'Country' in the Bible

The sons of Israel were mustered and were provisioned and went to meet them; and the sons of Israel camped before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Arameans filled the country.

Then a cry passed throughout the army close to sunset, saying, “Every man to his city and every man to his country.”

It happened in the morning about the time of offering the sacrifice, that behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

He said, “All is well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Behold, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothes.’”

Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.”

Shaharaim became the father of children in the country of Moab after he had sent away Hushim and Baara his wives.

Now Azmaveth the son of Adiel had charge of the king’s storehouses. And Jonathan the son of Uzziah had charge of the storehouses in the country, in the cities, in the villages and in the towers.

“Also concerning the foreigner who is not from Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country for Your great name’s sake and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and pray toward this house,

besides that which the traders and merchants brought; and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.

Then Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel:

Now when Asa heard these words and the prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he took courage and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then restored the altar of the Lord which was in front of the porch of the Lord.

So Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem and went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and brought them back to the Lord, the God of their fathers.

He built towers in the wilderness and hewed many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both in the lowland and in the plain. He also had plowmen and vinedressers in the hill country and the fertile fields, for he loved the soil.

Moreover, he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and he built fortresses and towers on the wooded hills.

So the couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but they laughed them to scorn and mocked them.

So He brought them to His holy land,To this hill country which His right hand had gained.

He will judge among the nations,He will fill them with corpses,He will shatter the chief men over a broad country.

“Come, my beloved, let us go out into the country,Let us spend the night in the villages.

They are coming from a far country,From the farthest horizons,The Lord and His instruments of indignation,To destroy the whole land.

“You will not be united with them in burial,Because you have ruined your country,You have slain your people.May the offspring of evildoers not be mentioned forever.

And roll you tightly like a ball,To be cast into a vast country;There you will dieAnd there your splendid chariots will be,You shame of your master’s house.’

Each will be like a refuge from the windAnd a shelter from the storm,Like streams of water in a dry country,Like the shade of a huge rock in a parched land.

Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.”

Calling a bird of prey from the east,The man of My purpose from a far country.Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.I have planned it, surely I will do it.

“Report it to the nations, now!Proclaim over Jerusalem,‘Besiegers come from a far country,And lift their voices against the cities of Judah.

‘If I go out to the country,Behold, those slain with the sword!Or if I enter the city,Behold, diseases of famine!For both prophet and priestHave gone roving about in the land that they do not know.’”

They will come in from the cities of Judah and from the environs of Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the Lord.

‘Does the snow of Lebanon forsake the rock of the open country?Or is the cold flowing water from a foreign land ever snatched away?

I will hurl you and your mother who bore you into another country where you were not born, and there you will die.

“Behold, I am bringing them from the north country,And I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth,Among them the blind and the lame,The woman with child and she who is in labor with child, together;A great company, they will return here.

Men will buy fields for money, sign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland and in the cities of the Negev; for I will restore their fortunes,’ declares the Lord.”

In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who numbers them,’ says the Lord.

And I will bring Israel back to his pasture and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan, and his desire will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead.

We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed;Forsake her and let us each go to his own country,For her judgment has reached to heavenAnd towers up to the very skies.

“Son of man, if a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it and cut off from it both man and beast,

though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the country would be desolate.

Or if I should bring a sword on that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass through the country and cut off man and beast from it,’

Or if I should send a plague against that country and pour out My wrath in blood on it to cut off man and beast from it,

As I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘Surely in the country of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, in Babylon he shall die.

Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

He prayed to the Lord and said, “Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.

For I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the open country,Planting places for a vineyard.I will pour her stones down into the valleyAnd will lay bare her foundations.

with one of which the black horses are going forth to the north country; and the white ones go forth after them, while the dappled ones go forth to the south country.

And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.

When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way.

And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes.

And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country.

Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened.

and ran about that whole country and began to carry here and there on their pallets those who were sick, to the place they heard He was.

They *pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross.

After that, He appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along on their way to the country.

Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah,

Fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea.

Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.

When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and out in the country.

And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to leave them, for they were gripped with great fear; and He got into a boat and returned.

And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living.

Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished.

So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

So He said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return.

Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city;

When they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.

For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.

Therefore Jesus no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews, but went away from there to the country near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim; and there He stayed with the disciples.

Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the Passover to purify themselves.

and said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’

Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living.

Now he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; and with one accord they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because their country was fed by the king’s country.

It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples.

For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.

And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.

But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.