27 Bible Verses about Separation

Abner the son of Ner and the servants of Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. Then Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out, and they met at the pool of Gibeon. The one group sat on one side of the pool, and the other sat on the other side. Abner said to Joab, "Let the young men come up and fight in our presence." And Joab said, "Let them come up." read more.
So they came forward and passed by in number: twelve for Benjamin and for Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David. Then each seized his {opponent} by the head and [each thrust] his sword in the side of his opponent, so they fell together. So they called the name of that place Helkath Hazzurim, which [is] in Gibeon. Then the battle {became increasingly fierce} on that day, and Abner and the men of Israel [were] defeated before the servants of David. The three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab and Abishai and Asahel. Now Asahel [was] swift with his feet as one of the gazelles which [is] in the open field. So Asahel pursued Abner, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left from going after Abner. Abner turned around and said, "[Are] you this Asahel?" And he said, "Yes." Abner said to him, "Turn aside to your right or to your left; seize for yourself one of the young men, and take his belongings for yourself." But Asahel [was] not willing to turn aside from him. So Abner said to Asahel {once again}, "{For your own sake}, turn aside {from following me}. Why should I strike you down to the ground? How could I {show my face} to Joab your brother?" But he refused to turn away, so Abner struck him in the stomach with the butt of the spear, and the spear went out of his back. He fell there and he died {on the spot}. {Then} all who came to the place where Asahel fell and died [just] stood there. So Joab and Abishai pursued Abner {when} the sun went down. And they came to the hill [country] of Ammah, which [is] {before Giah} [on] the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. The descendants of Benjamin rallied after Abner, and they became as one fighting group and stood on the top of a certain hill. Then Abner called to Joab and said, "Will [the] sword devour forever? Do you not know that [there] will be bitterness in the end? {How long} will you not tell the people to turn {away from pursuing} their brothers?" Joab said, "{As God lives}, for if you had not spoken, the people would surely have gone up in the morning, each [one of them] {from following after} his brother." Then Joab blew on the trumpet and all the people stopped, and they no longer pursued after Israel, and they did not fight with them again. Then Abner and his men went through the Arabah all that night, and they crossed over the Jordan. They went all the forenoon and came to Mahanaim. After Joab returned from [pursuing] Abner, he gathered all the people; nineteen of the servants of David [were] missing [along] with Asahel. The servants of David had killed some of the Benjaminites among the men of Abner; three hundred and sixty men had died. Then they picked up Asahel and buried him in the grave of his father, which [was at] Bethlehem. Joab and his men went all that night {[arriving] in Hebron at first light}.

The battle [was] prolonged between the house of Saul and the house of David, but David {[was] growing stronger and stronger} while the house of Saul {[was] becoming weaker and weaker}.

Now the rest of the acts of Solomon and all that he did and his wisdom; [are] they not written on the scroll of the acts of Solomon? All the days that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all of Israel [were] forty years. Then Solomon slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son became king in his place.

Then the men of Judah came, and they anointed David there as king over the house of Judah, and they told David, "The men of Jabesh-Gilead buried Saul."

The number of days that David was king over Hebron, over the house of Judah, [was] seven years and six months.

So all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron, and they said, "Here we [are], {we are your flesh and blood}. {For some time}, when Saul was king over us, {you were leading Israel in and out}. Yahweh had said to you, 'You shall be the shepherd of my people Israel, and you will be the leader over Israel.'" All the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David {made a covenant} with them at Hebron in the presence of Yahweh; then they anointed David as king over Israel. read more.
David [was] thirty years old when he began to reign; he reigned forty years. He reigned over Judah at Hebron [for] seven years and six months; and he reigned over all Israel and Judah at Jerusalem [for] thirty-three years.

But Abner the son of Ner, the commander of Saul's army, had taken Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over [to] Mahanaim. He made him king over Gilead, over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, and over Israel, all of it. Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul [was] forty years old when he became king over Israel and he reigned two years; however, the house of Judah {followed} David.

All his servants [were] passing {by him}: all of the Kerethites and all of the Pelethites and all of the Gittites--six hundred men {who had followed him} from Gath--passing {before the king}.

So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites [were] not from the {Israelites}; they [were] from the remainder of the Amorites. Now the {Israelites} had sworn to them, but Saul tried to wipe them out in his zeal for the {Israelites} and Judah.

And by what will it be known then that I have found favor in your eyes, I and your people? Is it not by your going with us? And [so] we will be distinguished, I and your people, from all the people who [are] on the face of the ground."

Now make a confession to Yahweh the God of your ancestors and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign women."

and Yahweh your God will give them {over to you} and you defeat them, you must {utterly destroy them}; you shall not make a covenant with them, and you shall not show mercy [to them].

Therefore, do not give your daughters to their sons, and do not take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek their peace and prosperity so that forever you may be strong and eat the good of the land and may give it as an inheritance to your sons.'

And [as for] you, do not {make a covenant} with the inhabitants of this land; break down their altars.' But you did not listen to my voice. {Why would you do such a thing}?

Therefore "come out from their midst and be separate," says the Lord, "and do not touch what is unclean, and I will welcome you,

But we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, [that] you keep away from every brother who lives irresponsibly and not according to the tradition that they received from us.

And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather even expose [them].

If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this [reason] the world hates you.

They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the season of the harvest I will tell the reapers, "First gather the darnel and tie it into bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my storehouse." '"

Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the evil from among the righteous

And these will depart into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them from one another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

Outside [are] the dogs and the sorcerers and the sexually immoral people and the murderers and the idolaters and everyone who loves and who practices falsehood.

But we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, [that] you keep away from every brother who lives irresponsibly and not according to the tradition that they received from us.

Now I exhort you, brothers, to look out for those who cause dissensions and temptations contrary to the teaching which you learned, and stay away from them.

constant wrangling by people of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who consider godliness to be a means of gain.

maintaining a form of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid these [people].

But now I have written to you not to associate with any so-called brother, if he is a sexually immoral person or a greedy person or an idolater or an abusive person or a drunkard or a swindler--with such a person not even to eat.

Turn aside from me, [you] evildoers, for I will keep the commands of my God.

The {Israelites} who returned from the exile and all those who separated themselves from the uncleanness of the nations of the earth to seek Yahweh the God of Israel, ate.

But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the {families} of Israel said to them, "[It is] not for you but for us to build a house for our God. For we ourselves alone will build [it] for Yahweh the God of Israel, just as Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us."

We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land nor take their daughters for our sons.

Those of the seed of Israel separated themselves from all of the foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors.

[For] all [the] days [during] which the infection [is] on him, he shall be unclean; he must live alone; his dwelling [must be] {outside the camp}."

And the priest shall examine it on the seventh day, and {if}, in his eyes, the infection has stayed [unchanged], the infection has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall confine him [for] seven days second [time].

And if the priest examines it and {if} there is no white hair in it and it is not deeper than the skin and it [is] faded, then the priest shall confine him [for] seven days.

then he shall shave himself, but he shall not shave the diseased area of skin, and the priest shall confine [the person with] the diseased area of skin second [time] [for] seven days.

You will send away {both male and female}; you will send them {outside the camp}. They must not make unclean their camps where I [am] dwelling in their midst."

And you shall distinguish between the clean and the unclean animal and between the unclean and the clean bird; and you shall not defile yourselves with the animal or with the bird or with anything that moves along the ground that I have set apart for you {as unclean}.

and to distinguish between the holy and the unholy, as well as between the unclean and the clean,

Its priests treat my law violently, and they profane my holy objects; they do not distinguish between holy object and what is unholy, or between the clean and the unclean. They do not teach the difference, and they hide their eyes from my Sabbaths, and [so] I am profaned in the midst of them.

to distinguish between the unclean and the clean and between the animal that is to be eaten and the animal that must not be eaten.'"

And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out from her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins, and so that you will not receive her plagues,

Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers, for what participation [is there between] righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship [does] light [have] with darkness? And what agreement [does] Christ [have] with Beliar? Or what share [does] a believer [have] with an unbeliever? And what agreement [does the] temple of God [have] with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said, "I will live in them and will walk about [among them], and I will be their God and they will be my people." read more.
Therefore "come out from their midst and be separate," says the Lord, "and do not touch what is unclean, and I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to me," says the all-powerful Lord.

Depart, depart, go out from there! You must not touch any unclean thing. Go out from the midst of it, keep clean, you who carry the vessels of Yahweh.

Now when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them from one another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right and the goats on the left. read more.
Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, [you] who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world! 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, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you cared for me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed [you], or thirsty and give [you something] to drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome [you] as a guest, or naked and clothe [you]? And when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?' And the king will answer [and] say to them, 'Truly I say to you, in as much as you did [it] to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did [it] to me.' Then he will also say to those on [his] left, 'Depart from me, [you] accursed ones, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels! For I was hungry and you did not give me [anything] to eat, I was thirsty and you did not give me [anything] to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me as a guest, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not care for me.' Then they will also answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and not serve you?' Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly I say to you, in as much as you did not do [it] to one of the least of these, you did not do [it] to me.' And these will depart into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

And then when he hears the words of this oath, then {he will assure himself} in his heart, {saying}, '{Safety shall be mine even though I go in the stubbornness of my heart},' thereby destroying the well-watered [land] [along] with the parched. Yahweh will not be willing to forgive him, for [by then] the anger of Yahweh will smoke, and his passion against that man and all the curses written in this scroll will descend on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under heaven. And Yahweh will single him out for calamity out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in the scroll of this law.

He put before them another parable, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed darnel in the midst of the wheat and went away. So when the {wheat} sprouted and yielded grain, then the darnel appeared also. read more.
So the slaves of the master of the house came [and] said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have darnel?' And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' So the slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go [and] gather them?' But he said, "No, lest [when you] gather the darnel you uproot the wheat together with it. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the season of the harvest I will tell the reapers, "First gather the darnel and tie it into bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my storehouse." '" He put before them another parable, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took [and] sowed in his field. {It} is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it is grown it is larger than the garden herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches." He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took [and] put into three measures of wheat flour until the whole [batch] was leavened." Jesus spoke all these [things] to the crowds in parables, and he was saying nothing to them without a parable, in order that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled, who said, "I will open my mouth in parables; I will proclaim what has been hidden since the creation." Then he left the crowds [and] came into the house, and his disciples came to him saying, "Explain the parable of the darnel in the field to us." So he answered [and] said, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world. And the good seed--these are the sons of the kingdom, but the darnel are the sons of the evil one. And the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Thus just as the darnel is gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all the causes of sin and those who do lawless deeds, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth! Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The one who has ears, let him hear! "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, that a man found [and] concealed, and in his joy he goes and sells everything that he has and buys that field. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. And [when he] found one very valuable pearl, he went [and] sold everything that he possessed and purchased it. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was thrown into the sea and gathered [fish] of every kind, which when it was filled they pulled to shore and sat down [and] collected the good [fish] into containers, but the bad they threw out. Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the evil from among the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!

" 'And you shall keep all my statutes and all my regulations, and you shall do them, so that the land, to which I am bringing you to inhabit it, shall not vomit you out. And you shall not follow the statutes of the nation that I am driving out {from before you}, because they did all these things, and I detested them. So I said to you, "You yourselves shall take possession of their land, and I myself shall give it to you to possess it--a land flowing with milk and honey"; I [am] Yahweh your God, who {has set you apart} from the nations. read more.
And you shall distinguish between the clean and the unclean animal and between the unclean and the clean bird; and you shall not defile yourselves with the animal or with the bird or with anything that moves along the ground that I have set apart for you {as unclean}. And you shall be holy for me, because I, Yahweh, [am] holy, and I have singled you out from the nations to be mine.

for they [are] your people and your inheritance whom you brought from Egypt from the middle of the smelter of iron. [O,] that your eyes [may] be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, to listen to them in all things [when] they call to you. For you have separated them for yourself as an inheritance from all the peoples of the earth, as you promised through the hand of Moses your servant when you brought out our ancestors from Egypt, my Lord Yahweh!"

Look! The hand of Yahweh is not too short {to save}, and his ear is not [too] dull {to hear}. Rather, your iniquities have been {barriers} between you and your God, and your sins have hidden [his] face from you, from hearing.

nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.