You must show him no pity. You are to purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, that it may go well with you.
Parallel translations
- WEB Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you.
- KJV Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.
- NKJV Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you.
- NASB You shall not pity him, but you shall eliminate the guilt for the bloodshed of the innocent from Israel, so that it may go well for you.
- NLT Do not feel sorry for that murderer! Purge from Israel the guilt of murdering innocent people; then all will go well with you.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel must show no pity to the murderer but purge innocent blood, so it goes well with them. Removing such guilt brings blessing to the community.
Overview
The judges were not to let misplaced compassion shield a murderer, for unavenged blood defiled the land. Purging the guilt of innocent blood was essential to Israel's well-being before God. This reflects that genuine justice, not sentimentality, honors the value of life and secures God's blessing.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 1 Kgs 2:31And the king replied, “Do just as he says. Strike him down and bury him, and so remove from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood that Joab shed.
- Deut 7:2and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
- Deut 7:16You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
- Deut 21:9So you shall purge from among you the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the LORD.
- Num 35:33–34Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
- 2 Sam 21:1During the reign of David there was a famine for three successive years, and David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “It is because of the blood shed by Saul and his family, because he killed the Gibeonites.”
- Lev 24:17And if a man takes the life of anyone else, he must surely be put to death.
- Deut 25:12you are to cut off her hand. You must show her no pity.
- Ezek 16:5No one cared enough for you to do even one of these things out of compassion for you. Instead, you were thrown out into the open field, because you were despised on the day of your birth.
- Lev 24:21Whoever kills an animal must make restitution, but whoever kills a man must be put to death.
- Gen 9:6Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind.
- 2 Sam 21:14And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in Zela in the land of Benjamin, in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. After they had done everything the king had commanded, God answered their prayers for the land.
- Deut 13:8you must not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity, and do not spare him or shield him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 19:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.