'Nations' in the Bible

How solitary and lonely sits the city [Jerusalem]That was [once] full of people!How like a widow she has become.She who was great among the nations!The princess among the provinces,Has become a forced laborer!

Judah has gone into exile under afflictionAnd under harsh servitude;She dwells among the [pagan] nations,But she has found no rest;All her pursuers have overtaken herIn the midst of [her] distress.

The adversary has spread out his handOver all her precious and desirable things;For she has seen the [Gentile] nations enter her sanctuary (the Jerusalem temple)—The ones whom You commandedThat they should not enter into Your congregation [not even in the outer courts].

Her gates have sunk into the ground;He has destroyed and broken her bars.Her king and her princes are [exiled] among the nations;The law is no more.Also, her prophets no longer findVision from the Lord.

You have made us scum and refuseAmong the peoples (Gentile nations).

People cried to them, “Go away! Unclean!Depart! Depart! Do not touch!”So they fled, then they wandered [as fugitives];People among the nations said,“They shall not stay here any longer with us.”

The presence of the Lord scattered them [among the nations];He will not continue to look after them.They did not honor the priests;They did not favor the elders.

The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord [our king],Was captured in their snares,He of whom we had said, “Under his shadowWe shall live among the nations.”