34 Bible Verses about Blood, as symbol of guilt

But your wickedness has separated you from your God,
And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

For your hands are defiled with blood
And your fingers with wickedness [with sin, with injustice, with wrongdoing];
Your lips have spoken lies,
Your tongue mutters wickedness.

‘If anyone curses his father or mother, he shall most certainly be put to death; he has cursed his father or mother; his blood is on him [that is, he bears full responsibility for the consequences]. ‘The man who commits adultery with another’s wife, even his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall most certainly be put to death. The man who lies [intimately] with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall most certainly be put to death; their blood is on them. read more.
If a man lies [intimately] with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall most certainly be put to death; they have committed incest; their blood is on them. If a man lies [intimately] with a male as if he were a woman, both men have committed a detestable (perverse, unnatural) act; they shall most certainly be put to death; their blood is on them.

David said to him, “How is it that you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” David called one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him.” So he struck the Amalekite and he died. David said to the [fallen] man, “Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed.’”

“So when you spread out your hands [in prayer, pleading for My help],
I will hide My eyes from you;
Yes, even though you offer many prayers,
I will not be listening.
Your hands are full of blood!
“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Get your evil deeds out of My sight.
Stop doing evil,

Learn to do good.
Seek justice,
Rebuke the ruthless,
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the [rights of the] widow [in court].read more.

“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be like wool.

Woe (judgment is coming) to the city of blood [guilty of murder and mayhem], completely full of lies and pillage;
Her prey never departs [alive].

But since the Jews kept resisting and opposing him, and blaspheming [God], he shook out his robe and said to them, “Your blood (damnation) be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

For My sword is satiated [with blood] in heaven;
Indeed, it will come down for judgment on Edom
And on the people whom I have doomed for destruction.

The sword of the Lord is filled with blood [from sacrifices],
It drips with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats,
With the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah (Edom’s capital city)
And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he is going out to the water, and wait for him on the bank of the Nile; and you shall take in your hand the staff that was turned into a serpent. You shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now.” read more.
Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know and recognize and acknowledge that I am the Lord: look, with the staff in my hand I will strike the water in the Nile, and it shall be turned to blood. The fish in the Nile will die, and the Nile will become foul, and the Egyptians will not be able to drink water from the Nile.”’” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, over their pools, and over all their reservoirs of water, so that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, in containers both of wood and of stone.’” So Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded; Aaron lifted up the staff and struck the waters in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile was turned into blood. The fish in the Nile died, and the river became foul smelling, and the Egyptians could not drink its water, and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

And turned their rivers into blood,
And their streams, so that they could not drink.

He turned Egypt’s waters into blood
And caused their fish to die.

‘And I will bring about wonders in the sky above
And signs (attesting miracles) on the earth below,
Blood and fire and smoking vapor.

‘The sun shall be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.

“I will show signs and wonders [displaying My power] in the heavens and on the earth,
Blood and fire and columns of smoke.

“The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood
Before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.

I looked when He (the Lamb) broke open the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth [made] of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, like a fig tree shedding its late [summer] figs when shaken by a strong wind. The sky was split [separated from the land] and rolled up like a scroll, and every mountain and island were dislodged and moved out of their places. read more.
Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the military commanders and the wealthy and the strong and everyone, [whether] slave or free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains;

The first [angel] sounded [his trumpet], and there was [a storm of] hail and fire, mixed with blood, and it was hurled to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. The second angel sounded [his trumpet], and something like a great mountain blazing with fire was hurled into the sea; and a third of the sea was turned to blood; and a third of the living creatures that were in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a corpse [foul and disgusting]; and every living thing in the sea died. Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water; and they turned into blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “Righteous and just are You, Who are and Who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things; read more.
for they have poured out the blood of the saints (God’s people) and the prophets, and You [in turn] have given them blood to drink. They deserve Your judgment.”

Cain talked with Abel his brother [about what God had said]. And when they were [alone, working] in the field, Cain attacked Abel his brother and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he [lied and] said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” The Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s [innocent] blood is crying out to Me from the ground [for justice]. read more.
And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s [shed] blood from your hand.

So the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, left and came to the house of Ish-bosheth in the heat of the day while he was taking his midday rest. They came into the interior of the house as if to get wheat [for the soldiers], and they struck him in the stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped [unnoticed]. Now when they entered the house he was lying on his bed in his bedroom. They [not only] struck and killed him, [but] they also beheaded him. Then they took his head and traveled all night by way of the Arabah. read more.
They brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron, and said to the king, “Look, the head of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; thus the Lord has granted my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and on his descendants.” David replied to Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from every adversity, when a man told me, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ thinking that he was bringing good news, I seized and killed him in Ziklag, to reward him for his news. How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous and just man in his own house on his bed, shall I not require his blood from your hand and remove you from the earth?” So David commanded his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hung them beside the pool in Hebron. But they took Ish-bosheth’s head and buried it in Hebron in the tomb of Abner [his relative].

Because you [descendants of Esau] have had an everlasting hatred [for Jacob (Israel)] and you handed over the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their tragedy, at the time of their final punishment [the Babylonian conquest], therefore, as I live,” says the Lord God, “I will hand you over to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you since you have not hated bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you. I will make Mount Seir (Edom) a ruin and a desolate wasteland and I will cut off from it the one who passes through it and the one who returns. read more.
I will fill its mountains with its slain; those killed by the sword will fall on your hills, and in your valleys, and in all your ravines. I will make you an everlasting desolation and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.

“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who builds a city with bloodshed
And establishes a town by violence!

When Judas, His betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was gripped with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They replied, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!” And throwing the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary, he left; and went away and hanged himself. read more.
The chief priests, picking up the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put these in the treasury [of the temple], because it is the price of blood.” So after consultation they used the money to buy the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers. Therefore that piece of ground has been called the Field of Blood to this day.

saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to bring this Man’s blood on us [by accusing us as His murderers].”

“But if there is a man who hates his neighbor and lies in wait and ambush for him and attacks him and strikes him down so that he dies, and the assailant escapes to one of these cities, then the elders of his own city shall send for him and have him taken back from there and turn him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may be put to death. You shall not pity him [the guilty one], but you shall purge the blood of the innocent from Israel, so that it may go well with you.

‘But if he struck his victim down [intentionally] with an iron object so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall certainly be put to death. If he struck his victim down [intentionally] with a stone in hand, which may cause a person to die, and he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall certainly be put to death. Or if he struck his victim down [intentionally] with a wooden object in hand, which may cause a person to die, and he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall certainly be put to death. read more.
The blood avenger shall himself put the murderer to death; he shall put him to death when he meets him. But if he pushed his victim out of hatred or threw something at him with malicious intent, and he died, or if, in enmity, he struck the victim down with his hand, and he died, the one that struck the victim shall certainly be put to death; he is a murderer. The blood avenger shall put the murderer to death when he meets him. ‘But if he pushed the victim suddenly, not in enmity, or threw anything at him without malicious intent, or without seeing him hit him [accidentally] with a stone object that could kill him, and he died, and [the offender] was not his enemy nor intending to harm him, then the congregation shall judge between the offender and the blood avenger according to these ordinances. The congregation shall rescue the offender from the hand of the blood avenger and return him to his city of refuge, [the place] to which he had escaped; and he shall live there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the sacred oil. But if at any time the one guilty of manslaughter comes outside the border of his city of refuge to which he fled, and the blood avenger finds him outside the border of his city of refuge and kills the offender, the blood avenger will not be guilty of murder, because the offender should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the high priest’s death the offender shall return to the land of his possession.

Then Moses set apart three cities [of refuge] beyond the Jordan toward the rising of the sun (eastward), so that someone who committed manslaughter could flee there, [that is, a person] who killed his neighbor unintentionally and without previously having hostility toward him, and that by escaping to one of these cities he might [claim the right of asylum and] save his life:

And the Lord said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, a sevenfold vengeance [that is, punishment seven times worse] shall be taken on him [by Me].” And the Lord set a [protective] mark (sign) on Cain, so that no one who found (met) him would kill him.

[Among] the cities which you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall provide for the one who commits manslaughter to flee to; and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities [to the Levites]. So you shall give to the Levites forty-eight cities in all, together with their pasture lands. As for the cities which you shall give from the possession of the Israelites, from the larger tribes you shall take many and from the smaller tribes few; each tribe shall give [at least some] of its cities to the Levites in proportion to [the size of] its inheritance which it possesses.” read more.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Tell the Israelites, ‘When you cross the Jordan [River] into the land of Canaan, then you shall select for yourselves cities to be cities of refuge, so that the one who kills any person unintentionally may escape there. The cities shall be to you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the one who has caused the death of another will not be killed until he has had a [fair] trial before the congregation. The cities which you are to provide shall be your six cities of refuge. You shall provide three cities on this [east] side of the Jordan [River], and three [more] cities in the land of Canaan; they are to be the cities of refuge. These six cities shall be a refuge for the Israelites and for the stranger and the resident alien among them; so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may escape there. ‘But if he struck his victim down [intentionally] with an iron object so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall certainly be put to death. If he struck his victim down [intentionally] with a stone in hand, which may cause a person to die, and he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall certainly be put to death. Or if he struck his victim down [intentionally] with a wooden object in hand, which may cause a person to die, and he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall certainly be put to death. The blood avenger shall himself put the murderer to death; he shall put him to death when he meets him. But if he pushed his victim out of hatred or threw something at him with malicious intent, and he died, or if, in enmity, he struck the victim down with his hand, and he died, the one that struck the victim shall certainly be put to death; he is a murderer. The blood avenger shall put the murderer to death when he meets him. ‘But if he pushed the victim suddenly, not in enmity, or threw anything at him without malicious intent, or without seeing him hit him [accidentally] with a stone object that could kill him, and he died, and [the offender] was not his enemy nor intending to harm him, then the congregation shall judge between the offender and the blood avenger according to these ordinances. The congregation shall rescue the offender from the hand of the blood avenger and return him to his city of refuge, [the place] to which he had escaped; and he shall live there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the sacred oil. But if at any time the one guilty of manslaughter comes outside the border of his city of refuge to which he fled, and the blood avenger finds him outside the border of his city of refuge and kills the offender, the blood avenger will not be guilty of murder, because the offender should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the high priest’s death the offender shall return to the land of his possession. ‘These things shall be a statute for you throughout your generations wherever you may be. ‘If anyone kills a person [intentionally], the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of [two or more] witnesses; but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of [only] one witness. Moreover, you shall not accept a ransom [in exchange] for the life of a murderer guilty and sentenced to death; but he shall certainly be put to death. You shall not accept a ransom for him who has escaped to his city of refuge, so that he may return to live in his [own] land before the death of the high priest. So you shall not pollute and defile the land in which you live; for [the shedding of innocent] blood pollutes and defiles the land. No atonement (expiation) can be made for the land for the [innocent] blood shed in it, except by the blood (execution) of him who shed it. You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I live, for I, the Lord, live among the people of Israel.’”

“Now this is the case of the offender (manslayer) who may escape there and live [protected from vengeance]: when he kills his neighbor unintentionally, not having hated him previously— as [for example] when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down the tree, but the iron head slips off the wooden handle and hits his companion and he dies—the offender may escape to one of these cities and live; otherwise the avenger of blood might pursue the offender in the heat of anger, and overtake him, because it is a long way, and take his life, even though he did not deserve to die, since he did not hate his neighbor beforehand. read more.
Therefore, I command you, saying, ‘You shall set aside three cities [of refuge] for yourself.’ “If the Lord your God enlarges your border, as He has sworn to your fathers to do, and gives you all the land which He promised to give to your fathers— if you keep and carefully observe all these commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the Lord your God, and to walk [that is, to live each and every day] always in His ways—then you shall add three more cities [of refuge] for yourself, besides these three, so that innocent blood will not be shed [by blood avengers] in your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and blood guilt will not be on you [for the death of an innocent man].

The Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, “Speak to the Israelites, saying, ‘Designate the cities of refuge (asylum), of which I spoke to you through Moses, so that the person (manslayer) who kills any person unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall be your refuge from the blood avenger. read more.
He shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city; and they shall take him into [the protection of] the city and give him a place [to stay], so that he may live among them. If the blood avenger pursues him, they shall not hand the offender (manslayer) over to him, because he killed his neighbor unintentionally and without premeditation and did not hate him beforehand. He shall live in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment [and if acquitted of murder he must stay there], until the death of the one who is the high priest in those days. Then the offender (manslayer) shall return to his own city and his own house from which he fled.’” So they set apart and consecrated Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh. These were the appointed cities for all the Israelites and for the stranger sojourning (living temporarily) among them, so that whoever killed any person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the blood avenger until he had stood before the congregation [for judgment].

For your lifeblood I will most certainly require an accounting; from every animal [that kills a person] I will require it. And from man, from every man’s brother [that is, anyone who murders] I will require the life of man.
“Whoever sheds man’s blood [unlawfully],
By man (judicial government) shall his blood be shed,
For in the image of God
He made man.

The Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s [innocent] blood is crying out to Me from the ground [for justice]. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s [shed] blood from your hand. When you cultivate the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength [it will resist producing good crops] for you; you shall be a fugitive and a vagabond [roaming aimlessly] on the earth [in perpetual exile without a home, a degraded outcast].” read more.
Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, You have driven me out this day from the face of the land; and from Your face (presence) I will be hidden, and I will be a fugitive and an [aimless] vagabond on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” And the Lord said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, a sevenfold vengeance [that is, punishment seven times worse] shall be taken on him [by Me].” And the Lord set a [protective] mark (sign) on Cain, so that no one who found (met) him would kill him. So Cain went away from the [manifested] presence of the Lord, and lived in the land of Nod [wandering in exile], east of Eden.

Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Now the accounting for his blood is required [of us for we are guilty of his death].”

Now the news reached Joab, for Joab had supported and followed Adonijah, although he had not followed Absalom. So Joab fled to the [sacred] tent of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar [to seek asylum]. King Solomon was told that Joab had fled to the tent of the Lord and was at that moment beside the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, strike him down.” So Benaiah came to the tent of the Lord and told Joab, “This is what the king commands, ‘Come out of there.’” But Joab said, “No, for I will die here.” Then Benaiah brought word to the king again, saying, “This is what Joab said, and this is how he answered me.” read more.
The king said to him, “Do as he has said. Strike him down and bury him, so that you may remove from me and from my father’s house the innocent blood which Joab shed. The Lord will return his bloody deeds upon his own head, because he struck down two men more righteous and honorable than he and killed them with the sword, without my father David knowing: Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. So shall their blood return on the head of Joab and the heads of his descendants forever. But for David, his descendants, his house, and his throne, may there be peace from the Lord forever.”

Listen carefully, the Lord is about to come out of His [heavenly] place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing];
The earth will reveal the [innocent] blood shed upon her
And will no longer cover her slain.

and you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have joined them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.