'Nations' in the Bible

In the last daysthe mountain of the Lord’s house will be establishedat the top of the mountainsand will be raised above the hills.All nations will stream to it,

He will settle disputes among the nationsand provide arbitration for many peoples.They will turn their swords into plowsand their spears into pruning knives.Nations will not take up the sword against other nations,and they will never again train for war.

He raises a signal flag for the distant nationsand whistles for them from the ends of the earth.Look—how quickly and swiftly they come!

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.

But this is not what he intends;this is not what he plans.It is his intent to destroyand to cut off many nations.

For he said:I have done this by my own strengthand wisdom, for I am clever.I abolished the borders of nationsand plundered their treasures;like a mighty warrior, I subjugated the inhabitants.

My hand has reached out, as if into a nest,to seize the wealth of the nations.Like one gathering abandoned eggs,I gathered the whole earth.No wing fluttered;no beak opened or chirped.

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

He will lift up a banner for the nationsand gather the dispersed of Israel;He will collect the scattered of Judahfrom the four corners of the earth.

Listen, a tumult on the mountains,like that of a mighty people!Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,like nations being gathered together!The Lord of Hosts is mobilizing an army for war.

The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland. Then the house of Israel will possess them as male and female slaves in the Lord’s land. They will make captives of their captors and will rule over their oppressors.

It struck the peoples in angerwith unceasing blows.It subdued the nations in ragewith relentless persecution.

Sheol below is eager to greet your coming.He stirs up the spirits of the departed for you—all the rulers of the earth.He makes all the kings of the nationsrise from their thrones.

Shining morning star,how you have fallen from the heavens!You destroyer of nations,you have been cut down to the ground.

All the kings of the nationslie in splendor, each in his own tomb.

This is the plan preparedfor the whole earth,and this is the hand stretched outagainst all the nations.

For Heshbon’s terraced vineyardsand the grapevines of Sibmah have withered.The rulers of the nationshave trampled its choice vinesthat reached as far as Jazerand spread to the desert.Their shoots spread outand reached the Dead Sea.

Ah! The roar of many peoples—they roar like the roaring of the seas.The raging of the nations—they rage like the raging of mighty waters.

The nations rage like the raging of many waters.He rebukes them, and they flee far away,driven before the wind like chaff on the hillsand like tumbleweeds before a gale.

on many waters.Tyre’s revenue was the grain from Shihor—the harvest of the Nile.She was the merchant among the nations.

For this is how it will be on earthamong the nations:like a harvested olive tree,like a gleaning after a grape harvest.

On this mountainHe will destroy the burial shroud,the shroud over all the peoples,the sheet covering all the nations;

All the many nationsgoing out to battle against Ariel—all the attackers, the siege works against her,and those who oppress her—will then be like a dream, a vision in the night.

It will be like a hungry one who dreams he is eating,then wakes and is still hungry;and like a thirsty one who dreams he is drinking,then wakes and is still thirsty, longing for water.So it will be for all the many nationswho go to battle against Mount Zion.

His breath is like an overflowing torrentthat rises to the neck.He comes to sift the nations in a sieve of destructionand to put a bridle on the jaws of the peoplesto lead them astray.

The peoples flee at the thunderous noise;the nations scatter when You rise in Your majesty.

You nations, come here and listen;you peoples, pay attention!Let the earth hear, and all that fills it,the world and all that comes from it.

The Lord is angry with all the nations—furious with all their armies.He will set them apart for destruction,giving them over to slaughter.

Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you by saying, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the power of the king of Assyria?

Did the gods of the nations that my predecessors destroyed rescue them—Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the Edenites in Telassar?

Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;they are considered as a speck of dust in the scales;He lifts up the islands like fine dust.

All the nations are as nothing before Him;they are considered by Himas nothingness and emptiness.

Who has stirred him up from the east?He calls righteousness to his feet.The Lord hands nations over to him,and he subdues kings.He makes them like dust with his sword,like wind-driven stubble with his bow.

“This is My Servant; I strengthen Him,this is My Chosen One; I delight in Him.I have put My Spirit on Him;He will bring justice to the nations.

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

All the nations are gathered together,and the peoples are assembled.Who among them can declare this,and tell us the former things?Let them present their witnessesto vindicate themselves,so that people may hear and say, “It is true.”

The Lord says this to Cyrus, His anointed,whose right hand I have graspedto subdue nations before him,to disarm kings,to open the doors before himand the gates will not be shut:

“Come, gather together,and draw near, you fugitives of the nations.Those who carry their wooden idols,and pray to a god who cannot save,have no knowledge.

He says,“It is not enough for you to be My Servantraising up the tribes of Jacoband restoring the protected ones of Israel.I will also make you a light for the nations,to be My salvation to the ends of the earth.”

This is what the Lord God says:Look, I will lift up My hand to the nations,and raise My banner to the peoples.They will bring your sons in their arms,and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.

Pay attention to Me, My people,and listen to Me, My nation;for instruction will come from Me,and My justice for a light to the nations.I will bring it about quickly.

My righteousness is near,My salvation appears,and My arms will bring justice to the nations.The coastlands will put their hope in Me,and they will look to My strength.

The Lord has displayed His holy armin the sight of all the nations;all the ends of the earth will seethe salvation of our God.

so He will sprinkle many nations.Kings will shut their mouths because of Him,For they will see what had not been told them,and they will understand what they had not heard. >

For you will spread out to the right and to the left,and your descendants will dispossess nationsand inhabit the desolate cities.

so you will summon a nation you do not know,and nations who do not know you will run to you.For the Lord your God,even the Holy One of Israel,has glorified you.”

I will bring them to My holy mountainand let them rejoice in My house of prayer.Their burnt offerings and sacrificeswill be acceptable on My altar,for My house will be called a house of prayerfor all nations.”

Nations will come to your light,and kings to the brightness of your radiance.

Then you will see and be radiant,and your heart will tremble and rejoice,because the riches of the sea will become yoursand the wealth of the nations will come to you.

Your gates will always be open;they will never be shut day or nightso that the wealth of the nationsmay be brought into you,with their kings being led in procession.

For the nation and the kingdomthat will not serve you will perish;those nations will be annihilated.

You will nurse on the milk of nations,and nurse at the breast of kings;you will know that I, Yahweh, am your Saviorand Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

But you will be called the Lord’s priests;they will speak of you as ministers of our God;you will eat the wealth of the nations,and you will boast in their riches.

Their descendants will be known among the nations,and their posterity among the peoples.All who see them will recognizethat they are a people the Lord has blessed.

For as the earth produces its growth,and as a garden enables what is sown to spring up,so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praiseto spring up before all the nations.

Nations will see your righteousnessand all kings, your glory.You will be called by a new namethat the Lord’s mouth will announce.

I trampled the winepress alone,and no one from the nations was with Me.I trampled them in My angerand ground them underfoot in My fury;their blood spattered My garments,and all My clothes were stained.

I crushed nations in My anger;I made them drunk with My wrathand poured out their blood on the ground.

as fire kindles the brushwood,and fire causes water to boil—to make Your name known to Your enemies,so that nations will tremble at Your presence!

For this is what the Lord says:I will make peace flow to her like a river,and the wealth of nations like a flood;you will nurse and be carried on her hipand bounced on her lap.

“Knowing their works and their thoughts, I have come to gather all nations and languages; they will come and see My glory.

I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from them to the nations—to Tarshish, Put, Lud (who are archers), Tubal, Javan, and the islands far away—who have not heard of My fame or seen My glory. And they will proclaim My glory among the nations.

They will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the Lord on horses and chariots, in litters, and on mules and camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord.