'People' in the Bible

Lo, the voice of a cry of the daughter of my people from a land afar off, Is Jehovah not in Zion? is her king not in her? Wherefore have they provoked Me with their graven images, With the vanities of a foreigner?

For a breach of the daughter of my people have I been broken, I have been black, astonishment hath seized me.

Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? For wherefore hath not the health of the daughter of my people gone up?

Who doth make my head waters, And mine eye a fountain of tears? And I weep by day and by night, For the wounded of the daughter of my people.

Who doth give me in a wilderness A lodging-place of travellers? And I leave my people, and go from them, For all of them are adulterers, An assembly of treacherous ones.

Therefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Lo, I am refining them, and have tried them, For how do I do because of the daughter of My people?

Therefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am causing them -- this people -- to eat wormwood, And I have caused them to drink water of gall,

That I commanded your fathers, In the day of My bringing them out from the land of Egypt, Out of the iron furnace, saying, Hearken to My voice, and ye have done them, According to all that I command you, And ye have been to Me for a people, And I am to you for God,

And thou, thou dost not pray for this people, Nor dost thou lift up for them cry and prayer, For I do not hearken in the time of their calling unto Me for their vexation.

Thus said Jehovah concerning all my evil neighbours, who are striking against the inheritance that I caused my people -- Israel -- to inherit: 'Lo, I am plucking them from off their ground, And the house of Judah I pluck out of their midst.

And it hath come to pass, If they learn well the ways of My people, To swear by My name, 'Jehovah liveth,' As they taught My people to swear by Baal, Then they have been built up in the midst of My people.

This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, Who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, And go after other gods to serve them, And to bow themselves to them, Yea it is -- as this girdle, that is not profitable for anything.

For, as the girdle cleaveth unto the loins of a man, So I caused to cleave unto Me The whole house of Israel, And the whole house of Judah, an affirmation of Jehovah, To be to Me for a people, and for a name, And for praise, and for beauty, And they have not hearkened.

Thus said Jehovah concerning this people: Well they have loved to wander, Their feet they have not restrained, And Jehovah hath not accepted them, Now doth He remember their iniquity, And inspect their sin.

And Jehovah saith unto me: Thou dost not pray for this people for good,

And the people to whom they are prophesying, Are cast into out-places of Jerusalem, Because of the famine, and of the sword, And they have none burying them, Them, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, And I have poured out upon them this evil.

And thou hast said unto them this word: Tears come down mine eyes night and day, And they do not cease, For, with a great breach, Broken hath been the virgin daughter of my people, A very grievous stroke.

And Jehovah saith unto me: Though Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My soul is not toward this people, Send from before My face, and they go out.

And I scatter them with a fan, in the gates the land, I bereaved, I have destroyed My people, From their ways they turned not back.

And I have made thee to this people For a wall -- brazen -- fenced, And they have fought against thee, And they do not prevail against thee, For with thee am I to save thee, And to deliver thee -- an affirmation of Jehovah,

For thus said Jehovah: Do not enter the house of a mourning-feast, Nor go to lament nor bemoan for them, For I have removed My peace from this people, An affirmation of Jehovah, The kindness and the mercies.

And it hath come to pass when thou declarest to this people all these words, and they have said unto thee, 'For what hath Jehovah spoken against us all this great evil? yea, what is our iniquity, and what our sin, that we have sinned against Jehovah our God?'

Thus said Jehovah unto me: 'Go, and thou hast stood in the gate of the sons of the people, by which kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all gates of Jerusalem,

But My people have forgotten Me, to a vain thing they make perfume, And they cause them to stumble in their ways -- paths of old, To walk in paths -- a way not raised up,

Thus said Jehovah, 'Go, and thou hast got a potter's earthen vessel, and of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests,

and hast said unto them: Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, Thus do I break this people and this city, as one breaketh the potter's vessel, that is not able to be repaired again, and in Tophet they bury -- without place to bury;

And Jeremiah cometh in from Tophet, whither Jehovah had sent him to prophesy, and he standeth in the court of the house of Jehovah, and he saith unto all the people:

And after this -- an affirmation of Jehovah, I give Zedekiah king of Judah, And his servants, and the people, And those left in this city, From the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, Into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, And into the hand of their enemies, And into the hand of those seeking their life, And he hath smitten them by the mouth of the sword, He hath no pity on them, Nor doth he spare, nor hath he mercy.

And unto this people thou dost say, Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am setting before you the way of life, And the way of death!

Hear a word of Jehovah, O king of Judah, who art sitting on the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people, who are coming in at these gates,

For, if ye certainly do this thing, Then come in by the gates of this house Have kings sitting for David on his throne, Riding on chariot, and on horses, He, and his servants, and his people.

Therefore, thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Against the shepherds who feed My people, Ye have scattered My flock, and drive them away, And have not inspected them, Lo, I am charging on you the evil of your doings, An affirmation of Jehovah.

And in prophets of Samaria I have seen folly, They have prophesied by Baal, And cause my people -- Israel -- to err.

But -- if they stood in My counsel, Then they cause My people to hear My words, And they turn them back from their evil way, And from the evil of their doings.

Who are devising to cause My people To forget My name by their dreams, That they recount each to his neighbour, As their fathers forgot my name for Baal.

Lo, I am against the prophets of false dreams, An affirmation of Jehovah, And they recount them, and cause my people to err, By their falsehoods, and by their instability, And I -- I have not sent them, Nor have I commanded them, And they are not at all profitable to this people, An affirmation of Jehovah.

And when this people, or the prophet, Or a priest, doth ask thee, saying, What is the burden of Jehovah? Then thou hast said unto them: Ye are the burden, and I have left you, An affirmation of Jehovah.

And the prophet, and the priest, and the people, That saith, The burden of Jehovah, I have seen after that man, and after his house.

And have given to them a heart to know Me, For I am Jehovah, And they have been to Me for a people, And I am to them for God, For they turned back unto Me with all their heart.

The word that hath been unto Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, -- it is the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, --

Which Jeremiah the prophet hath spoken concerning all the people of Judah, even unto all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying:

Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, And his heads, and all his people,

And all the mixed people, And all the kings of the land of Uz, And all the kings of the land of the Philistines, And Ashkelon, and Gazzah, and Ekron, And the remnant of Ashdod,

And all the kings of Arabia, And all the kings of the mixed people, Who are dwelling in the wilderness,

And the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, hear Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of Jehovah,

And it cometh to pass, at the completion of Jeremiah's speaking all that Jehovah hath commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests, and the prophets, and all the people catch him, saying, Thou dost surely die,

Wherefore hast thou prophesied in the name of Jehovah, saying, 'As Shiloh this house shall be, and this city is wasted, without inhabitant?' and all the people are assembled unto Jeremiah in the house of Jehovah.

And the priests and the prophets speak unto the heads, and unto all the people, saying, 'Judgment of death is for this man, for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.'

And Jeremiah speaketh unto all the heads, and unto all the people, saying, 'Jehovah sent me to prophesy concerning this house, and concerning this city, all the words that ye have heard;

And the heads and all the people say unto the priests and unto the prophets, 'There is not for this man a judgment of death, for in the name of Jehovah our God he hath spoken unto us.'

And certain of the elders of the land rise up, and speak unto all the assembly of the people, saying,

'Micah the Morashtite hath been prophesying in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and he saith unto all the people of Judah, saying: Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Zion is a plowed field, and Jerusalem is heaps, And the mountain of the house is for high places of a forest.

And they bring out Urijah from Egypt, and bring him in unto the king Jehoiakim, and he smiteth him with a sword, and casteth his corpse unto the graves of the sons of the people.'

Only, the hand of Ahikam son of Shaphan hath been with Jeremiah so as not to give him up into the hand of the people to put him to death.

And unto Zedekiah king of Judah I have spoken according to all these words, saying, 'Cause your necks to enter into the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.

Why do ye die, thou and thy people, by sword, by famine, and by pestilence, as Jehovah hath spoken concerning the nation that doth not serve the king of Babylon?

And unto the priests, and unto all this people, I have spoken, saying, 'Thus said Jehovah, Ye do not hearken unto the words of your prophets, who are prophesying to you, saying, Lo, the vessels of the house of Jehovah are brought back from Babylon now in haste, for falsehood they are prophesying to you.

And it cometh to pass, in that year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, spoken unto me hath Hananiah son of Azur the prophet, who is of Gibeon, in the house of Jehovah, before the eyes of the priests, and all the people, saying,

And Jeremiah the prophet saith unto Hananiah the prophet, before the eyes of the priests, and before the eyes of all the people who are standing in the house of Jehovah,

'Only, hear, I pray thee, this word that I am speaking in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people.

And Hananiah speaketh before the eyes of all the people, saying, 'Thus said Jehovah, Thus I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, within two years of days, from off the neck of all the nations;' and Jeremiah the prophet goeth on his way.

And Jeremiah the prophet saith unto Hananiah the prophet, 'Hear, I pray thee, O Hananiah; Jehovah hath not sent thee, and thou hast caused this people to trust on falsehood.

And these are words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the remnant of the elders of the removal, and unto the priests, and unto the prophets, and unto all the people -- whom Nebuchadnezzar removed from Jerusalem to Babylon,

Surely thus said Jehovah concerning the king who is sitting on the throne of David, and concerning all the people that is dwelling in this city, your brethren who went not forth with you in the removal;

Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, saying, Because that thou hast sent in thy name letters unto all the people who are in Jerusalem, and unto Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, and unto all the priests, saying,

Therefore, thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am seeing after Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and after his seed, he hath none dwelling in the midst of this people, nor doth he look on the good that I am doing to My people -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- for apostasy he hath spoken against Jehovah.'

For, lo, days are coming -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- and I have turned back to the captivity of My people Israel and Judah, said Jehovah, and I have caused them to turn back unto the land that I gave to their fathers, and they do possess it.'

And ye have been to Me for a people, And I am to you for God.

At that time, an affirmation of Jehovah, I am for God to all families of Israel, And they -- they are to Me for a people.

Thus said Jehovah: Found grace in the wilderness Hath a people remaining from the sword Going to cause it to rest -- Israel.

For thus said Jehovah: Sing, O ye to Jacob, with joy, And cry aloud at the head of the nations, Sound ye, praise ye, and say, Save, O Jehovah, thy people, the remnant of Israel.

And satisfied the soul of the priests with fatness, And My people with My goodness are satisfied, An affirmation of Jehovah.

For this is the covenant that I make, With the house of Israel, after those days, An affirmation of Jehovah, I have given My law in their inward part, And on their heart I do write it, And I have been to them for God, And they are to me for a people.

'And Thou bringest forth Thy people Israel from the land of Egypt, with signs and with wonders, and by a strong hand, and by a stretched-out arm, and by great fear,

and they have been to Me for a people, and I am to them for God;

'For thus said Jehovah: As I brought in unto this people all this great evil, so I am bringing in on them all the good that I am speaking concerning them;

Hast thou not considered what this people have spoken, saying: The two families on which Jehovah fixed, He doth reject them, And my people they despise -- So that they are no more a people before them!

The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after the making by the king Zedekiah of a covenant with all the people who are in Jerusalem, to proclaim to them liberty,

and hearken do all the heads, and all the people who have come in to the covenant to send forth each his man-servant and each his maid-servant free, so as not to lay service on them any more, yea, they hearken, and send them away;

heads of Judah, and heads of Jerusalem, the officers, and the priests, and all the people of the land those passing through between the pieces of the calf --

'Because the sons of Jonadab son of Rechab have performed the command of their father, that he commanded them, and this people have not hearkened unto Me,

but thou hast entered -- and thou hast read in the roll that thou hast written from my mouth, the words of Jehovah, in the ears of the people, in the house of Jehovah, in the day of the fast, and also in the ears of all Judah who are coming in from their cities thou dost read them;

if so be their supplication doth fall before Jehovah, and they turn back each from his evil way, for great is the anger and the fury that Jehovah hath spoken concerning this people.'

And it cometh to pass, in the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, proclaimed a fast before Jehovah have all the people in Jerusalem, and all the people who are coming in from cities of Judah to Jerusalem;

and Baruch readeth in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of Jehovah, in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the opening of the new gate of the house of Jehovah, in the ears of all the people.

And declare to them doth Micaiah all the words that he hath heard, when Baruch readeth in the book in the ears of the people;

and all the heads send unto Baruch, Jehudi son of Nethaniah, son of Shelemiah, son of Cushi, saying, 'The roll in which thou hast read in the ears of the people take in thy hand, and come.' And Baruch son of Neriah taketh the roll in his hand and cometh in unto them,

and he hath not hearkened, he, and his servants, and the people of the land, unto the words of Jehovah, that He spake by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet.

And Jeremiah is coming in and going out in the midst of the people, (and they have not put him in the prison-house),

that Jeremiah goeth out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin, to receive a portion thence in the midst of the people.

And Jeremiah saith unto the king Zedekiah, 'What have I sinned against thee, and against thy servants, and against this people, that ye have given me unto a prison-house?

And Shephatiah son of Mattan, and Gedaliah son of Pashhur, and Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchiah, hear the words that Jeremiah is speaking unto all the people, saying,

And the heads say unto the king, 'Let, we pray thee, this man be put to death, because that he is making feeble the hands of the men of war, who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking unto them according to these words, for this man is not seeking for the peace of this people, but for its evil.'

And the house of the king, and the house of the people, have the Chaldeans burnt with fire, and the walls of Jerusalem they have broken down.

And the remnant of the people who are left in the city, and those falling who have fallen to him, and the remnant of the people who are left, hath Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, removed to Babylon.

And of the poor people, who have nothing, hath Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, left in the land of Judah, and he giveth to them vineyards and fields on the same day.

yea, they send and take Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and give him unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, to carry him home, and he dwelleth in the midst of the people.

and while he doth not reply -- 'Or turn back unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath appointed over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him in the midst of the people, or whithersoever it is right in thine eyes to go -- go.' And the chief of the executioners giveth to him for the way, and a gift, and sendeth him away,

and Jeremiah cometh in unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam, to Mizpah, and dwelleth with him, in the midst of the people who are left in the land.

And Ishmael taketh captive all the remnant of the people who are in Mizpah, the daughters of the king, and all the people who are left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, hath committed to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, and Ishmael son of Nethaniah taketh them captive, and goeth to pass over unto the sons of Ammon.