28 Bible Verses about Cities

And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

Then Jehoash son of Jehoahaz took back from Ben-hadad son of Hazael the cities that Hazael had taken in war from Jehoash’s father Jehoahaz. Jehoash defeated Ben-hadad three times and recovered the cities of Israel.

However, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We also saw the descendants of Anak there.

What if there are 50 righteous people in the city? Will You really sweep it away instead of sparing the place for the sake of the 50 righteous people who are in it?

Joseph gathered all the excess food in the land of Egypt during the seven years and put it in the cities. He put the food in every city from the fields around it.

These are the cities appointed for all the Israelites and foreigners among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there and not die at the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the assembly.

But if he didn’t intend any harm, and yet God caused it to happen by his hand, I will appoint a place for you where he may flee.

“The cities you give the Levites will include six cities of refuge, which you must provide so that the one who kills someone may flee there; in addition to these, give 42 other cities.

Someone could flee there who committed manslaughter, killing his neighbor accidentally without previously hating him. He could flee to one of these cities and stay alive:

You are to determine the distances and divide the land the Lord your God is granting you as an inheritance into three regions, so that anyone who commits manslaughter can flee to these cities.

Now give me this hill country the Lord promised me on that day, because you heard then that the Anakim are there, as well as large fortified cities. Perhaps the Lord will be with me and I will drive them out as the Lord promised.”

So Joshua and the Israelites finished inflicting a terrible slaughter on them until they were destroyed, although a few survivors ran away to the fortified cities.

Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran as fortified cities, and built sheepfolds.

He built Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon—fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars—

Their father had given them many gifts of silver, gold, and valuable things, along with fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn.

the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great that I have built by my vast power to be a royal residence and to display my majestic glory?”

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would give you—a land with large and beautiful cities that you did not build,

and Resen, between Nineveh and the great city Calah.

So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the Lord’s command.

Now Nineveh was an extremely large city, a three-day walk.

Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies to the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali.

So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh.

Jehoshaphat grew stronger and stronger. He built fortresses and storage cities in Judah

all the storage cities that belonged to Solomon, the chariot cities, the cavalry cities, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, or anywhere else in the land of his dominion.

Joseph gathered all the excess food in the land of Egypt during the seven years and put it in the cities. He put the food in every city from the fields around it.

A Solomonic song of ascents.Unless the Lord builds a house,
its builders labor over it in vain;
unless the Lord watches over a city,
the watchman stays alert in vain.

The guards who go about the city found me.
They beat and wounded me;
they took my cloak from me—
the guardians of the walls.

An oracle against Dumah:

One calls to me from Seir,
“Watchman, what is left of the night?
Watchman, what is left of the night?”

These were the outermost cities of the tribe of the descendants of Judah toward the border of Edom in the Negev: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur,

Segub fathered Jair, who possessed 23 towns in the land of Gilead.

But where are your gods you made for yourself?
Let them rise up and save you
in your time of disaster if they can,
for your gods are as numerous as your cities, Judah.

When shadows began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem just before the Sabbath, I gave orders that the gates be closed and not opened until after the Sabbath. I posted some of my men at the gates, so that no goods could enter during the Sabbath day.

All the able-bodied men listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and all the able-bodied men were circumcised.

Then I instructed the Levites to purify themselves and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.

Remember me for this also, my God, and look on me with compassion in keeping with Your abundant, faithful love.

Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken control of all his land as far as the Arnon.

So Adoni-zedek and his people were greatly alarmed because Gibeon was a large city like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were warriors.

Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal fortress.

“You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.

They got up, drove Him out of town, and brought Him to the edge of the hill that their town was built on, intending to hurl Him over the cliff.

“Here is the mind with wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated.

The streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in them.”

So Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth.

“So the slave came back and reported these things to his master. Then in anger, the master of the house told his slave, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor, maimed, blind, and lame!’

Rehoboam stayed in Jerusalem, and he fortified cities in Judah. He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, read more.
Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin.

Rehoboam also showed discernment by dispersing some of his sons to all the regions of Judah and Benjamin and to all the fortified cities. He gave them plenty of provisions and sought many wives for them.

Then David took up residence in the stronghold; therefore, it was called the city of David.

So Adoni-zedek and his people were greatly alarmed because Gibeon was a large city like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were warriors.

Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal fortress.

Now David said to Achish, “If I have found favor with you, let me be given a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas guarded the city of the Damascenes in order to arrest me,

After this, he built the outer wall of the city of David from west of Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate; he brought it around the Ophel, and he heightened it considerably. He also placed military commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.

Anyone who belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city,
the dogs will eat,
and anyone who dies in the field,
the birds of the sky will eat,
for the Lord has said it!’

They return at evening, snarling like dogs
and prowling around the city.

And they return at evening, snarling like dogs
and prowling around the city.

He stationed troops in every fortified city of Judah and set garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.

These were the ones who served the king, besides those he stationed in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.

Solomon accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. He stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

“Appoint judges and officials for your tribes in all your towns the Lord your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.

He appointed judges in all the fortified cities of the land of Judah, city by city.

They will besiege you within all your gates until your high and fortified walls, that you trust in, come down throughout your land. They will besiege you within all your gates throughout the land the Lord your God has given you.

I dug [wells], and I drank foreign waters. I dried up all the streams of Egypt with the soles of my feet. Have you not heard? I designed it long ago; I planned it in days gone by. I have now brought it to pass, and you have crushed fortified cities into piles of rubble.

Zebulun will live by the seashore
and will be a harbor for ships,
and his territory will be next to Sidon.

He said about Zebulun: Rejoice, Zebulun, in your journeys, and Issachar, in your tents. They summon the peoples to a mountain; there they offer acceptable sacrifices. For they draw from the wealth of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand.

Baalath, all the storage cities that belonged to Solomon, all the chariot cities, the cavalry cities, and everything Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, or anywhere else in the land of his dominion.

He built Tadmor in the wilderness along with all the storage cities that he built in Hamath.

The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues because of their pain

And the woman you saw is the great city that has an empire over the kings of the earth.”

I also saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.

And if anyone takes away from the words of this prophetic book, God will take away his share of the tree of life and the holy city, written in this book.

He built Tadmor in the wilderness along with all the storage cities that he built in Hamath.

He turns a desert into a pool of water, dry land into springs of water. He causes the hungry to settle there, and they establish a city where they can live.

Where can we go? Our brothers have discouraged us, saying: The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, fortified to the heavens. We also saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’

All these were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides a large number of rural villages.

An offended brother is harder to reach
than a fortified city,
and quarrels are like the bars of a fortress.

Today, I am the One who has made you a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land-against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the population. They will fight against you but never prevail over you, since I am with you to rescue you." [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration.

Look, this town is close enough for me to run to. It is a small place. Please let me go there—it’s only a small place, isn’t it?—so that I can survive.”

There was a small city with few men in it. A great king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege works against it.

Every city flees
at the sound of the horseman and the archer.
They enter the thickets
and climb among the rocks.
Every city is abandoned;
no inhabitant is left.

When the men of Israel on the other side of the valley and on the other side of the Jordan saw that Israel’s men had run away and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled. So the Philistines came and settled in them.

Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rab-saris, and the Rabshakeh, along with a massive army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They advanced and came to Jerusalem, and they took their position by the aqueduct of the upper pool, which is by the highway to the Fuller’s Field.

The rest of the events of Hezekiah’s reign, along with all his might and how he made the pool and the tunnel and brought water into the city, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings.

Their children will be smashed to death before their eyes;
their houses will be looted,
and their wives raped.

I will give away all the wealth of this city, all its products and valuables. Indeed, I will hand all the treasures of the kings of Judah over to their enemies. They will plunder them, seize them, and carry them off to Babylon.

For Your servants take delight in its stones
and favor its dust.

They will take your wealth as spoil and plunder your merchandise. They will also demolish your walls and tear down your beautiful homes. Then they will throw your stones, timber, and soil into the water.

As people migrated from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.

Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but Lot lived in the cities of the valley and set up his tent near Sodom.

He stretched out His hand over the sea;
He made kingdoms tremble.
The Lord has commanded
that the Canaanite fortresses be destroyed.

Say to Tyre, who is located at the entrance of the sea, merchant of the peoples to many coasts and islands: This is what the Lord God says:

Tyre, you declared,
‘I am perfect in beauty.’

Cain was intimate with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain became the builder of a city, and he named the city Enoch after his son.

They named the city Dan, after the name of their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel. The city was formerly named Laish.

On that day their strong cities will be
like the abandoned woods and mountaintops
that were abandoned because of the Israelites;
there will be desolation.

For this is what the Lord God says: “When I make you a ruined city like other deserted cities, when I raise up the deep against you so that the mighty waters cover you,

The men of Israel had a prearranged signal with the men in ambush: when they sent up a great cloud of smoke from the city,

But when the column of smoke began to go up from the city, Benjamin looked behind them, and the whole city was going up in smoke.

In the first year of King Cyrus, he issued a decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem:

Let the house be rebuilt as a place for offering sacrifices, and let its original foundations be retained. Its height is to be 90 feet and its width 90 feet,

The city wall had 12 foundations, and the 12 names of the Lamb’s 12 apostles were on the foundations.

Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (the heavenly Jerusalem), to myriads of angels in festive gathering,

But they now desire a better place—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

For we do not have an enduring city here; instead, we seek the one to come.

So Joshua and the Israelites finished inflicting a terrible slaughter on them until they were destroyed, although a few survivors ran away to the fortified cities.

In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.

So Joshua and the whole military force set out to attack Ai. Joshua selected 30,000 fighting men and sent them out at night. He commanded them: "Pay attention. Lie in ambush behind the city, not too far from it, and all of you be ready. Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. When they come out against us as they did the first time, we will flee from them. read more.
They will come after us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, 'They are fleeing from us as before.' While we are fleeing from them, you are to come out of your ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God has handed it over to you.

Then Abimelech and the units that were with him rushed forward and took their stand at the entrance of the city gate. The other two units rushed against all who were in the countryside and struck them down.

He plucked off its topmost shoot,
brought it to the land of merchants,
and set it in a city of traders.

He stretched out His hand over the sea;
He made kingdoms tremble.
The Lord has commanded
that the Canaanite fortresses be destroyed.

Say to Tyre, who is located at the entrance of the sea, merchant of the peoples to many coasts and islands: This is what the Lord God says:

Tyre, you declared,
‘I am perfect in beauty.’

Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
and founds a town with injustice!

who build Zion with bloodshed
and Jerusalem with injustice.

Jerusalem—the mountains surround her.
And the Lord surrounds His people,
both now and forever.

he will dwell on the heights;
his refuge will be the rocky fortresses,
his food provided, his water assured.

He led them by the right path
to go to a city where they could live.

He causes the hungry to settle there,
and they establish a city where they can live.

“Command the Israelites to give cities out of their hereditary property for the Levites to live in and pastureland around the cities.

So the Israelites, by the Lord’s command, gave the Levites these cities with their pasturelands from their inheritance.

Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Even though our lord can see that the city’s location is good, the water is bad and the land unfruitful.”

rising splendidly,
is the joy of the whole earth.
Mount Zion on the slopes of the north
is the city of the great King.

and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and in all kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them.

So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh.

By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that the people of the land had no food.

I gave you absolutely nothing to eat
in all your cities,
a shortage of food in all your communities,
yet you did not return to Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

By the rivers of Babylon—
there we sat down and wept
when we remembered Zion.

There is a river—
its streams delight the city of God,
the holy dwelling place of the Most High.

I will arise now and go about the city, through the streets and the plazas. I will seek the one I love. I sought him, but did not find him. The guards who go about the city found me. "Have you seen the one I love?" [I asked them].

He strengthened their fortifications and put leaders in them with supplies of food, oil, and wine. He also put large shields and spears in each and every city to make them very strong. So Judah and Benjamin were his.

Should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left, as well as many animals?”

Are you better than Thebes
that sat along the Nile
with water surrounding her,
whose rampart was the sea,
the river her wall?

Next to them Rephaiah son of Hur, ruler over half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs.

Beside him Shallum son of Hallohesh, ruler over half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs—he and his daughters.

Next to him the Levites made repairs [under] Rehum son of Bani. Beside him Hashabiah, ruler over half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district. After him their fellow [Levites] made repairs [under] Binnui son of Henadad, ruler over half the district of Keilah.

Then I put my brother Hanani in charge of Jerusalem, along with Hananiah, commander of the fortress, because he was a faithful man who feared God more than most.

Solomon accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

Baalath, all the storage cities that belonged to Solomon, all the chariot cities, the cavalry cities, and everything Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, or anywhere else in the land of his dominion.

Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. He stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

The descendants of Joseph became two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. No portion of the land was given to the Levites except cities to live in, along with pasturelands for their cattle and livestock.

The cities will be for them to live in, and their pasturelands will be for their herds, flocks, and all their [other] animals. The pasturelands of the cities you are to give the Levites [will extend] from the city wall 500 yards on every side. Measure 1,000 yards outside the city for the east side, 1,000 yards for the south side, 1,000 yards for the west side, and 1,000 yards for the north side, with the city in the center. This will belong to them as pasturelands for the cities.

"Concerning the Levitical cities, the Levites always have the right to redeem houses in the cities they possess. Whatever [property] one of the Levites can redeem-a house sold in a city they possess-must be released at the Jubilee, because the houses in the Levitical cities are their possession among the Israelites.

Cain was intimate with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain became the builder of a city, and he named the city Enoch after his son.

His kingdom started with Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, and Resen, between Nineveh and the great city Calah.

Rehoboam stayed in Jerusalem, and he fortified cities in Judah.

The city is laid out in a square; its length and width are the same. He measured the city with the rod at 12,000 stadia. Its length, width, and height are equal.

Why are we just sitting here? Gather together; let us enter the fortified cities and there suffer our fate, for the Lord our God has condemned us. He has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord. We hoped for peace, but there was nothing good; for a time of healing, but there was only terror. From Dan is heard the snorting of horses. At the sound of the neighing of mighty steeds, the whole land quakes. They come to devour the land and everything in it, the city and all its residents.

From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, and Resen, between Nineveh and the great city Calah.

At the end of 12 months, as he was walking on the roof of the royal palace in Babylon, the king exclaimed, "Is this not Babylon the Great that I have built by my vast power to be a royal residence and to display my majestic glory?"

A rich man’s wealth is his fortified city;
the poverty of the poor is their destruction.

then he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for 150 pounds of silver, and he built up the hill. He named the city he built Samaria based on the name Shemer, the owner of the hill.

The Ekronites called all the Philistine rulers together. They said, “Send the ark of Israel’s God away. It must return to its place so it won’t kill us and our people!” For the fear of death pervaded the city; God’s hand was oppressing them.

But they now desire a better place—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

For we do not have an enduring city here; instead, we seek the one to come.

“The cities you give the Levites will include six cities of refuge, which you must provide so that the one who kills someone may flee there; in addition to these, give 42 other cities.

“You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.

They said to each other, “Come, let us make oven-fired bricks.” They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar.

And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

Cain was intimate with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain became the builder of a city, and he named the city Enoch after his son.

So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh.

So Abimelech fought against the city that entire day, captured it, and killed the people who were in it. Then he tore down the city and sowed it with salt.

For You have turned the city into a pile of rocks,
a fortified city, into ruins;
the fortress of barbarians is no longer a city;
it will never be rebuilt.

Jerusalem, built as a city should be,
solidly joined together,

There was a strong tower inside the city, and all the men, women, and lords of the city fled there. They locked themselves in and went up to the roof of the tower.

Paul said, “I am a Jewish man from Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Now I ask you, let me speak to the people.”

However, when the city clerk had calmed the crowd down, he said, “Men of Ephesus! What man is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple guardian of the great Artemis, and of the image that fell from heaven?

before his colleagues and the powerful men of Samaria, and said, “What are these pathetic Jews doing? Can they restore it by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they ever finish it? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?”

So he sent messengers secretly to Abimelech, saying, “Look, Gaal son of Ebed, with his brothers, have come to Shechem and are turning the city against you.

During his reign, Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn, he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest, he set up its gates, according to the word of the Lord He had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.

At that time Joshua imposed this curse:

The man who undertakes
the rebuilding of this city, Jericho,
is cursed before the Lord.
He will lay its foundation
at the cost of his firstborn;
he will set up its gates
at the cost of his youngest.

So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow woman gathering wood. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup and let me drink.”