36 Bible Verses about Gentiles

Then some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, including a great number of God-fearing Greeks, as well as a number of the leading women.

Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their thoughts. They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts. They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity with a desire for more and more.

So don't worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

No, but I do say that what they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to participate with demons!

When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the message of the Lord, and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.

The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.

But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook his robe and told them, “Your blood is on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying:

The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom
of our Lord and of His Messiah,
and He will reign forever and ever!

The apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles had welcomed God’s message also.

and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.

You know that when you were pagans, you used to be led off to the idols that could not speak.

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.

Then Paul and Barnabas boldly said: “It was necessary that God’s message be spoken to you first. But since you reject it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles!

Jesus sent out these 12 after giving them instructions: “Don’t take the road leading to other nations, and don’t enter any Samaritan town.

and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Nevertheless, the gloom of the distressed land will not be like that of the former times when He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the future He will bring honor to the Way of the Sea, to the land east of the Jordan, and to Galilee of the nations.

Put terror in them, Lord;
let the nations know they are only men.Selah

for kingship belongs to the Lord;
He rules over the nations.

on us, the ones He also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

affliction and distress for every human being who does evil, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek;

What then? Are we any better? Not at all! For we have previously charged that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin,

not with lustful desires, like the Gentiles who don’t know God.

For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened.

For He is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In His flesh,

But exclude the courtyard outside the sanctuary. Don’t measure it, because it is given to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months.

They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity with a desire for more and more.

And because they did not think it worthwhile to have God in their knowledge, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong. They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, disputes, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, read more.
undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. Although they know full well God's just sentence-that those who practice such things deserve to die-they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.

Do not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, or follow the practices of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. You must not follow their customs.

This is what the Lord says:

Do not learn the way of the nations
or be terrified by signs in the heavens,
although the nations are terrified by them,

A psalm of Asaph.God, the nations have invaded Your inheritance,
desecrated Your holy temple,
and turned Jerusalem into ruins.

י YodThe adversary has seized
all her precious belongings.
She has even seen the nations
enter her sanctuary—
those You had forbidden
to enter Your assembly.

He said:

Yahweh, the God of our ancestors, are You not the God who is in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand, and no one can stand against You.

God reigns over the nations;
God is seated on His holy throne.

“Wake up, wake up;
put on your strength, Zion!
Put on your beautiful garments,
Jerusalem, the Holy City!
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
will no longer enter you.

Jonathan said to the attendant who carried his weapons, “Come on, let’s cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will help us. Nothing can keep the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.”

But the Lord said to him, “Go! For this man is My chosen instrument to take My name to Gentiles, kings, and the Israelites.

On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter was for the circumcised. For He who was at work with Peter in the apostleship to the circumcised was also at work with me among the Gentiles.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.

for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord of all is rich to all who call on Him.

Foreigners will build up your walls,
and their kings will serve you.
Although I struck you in My wrath,
yet I will show mercy to you with My favor.

For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will choose Israel again. He will settle them on their own land. The foreigner will join them and be united with the house of Jacob.

Then Peter began to speak: "In truth, I understand that God doesn't show favoritism, but in every nation the person who fears Him and does righteousness is acceptable to Him. He sent the message to the sons of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ-He is Lord of all. read more.
You know the events that took place throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and curing all who were under the tyranny of the Devil, because God was with Him. We ourselves are witnesses of everything He did in both the Judean country and in Jerusalem; yet they killed Him by hanging Him on a tree. God raised up this man on the third day and permitted Him to be seen, not by all the people, but by us, witnesses appointed beforehand by God, who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people, and to solemnly testify that He is the One appointed by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about Him that through His name everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins." While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.

Simeon has reported how God first intervened to take from the Gentiles a people for His name.

When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the message of the Lord, and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed. So the message of the Lord spread through the whole region.

Then the whole assembly fell silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul describing all the signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

Why do the nations rebel
and the peoples plot in vain?

Now the Scripture saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and told the good news ahead of time to Abraham, saying, All the nations will be blessed through you.

In the last days
the mountain of the Lord’s house will be established
at the top of the mountains
and will be raised above the hills.
All nations will stream to it,

On that day the root of Jesse
will stand as a banner for the peoples.
The nations will seek Him,
and His resting place will be glorious.

When Peter went up to Jerusalem, those who stressed circumcision argued with him, saying, "You visited uncircumcised men and ate with them!"

Peter said to them, “You know it’s forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a foreigner. But God has shown me that I must not call any person common or unclean.

The king’s command and law went into effect on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month Adar. On the day when the Jews’ enemies had hoped to overpower them, just the opposite happened. The Jews overpowered those who hated them.

The Jews put all their enemies to the sword, killing and destroying them. They did what they pleased to those who hated them.

“I, Yahweh, have called You
for a righteous purpose,
and I will hold You by Your hand.
I will keep You and appoint You
to be a covenant for the people
and a light to the nations,

a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and glory to Your people Israel.

You have rebuked the nations:
You have destroyed the wicked;
You have erased their name forever and ever.

The One who instructs nations,
the One who teaches man knowledge—
does He not discipline?

Though these nations you are about to drive out listen to fortune-tellers and diviners, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do this.

So then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh-called "the uncircumcised" by those called "the circumcised," done by hand in the flesh. At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, with no hope and without God in the world.

Your male and female slaves are to be from the nations around you; you may purchase male and female slaves.

Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,

[This disaster] happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt and because they had worshiped other gods. They had lived according to the customs of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites and the customs the kings of Israel had introduced.

Has a nation ever exchanged its gods?
(But they were not gods!)
Yet My people have exchanged their Glory
for useless idols.

He answered, “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to their dogs.”

shouting, "Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place. What's more, he also brought Greeks into the temple and has profaned this holy place." For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple complex.

Then I said, “What you are doing isn’t right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God and not invite the reproach of our foreign enemies?

So that you will not be conceited, brothers, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery: A partial hardening has come to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.

And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong.

So, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, instinctively do what the law demands, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law.

Therefore if an uncircumcised man keeps the law’s requirements, will his uncircumcision not be counted as circumcision?

The Lord frustrates the counsel of the nations;
He thwarts the plans of the peoples.

They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

Then the Jews said to one another, “Where does He intend to go so we won’t find Him? He doesn’t intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, does He?

“For, in fact, in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed,

Ask of Me,
and I will make the nations Your inheritance
and the ends of the earth Your possession.

But in the past, when you didn’t know God, you were enslaved to things that by nature are not gods.

When we reached Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us gladly. The following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. After greeting them, he related one by one what God did among the Gentiles through his ministry. read more.
When they heard it, they glorified God and said, "You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law. But they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, by telling them not to circumcise their children or to walk in our customs. So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you've come. Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have obligated themselves with a vow. Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay for them to get their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that what they were told about you amounts to nothing, but that you yourself are also careful about observing the law. With regard to the Gentiles who have believed, we have written a letter containing our decision that they should keep themselves from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what is strangled, and from sexual immorality."

The apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles had welcomed God's message also. When Peter went up to Jerusalem, those who stressed circumcision argued with him, saying, "You visited uncircumcised men and ate with them!" read more.
Peter began to explain to them in an orderly sequence, saying: "I was in the town of Joppa praying, and I saw, in a visionary state, an object coming down that resembled a large sheet being lowered from heaven by its four corners, and it came to me. When I looked closely and considered it, I saw the four-footed animals of the earth, the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky. Then I also heard a voice telling me, 'Get up, Peter; kill and eat!' " 'No, Lord!' I said. 'For nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth!' But a voice answered from heaven a second time, 'What God has made clean, you must not call common.' "Now this happened three times, and then everything was drawn up again into heaven. At that very moment, three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were. Then the Spirit told me to go with them with no doubts at all. These six brothers accompanied me, and we went into the man's house. He reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, 'Send to Joppa, and call for Simon, who is also named Peter. He will speak words to you by which you and all your household will be saved.' "As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came down on them, just as on us at the beginning. Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' Therefore, if God gave them the same gift that He also gave to us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I possibly hinder God?" When they heard this they became silent. Then they glorified God, saying, "So God has granted repentance resulting in life to even the Gentiles!"

After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them: "Brothers, you are aware that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the gospel message and believe. And God, who knows the heart, testified to them by giving the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. read more.
Why, then, are you now testing God by putting on the disciples' necks a yoke that neither our forefathers nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way they are."

Praise the Lord, all nations!
Glorify Him, all peoples!

And again:

Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
all the peoples should praise Him!