12 Bible Verses about Heathen

This I say therefore, and solemnly declare in Lord, for you to walk no longer as also the other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the callousness of their heart. Who, having become callous, gave themselves over to licentiousness for the work of all uncleanness in greed.

For enough time of life has past for you to accomplish the will of the Gentiles, having gone in debaucheries, lusts, excesses of wine, revelings, drinking parties, and lawless idolatries.

Why do the nations rage, and the peoples meditate vain {things (LXX/NT)}?

And the scripture having foreseen that God makes the Gentiles righteous from faith, proclaimed the good-news in advance to Abraham: In thee all the nations will be blessed.

And the sons of Israel who came again out of the captivity, and all such as had separated themselves to them from the filthiness of the nations of the land, to seek LORD, the God of Israel, ate,

But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. Yes, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom LORD cast out from before the sons of Israel.

And while praying do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they will be heard by their much speaking.

The nations are sunk down in the pit that they made. In the net which they hid, their own foot is taken.

Why do the nations rage, and the peoples meditate vain {things (LXX/NT)}?

He also drove out the nations before them, and allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

And he gave them the lands of the nations, and they took the labor of the peoples in possession,

and gave their land for a heritage, a heritage to Israel his people.

and gave their land for a heritage, for his loving kindness [is] forever, even a heritage to Israel his servant, for his loving kindness [is] forever,

Sing, O barren, thou who did not bear. Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou who did not travail with child. For more are the sons of the desolate than the sons of the married woman, says LORD. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations. Spare not. Lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes. For thou shall spread aboard on the right hand and on the left. And thy seed shall possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth has LORD, the God of heaven, given me. And he has charged me to build a house for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, LORD

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth has LORD, the God of heaven, given me, and he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of LORD, the God of Israel (he is God), which is in Jerusalem. read more.
And whoever is left, in any place where he sojourns, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, besides the freewill-offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.

Do not defile ye yourselves in any of these things. For in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out from before you, and the land is defiled. Therefore I visit the iniquity of it upon it, and the land vomits out her inhabitants.

Thou drove out the nations with thy hand, but thou planted them. Thou afflicted the peoples, but thou spread them abroad.

And upon his entering into Capernaum, a centurion came to him, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my boy has been laid down in the house, paralyzed, extremely tormented. And Jesus says to him, after coming I will heal him. read more.
And having answered, the centurion said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou should come under my roof, but only speak the word, and my boy will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under myself. And I say to this man, Go, and he goes, and to another, Come, and he comes, and to my bondman, Do this, and he does it. And when Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to those who followed, Truly I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith. And I say to you, that many will come from east and west, and will sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of the heavens, but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion, Go thou. And as thou have believed, be it done to thee. And his boy was healed in that hour.

And a certain centurion's bondman faring badly was going to perish, who was esteemed by him. And having heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him who asked him that, having come, he would save his bondman. And when they came to Jesus they urged him earnestly, saying, He is worthy for whom thou may offer this, read more.
for he loves our nation, and he himself built the synagogue for us. And Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far distant from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, Lord, be not troubled, for I am not worthy that thou should come under my roof. Therefore neither did I consider myself worthy to come to thee, but speak by word, and my boy will be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, having soldiers under myself. And I say to this man, Go, and he goes, and to another, Come, and he comes, and to my bondman, Do this, and he does. And when Jesus heard these things, he marveled him, and having turned around to the multitude who followed him, he said, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.

And upon his entering into Capernaum, a centurion came to him, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my boy has been laid down in the house, paralyzed, extremely tormented. And Jesus says to him, after coming I will heal him. read more.
And having answered, the centurion said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou should come under my roof, but only speak the word, and my boy will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under myself. And I say to this man, Go, and he goes, and to another, Come, and he comes, and to my bondman, Do this, and he does it. And when Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to those who followed, Truly I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith. And I say to you, that many will come from east and west, and will sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of the heavens, but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion, Go thou. And as thou have believed, be it done to thee. And his boy was healed in that hour.

And a certain centurion's bondman faring badly was going to perish, who was esteemed by him. And having heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him who asked him that, having come, he would save his bondman. And when they came to Jesus they urged him earnestly, saying, He is worthy for whom thou may offer this, read more.
for he loves our nation, and he himself built the synagogue for us. And Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far distant from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, Lord, be not troubled, for I am not worthy that thou should come under my roof. Therefore neither did I consider myself worthy to come to thee, but speak by word, and my boy will be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, having soldiers under myself. And I say to this man, Go, and he goes, and to another, Come, and he comes, and to my bondman, Do this, and he does. And when Jesus heard these things, he marveled him, and having turned around to the multitude who followed him, he said, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.

who say, Stand by thyself, do not come near to me, for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all the day.

but in every nation, he who fears him, and works righteousness, is acceptable to him.

In the same hour the fingers of a man's hand came forth, and wrote opposite the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace. And the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

Then the part of the hand was sent from before him, and this writing was inscribed. And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE, God has numbered thy kingdom, and brought it to an end. read more.
TEKEL, thou are weighed in the balances, and are found wanting. PERES, thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. Then Belshazzar commanded, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine. And he was priest of God Most High. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who has delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And [Abram] gave him a tenth of all.

And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed. And, behold, he stood by the river. And, behold, there came up out of the river seven cows, well-favored and fat-fleshed, and they fed in the reed grass. And, behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ill-favored and lean-fleshed, and stood by the other cows upon the brink of the river. read more.
And the ill-favored and lean-fleshed cows ate up the seven well-favored and fat cows. So Pharaoh awoke. And he slept and dreamed a second time. And, behold, seven ears of grain came up upon one stalk, fat and good. And, behold, seven ears, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. And the thin ears swallowed up the seven fat and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream. And it came to pass in the morning, that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men of it. And Pharaoh told them his dream, but there was no man who could interpret them to Then the chief butler spoke to Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day. Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, me and the chief baker. And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he, we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream. And there was a young man with us there, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard, and we told him. And he interpreted to us our dreams. He interpreted to each man according to his dream. And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; he restored me to my office, and he hanged him. Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph. And they brought him hastily out of the dungeon, and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is no man who can interpret it. And I have heard say of thee, that when thou hear a dream thou can interpret it. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace. And Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the brink of the river. And, behold, there came up out of the river seven cows, fat-fleshed and well-favored, and they fed in the reed grass. And, behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ill-favored and lean-fleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness. And the lean and ill-favored cows ate up the first seven fat cows. And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them, but they were still ill-favored, as at the beginning. So I awoke. And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up upon one stalk, full and good. And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, [and] blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them, and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I told it to the magicians, but there was no man who could declare it to me. And Joseph said to Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one; what God is about to do he has declared to Pharaoh. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dream is one. And the seven lean and ill-favored cows that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind, they shall be seven years of famine. That is the thing which I spoke to Pharaoh. What God is about to do he has shown to Pharaoh.

And the people of Nineveh believed God, and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. And the news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed, nor drink water, read more.
but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily to God. Yea, let them turn each one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we not perish? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. And God relented of the evil which he said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

Now Jesus having been born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him. And Herod the king having heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. read more.
And having gathered together all the chief priests and scholars of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ is born. And they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judea. For thus it is written through the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, are in no way least among the rulers of Judah, for out of thee will come forth a man who rules, who will tend my people Israel. Then Herod having called the wise men privately, ascertained from them what time the star appeared. And having sent them to Bethlehem, he said, After going, search diligently about the child. And when ye find him, report to me, so that I also having come, may worship him. And when they heard the king, they departed. And lo, the star that they saw in the east went before them until, having come, it stood over where the child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And having come into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and having fallen down, they worshiped him. And having opened their treasures, they brought to him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all the peoples, nations, and languages, who dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has wrought toward me. How great are his signs, and how mighty are his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. read more.
I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house, and flourishing in my palace. I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. Therefore I made a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. Then the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers came in, and I told the dream before them, but they did not make the interpretation of it known to me. But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. And I told the dream before him, [saying], O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubles thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof. Thus were the visions of my head upon my bed: I saw, and, behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height of it was great. The tree grew, and was strong, and the height of it reached to heaven, and the sight of it to the end of all the earth. The leaves of it were fine, and the fruit of it much, and food was in it for all. The beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the birds of the heavens dwelt in the branches of it. And all flesh was fed from it. I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven. He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off its branches. Shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from its branches. Nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field. And let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the eart Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given to him. And let seven times pass over him. The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones, to the intent that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he will, and sets up over i This dream I, king Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. And thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation, inasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation. But thou are able, for the spirit o

Now a certain man was in Caesarea, Cornelius by name, a centurion of the band called Italian, a devout man, and fearing God with all his house, and doing many charities for the people, and beseeching God always. He saw plainly in a vision about the ninth hour of the day, an agent of God coming in to him, and saying to him, Cornelius. read more.
And after gazing at him, and having become afraid, he said, What is it, Lord? And he said to him, Thy prayers and thy charities have come up for a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa and summon Simon, who is surnamed Peter. This man lodges with a certain Simon, a tanner, whose house is beside the seaside. And when the heavenly agent speaking to Cornelius departed, having called two of his housemen, and a devout soldier of those who personally served him,

But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, Behold, thou are but a dead man, because of the woman whom thou have taken, for she is a man's wife. Now Abimelech had not come near her. And he said, LORD, will thou slay even a righteous nation? Did he not himself say to me, She is my sister? And she, even she herself said, He is my brother. In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this. read more.
And God said to him in the dream, Yes, I know that in the integrity of thy heart thou have done this. And I also withheld thee from sinning against me. Therefore I did not allow thee to touch her. Now therefore restore the man's wife. For he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shall live. And if thou do not restore her, know thou that thou shall surely die, thou, and all that are thine.

Now Jesus having been born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him. And Herod the king having heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. read more.
And having gathered together all the chief priests and scholars of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ is born. And they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judea. For thus it is written through the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, are in no way least among the rulers of Judah, for out of thee will come forth a man who rules, who will tend my people Israel. Then Herod having called the wise men privately, ascertained from them what time the star appeared. And having sent them to Bethlehem, he said, After going, search diligently about the child. And when ye find him, report to me, so that I also having come, may worship him. And when they heard the king, they departed. And lo, the star that they saw in the east went before them until, having come, it stood over where the child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And having come into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and having fallen down, they worshiped him. And having opened their treasures, they brought to him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And divinely warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed into their own country by another way.

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth has LORD, the God of heaven, given me, and he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of LORD, the God of Israel (he is God), which is in Jerusalem.