'Nations' in the Bible

But I withdrew My hand and acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.

Also I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them among the lands,

What comes into your mind will not come about, when you say: ‘We will be like the nations, like the tribes of the lands, serving wood and stone.’

As a soothing aroma I will accept you when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered; and I will prove Myself holy among you in the sight of the nations.

You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and defiled by your idols which you have made. Thus you have brought your day near and have come to your years; therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mocking to all the lands.

I will scatter you among the nations and I will disperse you through the lands, and I will consume your uncleanness from you.

You will profane yourself in the sight of the nations, and you will know that I am the Lord.”’”

These things will be done to you because you have played the harlot with the nations, because you have defiled yourself with their idols.

therefore, behold, I have stretched out My hand against you and I will give you for spoil to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands; I will destroy you. Thus you will know that I am the Lord.”

‘Thus says the Lord God, “Because Moab and Seir say, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations,’

and I will give it for a possession along with the sons of Ammon to the sons of the east, so that the sons of Ammon will not be remembered among the nations.

therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves.

She will be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken,’ declares the Lord God, ‘and she will become spoil for the nations.

Therefore, behold, I will bring strangers upon you,The most ruthless of the nations.And they will draw their swordsAgainst the beauty of your wisdomAnd defile your splendor.

‘Thus says the Lord God, “When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and will manifest My holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they will live in their land which I gave to My servant Jacob.

So I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated lands. And her cities, in the midst of cities that are laid waste, will be desolate forty years; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands.”

It will be the lowest of the kingdoms, and it will never again lift itself up above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will not rule over the nations.

“For the day is near,Even the day of the Lord is near;It will be a day of clouds,A time of doom for the nations.

“He and his people with him,The most ruthless of the nations,Will be brought in to destroy the land;And they will draw their swords against EgyptAnd fill the land with the slain.

I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands.

When I scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands, then they will know that I am the Lord.’”

‘All the birds of the heavens nested in its boughs,And under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth,And all great nations lived under its shade.

therefore I will give it into the hand of a despot of the nations; he will thoroughly deal with it. According to its wickedness I have driven it away.

Alien tyrants of the nations have cut it down and left it; on the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen and its boughs have been broken in all the ravines of the land. And all the peoples of the earth have gone down from its shade and left it.

I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall when I made it go down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit; and all the well-watered trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, were comforted in the earth beneath.

They also went down with it to Sheol to those who were slain by the sword; and those who were its strength lived under its shade among the nations.

“Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him,‘You compared yourself to a young lion of the nations,Yet you are like the monster in the seas;And you burst forth in your riversAnd muddied the waters with your feetAnd fouled their rivers.’”

“I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples when I bring your destruction among the nations, into lands which you have not known.

By the swords of the mighty ones I will cause your hordes to fall; all of them are tyrants of the nations,And they will devastate the pride of Egypt,And all its hordes will be destroyed.

This is a lamentation and they shall chant it. The daughters of the nations shall chant it. Over Egypt and over all her hordes they shall chant it,” declares the Lord God.

“Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and bring it down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the nether world, with those who go down to the pit;

They will no longer be a prey to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them; but they will live securely, and no one will make them afraid.

I will establish for them a renowned planting place, and they will not again be victims of famine in the land, and they will not endure the insults of the nations anymore.

“Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two lands will be mine, and we will possess them,’ although the Lord was there,

therefore prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “For good reason they have made you desolate and crushed you from every side, that you would become a possession of the rest of the nations and you have been taken up in the talk and the whispering of the people.”’”

Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the forsaken cities which have become a prey and a derision to the rest of the nations which are round about,

therefore thus says the Lord God, “Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with scorn of soul, to drive it out for a prey.”

Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My wrath because you have endured the insults of the nations.’

Therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘I have sworn that surely the nations which are around you will themselves endure their insults.

“I will not let you hear insults from the nations anymore, nor will you bear disgrace from the peoples any longer, nor will you cause your nation to stumble any longer,” declares the Lord God.’”

Also I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the lands. According to their ways and their deeds I judged them.

When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord; yet they have come out of His land.’

But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.

“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.

I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,” declares the Lord God, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight.

For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.

I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations.

Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, the Lord, have spoken and will do it.”

Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;

and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms.

And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”’”

After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them.

to capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world.’

and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog.”

I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the Lord.”’

“My holy name I will make known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let My holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.

“And I will set My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them.

The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity because they acted treacherously against Me, and I hid My face from them; so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and all of them fell by the sword.

When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I shall be sanctified through them in the sight of the many nations.

Then they will know that I am the Lord their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land; and I will leave none of them there any longer.

Then the herald loudly proclaimed: “To you the command is given, O peoples, nations and men of every language,

Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and men of every language that live in all the earth: “May your peace abound!

Because of the grandeur which He bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations and men of every language feared and trembled before him; whomever he wished he killed and whomever he wished he spared alive; and whomever he wished he elevated and whomever he wished he humbled.

Then Darius the king wrote to all the peoples, nations and men of every language who were living in all the land: “May your peace abound!

“And to Him was given dominion,Glory and a kingdom,That all the peoples, nations and men of every languageMight serve Him.His dominion is an everlasting dominionWhich will not pass away;And His kingdom is oneWhich will not be destroyed.

Ephraim mixes himself with the nations;Ephraim has become a cake not turned.

Israel is swallowed up;They are now among the nationsLike a vessel in which no one delights.

Even though they hire allies among the nations,Now I will gather them up;And they will begin to diminishBecause of the burden of the king of princes.

Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation like the nations!For you have played the harlot, forsaking your God.You have loved harlots’ earnings on every threshing floor.

My God will cast them awayBecause they have not listened to Him;And they will be wanderers among the nations.

Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers,Weep between the porch and the altar,And let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord,And do not make Your inheritance a reproach,A byword among the nations.Why should they among the peoples say,‘Where is their God?’”

The Lord will answer and say to His people,“Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine and oil,And you will be satisfied in full with them;And I will never again make you a reproach among the nations.

I will gather all the nationsAnd bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat.Then I will enter into judgment with them thereOn behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel,Whom they have scattered among the nations;And they have divided up My land.

Proclaim this among the nations:Prepare a war; rouse the mighty men!Let all the soldiers draw near, let them come up!

Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations,And gather yourselves there.Bring down, O Lord, Your mighty ones.

Let the nations be arousedAnd come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat,For there I will sit to judgeAll the surrounding nations.

Woe to those who are at ease in ZionAnd to those who feel secure in the mountain of Samaria,The distinguished men of the foremost of nations,To whom the house of Israel comes.

“For behold, I am commanding,And I will shake the house of Israel among all nationsAs grain is shaken in a sieve,But not a kernel will fall to the ground.

That they may possess the remnant of EdomAnd all the nations who are called by My name,”Declares the Lord who does this.

The vision of Obadiah.Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom—We have heard a report from the Lord,And an envoy has been sent among the nations saying,“Arise and let us go against her for battle”—

“Behold, I will make you small among the nations;You are greatly despised.

“For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations.As you have done, it will be done to you.Your dealings will return on your own head.

“Because just as you drank on My holy mountain,All the nations will drink continually.They will drink and swallowAnd become as if they had never existed.

Many nations will come and say,“Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LordAnd to the house of the God of Jacob,That He may teach us about His waysAnd that we may walk in His paths.”For from Zion will go forth the law,Even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

And He will judge between many peoplesAnd render decisions for mighty, distant nations.Then they will hammer their swords into plowsharesAnd their spears into pruning hooks;Nation will not lift up sword against nation,And never again will they train for war.

“And now many nations have been assembled against youWho say, ‘Let her be polluted,And let our eyes gloat over Zion.’

The remnant of JacobWill be among the nations,Among many peoplesLike a lion among the beasts of the forest,Like a young lion among flocks of sheep,Which, if he passes through,Tramples down and tears,And there is none to rescue.

“And I will execute vengeance in anger and wrathOn the nations which have not obeyed.”

Nations will see and be ashamedOf all their might.They will put their hand on their mouth,Their ears will be deaf.

All because of the many harlotries of the harlot,The charming one, the mistress of sorceries,Who sells nations by her harlotriesAnd families by her sorceries.

“Behold, I am against you,” declares the Lord of hosts;“And I will lift up your skirts over your face,And show to the nations your nakednessAnd to the kingdoms your disgrace.

“Look among the nations! Observe!Be astonished! Wonder!Because I am doing something in your days—You would not believe if you were told.

Will they therefore empty their netAnd continually slay nations without sparing?

“Furthermore, wine betrays the haughty man,So that he does not stay at home.He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,And he is like death, never satisfied.He also gathers to himself all nationsAnd collects to himself all peoples.

“Because you have looted many nations,All the remainder of the peoples will loot you—Because of human bloodshed and violence done to the land,To the town and all its inhabitants.

“Is it not indeed from the Lord of hostsThat peoples toil for fire,And nations grow weary for nothing?

He stood and surveyed the earth;He looked and startled the nations.Yes, the perpetual mountains were shattered,The ancient hills collapsed.His ways are everlasting.

In indignation You marched through the earth;In anger You trampled the nations.

The Lord will be terrifying to them, for He will starve all the gods of the earth; and all the coastlands of the nations will bow down to Him, everyone from his own place.