King James I, who in 1603 became the primary patron of Shakespeare's theater company, is well known for commissioning a new translation of the Bible. Perhaps as a nod to his benefactor's interest in Christian theology, Shakespeare's Macbeth contains numerous biblical allusions.

Some lines in the play directly paraphrase passages in the Bible. "The near in blood, / The nearer bloody" alludes to Matthew 10.36: "And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household." Macduff's son's proclamation that he will live "As birds do" refers to Matthew 6.26: "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them." Even Macbeth's statement about "dusty death" is a reference to Genesis 3.19: "for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." 

Many allusions are to Christ, like this one in Act 1, Scene 2:

Captain: Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds
Or memorize another Golgotha

In the Bible, Golgotha was a location outside Jerusalem referred to as the "Place of a Skull," where Jesus was said to be crucified. By alluding to this site, the captain foreshadows the unholy and murderous acts that Macbeth will later commit.

Macbeth's soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 7 uses the imagery of angels to emphasize Duncan's holiness:

Macbeth: [H]is virtues
Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against
The deep damnation of his taking-off

Lady Macbeth's line in Act 2, Scene 2 compares Duncan to Christ and herself to Pontius Pilate:

Lady Macbeth: A little water clears us of this deed.

Pilate was a Roman official who presided over the trial of Jesus and ultimately condemned him to crucifixion. The Bible has Pilate wash his hands before giving the order, symbolically absolving himself of guilt. Like Pilate, Lady Macbeth must wash her hands to remove evidence of the deed she has committed.

In Act 4, Scene 3, Malcolm draws a parallel between himself and the "Lamb of God," a title that the Bible gives to Jesus:

Malcolm: To offer up a weak, poor, innocent lamb
T' appease an angry god.

While Duncan and Malcolm are both associated with Christ, Macbeth is identified with Satan. In Act 1, Scene 5, Lady Macbeth encourages her husband to behave as treacherously as the serpent in the Garden of Eden, who tempted Eve and brought about the fall of humankind:

Lady Macbeth: Look like th’ innocent
    flower,
But be the serpent under ’t.

The gatekeeper of Macbeth's castle at Inverness imagines himself as the porter of hell, which would make "Beelzebub"—or Satan—his employer. Macbeth later laments that he has given his soul "to the common enemy of man," i.e. the devil.

In Act 4, Scene 3, Malcolm observes that, just as Macbeth was the most esteemed of Duncan's thanes, Satan was once the greatest of God's angels:

Malcolm: Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell.

Malcolm calls Macbeth "Devilish," while Macduff refers to him as the "fiend of Scotland."

Macbeth also contains several references to the apocalypse, when, according to Christian doctrine, the dead will resurrect to face final judgement before God. In Act 2, Scene 3, Macduff emphasizes the horror of Duncan's murder by alluding to doomsday:

Macduff: Up, up, and see
The great doom's image. Malcolm, Banquo,
As from your graves rise up and walk like sprites
To countenance this horror.

All these biblical allusions, especially those that associate Malcolm with Christ and Macbeth with the devil, elevate Macbeth from an earthly tragedy to an epic battle between good and evil.