45 Bible Verses about Violence

Most Relevant Verses

Genesis 6:11-13

And the earth was evil in God's eyes and full of violent ways. And God, looking on the earth, saw that it was evil: for the way of all flesh had become evil on the earth. And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come; the earth is full of their violent doings, and now I will put an end to them with the earth.

Job 24:2-4

The landmarks are changed by evil men, they violently take away flocks, together with their keepers. They send away the ass of him who has no father, they take the widow's ox for debt. The crushed are turned out of the way; all the poor of the earth go into a secret place together.

Psalm 55:9

Send destruction on them, O Lord, make a division of tongues among them: for I have seen fighting and violent acts in the town.

Psalm 74:20

Keep in mind your undertaking; for the dark places of the earth are full of pride and cruel acts.

Proverbs 13:2

A man will get good from the fruit of his lips, but the desire of the false is for violent acts.

Isaiah 59:1-8

Truly, the Lord's hand has not become short, so that he is unable to give salvation; and his ear is not shut from hearing: But your sins have come between you and your God, and by your evil doings his face has been veiled from you, so that he will give you no answer. For your hands are unclean with blood, and your fingers with sin; your lips have said false things, and your tongue gives out deceit.read more.
No one puts forward an upright cause, or gives a true decision: their hope is in deceit, and their words are false; they are with child with sin, and give birth to evil. They give birth to snake's eggs, and make spider's threads: whoever takes their eggs for food comes to his death, and the egg which is crushed becomes a poison-snake. Their twisted threads will not make clothing, and their works will give them nothing for covering themselves: their works are works of sin, and violent acts are in their hands. Their feet go quickly to evil, and they take delight in the death of the upright; their thoughts are thoughts of sin; wasting and destruction are in their ways. They have no knowledge of the way of peace, and there is no sense of what is right in their behaviour: they have made for themselves ways which are not straight; whoever goes in them has no knowledge of peace.

Ezekiel 7:23

Make the chain: for the land is full of crimes of blood, and the town is full of violent acts.

Micah 2:1-2

A curse on the designers of evil, working on their beds! in the morning light they do it, because it is in their power. They have a desire for fields and take them by force; and for houses and take them away: they are cruel to a man and his family, even to a man and his heritage.

Jeremiah 22:3

This is what the Lord has said: Do what is right, judging uprightly, and make free from the hands of the cruel one him whose goods have been violently taken away: do no wrong and be not violent to the man from a strange country and the child without a father and the widow, and let not those who have done no wrong be put to death in this place.

Ezekiel 45:9

This is what the Lord has said: Let this be enough for you, O rulers of Israel: let there be an end of violent behaviour and wasting; do what is right, judging uprightly; let there be no more driving out of my people, says the Lord.

Malachi 2:16

For I am against the putting away of a wife, says the Lord, the God of Israel, and against him who is clothed with violent acts, says the Lord of armies: so give thought to your spirit and do not be false in your acts.

Isaiah 42:1-3

See my servant, whom I am supporting, my loved one, in whom I take delight: I have put my spirit on him; he will give the knowledge of the true God to the nations. He will make no cry, his voice will not be loud: his words will not come to men's ears in the streets. He will not let a crushed stem be quite broken, and he will not let a feebly burning light be put out: he will go on sending out the true word to the peoples.

1 Peter 2:23

To sharp words he gave no sharp answer; when he was undergoing pain, no angry word came from his lips; but he put himself into the hands of the judge of righteousness:

Galatians 5:19-21

Now the works of the flesh are clear, which are these: evil desire, unclean things, wrong use of the senses, Worship of images, use of strange powers, hates, fighting, desire for what another has, angry feelings, attempts to get the better of others, divisions, false teachings, Envy, uncontrolled drinking and feasting, and such things: of which I give you word clearly, even as I did in the past, that they who do such things will have no part in the kingdom of God.

1 Chronicles 22:8-9

But the word of the Lord came to me saying, You have taken lives without number and made great wars; I will not let you be the builder of a house for my name, because of the lives you have taken on the earth before my eyes. But you will have a son who will be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from wars on every side. His name will be Solomon, and in his time I will give Israel peace and quiet;

2 Samuel 22:3

My God, my Rock, in him will I put my faith; my breastplate, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my safe place; my saviour, who keeps me safe from the violent man.

Psalm 18:48

He makes me free from my haters; I am lifted up over those who come up against me: you have made me free from the violent man.

Psalm 72:14

He will keep their souls free from evil designs and violent attacks; and their blood will be of value in his eyes.

Psalm 140:1-4

O Lord, take me out of the power of the evil man; keep me safe from the violent man: For their hearts are full of evil designs; and they are ever making ready causes of war. Their tongues are sharp like the tongue of a snake; the poison of snakes is under their lips. (Selah.)read more.
O Lord, take me out of the hands of sinners; keep me safe from the violent man: for they are designing my downfall.

Matthew 2:13

And when they had gone, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream, saying, Get up and take the young child and his mother, and go into Egypt, and do not go from there till I give you word; for Herod will be searching for the young child to put him to death.

Luke 22:50-51

And one of them gave a blow to the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus, answering, said, Put up with this, at least. And touching his ear, he made it well.

Genesis 14:14

And Abram, hearing that his brother's son had been made a prisoner, took a band of his trained men, three hundred and eighteen of them, sons of his house, and went after them as far as Dan.

2 Chronicles 28:9-15

But a prophet of the Lord was there, named Oded; and he went out in front of the army which was coming into Samaria and said to them, Truly, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave them up into your hands, and you have put them to death in an outburst of wrath stretching up to heaven. And now your purpose is to keep the children of Judah and Jerusalem as men-servants and women-servants under your yoke: but are there no sins against the Lord your God to be seen among yourselves? And now give ear to me, and send back the prisoners whom you have taken from your brothers: for the wrath of the Lord is burning against you.read more.
Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah, the son of Johanan, Berechiah, the son of Meshillemoth Jehizkiah, the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, put themselves against those who had come from the war, And said to them, You are not to let these prisoners come here; for what you are designing to do will be a cause of sin against the Lord to us, making even greater our sin and our wrongdoing, which now are great enough, and his wrath is burning against Israel. So the armed men gave up the prisoners and the goods they had taken to the heads and the meeting of the people. And those men who have been named went up and took the prisoners, clothing those among them who were uncovered, with things from the goods which had been taken in the war, and putting robes on them and shoes on their feet; and they gave them food and drink and oil for their bodies, and seating all the feeble among them on asses, they took them to Jericho, the town of palm-trees, to their people, and then went back to Samaria.

Jeremiah 38:9-12

My lord the king, these men have done evil in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have put into the water-hole; and he will come to his death in the place where he is through need of food: for there is no more bread in the town. Then the king gave orders to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take with you three men from here and get Jeremiah out of the water-hole before death overtakes him. So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king, to the place where the clothing was kept, and got from there old clothing and bits of old cloth, and let them down by cords into the water-hole where Jeremiah was.read more.
And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Put these bits of old cloth under your arms under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.

Luke 10:30

And Jesus, answering him, said, A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he got into the hands of thieves, who took his clothing and gave him cruel blows, and when they went away, he was half dead.

Acts 23:15-16

So now, will you and the Sanhedrin make a request to the military authorities to have him sent down to you, as if you were desiring to go into the business in greater detail; and we, before ever he gets to you, will be waiting to put him to death. But Paul's sister's son had word of their design, and he came into the army building and gave news of it to Paul.

Isaiah 59:6

Their twisted threads will not make clothing, and their works will give them nothing for covering themselves: their works are works of sin, and violent acts are in their hands.

Psalm 73:6

For this reason pride is round them like a chain; they are clothed with violent behaviour as with a robe.

Genesis 6:13

And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come; the earth is full of their violent doings, and now I will put an end to them with the earth.

From Thematic Bible


Riches » Often lead to » Violence

Micah 6:12

For its men of wealth are cruel, and its people have said what is not true, and their tongue is false in their mouth.

Strife » Leads to » Violence

Exodus 21:18

If, in a fight, one man gives another a blow with a stone, or with the shut hand, not causing his death, but making him keep in bed;

Exodus 21:22

If men, while fighting, do damage to a woman with child, causing the loss of the child, but no other evil comes to her, the man will have to make payment up to the amount fixed by her husband, in agreement with the decision of the judges.

Violence » Not performing violence

Matthew 19:18

He says to him, Which? And Jesus said, Do not put anyone to death, Do not be untrue in married life, Do not take what is not yours, Do not give false witness,

Romans 13:8-9

Be in debt for nothing, but to have love for one another: for he who has love for his neighbour has kept all the law. And this, Do not be untrue in married life, Do not put to death, Do not take what is another's, Do not have desire for what is another's, and if there is any other order, it is covered by this word, Have love for your neighbour as for yourself.

James 2:11

For he who said, Do not be untrue in married life, is the same who said, Put no man to death. Now if you are not untrue in married life, but you put a man to death, the law is broken.

Proverbs 1:10-15

My son, if sinners would take you out of the right way, do not go with them. If they say, Come with us; let us make designs against the good, waiting secretly for the upright, without cause; Let us overcome them living, like the underworld, and in their strength, as those who go down to death; read more.
Goods of great price will be ours, our houses will be full of wealth; Take your chance with us, and we will all have one money-bag: My son, do not go with them; keep your feet from their ways:

Luke 3:14

And men of the army put questions to him, saying, And what have we to do? And he said to them, Do no violent acts to any man, and do not take anything without right, and let your payment be enough for you.

Violence » Who is violent

Proverbs 10:6

Blessings are on the head of the upright, but the face of sinners will be covered with sorrow.

1 John 3:15

Anyone who has hate for his brother is a taker of life, and you may be certain that no taker of life has eternal life in him.

Micah 6:10-12

Am I to let the stores of the evil-doer go out of my memory, and the short measure, which is cursed? Is it possible for me to let wrong scales and the bag of false weights go without punishment? For its men of wealth are cruel, and its people have said what is not true, and their tongue is false in their mouth.

Psalm 139:19-20

If only you would put the sinners to death, O God; go far from me, you men of blood. For they go against you with evil designs, and your haters make sport of your name.

Isaiah 59:1-7

Truly, the Lord's hand has not become short, so that he is unable to give salvation; and his ear is not shut from hearing: But your sins have come between you and your God, and by your evil doings his face has been veiled from you, so that he will give you no answer. For your hands are unclean with blood, and your fingers with sin; your lips have said false things, and your tongue gives out deceit. read more.
No one puts forward an upright cause, or gives a true decision: their hope is in deceit, and their words are false; they are with child with sin, and give birth to evil. They give birth to snake's eggs, and make spider's threads: whoever takes their eggs for food comes to his death, and the egg which is crushed becomes a poison-snake. Their twisted threads will not make clothing, and their works will give them nothing for covering themselves: their works are works of sin, and violent acts are in their hands. Their feet go quickly to evil, and they take delight in the death of the upright; their thoughts are thoughts of sin; wasting and destruction are in their ways.

Violence » The reward for violence

Hosea 4:1-3

Give ear to the word of the Lord, O children of Israel; for the Lord has a cause against the people of this land, because there is no good faith in it, and no mercy and no knowledge of God in the land. There is cursing and broken faith, violent death and attacks on property, men are untrue in married life, houses are broken into, and there is blood touching blood. Because of this the land will be dry, and everyone living in it will be wasted away, with the beasts of the field and the birds of heaven; even the fishes of the sea will be taken away.

Joel 3:19

Egypt will be a waste and Edom a land of destruction, because of the evil done to the children of Judah, because they have let blood be drained out in their land without cause.

Genesis 6:11-13

And the earth was evil in God's eyes and full of violent ways. And God, looking on the earth, saw that it was evil: for the way of all flesh had become evil on the earth. And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come; the earth is full of their violent doings, and now I will put an end to them with the earth.

Psalm 106:37-43

They even made offerings of their sons and their daughters to evil spirits, And gave the blood of their sons and their daughters who had done no wrong, offering them to the images of Canaan; and the land was made unclean with blood. So they became unclean through their works, going after their evil desires. read more.
Then the wrath of the Lord was burning against his people, and he was angry with his heritage. And he gave them into the hands of the nations; and they were ruled by their haters. By them they were crushed, and made low under their hands. Again and again he made them free; but their hearts were turned against his purpose, and they were overcome by their sins.

Jeremiah 19:3-15

Say, Give ear to the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem; the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said, See, I will send evil on this place which will be bitter to the ears of anyone hearing of it. Because they have given me up, and made this place a strange place, burning perfumes in it to other gods, of whom they and their fathers and the kings of Judah had no knowledge; and they have made this place full of the blood of those who have done no wrong; And they have put up the high places of the Baal, burning their sons in the fire; a thing which was not ordered by me, and it was never in my mind: read more.
For this cause, see, a time is coming, says the Lord, when this place will no longer be named Topheth, or, The valley of the son of Hinnom, but, The valley of Death. I will make the purpose of Judah and Jerusalem come to nothing in this place; I will have them put to the sword by their haters, and by the hands of those who have designs on their life; and their dead bodies I will give to be food for the birds of heaven and the beasts of the earth. And I will make this town a thing of wonder and a cause of surprise; everyone who goes by will be overcome with wonder and make sounds of surprise, because of all its troubles. I will make them take the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters for food, they will be making a meal of one another, because of their bitter need and the cruel grip of their haters and those who have made designs against their life. Then let the potter's bottle be broken before the eyes of the men who have gone with you, And say to them, This is what the Lord of armies has said: Even so will this people and this town be broken by me, as a potter's bottle is broken and may not be put together again: and the bodies of the dead will be put in the earth in Topheth, till there is no more room. This is what I will do to this place, says the Lord, and to its people, making this town like Topheth: And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which they have made unclean, will be like the place of Topheth, even all the houses on whose roofs perfumes have been burned to all the army of heaven, and drink offerings drained out to other gods. Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to give the prophet's word; and he took his place in the open square of the Lord's house, and said to all the people, The Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: See, I will send on this town and on all her towns all the evil which I have said; because they made their necks stiff, so that they might not give ear to my words.

Violence » The lord hating violence

Proverbs 6:16-19

Six things are hated by the Lord; seven things are disgusting to him: Eyes of pride, a false tongue, hands which take life without cause; A heart full of evil designs, feet which are quick in running after sin; read more.
A false witness, breathing out untrue words, and one who lets loose violent acts among brothers.

Violence » Who shall eat violence

Proverbs 13:2

A man will get good from the fruit of his lips, but the desire of the false is for violent acts.

Violence » What violence does

Numbers 35:33

So do not make the land where you are living unholy: for blood makes the land unholy: and there is no way of making the land free from the blood which has come on it, but only by the death of him who was the cause of it.

Topics on Violence

Avoiding Violence

Proverbs 3:31

Have no envy of the violent man, or take any of his ways as an example.

Domestic Violence

Deuteronomy 22:13-19

If any man takes a wife, and having had connection with her, has no delight in her,

Freedom From Violence

Proverbs 21:7

By their violent acts the evil-doers will be pulled away, because they have no desire to do what is right.

Pursuing Violence

Psalm 35:3

Take up your spear and keep back my attackers; say to my soul, I am your salvation.

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Theasaurus: Violence

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