100 Bible Verses about Killing Innocent

Exodus 23:7 ESV / 105 helpful votes

Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked.

Exodus 20:13 ESV / 61 helpful votes

“You shall not murder.

Proverbs 6:16-19 ESV / 60 helpful votes

There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

Leviticus 24:17 ESV / 39 helpful votes

“Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death.

1 John 3:12 ESV / 34 helpful votes

We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous.

Proverbs 17:15 ESV / 34 helpful votes

He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord.

Romans 9:11 ESV / 26 helpful votes

Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—

Genesis 9:6 ESV / 25 helpful votes

“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

Isaiah 5:20 ESV / 23 helpful votes

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Proverbs 6:17 ESV / 23 helpful votes

Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

Jeremiah 1:5 ESV / 21 helpful votes

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Romans 12:19 ESV / 20 helpful votes

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Psalm 11:5 ESV / 19 helpful votes

The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

Joel 3:19 ESV / 17 helpful votes

“Egypt shall become a desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the people of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

James 4:2 ESV / 16 helpful votes

You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.

Deuteronomy 27:25 ESV / 16 helpful votes

“‘Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Exodus 21:22-25 ESV / 16 helpful votes

“When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

1 John 3:15 ESV / 14 helpful votes

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

1 Samuel 15:3 ESV / 14 helpful votes

Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

Exodus 22:2 ESV / 13 helpful votes

If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him,

Genesis 9:5-6 ESV / 13 helpful votes

And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

Romans 13:4 ESV / 12 helpful votes

For he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.

Exodus 12:29-30 ESV / 12 helpful votes

At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead.

Exodus 22:19 ESV / 11 helpful votes

“Whoever lies with an animal shall be put to death.

Matthew 26:52 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.

Jeremiah 22:17 ESV / 10 helpful votes

But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence.”

1 Timothy 4:1-2 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,

1 Samuel 15:2-3 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

Matthew 5:21-22 ESV / 8 helpful votes

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

2 Kings 2:23-24 ESV / 8 helpful votes

He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys.

Deuteronomy 5:17 ESV / 8 helpful votes

“‘You shall not murder.

Acts 2:2 ESV / 7 helpful votes

And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.

Matthew 15:19 ESV / 7 helpful votes

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

2 Chronicles 21:1-20 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place. He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel. Their father gave them great gifts of silver, gold, and valuable possessions, together with fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn. When Jehoram had ascended the throne of his father and was established, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of Israel. Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ...

1 Kings 20:35-36 ESV / 7 helpful votes

And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow at the command of the Lord, “Strike me, please.” But the man refused to strike him. Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as you have gone from me, a lion shall strike you down.” And as soon as he had departed from him, a lion met him and struck him down.

Judges 15:14-15 ESV / 7 helpful votes

When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men.

Revelation 21:8 ESV / 6 helpful votes

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Romans 13:10 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Romans 13:9 ESV / 6 helpful votes

For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Romans 13:2 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

Romans 1:24-32 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. ...

Acts 12:23 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

Matthew 5:21 ESV / 6 helpful votes

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’

Hosea 13:16 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Samaria shall bear her guilt, because she has rebelled against her God; they shall fall by the sword; their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.

Ecclesiastes 3:8 ESV / 6 helpful votes

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

Psalm 137:9 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!

Psalm 94:21 ESV / 6 helpful votes

They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.

Leviticus 20:13 ESV / 6 helpful votes

If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

Exodus 21:12 ESV / 6 helpful votes

“Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death.

Genesis 4:8 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

Revelation 1:1-20 ESV / 5 helpful votes

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood ...

James 4:7 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Job 1:18-19 ESV / 5 helpful votes

While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

1 Peter 4:15 ESV / 4 helpful votes

But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.

Romans 13:8-10 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Romans 8:32 ESV / 4 helpful votes

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Acts 5:1-11 ESV / 4 helpful votes

But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. ...

Acts 1:1 ESV / 4 helpful votes

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,

John 1:14 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Luke 1:41-44 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

Matthew 26:52-54 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”

Hosea 9:11-16 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Ephraim's glory shall fly away like a bird— no birth, no pregnancy, no conception! Even if they bring up children, I will bereave them till none is left. Woe to them when I depart from them! Ephraim, as I have seen, was like a young palm planted in a meadow; but Ephraim must lead his children out to slaughter. Give them, O Lord— what will you give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. Every evil of theirs is in Gilgal; there I began to hate them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of my house. I will love them no more; all their princes are rebels. ...

Daniel 2:2 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.

Ezekiel 33:8 ESV / 4 helpful votes

If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.

Ezekiel 24:15-18 ESV / 4 helpful votes

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.” So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did as I was commanded.

Ezekiel 22:12 ESV / 4 helpful votes

In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and profit and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but me you have forgotten, declares the Lord God.

Ezekiel 18:20 ESV / 4 helpful votes

The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

Ezekiel 1:1 ESV / 4 helpful votes

In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

Lamentations 4:13 ESV / 4 helpful votes

This was for the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed in the midst of her the blood of the righteous.

Jeremiah 50:21-22 ESV / 4 helpful votes

“Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill, and devote them to destruction, declares the Lord, and do all that I have commanded you. The noise of battle is in the land, and great destruction!

Jeremiah 31:15 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Thus says the Lord: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.”

Jeremiah 28:15-16 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion against the Lord.’”

Isaiah 13:16 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Their infants will be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished.

Isaiah 5:7 ESV / 4 helpful votes

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!

Proverbs 28:20 ESV / 4 helpful votes

A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.

Proverbs 6:16 ESV / 4 helpful votes

There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him:

Psalm 139:13-16 ESV / 4 helpful votes

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 60:1 ESV / 4 helpful votes

To the choirmaster: according to Shushan Eduth. A Miktam of David; for instruction; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt. O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; you have been angry; oh, restore us.

Psalm 15:5 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.

Job 10:8-12 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Your hands fashioned and made me, and now you have destroyed me altogether. Remember that you have made me like clay; and will you return me to the dust? Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese? You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit.

Esther 3:6 ESV / 4 helpful votes

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

Esther 2:1-23 ESV / 4 helpful votes

After these things, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had abated, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her. Then the king's young men who attended him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king. And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Susa the citadel, under custody of Hegai, the king's eunuch, who is in charge of the women. Let their cosmetics be given them. And let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This pleased the king, and he did so. Now there was a Jew in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite, ...

2 Chronicles 36:16-17 ESV / 4 helpful votes

But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy. Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand.

2 Chronicles 28:6 ESV / 4 helpful votes

For Pekah the son of Remaliah killed 120,000 from Judah in one day, all of them men of valor, because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers.

2 Chronicles 28:1 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done,

1 Chronicles 21:14 ESV / 4 helpful votes

So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel, and 70,000 men of Israel fell.

1 Samuel 6:19 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And he struck some of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they looked upon the ark of the Lord. He struck seventy men of them, and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great blow.

Judges 7:22 ESV / 4 helpful votes

When they blew the 300 trumpets, the Lord set every man's sword against his comrade 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.

Deuteronomy 20:16-17 ESV / 4 helpful votes

But in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded,

Leviticus 20:27 ESV / 4 helpful votes

“A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them.”

Leviticus 17:11 ESV / 4 helpful votes

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

Exodus 21:15 ESV / 4 helpful votes

“Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.

Genesis 38:7 ESV / 4 helpful votes

But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death.

Revelation 6:10 ESV / 3 helpful votes

They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

1 Peter 1:1-25 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ...

Acts 5:5-10 ESV / 3 helpful votes

When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” ...

Luke 1:37 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Matthew 27:4 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.”

Psalm 127:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.

Psalm 119:73 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.

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