25 Bible Verses about Pilgrimage

Three times during the year all your males are to appear in the presence of the LORD God of Israel, since I'm going to drive out nations before you, and enlarge your borders, and no one will covet your land, when you go up to appear in the presence of the LORD your God three times a year.

Every year Jesus' parents would go to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. When Jesus was twelve years old, they went up to the festival as usual.

"Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival for me.

"Every male must appear in the presence of the LORD your God three times a year at the place where he will choose: for the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Seven Weeks, and the Festival of Tents. He must not appear in the LORD's presence empty-handed,

when all of Israel comes to appear in the presence of the LORD your God at the place that he'll choose, read this Law aloud to them.

Then Solomon called Israel's elders together, including all the leaders of the tribes and families of Israel. They met in Jerusalem to transfer the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD from Zion, the City of David. All the men of Israel assembled in front of the king during the Festival of Tents that takes place in the seventh month of the year.

Hezekiah also sent word to all of Israel and Judah, and wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh that they should come to the LORD's Temple in Jerusalem to observe the Passover to the LORD God of Israel.

The roads that lead to Zion are in mourning, because no one travels to the festivals. All her gates are desolate; her priests are moaning. Her young women are grieving, and she is bitter.

When the people who live in the land come into the LORD's presence during the festivals, whoever enters through the northern gate is to leave through the southern gate, and whoever enters through the southern gate is to leave through the northern gate. No one is to leave by the same route that he enters, but instead is to go straight out.

"It will come about that all of the survivors of the nations who came against Jerusalem will come there from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, and to observe the Festival of Tents. If anyone from the families of the earth will not come to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, there will be no rain for them. If the people of Egypt do not come to Jerusalem to take part, they will have no annual Nile overflow. A plague will come from the LORD to strike the nations who do not come to observe the Festival of Tents. read more.
This will be the punishment for Egypt and all nations who do not come to observe the Festival of Tents."

Later on, there was another festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Halfway through the festival, Jesus went up to the Temple and began teaching.

I rejoiced when they kept on asking me, "Let us go to the LORD's Temple." Our feet are standing inside your gates, Jerusalem. Jerusalem stands built up, a city knitted together.read more.
To it the tribes ascend the tribes of the LORD as decreed to Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD.

How happy are those whose strength is in you, whose heart is on your path.

Many groups of people will come, commenting, "Come! Let's go up to the Temple of the God of Jacob, that they may teach us his ways. Then let's walk in his paths." "Instruction will proceed from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

You will have songs as on nights when people celebrate a holy festival, and gladness of heart, as when they set out with flutes to go to the LORD's mountain, to the Rock of Israel.

Many nations will approach and say, "Come, let's go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the Temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us about his ways, and we will walk according to his directions.' "Indeed, the Law will proceed from Zion, and the message of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Now devout Jews from every nation on earth were living in Jerusalem. When that sound came, a crowd quickly gathered, startled because each one heard the disciples speaking in his own language. Stunned and amazed, they asked, "All of these people who are speaking are Galileans, aren't they? read more.
So how is it that each one of us hears them speaking in his own native language: Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the district of Libya near Cyrene, Jewish and proselyte visitors from Rome, Cretans, and Arabs, listening to them talk in our own languages about the great deeds of God?"

If these people keep going up to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the LORD there, the hearts of these people will return to their lord, King Rehoboam of Judah. Then they'll kill me and return to Rehoboam, king of Judah!" So the king sought some advice and then built two golden calves and announced, "It's too difficult for you to travel to Jerusalem. So here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!"

"When you come to present yourselves in my presence, who has required you to trample on my courts?

That man would go up from his town each year to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of the Heavenly Armies at Shiloh, where Eli's two sons Hophni and Phineas served as priests of the LORD.

The king used to go to Gibeon to sacrifice, since there was a famous high place there, where Solomon once offered 1,000 burnt offerings on that altar.

Jeroboam was thinking to himself, "The kingdom is about to return to David's control. If these people keep going up to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the LORD there, the hearts of these people will return to their lord, King Rehoboam of Judah. Then they'll kill me and return to Rehoboam, king of Judah!" So the king sought some advice and then built two golden calves and announced, "It's too difficult for you to travel to Jerusalem. So here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!" read more.
He set one of them in Bethel and placed the other one in Dan. Doing this was sinful, because the people traveled as far as Dan to appear before one of their idols.

"I'm 130 years old," Jacob replied. "My years have turned out to be few and unpleasant, but I haven't yet reached the age my ancestors did during their travels on earth."

All these people died having faith. They did not receive the things that were promised, yet they saw them in the distant future and welcomed them, acknowledging that they were strangers and foreigners on earth. For people who say such things make it clear that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking about what they had left behind, they would have had an opportunity to go back. read more.
Instead, they were longing for a better country, that is, a heavenly one. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, because he has prepared a city for them.