46 Bible Verses about Killing

Most Relevant Verses

Genesis 9:5-6

And indeed your blood, the blood of your lives, will I require: at the hand of every animal will I require it, and at the hand of Man, at the hand of each the blood of his brother, will I require the life of Man. Whoso sheddeth Man's blood, by Man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God he hath made Man.

Exodus 22:18-20

thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. Every one that lieth with a beast shall certainly be put to death. He that sacrificeth to any god, save to Jehovah only, shall be devoted to destruction.

Deuteronomy 17:8-13

If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between cause and cause, and between stroke and stroke, matters of controversy within thy gates, then shalt thou arise, and go up to the place which Jehovah thy God will choose. And thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall declare unto thee the sentence of judgment; and thou shalt do according to the tenor of the word, which they of that place which Jehovah will choose shall declare unto thee; and thou shalt take heed to do according to all that they instruct thee:read more.
according to the sentence of the law which they shall declare unto thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the word which they shall declare unto thee, to the right hand, or the left. And the man that shall act presumptuously, and not hearken unto the priest that standeth to serve there before Jehovah thy God, or unto the judge, that man shall die; and thou shalt put away evil from Israel. And all the people shall hear, and fear, and no more act presumptuously.

Deuteronomy 21:18-21

If a man have an unmanageable and rebellious son, who hearkeneth not unto the voice of his father, nor unto the voice of his mother, and they have chastened him, but he hearkeneth not 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 unmanageable and rebellious, he hearkeneth not unto our voice; he is a profligate and a drunkard.read more.
And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die. And thou shalt put evil away from thy midst; and all Israel shall hear and fear.

Deuteronomy 22:21-27

then they shall bring out the damsel unto the entrance of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought infamy in Israel, committing fornication in her father's house; and thou shalt put evil away from thy midst. If a man be found lying with a man's wife, they shall both of them die, the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; and thou shalt put away evil from Israel. If a damsel, a virgin, be betrothed to some one, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her,read more.
then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city, and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife; and thou shalt put evil away from thy midst. But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her, then the man only that lay with her shall die; and unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing: there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death; for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and murdereth him, so is this matter; for he found her in the field, the betrothed damsel cried, and there was no one to save her.

Deuteronomy 21:23

his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day (for he that is hanged is a curse of God); and thou shalt not defile thy land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

Exodus 21:13

But if he have not lain in wait, and God have delivered him into his hand, I will appoint thee a place to which he shall flee.

Deuteronomy 4:41-42

Then Moses separated three cities on this side the Jordan toward the sun-rising, that the manslayer might flee thither, who should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not previously, that fleeing to one of these cities, he might live:

Deuteronomy 19:2-13

thou shalt separate three cities for thyself in the midst of thy land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess. Thou shalt prepare thee the way, and divide the territory of thy land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, so that every slayer may flee thither. And this is the case of the slayer who shall flee thither that he may live: he that smiteth his neighbour unwittingly, whom he hated not previously;read more.
as when he goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the iron slippeth from the handle, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; such an one shall flee unto one of these cities, and live; 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, since he hated him not previously. Therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thyself. And if Jehovah thy God enlarge thy border, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers (if thou keep all this commandment to do it, which I command thee this day, to love Jehovah thy God, and to walk in his ways continually), then shalt thou add three cities more for thyself to these three, that innocent blood be not shed in the midst of thy land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and blood come not upon thee. But if a man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die, and he flee into one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. Thine eye shall not spare him; and thou shalt put away innocent blood from Israel, that it may be well with thee.

Joshua 6:17

And the city shall be accursed, it and all that is in it, to Jehovah; 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 approachest unto a city to fight against it, thou shalt proclaim peace unto it. And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then all the people that are found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. And if it will not make peace with thee, but will make war with thee, then thou shalt besiege it;read more.
and when Jehovah thy God delivereth it into thy hand, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: only the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that shall be in the city, all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take as booty for thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities that are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.

Leviticus 17:3-7

Every one of the house of Israel that slaughtereth an ox, or sheep, or goat, in the camp, or that slaughtereth it out of the camp, and doth not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to Jehovah, before the tabernacle of Jehovah, blood shall be reckoned unto that man: he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people, to the end that the children of Israel bring their sacrifices, which they sacrifice in the open field, that they bring them to Jehovah, unto the entrance of the tent of meeting, unto the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace-offerings to Jehovah.read more.
And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of Jehovah, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and burn the fat for a sweet odour to Jehovah. And they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices unto demons, after whom they go a whoring. This shall be an everlasting statute unto them for their generations.

Deuteronomy 12:15-16

Nevertheless, according to all the desire of thy soul thou mayest slay and eat flesh in all thy gates, according to the blessing of Jehovah thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the gazelle, and 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 chance to be before thee in the way, in any tree, or upon the ground, with young or with eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young: thou shalt in any case let the dam go, and thou mayest take the young to thee, that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days.

Topics on Killing

Accidental Killings

Joshua 20:1-9

And Jehovah spoke to Joshua, saying,

Animals Killing

1 Kings 13:24

and he departed. And a lion met him by the way and slew him; and his corpse was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it; the lion also stood by the corpse.

Famine Killing

Jeremiah 38:2

Thus saith Jehovah: He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; and he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live.

God Killing All People

Genesis 6:7

And Jehovah said, I will destroy Man, whom I have created, from the earth from man to cattle, to creeping things, and to fowl of the heavens; for I repent that I have made them.

God Killing Individuals

Genesis 38:7

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

Killing Brothers

Judges 8:18-19

Then he said to Zebah and Zalmun'na, "Where are the men whom you slew at Tabor?" They answered, "As you are, so were they, every one of them; they resembled the sons of a king."

Killing Domesticated Animals

Exodus 12:29

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

Killing Israelites

Esther 3:6

But he scorned 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 in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus the people of Mordecai.

Killing Kings

2 Samuel 1:14

And David said to him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thy hand to destroy Jehovah's anointed?

Killing Many People

Ezekiel 9:9

And he said 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 say, Jehovah hath forsaken the earth, and Jehovah seeth not.

Killing One Another

Judges 7:22

When they blew the three hundred trumpets, the LORD set every man's sword against his fellow and against all the army; and the army fled as far as Beth-shit'tah toward Zer'erah, as far as the border of A'bel-meho'lah, by Tabbath.

Killing Priests

1 Samuel 22:17

And the king said to the couriers that stood about him, Turn and put the priests of Jehovah to death; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not inform me. But the servants of the king were not willing to put forth their hand to fall on the priests of Jehovah.

Killing Prophets

1 Kings 18:4

and it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Jehovah, that Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and maintained them with bread and water);

Killing Sacrifices

Exodus 12:6

And ye shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; and the whole congregation of the assembly 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 tidings came to David, saying, Absalom has smitten all the king's sons, and there is not one of them left.

Killing The Innocent

Lamentations 4:13

It is for the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, who have shed the blood of the righteous 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 am against thee, saith Jehovah of hosts: and I will burn her chariots into 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 heard.

Killing Will Happen

2 Samuel 17:9

Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or some such place; and it will come to pass, when some of them fall at the first, whoever heareth it will say, There has been slaughter among the people that follow Absalom,

Killing Within Israel

Judges 8:17

And he broke down the tower of Penu'el, and slew the men of the city.

Mercy Killings

Psalm 136:17-20

To him that smote great kings, for his loving-kindness endureth for ever,

Restraints From Killing

Genesis 4:15

And Jehovah said to him, Therefore, whoever slayeth Cain, it shall be revenged sevenfold. And Jehovah set a mark on Cain, lest any finding him should smite him.

Rules About Killing Animals

Exodus 13:13

And every firstling of an ass shalt thou ransom with a lamb; and if thou do not ransom it, thou shalt break its neck; and every firstborn of a man among thy sons shalt thou ransom.

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