Bible Verses About Murder

"'If anyone kills someone, the murderer is to be put to death upon the testimony of witnesses; but the testimony of only one witness will not suffice to cause a person to be put to death.

Also, you are not to accept a ransom in lieu of the life of a murderer condemned to death; rather, he must be put to death.

Likewise, you are not to accept for someone who has fled to his city of refuge a ransom that would allow him to return to his land before the death of the cohen.

In this way you will not defile the land in which you are living. For blood defiles the land, and in this land no atonement can be made for the blood shed in it except the blood of him who shed it.

"'Do not murder.

"However, if someone hates his fellow member of the community, lies in wait for him, attacks him, strikes him a death blow, and then flees into one of these cities;

then the leaders of his own town are to send and bring him back from there and hand him over to the next-of-kin avenger, to be put to death.

You are not to pity him. Rather, you must put an end to the shedding of innocent blood in Isra'el. Then things will go well with you.

"One witness alone will not be sufficient to convict a person of any offense or sin of any kind; the matter will be established only if there are two or three witnesses testifying against him.

"If, in the land ADONAI your God is giving you to possess, a murder victim is found lying in the countryside; and the perpetrator of the murder is not known;

then your leaders and judges are to go out and measure the distance between it and the surrounding towns.

After it has been determined which town is the closest, the leaders of that town are to take a young female cow that has never been put to work or yoked for use as a draft animal.

The leaders of that town are to bring the heifer down to a vadi with a stream in it that never dries up, to a place that is neither plowed nor sown; and they are to break the cow's neck there in the vadi.

Then the cohanim, who are L'vi'im, are to approach; for ADONAI your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in the name of ADONAI; they will decide the outcome of every dispute and matter involving violence.

All the leaders of the town nearest the murder victim are to wash their hands over the cow whose neck was broken in the vadi.

Then they are to speak up and say, 'This blood was not shed by our hands, nor have we seen who did it.

ADONAI, forgive your people Isra'el, whom you redeemed; do not allow innocent blood to be shed among your people Isra'el.' And they will be forgiven this bloodshed.

Thus you will banish the shedding of innocent blood from among you, by doing what ADONAI sees as right.

"Sing out, you nations, about his people! For he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will render vengeance to his adversaries and make atonement for the land of his people."

He went back to his father's house in 'Ofrah and killed his brothers the sons of Yeruba'al, all seventy of them, on a single rock, except for Yotam Yeruba'al's youngest son, who stayed alive because he hid himself.

This came about so that the crime against the seventy sons of Yeruba'al might be avenged and the responsibility for their bloody death be placed on Avimelekh their brother, who murdered them, and on the men of Sh'khem, who helped him kill his brothers.

David said to him, "Your blood is on your own head. Your own mouth convicted you when you said, 'I killed ADONAI's anointed.'"

The sons of Rimmon the Be'eroti, Rekhav and Ba'anah went and arrived during the heat of the day at the home of Ish-Boshet as he was taking his afternoon rest.

They went right into the house, as if they were coming to get wheat, and stabbed him in the groin; then Rekhav and Ba'anah his brother escaped.

They entered the house as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, stabbed him and killed him; then they beheaded him, took his head and fled all night along the road through the 'Aravah.