'Children' in the Bible

He said, “They are indeed My people,children who will not be disloyal,”and He became their Savior.

They will not labor without successor bear children destined for disaster,for they will be a people blessed by the Lordalong with their descendants.

Therefore, I will bring a case against you again.This is the Lord’s declaration.I will bring a case against your children’s children.

I have struck down your children in vain;they would not accept discipline.Your own sword has devoured your prophetslike a ravaging lion.

“Return, you faithless children”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“for I am your master, and I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.

A sound is heard on the barren heights,the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy,for they have perverted their way;they have forgotten the Lord their God.

Return, you faithless children.I will heal your unfaithfulness.“Here we are, coming to You,for You are the Lord our God.

“For My people are fools;they do not know Me.They are foolish children,without understanding.They are skilled in doing what is evil,but they do not know how to do what is good.”

Why should I forgive you?Your children have abandoned Meand sworn by those who are not gods.I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery;they gashed themselves at the prostitute’s house.

But I am full of the Lord’s wrath;I am tired of holding it back.Pour it out on the children in the street,on the gang of young men as well.For both husband and wife will be captured,the old with the very old.

for Death has climbed through our windows;it has entered our fortresses,cutting off children from the streets,young men from the squares.

while their children remember their altarsand their Asherah poles, by the green treeson the high hills—

Therefore, hand their children over to famine,and pour the sword’s power on them.Let their wives become childless and widowed,their husbands slain by deadly disease,their young men struck down by the sword in battle.

They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, something I have never commanded or mentioned; I never entertained the thought.

His children will be as in past days;his congregation will be established in My presence.I will punish all his oppressors.

This is what the Lord says:A voice was heard in Ramah,a lament with bitter weeping—Rachel weeping for her children,refusing to be comforted for her childrenbecause they are no more.

This is what the Lord says:Keep your voice from weepingand your eyes from tears,for the reward for your work will come—this is the Lord’s declaration—and your children will return from the enemy’s land.

There is hope for your future—this is the Lord’s declaration—and your children will return to their own territory.

When all the commanders of the armies in the field—they and their men—heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam over the land and that he had put him in charge of the men, women, and children from the poorest of the land who had not been deported to Babylon,

Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies with him then took from Mizpah all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam—men, soldiers, women, children, and court officials whom he brought back from Gibeon.

the men, women, children, king’s daughters, and everyone whom Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, had allowed to remain with Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, along with Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah—

ה HeHer adversaries have become her masters;her enemies are at ease,for the Lord has made her sufferbecause of her many transgressions.Her children have gone awayas captives before the adversary.

ע AyinI weep because of these things;my eyes flow with tears.For there is no one nearby to comfort me,no one to keep me alive.My children are desolatebecause the enemy has prevailed.

ר ReshLord, see how I am in distress.I am churning within;my heart is broken,for I have been very rebellious.Outside, the sword takes the children;inside, there is death.

כ KafMy eyes are worn out from weeping;I am churning within.My heart is poured out in griefbecause of the destruction of my dear people,because children and infants faintin the streets of the city.

ק QofArise, cry out in the nightfrom the first watch of the night.Pour out your heart like waterbefore the Lord’s presence.Lift up your hands to Himfor the lives of your childrenwho are fainting from hungeron the corner of every street.

ר ReshLord, look and considerwho You have done this to.Should women eat their own children,the infants they have nurtured?Should priests and prophetsbe killed in the Lord’s sanctuary?

ד DaletThe nursing infant’s tongueclings to the roof of his mouth from thirst.Little children beg for bread,but no one gives them any.

י YodThe hands of compassionate womenhave cooked their own children;they became their foodduring the destruction of my dear people.

The children are obstinate and hardhearted. I am sending you to them, and you must say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’

Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, as well as the older women and little children, but do not come near anyone who has the mark. Now begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.

You slaughtered My children and gave them up when you passed them through the fire to the images.

This is what the Lord God says: Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness exposed by your acts of prostitution with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols and the blood of your children that you gave to them,

You are the daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and children. You are the sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

“Then I said to their children in the wilderness: Don’t follow the statutes of your fathers, defile yourselves with their idols, or keep their ordinances.

“But the children rebelled against Me. They did not follow My statutes or carefully keep My ordinances—the person who does them will live by them. They also profaned My Sabbaths. So I considered pouring out My wrath on them and exhausting My anger against them in the wilderness.

When you offer your gifts, making your children pass through the fire, you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. So should I be consulted by you, house of Israel? As I live”—this is the declaration of the Lord God—“I will not be consulted by you!

For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands; they have committed adultery with their idols. They have even made the children they bore to Me pass through the fire as food for the idols.

On the same day they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary to profane it. Yes, that is what they did inside My house.

I will cause people, My people Israel, to walk on you; they will possess you, and you will be their inheritance. You will no longer deprive them of their children.

“This is what the Lord God says: Because people are saying to you, ‘You devour men and deprive your nation of children,’

therefore, you will no longer devour men and deprive your nation of children.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

“They will live in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They will live in it forever with their children and grandchildren, and My servant David will be their prince forever.

You will allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners living among you, who have fathered children among you. You will treat them like native-born Israelites; along with you, they will be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.

The king then gave the command, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the lions’ den—they, their children, and their wives. They had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, He said this to him:Go and marry a promiscuous wifeand have children of promiscuity,for the land is committing blatant acts of promiscuityby abandoning the Lord.

I will have no compassion on her childrenbecause they are the children of promiscuity.

They betrayed the Lord;indeed, they gave birth to illegitimate children.Now the New Moon will devour themalong with their fields.

Even if they raise children,I will bereave them of each one.Yes, woe to them when I depart from them!

I have seen Ephraim like Tyre,planted in a meadow,so Ephraim will bring out his childrento the executioner.

Ephraim is struck down;their roots are withered;they cannot bear fruit.Even if they bear children,I will kill the precious offspring of their wombs.

the roar of battle will rise against your people,and all your fortifications will be demolishedin a day of war,like Shalman’s destruction of Beth-arbel.Mothers will be dashed to piecesalong with their children.

They will follow the Lord;He will roar like a lion.When He roars,His children will come trembling from the west.

Tell your children about it,and let your children tell their children,and their children the next generation.

Gather the people;sanctify the congregation;assemble the aged;gather the children,even those nursing at the breast.Let the groom leave his bedroom,and the bride her honeymoon chamber.

Children of Zion, rejoice and be gladin the Lord your God,because He gives you the autumn rainfor your vindication.He sends showers for you,both autumn and spring rain as before.

Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hairin sorrow for your precious children;make yourselves as bald as an eagle,for they have been taken from you into exile.

You force the women of My peopleout of their comfortable homes,and you take My blessingfrom their children forever.

Yet she became an exile;she went into captivity.Her children were also dashed to piecesat the head of every street.They cast lots for her dignitaries,and all her nobles were bound in chains.

Ephraim will be like a warrior,and their hearts will be glad as if with wine.Their children will see it and be glad;their hearts will rejoice in Yahweh.

Though I sow them among the nations,they will remember Me in the distant lands;they and their children will live and return.

And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been outwitted by the wise men, flew into a rage. He gave orders to massacre all the male children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, in keeping with the time he had learned from the wise men.

A voice was heard in Ramah,weeping, and great mourning,Rachel weeping for her children;and she refused to be consoled,because they were no more.

And don’t presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will even rise up against their parents and have them put to death.

“To what should I compare this generation? It’s like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to each other:

Now those who ate were about 5,000 men, besides women and children.

Now those who ate were 4,000 men, besides women and children.

“I assure you,” He said, “unless you are converted and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Since he had no way to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt.

Then children were brought to Him so He might put His hands on them and pray. But the disciples rebuked them.

Then Jesus said, “Leave the children alone, and don’t try to keep them from coming to Me, because the kingdom of heaven is made up of people like this.”

And everyone who has left houses, brothers or sisters, father or mother, children, or fields because of My name will receive 100 times more and will inherit eternal life.

When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonders that He did and the children shouting in the temple complex, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant

and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?”“Yes,” Jesus told them. “Have you never read:You have prepared praisefrom the mouths of children and nursing infants?”

“Teacher, Moses said, if a man dies, having no children, his brother is to marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem! She who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, yet you were not willing!

All the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”

He said to her, “Allow the children to be satisfied first, because it isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

Some people were bringing little children to Him so He might touch them, but His disciples rebuked them.

When Jesus saw it, He was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me. Don’t stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

But the disciples were astonished at His words. Again Jesus said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!

“I assure you,” Jesus said, “there is no one who has left house, brothers or sisters, mother or father, children, or fields because of Me and the gospel,

who will not receive 100 times more, now at this time—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and eternal life in the age to come.

Then brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and put them to death.

But they had no children because Elizabeth could not conceive, and both of them were well along in years.

And he will go before Himin the spirit and power of Elijah,to turn the hearts of fathersto their children,and the disobedientto the understanding of the righteous,to make ready for the Lord a prepared people.

Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to each other:We played the flute for you,but you didn’t dance;we sang a lament,but you didn’t weep!

Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem! She who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.

Jesus, however, invited them: “Let the little children come to Me, and don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

So He said to them, “I assure you: There is no one who has left a house, wife or brothers, parents or children because of the kingdom of God,

They will crush you and your children within you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in you, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife and died without children.