'Children' in the Bible

Most certainly [Lord] You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob,Because they are filled with influences from the east,And they are soothsayers [who foretell] like the Philistines;Also they strike bargains with the children of foreigners (pagans).

O My people! Children are their oppressors,And women rule over them.O My people! Your leaders lead you astrayAnd confuse (destroy, swallow up) the direction of your paths.

Listen carefully, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and wonders [that will occur] in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

Their bows will cut down the young men [of Babylon];They will take no pity on the fruit of the womb,Their eyes will not look with compassion on the children.

“The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,And the kingdom from DamascusAnd the remnant of Aram (Syria);They will be like the [departed] glory of [her ally] the children of Israel,”Declares the Lord of hosts.

In that day the strong cities of Aram and Israel will be like deserted places in the forest,Or like branches which they abandoned before the children of Israel;And the land will be a desolation.

Be ashamed, O Sidon [mother-city of Tyre, now like a widow bereaved of her children];For the sea speaks, the stronghold of the sea, saying,“I have neither labored nor given birth [to children];I have neither brought up young men nor reared virgins.”

In that day the Lord will thresh [out His grain] from the flowing stream of the River [Euphrates] to the Brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel.

For when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst,They will sanctify My Name;They will sanctify the Holy One of JacobAnd will stand in awe and reverent fear of the God of Israel.

“Woe (judgment is coming) to the rebellious children,” declares the Lord,“Who carry out a plan, but not Mine,And make an alliance [by pouring out a libation], but not of My Spirit,In order to add sin to sin;

For this is a rebellious people, lying sons,Sons who refuse to listen toThe law and instruction of the Lord;

Return to Him from whom you have so deeply defected, O sons of Israel.

They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says, ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke and disgrace; for children have come to birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.

Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed rescue them—Gozan, Haran [of Mesopotamia], Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar?

“It is the living who give praise and thanks to You, as I do today;A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.

For the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker says this,“Ask Me about the things to come concerning My sons,And give Me orders concerning the work of My hands.

“Now, then, hear this, you who live a luxuriant life,You who dwell safely and securely,Who say in your heart (mind),‘I am [the queen], and there is no one besides me.I shall not sit as a widow,Nor know the loss of children.’

“But these two things shall come to you abruptly, in one day:Loss of children and widowhood.They will come on you in full measureIn spite of your many [claims of power through your] sorceries,In spite of the great power of your enchantments.

“Your builders hurry;Your destroyers and devastatorsWill go away from you.

“The children of your bereavement [those born in captivity] will yet say in your ears,‘The place is too cramped for me’;Make room for me that I may live here.

“Then [Zion], you will say in your heart,‘Who has borne me these children,Since I have been bereaved of my childrenAnd am barren, an exile and a wanderer?And who has reared these?Indeed, I was left alone;From where then did these children come?’”

Indeed, this is what the Lord says,“Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away,And the tyrant’s spoils of war will be rescued;For I will contend with your opponent,And I will save your children.

“Shout for joy, O barren one, she who has not given birth;Break forth into joyful shouting and rejoice, she who has not gone into labor [with child]!For the [spiritual] sons of the desolate one will be more numerousThan the sons of the married woman,” says the Lord.

“And all your [spiritual] sons will be disciples [of the Lord],And great will be the well-being of your sons.

“Of whom do you make fun?Against whom do you open wide your mouthAnd stick out your tongue?Are you not children of rebellion (sin),Offspring of deceit,

Who inflame yourselves [with lust in pagan rites] among the oaks (terebinth trees),Under every green and leafy tree,Who slaughter the children [in sacrifice] in the ravinesUnder the clefts of the rocks?

“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit which is upon you [writing the law of God on the heart], and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouths of your [true, spiritual] children, nor from the mouth of your children’s children,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”

“They will not labor in vain,Or bear children for disaster;For they are the descendants of those blessed by the Lord,And their offspring with them.

“Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things?Can a land be born in one day?Or can a nation be brought forth in a moment?As soon as Zion was in labor, she also brought forth her sons.

Then they shall bring all your countrymen (children of Israel) from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord—on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels—to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord.