⁵ And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting.^(A) I will demand an accounting from every animal.^(B) And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.^(C)

²⁸ “If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death,^(A) and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. ²⁹ If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up^(B) and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death.

¹⁶ “‘Do not go about spreading slander^(A) among your people.

“‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life.^(B) I am the Lord.

Personal Injuries

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

⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”^(A)

“I don’t know,^(B)” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

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

³⁵ And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel^(A) to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah,^(B) whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.^(C)

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.

³¹ “‘Do not accept a ransom^(A) for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. They are to be put to death.

³² “‘Do not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a city of refuge and so allow them to go back and live on their own land before the death of the high priest.

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