46 Bible Verses about Killing

Most Relevant Verses

Genesis 9:5-6

For surely your blood which is your souls I will require; at the hand of every animal I will require it and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother I will require the soul (or life) of man. Whoever sheds man's blood in man, his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God is man made.

Leviticus 17:11

For the soul (or life) of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to reconcile your persons (or souls) upon the altar; therefore the same blood reconciles the person.

Exodus 22:18-20

Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. Whoever lies with a beast shall surely be put to death. He that sacrifices unto any god, except unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.

Deuteronomy 17:8-13

If a matter arises that is too difficult for thee in judgment between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates, then thou shalt arise and go up into the place which the LORD thy God shall choose, and thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days and enquire, and they shall show thee the word of judgment. And thou shalt do according to the word which those of that place which the LORD shall choose shall show thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they shall show thee.read more.
According to the word of the law which they shall show thee and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do; thou shalt not decline from the word which they shall show thee, to the right hand nor to the left. And the man that will act presumptuously and will not hearken unto the priest that stands to minister there before the LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die; and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel. And all the people shall hear and fear and no longer act presumptuously.

Deuteronomy 21:18-21

When anyone has a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother and when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them, then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him and bring him out unto the elders of his city and unto the gate of his place; and they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not hear our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.read more.
Then all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, and he shall die; so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear and fear.

Deuteronomy 22:21-27

then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones, and she shall die because she has wrought folly in Israel, to fornicate in her father's house; so shalt thou put evil away from among you. If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman and the woman; so shalt thou put away evil from Israel. When a damsel that is a virgin is betrothed unto a husband and a man finds her in the city and lies with her,read more.
then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones, and they shall die; the damsel because she did not cry out, being in the city, and the man because he has humbled his neighbour's wife; so thou shalt put away evil from among you. But if the man found a betrothed damsel in the field and the man forced her and lay with her; then only the man that lay with her shall die; but unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death; for as when a man rises against his neighbour and murders him, even so is this matter. For he found her in the field and the betrothed damsel cried out, and there was no one to save her.

Deuteronomy 21:23

his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt without fail bury him that same day (for he that is hanged is accursed of God) that thy land not be defiled, which the LORD thy God gives thee for an inheritance.

Exodus 21:13

And if a man did not lie in wait but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint thee a place where he shall flee.

Deuteronomy 4:41-42

Then Moses separated three cities on this side of the Jordan toward the sunrising that the manslayer might flee there, who should kill his neighbour unawares and hated him not in times past and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live:

Deuteronomy 19:2-13

thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the LORD thy God gives thee to inherit. Thou shalt prepare thee a way and divide the borders of thy land, which the LORD thy God gives thee to inherit, into three parts, so that every manslayer may flee there. And this is the case of the manslayer who is to flee there, that he may live: whoever kills his neighbour by mistake, whom he hated not in time past;read more.
and he who went into the woods with his neighbour to cut firewood and his hand fetched a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree and the head slipped from the handle and lighted upon his neighbour so that he died, he shall flee unto one of those cities and live, lest the avenger of the blood pursue the manslayer, 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. Therefore, I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee. And if the LORD thy God enlarges thy borders, as he has sworn unto thy fathers, and gives thee all the land which he was to give unto thy fathers, when thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day: to love the LORD thy God, and to walk all the days in his ways, then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, besides these three, that innocent blood not be shed in thy land, which the LORD thy God gives thee for an inheritance, and the blood shall not be upon thee. But when any man hates his neighbour and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and smites him mortally that he dies and flees into one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, and he shall die. Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with thee.

Joshua 6:17

And the city shall be anathema unto the LORD, even it, and all the things that are in it; only Rahab, the harlot, shall live, she and all that are with her in the house because she hid the messengers that we sent.

Deuteronomy 20:10-15

When thou comest near to a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. And it shall be, if it makes thee an answer of peace and opens unto thee, that all the people that are found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. And if it will make no peace with thee but will make war against thee, and if thou should besiege it,read more.
and if the LORD thy God should deliver it into thine hands, then thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword. Only the women and the little ones and the animals and all that is in the city, all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat of the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God has given thee. Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these Gentiles.

Leviticus 17:3-7

any man of the house of Israel that kills an ox or lamb or goat in the camp or that kills it out of the camp and does not bring it unto the door of the tabernacle of the testimony to offer an offering unto the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD, blood shall be imputed unto that man; he has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people: to the end that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they sacrifice in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the LORD unto the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, unto the priest and sacrifice sacrifices of peace unto the LORD.read more.
And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony and incense the fat in a very acceptable aroma unto the LORD. And they shall never again offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they fornicate. They shall have this as a perpetual statute throughout their ages.

Deuteronomy 12:15-16

Notwithstanding, thou may kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, according to the desire of thy soul, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he has given thee; the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck and as of the hart. Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.

Deuteronomy 22:6-7

If a bird's nest is encountered before thee in the way in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the mother sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the mother with the young. But thou shalt let the mother go and take the young for thyself, that it may be well with thee and that thou may prolong thy days.

Topics on Killing

Accidental Killings

Joshua 20:1-9

And the LORD spoke unto Joshua, saying,

Animals Killing

1 Kings 13:24

and as he went, a lion met him by the way and slew him, and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, and the lion also stood by the carcase.

Famine Killing

Jeremiah 38:2

Thus hath the LORD said, He that remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, but he that goes forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey and shall live.

God Killing All People

Genesis 6:7

And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast and the animals and the fowls of the air; for I repent of having made them.

God Killing Individuals

Genesis 38:7

And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD and the LORD slew him.

Killing Brothers

Judges 8:18-19

Then he said unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were those whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the sons of a king.

Killing Domesticated Animals

Exodus 12:29

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 unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the animals.

Killing Israelites

Esther 3:6

And he thought it a small matter to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for now they had declared unto him the people of Mordecai; therefore, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, the people of Mordecai.

Killing Kings

2 Samuel 1:14

And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the LORD's anointed?

Killing Many People

Ezekiel 9:9

Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness, for they have said, The LORD has forsaken the earth, and the LORD does not see.

Killing One Another

Judges 7:22

But the three hundred blew the shofarot, and the LORD set each man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the camp; and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath and to the border of Abelmeholah unto Tabbath.

Killing Priests

1 Samuel 22:17

Then the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn and slay the priests of the LORD because their hand also is with David and because they knew when he fled and did not show it to me. But the slaves of the king would not put forth their hands to fall upon the priests of the LORD.

Killing Prophets

1 Kings 18:4

for when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah took one hundred prophets and hid them in groups of fifty in caves and sustained them with bread and water.)

Killing Sacrifices

Exodus 12:6

and ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it between the two evenings.

Killing Sons And Daughters

2 Samuel 13:30

And it came to pass, while they were in the way, that the rumour came to David, saying, Absalom has slain all the king's sons, and there is not one of them left.

Killing The Innocent

Lamentations 4:13

Mem For the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her,

Killing Whole Families

Genesis 32:11

Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him lest he come and smite me and the mother with the children.

Killing Wild Animals

Nahum 2:13

Behold, I speak unto thee, saith the LORD of the hosts, and I will burn and reduce thy chariots into smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions; and I will cut off thy robbery from the earth, and the voice of thy ambassadors shall never be heard again.

Killing Will Happen

2 Samuel 17:9

Behold, he is hid now in some pit or in some other place, and if some of thy men are overthrown at the beginning, whoever hears of it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.

Killing Within Israel

Judges 8:17

Likewise he beat down the tower of Penuel and slew the men of the city.

Mercy Killings

Psalm 136:17-20

To him who smote great kings: for his mercy endures for ever.

Restraints From Killing

Genesis 4:15

And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whoever slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

Rules About Killing Animals

Exodus 13:13

And every firstborn of an ass thou shalt ransom with a lamb; and if thou wilt not ransom it, then thou shalt cut off its head; and in the same manner thou shalt ransom all the human firstborn among thy sons.

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