31 Bible Verses about Gentiles

Some of the Jews were convinced [that Jesus was the Messiah] and so joined with Paul and Silas. Also, a large number of devoted Greeks [i.e., Gentiles] and leading women [joined their group].

So, I tell you this, and insist [on it] by [the authority of] the Lord: Do not continue to live with worthless thoughts as [unconverted] Gentiles do. Their understanding [of spiritual things] is darkened and excluded from the [spiritual] life that God gives, because of the ignorance in their minds and the stubbornness in their hearts. They have stopped caring [i.e., about morality], so God has abandoned them to lives of unrestrained indecency and to engage in all kinds of [moral] impurity, with a constant desire for more.

Therefore, do not worry by asking, 'What are we going to eat?' or 'What are we going to drink?' or 'What are we going to wear?' For these are the things that the [unconverted] Gentiles keep trying to get. But your heavenly Father [already] knows you need these things.

[Remember] that you were at that time without Christ; [you were] excluded from citizenship in the nation of Israel; [you were] foreigners regarding the Agreements of [God's] promises. You had no hope and were without God in the world.

[Certainly not!] But I am saying that the Gentile sacrifices are [really] offered to evil spirits and not to God. And I do not want you to have fellowship with evil spirits.

And when the Gentiles heard this they were glad and gave honor to the message of God [i.e., they accepted it as true]. And all those who were appointed [by God] to receive never ending life [through faith and obedience] became believers.

And the believers of Jewish descent, who had come with Peter, were amazed [when they saw] that the gift of the Holy Spirit had [now] been poured out on the Gentiles also.

When the Jews resisted [Paul's efforts] and spoke against him and his message, he shook out his clothing [i.e., an expression of rejection and contempt] and said to them "Let your blood be on your own heads [i.e., you are responsible for whatever harm comes from your action]; I am not responsible. From now on I will go [and preach] to the Gentiles [only]."

Then the seventh angel sounded its trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord [i.e., God] and of His Christ, and He will rule forever and ever."

Now the apostles and the [other] brothers in Judea heard that the Gentiles had responded to the message of God.

and exchanged the honor belonging to the immortal God for the statues of mortal men, and birds, and animals and reptiles.

You people know that when you were [still unconverted] Gentiles, you were led astray to [worship] lifeless idols, however you were led [i.e., wherever you turned, you were being led into idolatrous practices].

For they exchanged God's truth for the [devil's] lie, and worshiped and served what was created instead of the Creator, who is to be praised forever. May it be so.

But Paul and Barnabas [continued to] speak out boldly, saying, "It was necessary that the message of God be delivered to you [Jews] first. But since you have rejected it and [thereby] consider yourselves to be unworthy of [receiving] never ending life, we [i.e., Paul and Barnabas] will now begin proclaiming it to the [unconverted] Gentiles.

Jesus sent these twelve apostles out and ordered them saying, "Do not go on any road leading to Gentile territory or enter any town of the Samaritans.

And [the need for] a change of heart and life in order to receive the forgiveness of sins [from God] will be preached in Jesus' name [i.e., by His authority] to people of all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

We were these people, whom He called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles.

anguish and distress. He will bring these upon every human being who does wrong, upon the Jews first, then also upon the Greeks [i.e., Gentiles].

What then? Are we [Jews] any better off [than those Gentiles]? No, not at all, for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks [i.e., Gentiles] alike are under [the power of] sin,

not in passionate lust, as the [unconverted] Gentiles, who do not know God, do.

Now they knew who God was, but they did not honor Him as God or thank Him [for their blessings]. Instead they engaged in their useless speculations and their foolish minds were filled with [spiritual] darkness.

For Christ is [the source of] our peace. He made both [Jews and Gentiles] one people, and broke down the barrier wall of hostility that divided them,

but do not include the court on the outside of the Temple in your measurements, because it has been given to the [unconverted] Gentiles. And they will trample underfoot the holy city [i.e., Jerusalem ? See 21:10] for forty-two months.

They have stopped caring [i.e., about morality], so God has abandoned them to lives of unrestrained indecency and to engage in all kinds of [moral] impurity, with a constant desire for more.

And since these people refused to acknowledge God, He has allowed [or, abandoned] them to have degraded minds and to practice those things which they should not do. They are full of all kinds of wickedness, evil, greed, and maliciousness. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, hateful toward God, arrogant, proud and boastful. They think up evil things to do; they disobey their parents; read more.
they do not have any sense; they do not keep their promises; they fail to show natural affection; and they are merciless. These people know that God's decrees require that those who practice such things deserve to die [i.e., either spiritual or temporal punishment], yet they not only do the same things [themselves], but even approve of other people who practice them.

But the Lord replied to him, "Go on your way, for Saul is someone I have especially chosen to carry my name to the [unconverted] Gentiles, kings and the Israelites.

On the contrary, they saw that I had [already] been entrusted [by God] with the Gospel for the uncircumcised ones [i.e., for Gentiles], just as Peter [had been entrusted by God] with the Gospel for the circumcised ones [i.e., for Jews]. For God assigned Peter to be an apostle to the circumcised ones [i.e., Jews], and me to be an apostle to the Gentiles.

I am not ashamed of the good news [i.e., the Gospel], because it is God's power for [bringing] salvation to every person who believes [in Jesus]; first to Jews and then to Greeks [i.e., unconverted Gentiles].

For there is no distinction [with God] between Jews and Greeks [i.e., Gentiles], for all have the same Lord, who is generous to all who appeal to Him [for help].

Then Peter began to speak. He said, "I perceive that God truly does not show favoritism toward anyone, but that whoever respects Him and does what is right, whatever country he may be from, is acceptable to Him. He sent His message [first] to the Israelites; [it involved] preaching the good news through Jesus Christ (who is Lord of all). read more.
You yourselves know [all this, and] how this message was proclaimed throughout Judea, having begun from Galilee after the preaching of the immersion [taught and practiced] by John. This message was about Jesus from Nazareth and how God specially chose Him [and signified it] by giving Him the Holy Spirit and power. He traveled all over doing good [for people] and healing everyone who was [being] oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we [apostles] are witnesses of all that He did, both in the region where Jews lived and in Jerusalem [as well]. But they killed Him by hanging Him on a tree [i.e., the cross]. However, God raised Him up the third day and made it possible for Him to appear [following His resurrection], not to everyone, but to us [apostles] who were specially chosen by God to be witnesses [of His resurrected body], and to eat and drink with Him after He arose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He [i.e., Jesus] is the One whom God ordained to be the Judge of people who are [now] alive and those who have [already] died. All the prophets have testified [in their writings], that it is through the name of Jesus that every person who believes in Him will receive the forgiveness of sins." While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit descended upon all those who were listening to this message [i.e., Cornelius and his household]. And the believers of Jewish descent, who had come with Peter, were amazed [when they saw] that the gift of the Holy Spirit had [now] been poured out on the Gentiles also.

Symeon [i.e., Peter] reported how God first sent [someone to preach] to the Gentiles in order to reach a group of them [with the Gospel message] for His name.

And when the Gentiles heard this they were glad and gave honor to the message of God [i.e., they accepted it as true]. And all those who were appointed [by God] to receive never ending life [through faith and obedience] became believers. And the Lord's message was spread far and wide over the entire region.

The whole crowd remained quiet as they listened to Barnabas and Paul reporting on the [miraculous] signs and wonders God had performed among the Gentiles through them.

And, predicting that God would consider the Gentiles right with Him by [their] faith, the Scriptures previously recorded [this promise of] the Gospel to Abraham by saying [Gen. 12:3], "All nations will receive a blessing through your descendant [i.e., Jesus]."

And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those [believers] of Jewish descent began to argue with him, saying, "You went in and ate with non-Jewish people, did you not?"

And he said to them, "You people know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with, or even go near a person from another [i.e., non-Jewish] country, and yet God showed me that I should not consider any person ordinary or [ceremonially] unacceptable.

[to be] a light for revealing [God's way of salvation] to the [unconverted] Gentiles, and a [source of] glory to your people, the Israelites."

So, you Gentiles by birth should remember what you once were. You are called "Uncircumcision" by those who are called "Circumcision" [i.e., the Jews], (which refers to a physical procedure performed by people). [Remember] that you were at that time without Christ; [you were] excluded from citizenship in the nation of Israel; [you were] foreigners regarding the Agreements of [God's] promises. You had no hope and were without God in the world.

And He answered [her], "It is not proper to take bread away from the children and throw it to the dogs."

shouting, "[You] Israelites, help [us]! This man is teaching people everywhere [to be] against our people [i.e., the Jews], the law of Moses and this place [i.e., the Temple]; and in addition to that he has also brought Greeks [i.e., Gentiles] into the Temple and has [thereby] contaminated this holy place." (For the Jews had previously seen him on a city street with Trophimus, the Ephesian, whom they assumed Paul had taken into the Temple [with him]).

For I want you to know this secret, brothers, so you will not become conceited: Part of the Israelites have become [spiritually] insensitive [to God], [and will remain that way] until the fullness of the Gentiles occurs. [Note: As with verse 12, concerning the Jews, "fullness" here may mean either a large or the complete number of Gentiles who will be saved].

And since these people refused to acknowledge God, He has allowed [or, abandoned] them to have degraded minds and to practice those things which they should not do.

(For when the [unconverted] Gentiles, who do not have the law of Moses, instinctively practice [some of] its requirements, they become their own lawmakers, even though they do not have the law of Moses.

So, if an uncircumcised person [i.e., a Gentile] obeys [the rest of] the requirements of the law, will not the fact that he is not circumcised be considered [by God] as though he were?

And people will die by the sword and be led captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled on by the [unconverted] Gentiles [i.e., by the Romans and later by others] until the times of [domination by] the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The Jews [i.e., the authorities] were saying among themselves, "Where will this man go that we will not be able to find him? Will he go where the Jewish people are scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?

For [truly] it was both Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, who gathered together in this city [of Jerusalem] against your Holy Servant Jesus

At that time, when you did not know God [as your Father], you were in bondage to those who were, by nature, not really gods at all.

And when we came to Jerusalem, the brothers [there] welcomed us gladly. The next day Paul went with us to visit James [the Lord's half-brother and a leader in the Jerusalem church], with all of the elders [of the Jerusalem church] being present. And after greeting them Paul reported one by one the things that God had brought about among the Gentiles through his ministry. read more.
And when they heard [all] this, they gave honor to God, then said to Paul, "Brother, you can see how many thousands of Jewish believers [in Christ] there are [everywhere] and all of them are eager to observe the [requirements of the] law of Moses. Now these Jewish Christians have been informed that you are teaching all the Jews living among the Gentiles to give up [following the teaching of] Moses, [even] telling them not to circumcise their children and not to practice the [other] customs [of the Jewish religion]. What do you think will happen when they hear that you have come [here to Jerusalem]? So, here is what we would like you to do: We have four men who have made a vow [i.e., a special promise to God]. Take these men and observe the ceremony of purification with them, pay their expenses so they can shave their heads [i.e., to signify that they are making a vow] and [then] everyone will know that there is no truth in what people have been told about you, but that you, too, are living properly and observing the law of Moses. But concerning Gentile believers, we wrote [to them] our decision, that they should avoid [eating] things sacrificed to idols, from [drinking] blood, from [eating] what is strangled and from sexual immorality."

Now the apostles and the [other] brothers in Judea heard that the Gentiles had responded to the message of God. And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those [believers] of Jewish descent began to argue with him, saying, "You went in and ate with non-Jewish people, did you not?" read more.
Then Peter began to explain the whole matter to them, step by step, saying, "I was in the city of Joppa and [one day], while praying, I fell into a trance [i.e., a semi-conscious, vision-like state] and saw a huge sheet-like container being lowered down from the sky by its four corners. As it came into view I gazed at it and wondered [about it], as I saw [it full of] four-legged [domestic] animals, wild animals, crawling [reptiles] and birds of the sky. I also heard a voice telling me to get up and kill and eat [one of them]. But I said, 'O no, Lord, for I have never even tasted anything ordinary or [ceremonially] unfit [for Jews to eat].' Then the voice spoke from the sky again, saying, 'Do not consider something [to be] ordinary that God has made acceptable.' And this was done three times before it was all lifted back up into the sky. "Then, just about that time, three men sent from Caesarea to get me, walked up to the house where we were [staying]. The Holy Spirit directed me to go with them, without showing any discrimination. With these six brothers accompanying me, we went into Cornelius' house and he told us about seeing an angel standing in his house and saying [to him] 'Send to Joppa for Simon Peter and bring him [here] so he can speak words to you that will bring salvation to you and your household.' "And while I was speaking, [the power of] the Holy Spirit descended on them [i.e., Cornelius' Gentile household] just like [it fell] on us [Jewish apostles] at the beginning [i.e., the day of Pentecost, See chapter 2]. Then I remembered what the Lord had said [See 1:4-5]: 'John immersed you [people] in water but you [apostles] will be immersed in the Holy Spirit.' [Therefore], if God gave to them [i.e., the Gentiles] the same gift as He gave to us [Jews] when we [apostles, See chapter 1-2] believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I stand against [the will of] God [by refusing to immerse them]?'" So, when the apostles and the brothers from Judea heard these things, they stopped arguing [See verse 2] and gave honor to God, saying, "[This means] that God has permitted the Gentiles also [as well as the Jews] to repent [i.e., change their hearts and lives] so they, too, could have [the promise of never ending] life."

And after many questions were asked [about it] Peter stood up and addressed the assembly [including the former Pharisees who were now brothers]: "Brothers, you are aware that some time ago God decided that, from among your number, it would be through my ministry that the Gentiles would hear and believe the Gospel message. And God, who knows [all people's] hearts, gave His testimony [to their acceptance] by giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did to us [See 11:15-17]. And He did not discriminate between us [i.e., Jews] and them [i.e., Gentiles], cleansing their hearts [also] by faith [in Jesus]. read more.
Why are you putting God on trial by trying to harness the disciples with a burden [i.e., compliance with the law of Moses], which neither our forefathers nor we could possibly bear? For we believe that [both] we [Jews] and they [Gentiles] will be saved in the same way, through the unearned favor of the Lord Jesus."

And again [Psa. 117:1], "Praise the Lord, all of you Gentiles, and let all the nations praise Him."