²⁸ Later, when David heard about this, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever innocent^(A) before the Lord concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner.

³³ “‘Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land,^(A) and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

²⁴ When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar^(A) was starting, he took water and washed his hands^(B) in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,”^(C) he said. “It is your responsibility!”^(D)

Atonement for an Unsolved Murder

21 If someone is found slain, lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who the killer was,^{(A) 2} your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns. ³ Then the elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked and has never worn a yoke^{(B) 4} and lead it down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and where there is a flowing stream. There in the valley they are to break the heifer’s neck. ⁵ The Levitical priests shall step forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister and to pronounce blessings^(C) in the name of the Lord and to decide all cases of dispute and assault.^{(D) 6} Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands^(E) over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, ⁷ and they shall declare: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done. ⁸ Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, Lord, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent person.” Then the bloodshed will be atoned for,^{(F) 9} and you will have purged^(G) from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

Personal Injuries

¹² “Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death.^(A)

¹⁰ The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.^(A)