'People' in the Bible

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.’

“Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On that day when My people Israel are living securely, will you not know it?

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.”

“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.

Even all the people of the land will bury them; and it will be to their renown on the day that I glorify Myself,” declares the Lord God.

When the priests enter, then they shall not go out into the outer court from the sanctuary without laying there their garments in which they minister, for they are holy. They shall put on other garments; then they shall approach that which is for the people.”

Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house and ministering in the house; they shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.

When they go out into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other garments so that they will not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.

Moreover, they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

This shall be his land for a possession in Israel; so My princes shall no longer oppress My people, but they shall give the rest of the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.”

‘Thus says the Lord God, “Enough, you princes of Israel; put away violence and destruction, and practice justice and righteousness. Stop your expropriations from My people,” declares the Lord God.

“All the people of the land shall give to this offering for the prince in Israel.

On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering.

The people of the land shall also worship at the doorway of that gate before the Lord on the sabbaths and on the new moons.

But when the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed feasts, he who enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate. And he who enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. No one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered but shall go straight out.

The prince shall not take from the people’s inheritance, thrusting them out of their possession; he shall give his sons inheritance from his own possession so that My people will not be scattered, anyone from his possession.”’”

He said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offering and the sin offering and where they shall bake the grain offering, in order that they may not bring them out into the outer court to transmit holiness to the people.”

Then he said to me, “These are the boiling places where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifices of the people.”

In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.

Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.”

Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.’

“His power will be mighty, but not by his own power,And he will destroy to an extraordinary degreeAnd prosper and perform his will;He will destroy mighty men and the holy people.

Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers and all the people of the land.

“And now, O Lord our God, who have brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have made a name for Yourself, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have been wicked.

O Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all those around us.

O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God,

“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.

Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.

Now I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future.”

“Now in those times many will rise up against the king of the South; the violent ones among your people will also lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they will fall down.

After an alliance is made with him he will practice deception, and he will go up and gain power with a small force of people.

By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action.

Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days.

“Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.

I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed.

And the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people and I am not your God.”

Yet the number of the sons of IsraelWill be like the sand of the sea,Which cannot be measured or numbered;And in the placeWhere it is said to them,“You are not My people,”It will be said to them,“You are the sons of the living God.”

“I will sow her for Myself in the land.I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion,And I will say to those who were not My people,‘You are My people!’And they will say, ‘You are my God!’”

Yet let no one find fault, and let none offer reproof;For your people are like those who contend with the priest.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.Because you have rejected knowledge,I also will reject you from being My priest.Since you have forgotten the law of your God,I also will forget your children.

They feed on the sin of My peopleAnd direct their desire toward their iniquity.

And it will be, like people, like priest;So I will punish them for their waysAnd repay them for their deeds.

My people consult their wooden idol, and their diviner’s wand informs them;For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray,And they have played the harlot, departing from their God.

I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlotOr your brides when they commit adultery,For the men themselves go apart with harlotsAnd offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes;So the people without understanding are ruined.

Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you,When I restore the fortunes of My people.

The inhabitants of Samaria will fearFor the calf of Beth-aven.Indeed, its people will mourn for it,And its idolatrous priests will cry out over it,Over its glory, since it has departed from it.

Therefore a tumult will arise among your people,And all your fortresses will be destroyed,As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle,When mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.

So My people are bent on turning from Me.Though they call them to the One on high,None at all exalts Him.

A day of darkness and gloom,A day of clouds and thick darkness.As the dawn is spread over the mountains,So there is a great and mighty people;There has never been anything like it,Nor will there be again after itTo the years of many generations.

With a noise as of chariotsThey leap on the tops of the mountains,Like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble,Like a mighty people arranged for battle.

Before them the people are in anguish;All faces turn pale.

Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,Assemble the elders,Gather the children and the nursing infants.Let the bridegroom come out of his roomAnd the bride out of her bridal chamber.

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?’”

Then the Lord will be zealous for His landAnd will have pity on His people.

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.

“You will have plenty to eat and be satisfiedAnd praise the name of the Lord your God,Who has dealt wondrously with you;Then My people will never be put to shame.

“Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel,And that I am the Lord your God,And there is no other;And My people will never be put to shame.

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.

“They have also cast lots for My people,Traded a boy for a harlotAnd sold a girl for wine that they may drink.

The Lord roars from ZionAnd utters His voice from Jerusalem,And the heavens and the earth tremble.But the Lord is a refuge for His peopleAnd a stronghold to the sons of Israel.

“I will also break the gate bar of Damascus,And cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven,And him who holds the scepter, from Beth-eden;So the people of Aram will go exiled to Kir,”Says the Lord.

If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble?If a calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it?

The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,“Behold I am about to put a plumb lineIn the midst of My people Israel.I will spare them no longer.

But the Lord took me from following the flock and the Lord said to me, ‘Go prophesy to My people Israel.’

He said, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel. I will spare them no longer.

“People will stagger from sea to seaAnd from the north even to the east;They will go to and fro to seek the word of the Lord,But they will not find it.

“All the sinners of My people will die by the sword,Those who say, ‘The calamity will not overtake or confront us.’

“Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel,And they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them;They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine,And make gardens and eat their fruit.

“Do not enter the gate of My peopleIn the day of their disaster.Yes, you, do not gloat over their calamityIn the day of their disaster.And do not loot their wealthIn the day of their disaster.

Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them.

For her wound is incurable,For it has come to Judah;It has reached the gate of my people,Even to Jerusalem.

“On that day they will take up against you a tauntAnd utter a bitter lamentation and say,‘We are completely destroyed!He exchanges the portion of my people;How He removes it from me!To the apostate He apportions our fields.’

“Recently My people have arisen as an enemy—You strip the robe off the garmentFrom unsuspecting passers-by,From those returned from war.

“The women of My people you evict,Each one from her pleasant house.From her children you take My splendor forever.

“If a man walking after wind and falsehoodHad told lies and said,‘I will speak out to you concerning wine and liquor,’He would be spokesman to this people.

Who eat the flesh of my people,Strip off their skin from them,Break their bonesAnd chop them up as for the potAnd as meat in a kettle.”

Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray;When they have something to bite with their teeth,They cry, “Peace,”But against him who puts nothing in their mouthsThey declare holy war.

“Listen, you mountains, to the indictment of the Lord,And you enduring foundations of the earth,Because the Lord has a case against His people;Even with Israel He will dispute.

“My people, what have I done to you,And how have I wearied you? Answer Me.

“My people, remember nowWhat Balak king of Moab counseledAnd what Balaam son of Beor answered him,And from Shittim to Gilgal,So that you might know the righteous acts of the Lord.”

“The statutes of OmriAnd all the works of the house of Ahab are observed;And in their devices you walk.Therefore I will give you up for destructionAnd your inhabitants for derision,And you will bear the reproach of My people.”

Shepherd Your people with Your scepter,The flock of Your possessionWhich dwells by itself in the woodland,In the midst of a fruitful field.Let them feed in Bashan and GileadAs in the days of old.

Behold, your people are women in your midst!The gates of your land are opened wide to your enemies;Fire consumes your gate bars.

Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria;Your nobles are lying down.Your people are scattered on the mountainsAnd there is no one to regather them.

“For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,That fierce and impetuous peopleWho march throughout the earthTo seize dwelling places which are not theirs.

You went forth for the salvation of Your people,For the salvation of Your anointed.You struck the head of the house of the evilTo lay him open from thigh to neck. Selah.

I heard and my inward parts trembled,At the sound my lips quivered.Decay enters my bones,And in my place I tremble.Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress,For the people to arise who will invade us.

“Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar,For all the people of Canaan will be silenced;All who weigh out silver will be cut off.

“I have heard the taunting of MoabAnd the revilings of the sons of Ammon,With which they have taunted My peopleAnd become arrogant against their territory.

“Therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord of hosts,The God of Israel,“Surely Moab will be like SodomAnd the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah—A place possessed by nettles and salt pits,And a perpetual desolation.The remnant of My people will plunder themAnd the remainder of My nation will inherit them.”

This they will have in return for their pride, because they have taunted and become arrogant against the people of the Lord of hosts.

“But I will leave among youA humble and lowly people,And they will take refuge in the name of the Lord.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘This people says, “The time has not come, even the time for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.”’”

Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people showed reverence for the Lord.

Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke by the commission of the Lord to the people saying, “‘I am with you,’ declares the Lord.”

So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God,

“Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people saying,