'Nations' in the Bible

The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be reduced to a few survivors among the nations where the Lord your God will drive you.

to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you in and give you their land as an inheritance, as is now taking place.

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, and He drives out many nations before you—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and powerful than you—

“If you say to yourself, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I drive them out?’

The Lord your God will drive out these nations before you little by little. You will not be able to destroy them all at once; otherwise, the wild animals will become too numerous for you.

Like the nations the Lord is about to destroy before you, you will perish if you do not obey the Lord your God.

“Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan to go and drive out nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities fortified to the heavens.

When the Lord your God drives them out before you, do not say to yourself, ‘The Lord brought me in to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.’ Instead, the Lord will drive out these nations before you because of their wickedness.

You are not going to take possession of their land because of your righteousness or your integrity. Instead, the Lord your God will drive out these nations before you because of their wickedness, in order to keep the promise He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will drive out nations greater and stronger than you are.

Destroy completely all the places where the nations that you are driving out worship their gods—on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.

“When the Lord your God annihilates the nations before you, which you are entering to take possession of, and you drive them out and live in their land,

be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, ‘How did these nations worship their gods? I’ll also do the same.’

When the Lord your God blesses you as He has promised you, you will lend to many nations but not borrow; you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.

“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, take possession of it, live in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations around me,’

“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable customs of those nations.

Everyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and the Lord your God is driving out the nations before you because of these detestable things.

Though these nations you are about to drive out listen to fortune-tellers and diviners, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do this.

“When the Lord your God annihilates the nations whose land He is giving you, so that you drive them out and live in their cities and houses,

This is how you are to treat all the cities that are far away from you and are not among the cities of these nations.

that He will elevate you to praise, fame, and glory above all the nations He has made, and that you will be a holy people to the Lord your God as He promised.”

“Now if you faithfully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all His commands I am giving you today, the Lord your God will put you far above all the nations of the earth.

The Lord will open for you His abundant storehouse, the sky, to give your land rain in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow.

You will find no peace among those nations, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despondent spirit.

“Indeed, you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and passed through the nations where you traveled.

Be sure there is no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Be sure there is no root among you bearing poisonous and bitter fruit.

All the nations will ask, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’

“When all these things happen to you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you come to your senses while you are in all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you,

The Lord your God is the One who will cross ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will drive them out. Joshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, as the Lord has said.

When the Most High gave the nations their inheritanceand divided the human race,He set the boundaries of the peoplesaccording to the number of the people of Israel.

Rejoice, you nations, concerning His people,for He will avenge the blood of His servants.He will take vengeance on His adversaries;He will purify His land and His people.