17 Bible Verses about Refugees
Most Relevant Verses
And Abram said to Sarai, "Look, your servant [is] {under your authority}. Do to her that which [is] good in your eyes." And Sarai mistreated her, and she fled from her presence. And the angel of Yahweh found her at a spring of water in the wilderness, at the spring by the road of Shur. And he said to Hagar, the servant of Sarai, "{From where} have you come, and where are you going?" And she said, "I am fleeing from the presence of Sarai my mistress."
So Israel journeyed with all that he had, and he came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac.
And the {Israelites} set out from Rameses to Succoth; the men [were] about six hundred thousand on foot, besides dependents. And also a {mixed multitude} went up with them and sheep and goats and cattle, very numerous livestock. And they baked the dough that they had brought out from Egypt [as] cakes, unleavened bread, because it had no yeast when they were driven out from Egypt, and they were not able to delay, and also they had not made provisions for themselves.
And it happened in the days [when] {the judges ruled}, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem [of] Judah went {to reside} in the countryside of Moab--he and his wife and his two sons.
Now [after] they had gone away, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph, saying, "Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to seek the child to destroy him." So he got up [and] took the child and his mother during the night and went away to Egypt. And he was there until the death of Herod, in order that what was said by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, "Out of Egypt I called my son."
And he found a certain Jew {named} Aquila, {a native} of Pontus who had arrived recently from Italy {along with} Priscilla his wife, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to depart from Rome, [and] he went to them.
"And you shall not hand over a slave to his master who has escaped [and fled] to you from his master. He shall reside with you in your midst in the place that he chooses in one of {your towns wherever he pleases}; you shall not oppress him.
For I was hungry and you gave me [something] to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me [something] to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me as a guest,
"All the cities that you will give the Levites will be six cities of refuge, to which the killer can flee; in addition to them you will give forty-two cities.
And Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying, "Speak to the {Israelites}, saying, 'Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through the hand of Moses. Anyone who kills a person by accident or unintentionally may flee there; they will be for yourselves a refuge from the avenger of blood.read more.
The killer will flee to one of these cities, stand [at] the entrance of the gate of the city, and {state his case to the elders of that city}; and they will take him into the city and give him a place, and he will dwell among them. And if the avenger of blood pursues after him, they will not hand over the killer into his hand, because he killed his neighbor unintentionally, and {he did not hate him previously}. The killer will stay in that city until he stands before the congregation for the trial, until the death of the one who is the high priest in those days. Then {the killer will return} to his city and to his house, to the city from which he fled.'"
The God of {ancient time} [is] a hiding place, and underneath [are] [the] arms of eternity, and he drove out {from before} you your enemy, and he said, 'Destroy [them]!'
I take refuge in God, my rock, my shield, and the {strength} of my salvation. My stronghold and my refuge, O my savior, you will save me from violence!
But as for me, I will sing [of] your strength, and I will hail your loyal love in the morning, because you have been my [high] stronghold and a refuge in my {time} of trouble.
For you have been a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in his distress, a shelter from [the] rainstorm, a shade from [the] heat. For [the] breath of [the] ruthless [was] like a rainstorm against a wall,
Yahweh, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in [the] day of distress, to you [the] nations will come from the ends of [the] earth, and they will say, "Our ancestors have inherited only lies, vanity, and there is no profit in them.
Yahweh is good--a refuge in [the] day of distress; [he knows] those who take refuge in him.