46 Bible Verses about Killing

Most Relevant Verses

Genesis 9:5-6

And surely your blood, [the blood] of your lives, I will require. At the hand of every beast I will require it. And at the hand of man, even at the hand of every man's brother, I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image of God he made man.

Leviticus 17:11

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life.

Exodus 22:18-20

Thou shall not allow a sorceress to live. Whoever lays with a beast shall surely be put to death. He who sacrifices to any god, except to LORD only, shall be utterly destroyed.

Deuteronomy 17:8-13

If there arise a matter too hard 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 shall arise, and get thee up to the plac And thou shall come to the priests the Levites, and to the judge who shall be in those days, and thou shall inquire. And they shall show thee the sentence of judgment. And thou shall do according to the tenor of the sentence which they shall show thee from that place which LORD shall choose. And thou shall observe to do according to all that they shall teach thee,read more.
according to the tenor of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shall do. Thou shall not turn aside from the sentence, which they shall show thee, to the right hand, nor And the man who does presumptuously, in not hearkening to the priest who stands to minister there before LORD thy God, or to the judge, even that man shall die, and thou shall put away the evil from Israel. And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.

Deuteronomy 21:18-21

If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and, though they chasten him, will not hearken to them, then his father and his mother shall lay hold on him, and bring him out to the elders of his city, and to the gate of his place. And they shall say to the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice. He is a glutton, and a drunkard.read more.
And all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones. So thou shall put away the evil from the midst of thee, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

Deuteronomy 22:21-27

then they shall bring the damsel out to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has wrought folly in Israel, to play the harlot in her father's house. So shall thou If a man be found laying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them die, the man that lay with the woman, and the woman. So shall thou put away the evil from Israel. If there be a damsel who is a virgin betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city, and lays with her,read more.
then ye shall bring them both out to the gate of that city. And ye shall stone them to death with stones, the damsel, because she did not cry out, being in the city, and the man, because he has humbled his neighbor's wife. So thou But if the man finds the damsel who is betrothed in the field, and the man forces her, and lays with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die, but to the damsel thou shall do nothing. There is in the damsel no sin worthy of death. For as when a man rises against his neighbor, and kills him, even so is this matter, for he found her in the field, the betrothed damsel cried out, and there was none to save her.

Deuteronomy 21:23

his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shall surely bury him the same day, for he who is hanged is accursed of God, that thou not defile thy land which LORD thy God gives thee for an inheritance.

Exodus 21:13

And if a man does not lay in wait, but God delivers [him] into his hand, then I will appoint for thee a place where he shall flee.

Deuteronomy 4:41-42

Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise, that the manslayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unawares, and did not hate him in time past, and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live:

Deuteronomy 19:2-13

thou shall set apart three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which LORD thy God gives thee to possess it. Thou shall prepare for thee the way, and divide the borders of thy land, which LORD thy God causes thee to inherit, into three parts, that every manslayer may flee there. And this is the case of the manslayer, who shall flee there and live: Whoever kills his neighbor unawares, and did not hate him in time past,read more.
as when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand fetches a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the helve, and lands upon his neighbor, so that he dies, he shall flee to on Lest the avenger of blood pursue the manslayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and smite him mortally, whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he did not hate him in time past. Therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shall set apart three cities for thee. And if LORD thy God enlarge thy border, as he has sworn to thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give to thy fathers, if thou shall keep all this commandment to do it, which I command thee this day, to love LORD thy God, and to walk ever in his ways, then shall thou add three more cities for thee, besides these three, that innocent blood not be shed in the midst of thy land, which LORD thy God gives thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee. But if any man hates his neighbor, and lies in wait for him, and rises up against him, and smites him mortally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him from there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shall put away the innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.

Joshua 6:17

And the city shall be set apart, even it and all that is in it, to LORD. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.

Deuteronomy 20:10-15

When thou draw near to a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace to it. And it shall be, if it makes to thee an answer of peace, and opens to thee, then it shall be, that all the people that are found in it shall become tributary to thee, and shall serve thee. And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shall besiege it.read more.
And when LORD thy God delivers it into thy hand, thou shall smite every male of it with the edge of the sword, but the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil of it, thou shall take for a prey to thyself. And thou shall eat the spoil of thine enemies, which LORD thy God has given thee. Thus thou shall do to all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.

Leviticus 17:3-7

Whatever man there is of the house of Israel, who kills an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp, and has not brought it to the door of the tent of meeting, to offer it as an oblation to LORD before the tabernacle of LORD, blood shall be imputed to 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 to LORD, to the door of the tent of meeting, to the priest, and sacrifice them for sacrifices of pread more.
And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of LORD at the door of the tent of meeting, and burn the fat for a sweet savor to LORD. And they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the he-goats, after which they play the harlot. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.

Deuteronomy 12:15-16

Notwithstanding, thou may kill and eat flesh within all thy gates, after all the desire of thy soul, according to the blessing of LORD thy God which he has given thee, the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle, and Only ye shall not eat the blood. Thou shall pour it out upon the ground as water.

Deuteronomy 22:6-7

If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, thou shall not take the dam with the young. Thou shall surely let the dam go, but the young thou may take to 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 LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,

Animals Killing

1 Kings 13:24

And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and killed him. And his body was cast in the way, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the body.

Famine Killing

Jeremiah 38:2

Thus says LORD: He who abides in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, but he who goes forth to the Chaldeans shall live, and his life shall be to him for a prey, and he shall live.

God Killing All People

Genesis 6:7

And LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the ground, from man, to beast, to creeping things, and birds of the heavens, for I regret that I have made them.

God Killing Individuals

Genesis 38:7

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

Killing Brothers

Judges 8:18-19

Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye killed at Tabor? And they answered, As thou are, so were they. Each one resembled the sons of a king.

Killing Domesticated Animals

Exodus 12:29

And it came to pass at midnight, that LORD smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the first-born of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the first-born of cattl

Killing Israelites

Esther 3:6

But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had made known to him the people of Mordecai. Therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai

Killing Kings

2 Samuel 1:14

And David said to him, Why were thou not afraid to put forth thy hand to destroy LORD's anointed?

Killing Many People

Ezekiel 9:9

Then he said to me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness. For they say, LORD has forsaken the land, and LORD does not see.

Killing One Another

Judges 7:22

And they blew the three hundred trumpets, and LORD set every man's sword against his fellow, and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.

Killing Priests

1 Samuel 22:17

And the king said to the guard who stood about him, Turn, and kill the priests of LORD, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew that he fled, and did not disclose it to me. But the servants of the king would no

Killing Prophets

1 Kings 18:4

for it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of LORD, that Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifties in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)

Killing Sacrifices

Exodus 12:6

And ye shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at evening.

Killing Sons And Daughters

2 Samuel 13:30

And it came to pass, while they were in the way, that the news 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

[It is] because of the sins of her prophets, [and] the iniquities of her priests, who 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 comes and smites me, the mother with the sons.

Killing Wild Animals

Nahum 2:13

Behold, I am against thee, says LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions. And I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be hear

Killing Will Happen

2 Samuel 17:9

Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some [other] place. And it will come to pass, when some of them are fallen at the first, that whoever hears it will say, There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.

Killing Within Israel

Judges 8:17

And he broke down the tower of Penuel, and killed the men of the city.

Mercy Killings

Psalm 136:17-20

to him who smote great kings, for his loving kindness [is] forever,

Restraints From Killing

Genesis 4:15

And LORD said to him, Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And LORD appointed a sign for Cain, lest any who finds him should smite him.

Rules About Killing Animals

Exodus 13:13

And every firstling of a donkey thou shall redeem with a lamb, and if thou will not redeem it, then thou shall break its neck. And all the first-born of man among thy sons thou shall redeem.

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