'My People' in the Bible

“For My people have committed two evils:They have abandoned (rejected) Me,The fountain of living water,And they have carved out their own cisterns,Broken cisternsThat cannot hold water.

“O generation [that you are], consider and regard carefully the word of the Lord.Have I been a wilderness to Israel [like a land without food],A land of thick and deep darkness [like a path without light]?Why do My people say, ‘We [have broken loose and we] are free to roam [at will];We will no longer come to You’?

“Can a virgin forget [to wear] her ornaments,Or a bride her attire [that identifies her as a married woman]?Yet My people have forgotten MeDays without number.

In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A scorching wind from the barren heights in the wilderness [comes at My command] against the daughter of My people—not [a wind] to winnow and not to cleanse [from chaff, as when threshing, but]

a wind too strong and full for this comes at My word. Now I will also speak judgment against My people.”

“For My people are stupid and foolish,” [says the Lord to Jeremiah];“They do not know Me;They are foolish childrenAnd have no understanding.They are shrewd [enough] to do evil,But they do not know [how] to do good.”

‘For wicked men are found among My people,They watch like fowlers who lie in wait;They set a trap,They catch men.

The prophets prophesy falsely,And the priests rule on their own authority;And My people love [to have] it so!But what will you do when the end comes?

“They have treated superficially the [bloody] broken wound of My people,Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’When there is no peace.

O daughter of my people [says Jeremiah],Clothe yourself in sackcloth and wallow in ashes;Mourn [aloud] as for an only son,A most bitter cry [of sorrow and regret],For suddenly the destroyer will come upon us [on both prophet and people].

“I [the Lord] have set you as an assayer [O Jeremiah] and as a tester [of the ore] of My people,That you may know and analyze their acts.”

“But go now to My place which was in Shiloh [in Ephraim], where I first set My Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.

But this thing I did command them: ‘Listen to and obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, so that it may be well with you.’

“Even the stork in the skyKnows her seasons [of migration],And the turtledove, the swallow and the craneObserve the time of their return.But My people do not knowThe law of the Lord.

“For they have treated the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially,Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’When there is no peace.

Behold, [hear the sound of] the cry of the daughter of my people from the distant land [of Babylon]:“Is not the Lord in Zion? Is not her King within her?”[But the Lord answers] “Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images and with foreign idols?”

For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I (Jeremiah) am broken;I mourn, anxiety has gripped me.

Is there no balm in Gilead?Is there no physician there?Why then has not the [spiritual] health of the daughter of my people been restored?

Oh that my head were watersAnd my eyes a fountain of tears,That I might weep day and nightFor the slain of the daughter of my people!

Oh that I had in the wildernessA lodging place (a mere shelter) for wayfaring men,That I might leave my peopleAnd go away from them!For they are all adulterers [worshiping idols instead of the Lord],[They are] an assembly of treacherous men [of weak character, men without integrity].

Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts,“Behold, I will refine them [through suffering] and test them;For how else should I deal with the daughter of My people?

which I commanded your fathers at the time that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Listen to My voice and do according to all that I command you. So you shall be My people, and I will be your God,’

Thus says the Lord regarding all My evil neighbors (Gentile nations) who strike at the inheritance which I have granted to My people Israel, “Behold, I will uproot them from their land and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them.

And if these [neighboring nations] will diligently learn the ways of My people, to swear by My Name, saying, ‘As the Lord lives’—even as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up among My people.

“Therefore [Jeremiah] you will say this word to them,‘Let my eyes flow with tears night and day,And let them never cease;For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a great blow,With a very serious and severely infected wound.

“I will winnow (sort, separate) them with a winnowing forkAt the gates of the land;I will deprive them of children, I will destroy My people;They did not repent and turn from their [evil] ways.

‘Yet My people have forgotten Me;They burn incense to worthless gods,They have stumbled from their waysFrom the ancient roads,To walk in pathways,Not on a highway,

Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, in regard to the shepherds who care for and feed My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; hear this, I am about to visit and attend to you for the evil of your deeds,” says the Lord.

“And I have seen a foolish and an offensive thing in the prophets of Samaria:They prophesied by Baal and caused My people Israel to go astray.

“But if they had stood in My council,Then they would have caused My people to hear My words,Then they would have turned My people from their evil wayAnd from the evil of their decisions and deeds.

who think that they can make My people forget My Name by their [contrived] dreams which each one tells another, just as their fathers forgot My Name because of Baal?

Hear this, I am against those who have prophesied false and made-up dreams,” says the Lord, “and have told them and have made My people err and go astray by their lies and by their reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them nor do they benefit and enhance [the life of] these people in the slightest way,” says the Lord.

I will give them a heart to know Me, [understanding fully] that I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.

therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am about to punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants. He will not have anyone [born] to live among this people, nor will he see the good that I am about to do to My people,” says the Lord, “because he has spoken and preached rebellion against the Lord.”’”

For behold (hear this), the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will return them to the land that I gave to their forefathers and they will take possession of it.’”

‘Then you shall be My people,And I will be your God.’”

“At that time,” says the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”

“I will fully satisfy the soul of the priests with abundance,And My people will be satisfied with My goodness,” says the Lord.

“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says the Lord, “I will put My law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.

They will be My people, and I will be their God;

“Have you not noticed what this people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families [Israel the northern kingdom, and Judah the southern kingdom] which the Lord chose, He has rejected’? Thus they despise My [chosen] people, no longer are they [considered] as a nation in their sight.

“My people have become lost sheep;Their shepherds have led them astray.They have made them turn aside [to the seductive places of idolatry] on the mountains.They have gone along [from one sin to another] from mountain to hill;They have forgotten their [own] resting place.

“Come out of her midst, My people,And each of you [escape and] save yourselfFrom the fierce anger of the Lord.

My eyes fail because of tears [mourns Jeremiah],My spirit is deeply disturbed;My heart is poured out on the earth [in grief]Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people [Jerusalem],When little ones and infants faintIn the streets of the city.

I have become the [object of] ridicule to all my people,And [the subject of] their mocking song all the day.

My eyes overflow with streams of tearsBecause of the destruction of the daughter of my people (Jerusalem).

Even the jackals offer the breast,They nurse their young;But the daughter of my people has become cruelLike ostriches in the wilderness [that desert their young].

For the [punishment of the] wickedness of the daughter of my people [Jerusalem]Is greater than the [punishment for the] sin of Sodom,Which was overthrown in a moment,And no hands were turned toward her [to offer help].

The hands of compassionate womenBoiled their own children;They became food for themBecause of the destruction of the daughter of my people [Judah].

that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

“So My hand will be against the [counterfeit] prophets who see (make up) empty and delusive visions and who give lying prophecies. They will have no place in the [secret] council of My people, nor will they be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter into the land of Israel, that you may know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord God.

It is definitely because they have seduced My people, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because when one builds a [flimsy] wall, behold, these [lying] prophets plaster it over with whitewash;

and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Woe to the women who fasten magic (protective) charms on all wrists and make veils for the heads of those of every stature to capture [human] lives! Will you capture the lives of My people but keep your own?

You have profaned Me among My people [in payment] for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, killing people who should not die and giving [a guarantee of] life to those who should not live, because of your lies to My people who pay attention to lies.”’”

I will also tear off your [pagan] veils and rescue My people from your hands, and they will no longer be in your grip to be hunted and trapped. Then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.

therefore, you women will no longer see false visions or practice divinations, and I will rescue My people from your hand. Then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”

I will set My face against that man [that hypocrite] and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from among My people; and you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.

“But if the prophet [who speaks without My authority] is enticed to speak a word [of his own], it is I the Lord who have caused that prophet [to speak falsely to please the inquirer, thus allowing himself to be a party to the inquirer’s sin], and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel.

so that the house of Israel may no longer drift away from Me and no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions, but they will be My people, and I will be their God,”’ says the Lord God.”

Cry out and wail, son of man, for it is against My people; it is against all the princes of Israel. They are thrown to the sword along with My [terrified] people. Therefore strike your thigh and strike your chest [in grief].

I will take My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel. Therefore, they will act in Edom in accordance with My anger and My wrath, and they will know and experience My vengeance,” says the Lord God.

They come to you as people come, and they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not practice them; for with their mouth they express loving devotion, but their heart goes after their (unlawful) gain.

“I will make a covenant of peace with them and will eliminate the predatory animals from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep [safely] in the woods.

Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its produce; and My people will be secure on their land. Then they will know [with confidence] that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have rescued them from the hand of those who made them slaves.

Then they will know [with assurance] that I the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,” says the Lord God.

But you, O mountains of Israel, will put out your branches and bear your fruit to My people Israel; for they will soon come [home].

Yes, [O mountains of Israel] I will cause men—My people Israel—to walk on you and take possession of you, so that you will become their inheritance and never again bereave them of children.’

You will live in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you will be My people, and I will be your God.

Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will open your graves and make you come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you [back home] to the land of Israel.

Then you will know [with confidence] that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and made you come up out of your graves, My people.

They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will save them from all their transgressions in which they have sinned, and I will cleanse them. So they will be My people, and I will be their God.

My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.

“Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On that day when My people Israel live securely, will you not become aware of it [and become active]?

and you will go up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. In the last days it will come about that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I show Myself holy through you before their eyes, O Gog.”

“I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore; and the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

They will not take any wood from the field or cut down and gather [any] firewood from the forests, because they will make their fires using the weapons. And they will take the spoil from those who despoiled them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them,” says the Lord God.

The priests shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and teach them to distinguish between the (ceremonially) unclean and the clean.

This shall be his land for a possession in Israel; so My princes shall no longer oppress My people, but they shall give the rest of the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.”

‘Thus says the Lord God, “Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and destruction, and practice justice and righteousness. Stop your forceful seizure of property from My people,” says the Lord God.

Moreover, the prince shall not take from the people’s inheritance by oppression and by evicting them from their property; he shall give his sons an inheritance from his own possession, so that My people will not be scattered, anyone from his possession.”’”

While I was still speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God,

And the Lord said, “Name him Lo-Ammi (not my people), for you are not My people and I am not your God.”

Yet the number of the sons of IsraelShall be like the sand of the sea,Which cannot be measured or numbered;And in the placeWhere it is said to them,“You are not My people,”It will be said to them,“You are the sons of the living God.”

“I will sow her for Myself in the land.I will also have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy;And I will say to those who were not My people,‘You are My people,’And they will say, ‘You are my God!’”

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge [of My law, where I reveal My will].Because you [the priestly nation] have rejected knowledge,I will also reject you from being My priest.Since you have forgotten the law of your God,I will also forget your children.

They (the priests) feed on the sin offering of My peopleAnd set their heart on their wickedness.

My people consult their [lifeless] wooden idol, and their [diviner’s] wand gives them oracles.For a spirit of prostitution has led them astray [morally and spiritually],And they have played the prostitute, withdrawing themselves from their God.

Also, O Judah, there is a harvest [of divine judgment] appointed for you,When I restore the fortunes of My people [who have been slaves to the misery of sin].

My people are bent on turning from Me;Though the prophets call them to the One on high,None at all exalts Him.

“You will have plenty to eat and be satisfiedAnd praise the name of the Lord your GodWho has dealt wondrously with you;And My people shall never be put to shame.

“And you shall know [without any doubt] that I am in the midst of Israel [to protect and bless you],And that I am the Lord your God,And there is no other;My people will never be put to shame.

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.

“They have also cast lots for My people,And have traded a boy for a prostituteAnd have sold a girl for wine that they may drink.

The Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,“Behold, I am setting a plumb line [as a standard]Among My people Israel [showing the defectiveness of the nation, requiring judgment].I shall not spare them any longer. [The door of mercy is shut.]

But the Lord took me as I followed the flock and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’

And He said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel. I will spare them no longer [for the nation is ripe for judgment].

“All the sinners among My people will die by the sword,Those who say [defiantly], ‘The disaster will not overtake or confront us.’

“Also I shall bring back the exiles of My people Israel,And they will rebuild the deserted and ruined cities and inhabit them:They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine,And make gardens and eat their fruit.

“Do not enter the gate of My peopleIn the day of their disaster;Yes, you, do not look [with delight] on their miseryIn the day of their ruin,And do not loot treasuresIn the day of their ruin.

For Samaria’s wound is incurable,For it has come to Judah;The enemy has reached the gate of my people,Even to Jerusalem.