'Foreign' in the Bible

So Jacob said to his family and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your clothes.

Then they gave Jacob all their foreign gods and their earrings, and Jacob hid them under the oak near Shechem.

She gave birth to a son whom he named Gershom, for he said, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.”

Yeast must not be found in your houses for seven days. If anyone eats something leavened, that person, whether a foreign resident or native of the land, must be cut off from the community of Israel.

along with her two sons, one of whom was named Gershom (because Moses had said, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land”)

“You must not exploit a foreign resident or oppress him, since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

You must not oppress a foreign resident; you yourselves know how it feels to be a foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

“Do your work for six days but rest on the seventh day so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave as well as the foreign resident may be refreshed.

You must not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreign resident; I am Yahweh your God.

“Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them: Any man of the house of Israel or of the foreign residents in Israel who presents his offering—whether they present freewill gifts or payment of vows to the Lord as burnt offerings—

When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap all the way to the edge of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the foreign resident; I am Yahweh your God.”

Whoever blasphemes the name of Yahweh is to be put to death; the whole community must stone him. If he blasphemes the Name, he is to be put to death, whether the foreign resident or the native.

You are to have the same law for the foreign resident and the native, because I am Yahweh your God.”

He will stay with him like a man hired year by year. A foreign owner is not to rule over him harshly in your sight.

“If a foreigner resides with you and wants to observe the Passover to the Lord, he is to do so according to the Passover statute and its ordinances. You are to apply the same statute to both the foreign resident and the native of the land.”

The assembly is to have the same statute for both you and the foreign resident as a permanent statute throughout your generations. You and the foreigner will be alike before the Lord.

“But the person who acts defiantly, whether native or foreign resident, blasphemes the Lord. That person is to be cut off from his people.

I commanded your judges at that time: Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge rightly between a man and his brother or a foreign resident.

He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.

Then the Levite, who has no portion or inheritance among you, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come, eat, and be satisfied. And the Lord your God will bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

Rejoice before Yahweh your God in the place where He chooses to have His name dwell—you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow among you.

Rejoice during your festival—you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, as well as the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates.

Do not despise an Edomite, because he is your brother. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you were a foreign resident in his land.

Do not deny justice to a foreigner or fatherless child, and do not take a widow’s garment as security.

“When you reap the harvest in your field, and you forget a sheaf in the field, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

When you knock down the fruit from your olive tree, you must not go over the branches again. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow.

When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you must not glean what is left. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow.

You, the Levite, and the foreign resident among you will rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God has given you and your household.

“When you have finished paying all the tenth of your produce in the third year, the year of the tenth, you are to give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.

Then you will say in the presence of the Lord your God:I have taken the consecrated portion out of my house; I have also given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all the commands You gave me. I have not violated or forgotten Your commands.

‘The one who denies justice to a foreigner, a fatherless child, or a widow is cursed.’And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

The foreign resident among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink lower and lower.

The Lord said to Moses, “You are about to rest with your fathers, and these people will soon commit adultery with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will abandon Me and break the covenant I have made with them.

The Lord alone led him,with no help from a foreign god.

They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods;they enraged Him with detestable practices.

If you abandon the Lord and worship foreign gods, He will turn against you, harm you, and completely destroy you, after He has been good to you.”

“Then get rid of the foreign gods that are among you and offer your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”

So they got rid of the foreign gods among them and worshiped the Lord, and He became weary of Israel’s misery.

But his master replied to him, “We will not stop at a foreign city where there are no Israelites. Let’s move on to Gibeah.”

Samuel told them, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, get rid of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths that are among you, dedicate yourselves to the Lord, and worship only Him. Then He will rescue you from the hand of the Philistines.”

King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women

He did the same for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and offering sacrifices to their gods.

I dug wells,and I drank foreign waters.I dried up all the streams of Egyptwith the soles of my feet.

Solomon took a census of all the foreign men in the land of Israel, after the census that his father David had conducted, and the total was 153,600.

He removed the foreign gods and the idol from the Lord’s temple, along with all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the Lord’s temple and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside the city.

Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, an Elamite, responded to Ezra: “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the surrounding peoples, but there is still hope for Israel in spite of this.

Let us therefore make a covenant before our God to send away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God. Let it be done according to the law.

Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt.

Therefore, make a confession to Yahweh the God of your fathers and do His will. Separate yourselves from the surrounding peoples and your foreign wives.”

Let our leaders represent the entire assembly. Then let all those in our towns who have married foreign women come at appointed times, together with the elders and judges of each town, in order to avert the fierce anger of our God concerning this matter.”

and by the first day of the first month they had dealt with all the men who had married foreign women.

The following were found to have married foreign women from the descendants of the priests:from the descendants of Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.

All of these had married foreign women, and some of the wives had given birth to children.

Then I said, “What you are doing isn’t right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God and not invite the reproach of our foreign enemies?

Didn’t King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations. He was loved by his God and God made him king over all Israel, yet foreign women drew him into sin.

Why then should we hear about you doing all this terrible evil and acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?”

So I purified them from everything foreign and assigned specific duties to each of the priests and Levites.

If we had forgotten the name of our Godand spread out our hands to a foreign god,

There must not be a strange god among you;you must not bow down to a foreign god.

When Israel came out of Egypt—the house of Jacob from a peoplewho spoke a foreign language—

How can we sing the Lord’s songon foreign soil?

So He will speak to this peoplewith stammering speechand in a foreign language.

I alone declared, saved, and proclaimed—and not some foreign god among you.So you are My witnesses”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and I am God.

I planted you, a choice vinefrom the very best seed.How then could you turn intoa degenerate, foreign vine?

When people ask, ‘For what offense has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ You will respond to them: Just as you abandoned Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

Listen—the cry of my dear peoplefrom a far away land,“Is the Lord no longer in Zion,her King not within her?”Why have they provoked me to angerwith their carved images,with their worthless foreign idols?

because they have abandoned Me and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in it to other gods that they, their fathers, and the kings of Judah have never known. They have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.

And I will also purge you of those who rebel and transgress against Me. I will bring them out of the land where they live as foreign residents, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.

Father and mother are treated with contempt, and the foreign resident is exploited within you. The fatherless and widow are oppressed in you.

The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and unlawfully exploited the foreign resident.

Cush, Put, and Lud,and all the various foreign troops,plus Libya and the men of the covenant landwill fall by the sword along with them.

He will deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. He will greatly honor those who acknowledge him, making them rulers over many and distributing land as a reward.

I will gather all the nationsand take them to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.I will enter into judgment with them therebecause of My people, My inheritance Israel.The nations have scattered the Israelitesin foreign countriesand divided up My land.

On the day of the Lord’s sacrificeI will punish the officials, the king’s sons,and all who are dressed in foreign clothing.

Judah has acted treacherously, and a detestable thing has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the Lord’s sanctuary, which He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.