'Inhabitants' in the Bible

We have been with child, we have twisted and struggled in labor;We gave birth, as it seems, only to wind.We could not accomplish salvation for the earth,Nor were inhabitants of the world born.

Listen carefully, the Lord is about to come out of His [heavenly] placeTo punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing];The earth will reveal the [innocent] blood shed upon herAnd will no longer cover her slain.

Your spoil [of Israel’s foe] is gathered [by the people of Jerusalem] as the caterpillar gathers;As locusts swarming so people swarm on it.

“Therefore their inhabitants had little power,They were terrorized and shamed;They were like the grass of the field and the green vegetation,Like grass on the housetops and like a field [of grain] scorched before it is grown.

I said, “I will not see the LordThe Lord in the land of the living;I will no longer see man among the inhabitants of the world.

It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;[It is He] who stretches out the heavens like a veilAnd spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

Sing to the Lord a new song,Sing His praise from the end of the earth!You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,You islands and coastlands, and those who inhabit them [sing His praise]!

Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices,The villages where Kedar lives.Let the inhabitants of Sela shout for joy,Let them shout joyfully from the tops of the mountains.

These two tragedies have befallen you;Who will show sympathy for you and mourn with you?The desolation and destruction [on the land and city], famine and sword [on the inhabitants];How shall I comfort you?

Then the Lord said to me, “Out of the north the evil [which the prophets foretold as the result of national sin] will reveal itself and spill out on all the people of the land.

“Circumcise (dedicate, sanctify) yourselves to the LordAnd remove the foreskin [sins] of your heart,Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,Or else My wrath will go forth like fire [consuming all that gets in its way]And burn and there will be no one to quench it,Because of the evil of your acts.”

“Their houses shall be turned over to others,Their fields and their wives together;For I will stretch out My handAgainst the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord.

“At that time,” says the Lord, “they [the Babylonian army] will bring out from their graves the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its princes, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

For thus says the Lord;“Behold, I am slinging out at this time the people of this land,And will cause them [great] distress,That they may find it [to be as I have said].”

“Hear the words of this [solemn] covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the people of Jerusalem.

Then the Lord said to me, “A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the people of Jerusalem.

Then the cities of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry to the [man-made] gods to whom they burn incense, but they cannot save them in the time of their disaster.

Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am about to fill with drunkenness all the people of this land, even the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets and all the people of Jerusalem.

and say to them, ‘Listen to the word of the Lord, kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the people of Jerusalem who enter through these gates.

then kings and princes who will sit on the throne of David will enter through the gates of this city, riding in chariots and on horses—the kings and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city will be inhabited and endure throughout the ages.

Now then, say to the men of Judah and to the citizens of Jerusalem, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am shaping a disaster and working out a plan against you. Turn back, each of you from his evil way; correct your habits and change your actions for the better.”’

and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold (listen carefully), I am going to bring such disaster on this place that the ears of everyone who hears about it will tingle [in shock].

This I will do to this place,” says the Lord, “and to its inhabitants; and I will even make this city like Topheth.

I will also strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great virulent disease.

“Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem:They commit adultery and walk in lies;They encourage and strengthen the hands of evildoers,So that no one has turned back from his wickedness.All of them have become like Sodom to Me,And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.

which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,

behold (hear this), I will send for all the families of the north,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will send for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant [to enact My plan], and I will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these surrounding nations; and I will utterly destroy them and make them a horror and a hissing [that is, an object of warning and ridicule] and an everlasting desolation.

For behold, I am beginning to work disaster in the city which is called by My Name, and shall you go unpunished? You will not be exempt from punishment, for I am calling for a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth,” says the Lord of hosts.’

“Therefore prophesy all these words against them and say to them:‘The Lord will roar from on highAnd utter His voice from His holy dwelling;He will roar mightily against His fold and pasture.He will jubilantly shout like those who tread the grapes [in the wine press],Against all the inhabitants of the earth.

But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”

because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah which they have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Go and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not receive instruction by listening to My words and honoring them?” says the Lord.

Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold (hear this), I am bringing on Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them, but they have not listened, and I have called to them, but they have not answered.’”

I will also punish him and his descendants and his servants for their wickedness, and I will bring on them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah all the destruction that I have declared against them—but they would not listen.”’”

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “As My anger and My wrath have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. You will become detested, an object of horror, a curse and a people scorned; and you will no longer see this place.”

For I will punish all the inhabitants of the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with virulent disease;

The Lord could no longer endure it, because of the evil of your acts and the repulsive acts which you have committed; because of them your land has become a ruin, an object of horror and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day.

Egypt rises like the Nile,Even like the rivers whose waters surge about.And He has said, “I will rise, I will cover that land;I will certainly destroy the city and its inhabitants.”

Thus says the Lord:“Behold, waters are going to rise out of the north (Babylonia)And become an overflowing streamAnd overflow the land and all that is in it,The city and those who live in it.Then the people will cry out,And all the inhabitants of the land [of Philistia] will wail.

“You inhabitants of Moab,Leave the cities and live among the rocks,And be like the dove that makes her nestIn the walls of the yawning ravine.

“Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths [of the desert to escape the judgment of Edom],O inhabitants of Dedan,For I will bring the destruction of Esau (Edom) upon himWhen I inspect and punish him.

Therefore hear the plan of the Lord which He has devised against Edom, and [hear] what He has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: surely they will be dragged away, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their dwelling place desolate because of them.

“Flee, run far away! Dwell in the depths [of the desert],O inhabitants of Hazor,” says the Lord,“For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has planned a course of action against youAnd devised a scheme against you.

“Go against [Babylon] the land of Merathaim (Double Rebellion),Go up against it and against the people of Pekod (Punishment).Kill and utterly destroy them,” says the Lord,“And do everything that I have commanded you.”

“Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is His name.He will most certainly plead their case and defend their causeSo that He may bring rest to their land,But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.

“A sword against the Chaldeans,” says the Lord,“And against the inhabitants of BabylonAnd against her princes (officials, civic rulers) and against her wise men (astrologers, religious rulers)!

Set up a signal on the walls of Babylon [to spread the news];Post a strong blockade,Station the guards,Prepare the men for ambush!For the Lord has both purposed and doneThat which He spoke against the people of Babylon.

“And I will [completely] repay Babylon and all the people of Chaldea for all the evil that they have done in Zion—before your very eyes [I will do it],” says the Lord.

“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me, he has crushed me,He has set me down like an empty vessel.Like a monster he has swallowed me up,He has filled his belly with my delicacies;He has spit me out and washed me away.

“May the violence done to me and to my flesh and blood be upon Babylon,”The inhabitant of Zion will say;And, “May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”Jerusalem will say.

Their hearts cried out to the Lord.“O wall of the Daughter of Zion,Let your tears run down like a river day and night;Give yourself no relief,Let your eyes have no rest.

The kings of the earth did not believe,Nor did any of the inhabitants of the earth,That the adversary (oppressor) and enemyCould enter the gates of Jerusalem.

“Son of man, your brothers, your relatives, your fellow exiles and the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those to whom the [present] inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far away from the Lord; this land has been given to us as a possession.’

Then say to the people of the land, ‘Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel, “They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water with horror, because their land will be stripped and looted of its fullness because of the violence of all those who live in it.

Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Like the wood of the grapevine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the people of Jerusalem;

They will take up a dirge (funeral poem to be sung) for you and say to you,‘How you have perished and vanished, O renowned city,From the seas, O renowned city,Which was mighty on the sea,She and her inhabitants,Who imposed her terrorOn all who lived there!

“The inhabitants of Sidon and [the island] of Arvad were your oarsmen;Your skilled and wise men, O Tyre, were with you; they were your pilots.

‘All the inhabitants of the coastlandsAre aghast and appalled at you,And their kings are horribly frightened and shudder;Their faces twitch and pale.

“And all the inhabitants of Egypt will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord,Because they have been [only] a staff made of [fragile] reeds to the house of Israel.

“All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing.But He does according to His will in the host of heavenAnd among the inhabitants of the earth;And no one can hold back His handOr say to Him, ‘What have You done?’

“Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us confusion and open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away, in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the [treacherous] acts of unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.

Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel,For the Lord has a [legal] case with the inhabitants of the land,Because there is no faithfulness [no steadfast love, no dependability] or loyalty or kindnessOr knowledge of God [from personal experience with Him] in the land.

The people of Samaria will fear and trembleFor the [idolatrous] calf of Beth-aven (House of Wickedness).Indeed, its people will mourn over itAnd its idolatrous priests will cry out and wail over it,Over its glory, because the glory [of their calf god] has departed from it.

Hear this, O elders,Listen closely, all inhabitants of the land!Has such a thing as this occurred in your days,Or even in the days of your fathers?

Consecrate a fast,Proclaim a solemn assembly,Gather the eldersAnd all the inhabitants of the landTo the house of the Lord your God,And cry out to the Lord [in penitent pleadings].

Blow the trumpet in Zion [warning of impending judgment],Sound an alarm on My holy mountain [Zion]!Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble and shudder in fear,For the [judgment] day of the Lord is coming;It is close at hand,

“And I will cut off and destroy the inhabitants from Ashdod,And the ruler who holds the scepter, from Ashkelon;And I will unleash My power and turn My hand [in judgment] against Ekron,And the rest of the Philistines [in Gath and the towns dependent on these four Philistine cities] shall die,”Says the Lord God.

“For the rich men of the city are full of violence [of every kind];Her inhabitants speak liesAnd their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

“For [you have kept] the statutes of Omri [the idolatrous king],And all the works of the [wicked] house (dynasty) of Ahab;And you walk in their counsels and policies.Therefore, I shall hand you over for destruction and horrorAnd your [city’s] inhabitants for ridicule,And you shall bear the rebuke and scorn of My people.”

Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days,Now her inhabitants are fleeing;“Stop! Stop!” [a few cry,]But no one turns back.

“For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you;The destruction of the animals will terrify youOn account of human bloodshed and the violence done to the land,To the city and all its inhabitants.

“I will also stretch out My hand [in judgment] against JudahAnd against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.And I will cut off and destroy the remnant of Baal from this place,And the names and remembrance of the idolatrous priests along with the [false] priests,

“Wail [in anguish], you inhabitants of the Mortar (Valley of Siloam),For all the merchants of Canaan will be silenced and destroyed;All who weigh out silver will be cut off.

Neither their silver nor their goldWill be able to rescue themOn the day of the Lord’s indignation and wrath.And the whole earth will be consumedIn the fire of His jealous wrath,For He shall make a full and complete end,Indeed a terrifying one,Of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Woe (judgment is coming) to the inhabitants of the seacoast,The nation of the Cherethites [in Philistia]!The word of the Lord is against you,O Canaan, land of the Philistines;I will destroy youSo that no inhabitant will be left.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘It will come to pass that peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will come [to Jerusalem].

The inhabitants of one [city] will go to another, saying, “Let us go at once to ask the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts. I will go also.”

For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of the land,” declares the Lord; “but behold, I will cause the men to fall, each into the hand of another and into the hands of his [foreign] king. And the enemy will strike the land, and I will not rescue the people from their hand.”

Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are our strength in the Lord of hosts, their God.’

The Lord shall save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be magnified above Judah.

In that day the Lord will defend the people of Jerusalem, and the one who is impaired among them in that day [of persecution] will become [strong and noble] like David; and the house of David will be like God, like the Angel of the Lord [who is] before them.

“I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace (unmerited favor) and supplication. And they will look at Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him as one who weeps bitterly over a firstborn.

“In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the people of Jerusalem for [cleansing from] sin and impurity.

“Tell the daughter of Zion (the people of Jerusalem),‘Behold, your King is coming to you,Gentle and mounted on a donkey,Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

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

[where their worm does not die, and the fire is not put out.]

[Among us there are] Parthians, Medes and Elamites, and people of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia [Minor],

Then all who lived at Lydda and the plain of Sharon saw [what had happened to] him, and they turned to the Lord.

This continued for two years, so that all the inhabitants of [the west coast province of] Asia [Minor], Jews as well as Greeks, heard the word of the Lord [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ].

All the inhabitants of the earth will fall down and worship him, everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world in the Book of Life of the Lamb who has been slain [as a willing sacrifice].

Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to preach to the inhabitants of the earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people;

she with whom the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality, and the inhabitants of the earth have become intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.”

“The beast that you saw was [once], but [now] is not, and he is about to come up out of the abyss (the bottomless pit, the dwelling place of demons) and go to destruction (perdition). And the inhabitants of the earth, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, will be astonished when they see the beast, because he was and is not and is yet to come [to earth].