'City' in the Bible

Cain had marital relations with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was building a city, and he named the city after his son Enoch.

and Resen, which is between Nineveh and the great city Calah.

Then they said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens so that we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise we will be scattered across the face of the entire earth."

But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people had started building.

So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building the city.

What if there are fifty godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty godly people who are in it?

So the Lord replied, "If I find in the city of Sodom fifty godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake."

what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy the whole city because five are lacking?" He replied, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there."

Before they could lie down to sleep, all the men -- both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom -- surrounded the house.

Then the two visitors said to Lot, "Who else do you have here? Do you have any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or other relatives in the city? Get them out of this place

Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. He said, "Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them.

At dawn the angels hurried Lot along, saying, "Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged!"

When Lot hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters because the Lord had compassion on them. They led them away and placed them outside the city.

(Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth.) Ephron the Hethite replied to Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth -- before all who entered the gate of his city --

as his property in the presence of the sons of Heth before all who entered the gate of Ephron's city.

Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed with all kinds of gifts from his master at his disposal. He journeyed to the region of Aram Naharaim and the city of Nahor.

He made the camels kneel down by the well outside the city. It was evening, the time when the women would go out to draw water.

So he named it Shibah; that is why the name of the city has been Beer Sheba to this day.

After he left Paddan Aram, Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped near the city.

So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city,

All the men who assembled at the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem. Every male who assembled at the city gate was circumcised.

In three days, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his sword and went to the unsuspecting city and slaughtered every male.

Jacob's sons killed them and looted the city because their sister had been violated.

They took their flocks, herds, and donkeys, as well as everything in the city and in the surrounding fields.

Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom; the name of his city was Dinhabah.

When Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated the Midianites in the land of Moab, reigned in his place; the name of his city was Avith.

When Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor died, Hadad reigned in his place; the name of his city was Pau. His wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab.

Joseph collected all the excess food in the land of Egypt during the seven years and stored it in the cities. In every city he put the food gathered from the fields around it.

They had not gone very far from the city when Joseph said to the servant who was over his household, "Pursue the men at once! When you overtake them, say to them, 'Why have you repaid good with evil?

They all tore their clothes! Then each man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.

Moses said to him, "When I leave the city I will spread my hands to the Lord, the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the Lord.

So Moses left Pharaoh, went out of the city, and spread out his hands to the Lord, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain stopped pouring on the earth.

then the priest is to command that the stones that had the infection in them be pulled and thrown outside the city into an unclean place.

Then he is to have the house scraped all around on the inside, and the plaster which is scraped off must be dumped outside the city into an unclean place.

He must tear down the house, its stones, its wood, and all the plaster of the house, and bring all of it outside the city to an unclean place.

and he is to send the live bird away outside the city into the open countryside. So he is to make atonement for the house and it will be clean.

"'If a man sells a residential house in a walled city, its right of redemption must extend until one full year from its sale; its right of redemption must extend to a full calendar year.

If it is not redeemed before the full calendar year is ended, the house in the walled city will belong without reclaim to the one who bought it throughout his generations; it will not revert in the jubilee.

Whatever someone among the Levites might redeem -- the sale of a house which is his property in a city -- must revert in the jubilee, because the houses of the cities of the Levites are their property in the midst of the Israelites.

For Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites. Now he had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all of his land from his control, as far as the Arnon.

That is why those who speak in proverbs say, "Come to Heshbon, let it be built. Let the city of Sihon be established!

For fire went out from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It has consumed Ar of Moab and the lords of the high places of Arnon.

When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at a city of Moab which was on the border of the Arnon at the boundary of his territory.

A ruler will be established from Jacob; he will destroy the remains of the city.'"

From Aroer, which is at the edge of Wadi Arnon (it is the city in the wadi), all the way to Gilead there was not a town able to resist us -- the Lord our God gave them all to us.

We put all of these under divine judgment just as we had done to King Sihon of Heshbon -- every occupied city, including women and children.

you must by all means slaughter the inhabitants of that city with the sword; annihilate with the sword everyone in it, as well as the livestock.

You must gather all of its plunder into the middle of the plaza and burn the city and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It will be an abandoned ruin forever -- it must never be rebuilt again.

you must bring to your city gates that man or woman who has done this wicked thing -- that very man or woman -- and you must stone that person to death.

The elders of his own city must send for him and remove him from there to deliver him over to the blood avenger to die.

When you approach a city to wage war against it, offer it terms of peace.

However, the women, little children, cattle, and anything else in the city -- all its plunder -- you may take for yourselves as spoil. You may take from your enemies the plunder that the Lord your God has given you.

If you besiege a city for a long time while attempting to capture it, you must not chop down its trees, for you may eat fruit from them and should not cut them down. A tree in the field is not human that you should besiege it!

However, you may chop down any tree you know is not suitable for food, and you may use it to build siege works against the city that is making war with you until that city falls.

Then the elders of the city nearest to the corpse must take from the herd a heifer that has not been worked -- that has never pulled with the yoke --

and all the elders of that city nearest the corpse must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley.

his father and mother must seize him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his city.

They must declare to the elders of his city, "Our son is stubborn and rebellious and pays no attention to what we say -- he is a glutton and drunkard."

Then all the men of his city must stone him to death. In this way you will purge out wickedness from among you, and all Israel will hear about it and be afraid.

Then the father and mother of the young woman must produce the evidence of virginity for the elders of the city at the gate.

The elders of that city must then seize the man and punish him.

the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father's house and stone her to death, for she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father's house. In this way you will purge evil from among you.

If a virgin is engaged to a man and another man meets her in the city and has sexual relations with her,

you must bring the two of them to the gate of that city and stone them to death, the young woman because she did not cry out though in the city and the man because he violated his neighbor's fianc?e; in this way you will purge evil from among you.

Then the elders of his city must summon him and speak to him. If he persists, saying, "I don't want to marry her,"

You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field.

You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field.

the Negev, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of the date palm trees, as far as Zoar.

When it was time to shut the city gate for the night, the men left. I don't know where they were heading. Chase after them quickly, for you have time to catch them!"

Meanwhile the king's men tried to find them on the road to the Jordan River near the fords. The city gate was shut as soon as they set out in pursuit of them.

Then Rahab let them down by a rope through the window. (Her house was built as part of the city wall; she lived in the wall.)

the water coming downstream toward them stopped flowing. It piled up far upstream at Adam (the city near Zarethan); there was no water at all flowing to the sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea). The people crossed the river opposite Jericho.

Have all the warriors march around the city one time; do this for six days.

Have seven priests carry seven rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day march around the city seven times, while the priests blow the horns.

When you hear the signal from the ram's horn, have the whole army give a loud battle cry. Then the city wall will collapse and the warriors should charge straight ahead."

And he told the army, "Move ahead and march around the city, with armed troops going ahead of the ark of the Lord."

So Joshua made sure they marched the ark of the Lord around the city one time. Then they went back to the camp and spent the night there.

They marched around the city one time on the second day, then returned to the camp. They did this six days in all.

On the seventh day they were up at the crack of dawn and marched around the city as before -- only this time they marched around it seven times.

The seventh time around, the priests blew the rams' horns and Joshua told the army, "Give the battle cry, for the Lord is handing the city over to you!

The city and all that is in it must be set apart for the Lord, except for Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house, because she hid the spies we sent.

The rams' horns sounded and when the army heard the signal, they gave a loud battle cry. The wall collapsed and the warriors charged straight ahead into the city and captured it.

They annihilated with the sword everything that breathed in the city, including men and women, young and old, as well as cattle, sheep, and donkeys.

But they burned the city and all that was in it, except for the silver, gold, and bronze and iron items they put in the treasury of the Lord's house.

At that time Joshua made this solemn declaration: "The man who attempts to rebuild this city of Jericho will stand condemned before the Lord. He will lose his firstborn son when he lays its foundations and his youngest son when he erects its gates!"

The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them and chased them from in front of the city gate all the way to the fissures and defeated them on the steep slope. The people's courage melted away like water.

The Lord told Joshua, "Don't be afraid and don't panic! Take the whole army with you and march against Ai! See, I am handing over to you the king of Ai, along with his people, city, and land.

Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king, except you may plunder its goods and cattle. Set an ambush behind the city!"

He told them, "Look, set an ambush behind the city. Don't go very far from the city; all of you be ready!

I and all the troops who are with me will approach the city. When they come out to fight us like before, we will retreat from them.

They will attack us until we have lured them from the city, for they will say, 'They are retreating from us like before.' We will retreat from them.

Then you rise up from your hiding place and seize the city. The Lord your God will hand it over to you.

When you capture the city, set it on fire. Do as the Lord says! See, I have given you orders."

All the troops that were with him marched up and drew near the city. They camped north of Ai on the other side of the valley.

He took five thousand men and set an ambush west of the city between Bethel and Ai.

The army was in position -- the main army north of the city and the rear guard west of the city. That night Joshua went into the middle of the valley.

When the king of Ai saw Israel, he and his whole army quickly got up the next day and went out to fight Israel at the meeting place near the Arabah. But he did not realize men were hiding behind the city.

All the reinforcements in Ai were ordered to chase them; they chased Joshua and were lured away from the city.

No men were left in Ai or Bethel; they all went out after Israel. They left the city wide open and chased Israel.

The Lord told Joshua, "Hold out toward Ai the curved sword in your hand, for I am handing the city over to you." So Joshua held out toward Ai the curved sword in his hand.