'Among the Nations' in the Bible

I will scatter you among the nations and draw out the sword [of your enemies] after you; your land will become desolate and your cities will become ruins.

You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will consume you.

“For from the top of the rocks I see Israel,And from the hills I look at him.Behold, the people [of Israel] shall dwell aloneAnd will not be reckoned among the nations.

The Lord will scatter and disperse you among the peoples (pagan nations), and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord drives you.

“For this I will give thanks and praise You, O Lord, among the nations;I will sing praises to Your name.

Declare His glory among the nations,His marvelous works among all peoples.

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;And let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”

Please remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful and violate your obligations to Me I will scatter you [abroad] among the peoples;

Therefore will I give thanks and praise You, O Lord, among the nations,And sing praises to Your name.

You have made us like sheep to be eaten [as mutton]And have scattered us [in exile] among the nations.

You make us a byword among the nations,A laughingstock among the people.

“Be still and know (recognize, understand) that I am God.I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth.”

I will praise and give thanks to You, O Lord, among the people;I will sing praises to You among the nations.

Why should the [Gentile] nations say, “Where is their God?”Let there be known [without delay] among the nations in our sight [and to this generation],Your vengeance for the blood of Your servants which has been poured out.

Declare His glory among the nations,His marvelous works and wonderful deeds among all the peoples.

Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns;Indeed, the world is firmly and securely established, it shall not be moved;He will judge and rule the people with fairness.”

And that He would cast out their descendants among the nationsAnd scatter them in the lands [of the earth].

Save us, O Lord our God,And gather us from among the nations,That we may give thanks to Your holy nameAnd glory in praising You.

I will praise and give thanks to You, O Lord, among the people;And I will sing praises to You among the nations.

Then our mouth was filled with laughterAnd our tongue with joyful shouting;Then they said among the nations,“The Lord has done great things for them.”

Then their offspring will be known among the nations,And their descendants among the peoples.All who see them [in their prosperity] will recognize and acknowledge themThat they are the people whom the Lord has blessed.

I will set up a [miraculous] sign among them, and from them I will send survivors to the nations: Tarshish, Pul (Put), Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant islands and coastlands that have not heard of My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare and proclaim My glory among the nations.

“Therefore thus says the Lord,‘Ask now among the nations,Who has heard of such things?The virgin IsraelHas done a very vile and horrible thing.

“For behold, [Edom] I have made you small among the nationsAnd despised among men.

“Declare among the nations.Lift up a signal [to spread the news]—publish and proclaim it,Do not conceal it; say,‘Babylon has been taken,Bel [the patron god] has been shamed, Marduk (Bel) has been shattered.Babylon’s images have been shamed, her [worthless] idols have been thrown down.’

“How the hammer of the whole earthIs crushed and broken!How Babylon has becomeA horror [of desolation] among the nations!

At the shout, “Babylon has been seized!” the earth quakes, and an outcry is heard among the nations.

Lift up a signal in the land [to spread the news]!Blow the trumpet among the nations!Dedicate the nations [for war] against her;Call against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.Appoint a marshal against her;Cause the horses to come up like bristly locusts [with their wings not yet released from their cases].

“How Sheshak (Babylon) has been captured,And the praise of the whole earth been seized!How Babylon has become an astonishing desolation and an object of horror among the nations!

How solitary and lonely sits the city [Jerusalem]That was [once] full of people!How like a widow she has become.She who was great among the nations!The princess among the provinces,Has become a forced laborer!

Her gates have sunk into the ground;He has destroyed and broken her bars.Her king and her princes are [exiled] among the nations;The law is no more.Also, her prophets no longer findVision from the Lord.

You have made us scum and refuseAmong the peoples (Gentile nations).

People cried to them, “Go away! Unclean!Depart! Depart! Do not touch!”So they fled, then they wandered [as fugitives];People among the nations said,“They shall not stay here any longer with us.”

The presence of the Lord scattered them [among the nations];He will not continue to look after them.They did not honor the priests;They did not favor the elders.

The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord [our king],Was captured in their snares,He of whom we had said, “Under his shadowWe shall live among the nations.”

Then the Lord said, “Thus the children of Israel will eat their bread unclean and defiled among the nations where I will banish them.”

Moreover, I will make you a desolation and a disgrace among the nations which surround you and in the sight of all who pass by.

“Yet I will leave some of you alive [a remnant], for you will have some who escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered throughout the countries.

Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be exiled, how I have been broken by their lewdness and their adulterous hearts which have turned away from Me, and by their eyes which lust after their idols; and they will loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed, for all their repulsive acts.

Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Though I had removed Israel far away among the nations and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary for them for a little while in the countries to which they had gone.”’

So they will know and understand fully that I am the Lord when I scatter them among the nations and disperse them among the [pagan] countries.

But I will leave a few [survivors] who will escape the sword, the famine, and the virulent disease, that they may confess all their repulsive (idolatrous) acts among the nations where they go, and may know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”

Then your fame went out among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My majesty and splendor which I bestowed on you,” says the Lord God.

therefore, listen, I will gather all your lovers (pagan allies) with whom you took pleasure, and all those whom you loved with all those whom you hated; I will even gather them against you from every direction and will expose your nakedness to them that they may see all your nakedness [making you, Israel, an object of loathing and of mockery, a spectacle among the nations].

I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will destroy your filthiness.

I will give it, along with the children of Ammon, to the people of the East as a possession, so that the children of Ammon will not be remembered among the nations [any longer].

So I will make the land of Egypt a desolation [plundered and ruined] among desolated lands; and her cities, among cities that are laid waste, will be desolate forty years. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and [I will] disperse them through the lands.”

I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and will disperse them throughout the lands.

When I scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the lands, then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.’”

I will also put fear into the hearts of many peoples when I bring your destruction [and captivity] among the nations, into countries which you have not known.

I will make your horde [of people] fall by the swords of the mighty—all of them are tyrants among the nations,And they will devastate the pride and presumption of Egypt,And all its hordes will be destroyed.

Also I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the countries. I judged and punished them in accordance with their conduct and their [idolatrous] behavior.

But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.

“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.

I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight.

For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.

I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not suffer again the disgrace of famine among the nations.

Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am going to take the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;

“And I will bring [and manifest] My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment and justice [in the punishment] which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them.

Then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them to their own land. I will leave none of them there [among the nations] any longer.

Israel is [as if] swallowed up [by enemies];They are now among the nationsLike a vessel [of cheap, coarse pottery] that is useless.

Yes, even though [with presents] they hire allies among the nations,Now I will gather them up;And [in a little while] they will begin to grow weak and diminishBecause of the burden imposed by the king of princes [the king of Assyria].

My God will reject them and cast them awayBecause they did not listen to Him;And they will be wanderers (fugitives) among the nations.

I will gather together all the [Gentile] nations [that were hostile to My people]And bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat (the Lord has judged).And there I will deal with them and enter into judgment with them thereFor [their treatment of] My people, My inheritance, Israel,Whom they have scattered among the nations,And [because] they have encroached on My land and divided it up.

Proclaim this among the [pagan] nations:Prepare a war! Stir up the mighty men!Let all the men of war come near, let them come up!

The vision of Obadiah.Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom—We have heard a report from the Lord,And an ambassador has been sent among the nations, saying,“Arise, and let us rise up against Edom for battle [with the Lord as commander]!”

“Behold [Edom], I shall [humiliate you and] make you small among the nations;You are greatly despised.

The remnant of JacobShall be among the nations,In the midst of many peoplesLike a lion among the beasts of the forest,Like a young lion [suddenly appearing] among the flocks of sheepWhich, if he passes through,Tramples down and tears into pieces [the nations in judgment],And there is no one to rescue.

[The Lord replied,] “Look among the nations! See!Be astonished! Wonder!For I am doing something in your days—You would not believe it if you were told.

And as you have been a curse among the nations, O house of Judah (Southern Kingdom) and house of Israel (Northern Kingdom), so I will save you, that you may be a blessing. Fear not; let your hands be strong.’

“When I scatter them among the nations,They will remember Me in far countries,And with their children they will live and come back [to Me and the land I gave them].

For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, My name shall be great among the nations. In every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name shall be great among the nations,” says the Lord of hosts.

“But cursed is the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows [to offer] it, but sacrifices to the Lord a blemished or diseased thing! For I am a great King,” says the Lord of hosts, “and My name is to be [reverently and greatly] feared among the nations.”