylon and two hundred shekels of silver, and a mass of gold, fifty shekels in weight, I was overcome by desire and took them; and they are put away in the earth in my tent, and the silver is under it.

1 Kings 21:13

And the two good-for-nothing persons came in and took their seats before him and gave witness against Naboth, in front of the people, saying, Naboth has been cursing God and the king. Then they took him outside the town and had him stoned to death.

1 Kings 16:15-18

In the twenty-seventh year of Asa, king of Judah, Zimri was king for seven days in Tirzah. Now the people were attacking Gibbethon in the land of the Philistines. And news came to the people in the tents that Zimri had made a secret design and had put the king to death: so all Israel made Omri, the captain of the army, king that day in the tents. Then Omri went up from Gibbethon, with all the army of Israel, and they made an attack on Tirzah, shutting in the town on every side.read more.
And when Zimri saw that the town was taken, he went into the inner room of the king's house, and burning the house over his head, came to his end,

2 Kings 11:1-3

Now when Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she had all the rest of the seed of the kingdom put to death. But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, secretly took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, with the woman who took care of him, away from among the king's sons who were put to death, and put him in the bedroom; and they kept him safe from Athaliah, so that he was not put to death. And for six years she kept him safe in the house of the Lord, while Athaliah was ruling over the land.

2 Chronicles 22:10-12

Now when Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she had all the rest of the seed of the kingdom of Judah put to death. But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, secretly took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, away from among the king's sons who were put to death, and put him and the woman who took care of him in a bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest and sister of Ahaziah, kept him safe from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death. And she kept him safe with her in the house of God for six years, while Athaliah was ruling the land.

2 Kings 21:1-2

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king; for fifty-five years he was ruling in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Hephzi-bah. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, copying the disgusting ways of those nations whom the Lord had sent out before the children of Israel.

2 Kings 2:23-24

Then from there he went up to Beth-el; and on his way, some little boys came out from the town and made sport of him, crying, Go up, old no-hair! go up, old no-hair! And turning back, he saw them, and put a curse on them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the wood and put forty-two of the children to death.

Proverbs 1:1-4

The wise sayings of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel. To have knowledge of wise teaching; to be clear about the words of reason: To be trained in the ways of wisdom, in righteousness and judging truly and straight behaviour:read more.
To make the simple-minded sharp, and to give the young man knowledge, and serious purpose:

Deuteronomy 21:22-23

If a man does a crime for which the punishment is death, and he is put to death by hanging him on a tree; Do not let his body be on the tree all night, but put it to rest in the earth the same day; for the man who undergoes hanging is cursed by God; so do not make unclean the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage.

2 Samuel 21:9

And he gave them up to the Gibeonites, and they put them to death, hanging them on the mountain before the Lord; all seven came to their end together in the first days of the grain-cutting, at the start of the cutting of the barley.

Ezra 6:11

And I have given orders that if anyone makes any change in this word, one of the supports is to be pulled out of his house, and he is to be lifted up and fixed to it; and his house is to be made waste for this;

Deuteronomy 22:23-24

If a young virgin has given her word to be married to a man, and another man meeting her in the town, has connection with her; Then you are to take the two of them to the doorway of the town, and have them stoned to death; the young virgin, because she gave no cry for help, though it was in the town, and the man, because he has put shame on his neighbour's wife: so you are to put away evil from among you.

Leviticus 20:1-2

And the Lord said to Moses, Again, say to the children of Israel, If any man of the children of Israel, or any other man living in Israel, gives his offspring to Molech, he is certainly to be put to death: he is to be stoned by the people of the land;

Joshua 7:24-25

Then Joshua and all Israel took Achan, the son of Zerah, and the silver and the robe and the mass of gold, and his sons and his daughters and his oxen and his asses and his sheep and his tent and everything he had; and they took them up into the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why have you been a cause of trouble to us? Today the Lord will send trouble on you. And all Israel took part in stoning him; they had him stoned to death and then burned with fire.

Deuteronomy 25:2-3

And if the wrongdoer is to undergo punishment by whipping, the judge will give orders for him to go down on his face and be whipped before him, the number of the blows being in relation to his crime. He may be given forty blows, not more; for if more are given, your brother may be shamed before you.

Acts 16:20-23

And when they had taken them before the authorities, they said, These men, who are Jews, are greatly troubling our town; Teaching rules of living which it is not right for us to have or to keep, being Romans. And the people made an attack on them all together: and the authorities took their clothing off them, and gave orders for them to be whipped.read more.
And when they had given them a great number of blows, they put them in prison, giving orders to the keeper of the prison to keep them safely:

2 Corinthians 11:24-25

Five times the Jews gave me forty blows but one. Three times I was whipped with rods, once I was stoned, three times the ship I was in came to destruction at sea, a night and a day I have been in the water;

Ezra 7:26

And if anyone does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, take care that punishment is given to him, by death or by driving him from his country or by taking away his goods or by putting him in prison.

Ezra 10:8

And that if anyone did not come before three days were past, as ordered by the rulers and the responsible men, all his goods would be put under the curse, and he himself would be cut off from the meeting of the people who had come back.

Luke 23:32-33

And two others, evil-doers, were taken with him to be put to death. And when they came to the place which is named Golgotha, they put him on the cross, and the evil-doers, one on the right side, and the other on the left.

Luke 23:40-41

But the other, protesting, said, Have you no fear of God? for you have a part in the same punishment, And with reason; for we have the right reward of our acts, but this man has done nothing wrong.

From Thematic Bible


Criminals » In dungeons

Genesis 41:14

Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they took him quickly out of prison; and when his hair had been cut and his dress changed, he came before Pharaoh.

Exodus 12:29

And in the middle of the night the Lord sent death on every first male child in the land of Egypt, from the child of Pharaoh on his seat of power to the child of the prisoner in the prison; and the first births of all the cattle.

Genesis 40:15

For truly I was taken by force from the land of the Hebrews; and I have done nothing for which I might be put in prison.

Isaiah 24:22

And they will be got together, like prisoners in the prison-house; and after a long time they will have their punishment.

Jeremiah 37:16

So Jeremiah came into the hole of the prison, under the arches, and was there for a long time.

Criminals » Confined in prisons

Genesis 39:20-23

And Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, in the place where the king's prisoners were kept in chains, and he was there in the prison-house. But the Lord was with Joseph, and was good to him, and made the keeper of the prison his friend. And the keeper of the prison put all the prisoners under Joseph's control, and he was responsible for whatever was done there. read more.
And the keeper of the prison gave no attention to anything which was under his care, because the Lord was with him; and the Lord made everything he did go well.

Ezra 7:26

And if anyone does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, take care that punishment is given to him, by death or by driving him from his country or by taking away his goods or by putting him in prison.

Acts 4:3

And they took them and put them in prison till the morning, for it was now evening.

Acts 12:4-5

And having taken him, he put him in prison, with four bands of armed men to keep watch over him; his purpose being to take him out to the people after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison: but the church made strong prayer to God for him.

Acts 16:19-40

But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they took Paul and Silas, pulling them into the market-place before the rulers; And when they had taken them before the authorities, they said, These men, who are Jews, are greatly troubling our town; Teaching rules of living which it is not right for us to have or to keep, being Romans. read more.
And the people made an attack on them all together: and the authorities took their clothing off them, and gave orders for them to be whipped. And when they had given them a great number of blows, they put them in prison, giving orders to the keeper of the prison to keep them safely: And he, having such orders, put them into the inner prison with chains on their feet. But about the middle of the night, Paul and Silas were making prayers and songs to God in the hearing of the prisoners; And suddenly there was an earth-shock, so that the base of the prison was moved: and all the doors came open, and everyone's chains came off. And the keeper, coming out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, took his sword and was about to put himself to death, fearing that the prisoners had got away. But Paul said in a loud voice, Do yourself no damage, for we are all here. And he sent for lights and came rushing in and, shaking with fear, went down on his face before Paul and Silas, And took them out and said, Sirs, what have I to do to get salvation? And they said, Have faith in the Lord Jesus, and you and your family will have salvation. And they gave the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And that same hour of the night, he took them, and when he had given attention to their wounds, he and all his family had baptism straight away. And he took them into his house and gave them food, and he was full of joy, having faith in God with all his family. But when it was day, the authorities sent the police, saying, Let these men go. And the keeper said to Paul, The authorities have given orders to let you go: come out now, and go in peace. But Paul said to them, They have given us who are Romans a public whipping without judging us, and have put us in prison. Will they now send us out secretly? no, truly, let them come themselves and take us out. And the police gave an account of these words to the authorities, and they were full of fear on hearing that they were Romans; Then they came and made prayers to them, requesting them, when they had taken them out, to go away from the town. And they came out of the prison and went to the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brothers they gave them comfort and went away.

Criminals » Released at feasts

Matthew 27:21

But the ruler made answer and said to them, Which of the two is it your pleasure that I let go free? And they said, Barabbas.

Matthew 27:15

Now at the feast it was the way for the ruler to let free to the people one prisoner, at their selection.

Mark 15:6

Now at the feast every year he let one prisoner go free at their request.

Luke 23:17

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Theasaurus: Criminals

Basic English, produced by Mr C. K. Ogden of the Orthological Institute - public domain