57 Bible Verses about Land, As A Divine Responsibility
Most Relevant Verses
Then you must affirm before the Lord your God, "A wandering Aramean was my ancestor, and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number, but there he became a great, powerful, and numerous people. But the Egyptians mistreated and oppressed us, forcing us to do burdensome labor. So we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and he heard us and saw our humiliation, toil, and oppression.read more.
Therefore the Lord brought us out of Egypt with tremendous strength and power, as well as with great awe-inspiring signs and wonders. Then he brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
When you enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you occupy it and live in it,
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, 'I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about I will give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever.'"
But the Lord became angry with me because of you and vowed that I would never cross the Jordan nor enter the good land that he is about to give you.
However, there should not be any poor among you, for the Lord will surely bless you in the land that he is giving you as an inheritance,
You must not shed innocent blood in your land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, for that would make you guilty.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses: "To these the land must be divided as an inheritance according to the number of the names. To a larger group you will give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group you will give a smaller inheritance. To each one its inheritance must be given according to the number of people in it.read more.
The land must be divided by lot; and they will inherit in accordance with the names of their ancestral tribes.
So Moses gave to the Gadites, the Reubenites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the realm of King Sihon of the Amorites, and the realm of King Og of Bashan, the entire land with its cities and the territory surrounding them.
Moses the Lord's servant and the Israelites defeated them and Moses the Lord's servant assigned their land to Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh.
The other half of Manasseh, Reuben, and Gad received their allotted tribal lands beyond the Jordan, just as Moses, the Lord's servant, had assigned them.
"These are the names of the men who are to allocate the land to you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun. You must take one leader from every tribe to assist in allocating the land as an inheritance. These are the names of the men: from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;read more.
from the tribe of the Simeonites, Shemuel son of Ammihud; from the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad son of Kislon; and from the tribe of the Danites, a leader, Bukki son of Jogli. From the Josephites, Hanniel son of Ephod, a leader from the tribe of Manasseh; from the tribe of the Ephraimites, a leader, Kemuel son of Shiphtan; from the tribe of the Zebulunites, a leader, Elizaphan son of Parnach; from the tribe of the Issacharites, a leader, Paltiel son of Azzan; from the tribe of the Asherites, a leader, Ahihud son of Shelomi; and from the tribe of the Naphtalites, a leader, Pedahel son of Ammihud." These are the ones whom the Lord commanded to divide up the inheritance among the Israelites in the land of Canaan.
The following is a record of the territory assigned to the Israelites in the land of Canaan by Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the Israelite tribal leaders.
The land allotted to the tribe of Judah by its clans reached to the border of Edom, to the Wilderness of Zin in the Negev far to the south.
The first lot belonged to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans. Their allotted territory was between Judah and Joseph.
Those of them who were numbered were 23,000, all males from a month old and upward, for they were not numbered among the Israelites; no inheritance was given to them among the Israelites.
The Levitical priests -- indeed, the entire tribe of Levi -- will have no allotment or inheritance with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings of the Lord and of his inheritance.
However, Moses did not assign land as an inheritance to the Levites; their inheritance is the sacrificial offerings made to the Lord God of Israel, as he instructed them.
In this way the inheritance of the Israelites will not be transferred from tribe to tribe. But every one of the Israelites must retain the ancestral heritage. And every daughter who possesses an inheritance from any of the tribes of the Israelites must become the wife of a man from any family in her father's tribe, so that every Israelite may retain the inheritance of his fathers. No inheritance may pass from tribe to tribe. But every one of the tribes of the Israelites must retain its inheritance."
But Naboth replied to Ahab, "The Lord forbid that I should sell you my ancestral inheritance."
The prince will not take away any of the people's inheritance by oppressively removing them from their property. He will give his sons an inheritance from his own possessions so that my people will not be scattered, each from his own property.'"
The land must not be sold without reclaim because the land belongs to me, for you are foreigners and residents with me.
"Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went on a journey. When the harvest time was near, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his portion of the crop. But the tenants seized his slaves, beat one, killed another, and stoned another.read more.
Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and get his inheritance!' So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" They said to him, "He will utterly destroy those evil men! Then he will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his portion at the harvest." Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures: 'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed." When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, because the crowds regarded him as a prophet.
"'Any tithe of the land, from the grain of the land or from the fruit of the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.
"You are also to observe the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors that you have sown in the field, and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year when you have gathered in your harvest out of the field.
"'You must count for yourselves seven weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day you bring the wave offering sheaf; they must be complete weeks. You must count fifty days -- until the day after the seventh Sabbath -- and then you must present a new grain offering to the Lord. From the places where you live you must bring two loaves of bread for a wave offering; they must be made from two tenths of an ephah of fine wheat flour, baked with yeast, as first fruits to the Lord.read more.
Along with the loaves of bread, you must also present seven flawless yearling lambs, one young bull, and two rams. They are to be a burnt offering to the Lord along with their grain offering and drink offerings, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord. You must also offer one male goat for a sin offering and two yearling lambs for a peace offering sacrifice, and the priest is to wave them -- the two lambs -- along with the bread of the first fruits, as a wave offering before the Lord; they will be holy to the Lord for the priest. "'On this very day you must proclaim an assembly; it is to be a holy assembly for you. You must not do any regular work. This is a perpetual statute in all the places where you live throughout your generations.
The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai: "Speak to the Israelites and tell them, 'When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land must observe a Sabbath to the Lord. Six years you may sow your field, and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather the produce,read more.
but in the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath of complete rest -- a Sabbath to the Lord. You must not sow your field or prune your vineyard. You must not gather in the aftergrowth of your harvest and you must not pick the grapes of your unpruned vines; the land must have a year of complete rest. You may have the Sabbath produce of the land to eat -- you, your male servant, your female servant, your hired worker, the resident foreigner who stays with you, your cattle, and the wild animals that are in your land -- all its produce will be for you to eat.
"'You must count off seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, and the days of the seven weeks of years will amount to forty-nine years. You must sound loud horn blasts -- in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, on the Day of Atonement -- you must sound the horn in your entire land. So you must consecrate the fiftieth year, and you must proclaim a release in the land for all its inhabitants. That year will be your jubilee; each one of you must return to his property and each one of you must return to his clan.read more.
That fiftieth year will be your jubilee; you must not sow the land, harvest its aftergrowth, or pick the grapes of its unpruned vines. Because that year is a jubilee, it will be holy to you -- you may eat its produce from the field. "'In this year of jubilee you must each return to your property.
You must not encroach on your neighbor's property, which will have been defined in the inheritance you will obtain in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor's boundary marker.' Then all the people will say, 'Amen!'
The Lord tears down the house of the proud, but he maintains the boundaries of the widow.
The princes of Judah are like those who move boundary markers. I will pour out my rage on them like a torrential flood!
Those who accumulate houses are as good as dead, those who also accumulate landed property until there is no land left, and you are the only landowners remaining within the land.
The Lord told Elijah the Tishbite: "Get up, go down and meet King Ahab of Israel who lives in Samaria. He is at the vineyard of Naboth; he has gone down there to take possession of it. Say to him, 'This is what the Lord says: "Haven't you committed murder and taken possession of the property of the deceased?"' Then say to him, 'This is what the Lord says: "In the spot where dogs licked up Naboth's blood they will also lick up your blood -- yes, yours!"'"
For he has oppressed the poor and abandoned them; he has seized a house which he did not build.
of the land. This will be his property in Israel. My princes will no longer oppress my people, but the land will be allotted to the house of Israel according to their tribes. "'This is what the sovereign Lord says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Put away violence and destruction, and do what is just and right. Put an end to your evictions of my people, declares the sovereign Lord.
They confiscate the fields they desire, and seize the houses they want. They defraud people of their homes, and deprive people of the land they have inherited.
"For six years you are to sow your land and gather in its produce. But in the seventh year you must let it lie fallow and leave it alone so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave any animal in the field may eat; you must do likewise with your vineyard and your olive grove.
You may have the Sabbath produce of the land to eat -- you, your male servant, your female servant, your hired worker, the resident foreigner who stays with you, your cattle, and the wild animals that are in your land -- all its produce will be for you to eat.
At the end of every seven years you must declare a cancellation of debts. This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person; he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite, for it is to be recognized as "the Lord's cancellation of debts." You may exact payment from a foreigner, but whatever your fellow Israelite owes you, you must remit.
"'When you gather in the harvest of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field, and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. You must not pick your vineyard bare, and you must not gather up the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You must leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.
When you gather in the harvest of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field, and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.'"
Whenever you reap your harvest in your field and leave some unraked grain there, you must not return to get it; it should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow so that the Lord your God may bless all the work you do. When you beat your olive tree you must not repeat the procedure; the remaining olives belong to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard you must not do so a second time; they should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow.read more.
Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt; therefore, I am commanding you to do all this.
One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, "Let me go to the fields so I can gather grain behind whoever permits me to do so." Naomi replied, "You may go, my daughter." So Ruth went and gathered grain in the fields behind the harvesters. Now she just happened to end up in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.
"If you indeed obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come to you in abundance if you obey the Lord your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field.read more.
Your children will be blessed, as well as the produce of your soil, the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your mixing bowl will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
You must obey my statutes and my regulations; you must be sure to keep them so that you may live securely in the land. "'The land will give its fruit and you may eat until you are satisfied, and you may live securely in the land.
Now, if you pay close attention to my commandments that I am giving you today and love the Lord your God and serve him with all your mind and being, then he promises, "I will send rain for your land in its season, the autumn and the spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and olive oil. I will provide pasture for your livestock and you will eat your fill."
You visit the earth and give it rain; you make it rich and fertile with overflowing streams full of water. You provide grain for them, for you prepare the earth to yield its crops. You saturate its furrows, and soak its plowed ground. With rain showers you soften its soil, and make its crops grow. You crown the year with your good blessings, and you leave abundance in your wake.read more.
The pastures in the wilderness glisten with moisture, and the hills are clothed with joy. The meadows are clothed with sheep, and the valleys are covered with grain. They shout joyfully, yes, they sing.
Let the nations thank you, O God! Let all the nations thank you! The earth yields its crops. May God, our God, bless us!
"But if you ignore the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force:
"'Do not defile yourselves with any of these things, for the nations which I am about to drive out before you have been defiled with all these things. Therefore the land has become unclean and I have brought the punishment for its iniquity upon it, so that the land has vomited out its inhabitants. You yourselves must obey my statutes and my regulations and must not do any of these abominations, both the native citizen and the resident foreigner in your midst,read more.
for the people who were in the land before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become unclean. So do not make the land vomit you out because you defile it just as it has vomited out the nations that were before you.
"'You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations, so that the land to which I am about to bring you to take up residence there does not vomit you out. You must not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am about to drive out before you, because they have done all these things and I am filled with disgust against them. So I have said to you: You yourselves will possess their land and I myself will give it to you for a possession, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God who has set you apart from the other peoples.
I will remember my covenant with Jacob and also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. The land will be abandoned by them in order that it may make up for its Sabbaths while it is made desolate without them, and they will make up for their iniquity because they have rejected my regulations and have abhorred my statutes. In spite of this, however, when they are in the land of their enemies I will not reject them and abhor them to make a complete end of them, to break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God.read more.
I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out from the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.'"
Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As certainly as the Lord God of Israel lives (whom I serve), there will be no dew or rain in the years ahead unless I give the command."
