'People' in the Bible

“An ox knows its owner,And a donkey its master’s manger,But Israel does not know,My people do not understand.”

Alas, sinful nation,People weighed down with iniquity,Offspring of evildoers,Sons who act corruptly!They have abandoned the Lord,They have despised the Holy One of Israel,They have turned away from Him.

Hear the word of the Lord,You rulers of Sodom;Give ear to the instruction of our God,You people of Gomorrah.

For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob,Because they are filled with influences from the east,And they are soothsayers like the Philistines,And they strike bargains with the children of foreigners.

And the people will be oppressed,Each one by another, and each one by his neighbor;The youth will storm against the elderAnd the inferior against the honorable.

He will protest on that day, saying,“I will not be your healer,For in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;You should not appoint me ruler of the people.”

O My people! Their oppressors are children,And women rule over them.O My people! Those who guide you lead you astrayAnd confuse the direction of your paths.

The Lord arises to contend,And stands to judge the people.

The Lord enters into judgment with the elders and princes of His people,“It is you who have devoured the vineyard;The plunder of the poor is in your houses.

“What do you mean by crushing My peopleAnd grinding the face of the poor?”Declares the Lord God of hosts.

Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge;And their honorable men are famished,And their multitude is parched with thirst.

On this account the anger of the Lord has burned against His people,And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them down.And the mountains quaked, and their corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets.For all this His anger is not spent,But His hand is still stretched out.

Then I said,“Woe is me, for I am ruined!Because I am a man of unclean lips,And I live among a people of unclean lips;For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

He said, “Go, and tell this people:‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive;Keep on looking, but do not understand.’

“Render the hearts of this people insensitive,Their ears dull,And their eyes dim,Otherwise they might see with their eyes,Hear with their ears,Understand with their hearts,And return and be healed.”

Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered,“Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant,Houses are without peopleAnd the land is utterly desolate,

When it was reported to the house of David, saying, “The Arameans have camped in Ephraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.

For the head of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people),

The Lord will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have never come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah, the king of Assyria.”

People will come there with bows and arrows because all the land will be briars and thorns.

“Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of ShiloahAnd rejoice in Rezin and the son of Remaliah;

For thus the Lord spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

“You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy,And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.

When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?

The people who walk in darknessWill see a great light;Those who live in a dark land,The light will shine on them.

And all the people know it,That is, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,Asserting in pride and in arrogance of heart:

Yet the people do not turn back to Him who struck them,Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts.

For those who guide this people are leading them astray;And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion.

By the fury of the Lord of hosts the land is burned up,And the people are like fuel for the fire;No man spares his brother.

So as to deprive the needy of justiceAnd rob the poor of My people of their rights,So that widows may be their spoilAnd that they may plunder the orphans.

I send it against a godless nationAnd commission it against the people of My furyTo capture booty and to seize plunder,And to trample them down like mud in the streets.

For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea,Only a remnant within them will return;A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.

Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, “O My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear the Assyrian who strikes you with the rod and lifts up his staff against you, the way Egypt did.

Then it will happen on that day that the LordWill again recover the second time with His handThe remnant of His people, who will remain,From Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath,And from the islands of the sea.

And there will be a highway from AssyriaFor the remnant of His people who will be left,Just as there was for IsraelIn the day that they came up out of the land of Egypt.

A sound of tumult on the mountains,Like that of many people!A sound of the uproar of kingdoms,Of nations gathered together!The Lord of hosts is mustering the army for battle.

And it will be that like a hunted gazelle,Or like sheep with none to gather them,They will each turn to his own people,And each one flee to his own 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.

“How then will one answer the messengers of the nation?That the Lord has founded Zion,And the afflicted of His people will seek refuge in it.”

Which sends envoys by the sea,Even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth,To a people feared far and wide,A powerful and oppressive nationWhose land the rivers divide.

At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hostsFrom a people tall and smooth,Even from a people feared far and wide,A powerful and oppressive nation,Whose land the rivers divide—To the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, even Mount Zion.

whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”

O my threshed people, and my afflicted of the threshing floor!What I have heard from the Lord of hosts,The God of Israel, I make known to you.

Therefore I say, “Turn your eyes away from me,Let me weep bitterly,Do not try to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

Behold, the land of the Chaldeans—this is the people which was not; Assyria appointed it for desert creatures—they erected their siege towers, they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin.

And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor.

The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away.

Therefore a strong people will glorify You;Cities of ruthless nations will revere You.

He will swallow up death for all time,And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces,And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth;For the Lord has spoken.

O Lord, Your hand is lifted up yet they do not see it.They see Your zeal for the people and are put to shame;Indeed, fire will devour Your enemies.

Come, my people, enter into your roomsAnd close your doors behind you;Hide for a little whileUntil indignation runs its course.

When its limbs are dry, they are broken off;Women come and make a fire with them,For they are not a people of discernment,Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them.And their Creator will not be gracious to them.

In that day the Lord of hosts will become a beautiful crownAnd a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people;

Indeed, He will speak to this peopleThrough stammering lips and a foreign tongue,

Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, O scoffers,Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,

Then the Lord said,“Because this people draw near with their wordsAnd honor Me with their lip service,But they remove their hearts far from Me,And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,

Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.”

“Everyone will be ashamed because of a people who cannot profit them,Who are not for help or profit, but for shame and also for reproach.”

The oracle concerning the beasts of the Negev.Through a land of distress and anguish,From where come lioness and lion, viper and flying serpent,They carry their riches on the backs of young donkeysAnd their treasures on camels’ humps,To a people who cannot profit them;

For this is a rebellious people, false sons,Sons who refuse to listenTo the instruction of the Lord;

O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you.

The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the Lord binds up the fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted.

For the land of my people in which thorns and briars shall come up;Yea, for all the joyful houses and for the jubilant city.

Then my people will live in a peaceful habitation,And in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places;

You will no longer see a fierce people,A people of unintelligible speech which no one comprehends,Of a stammering tongue which no one understands.

And no resident will say, “I am sick”;The people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.

For My sword is satiated in heaven,Behold it shall descend for judgment upon EdomAnd upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction.

Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak with us in Judean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

“Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.

The grass withers, the flower fades,When the breath of the Lord blows upon it;Surely the people are grass.

Thus says God the Lord,Who created the heavens and stretched them out,Who spread out the earth and its offspring,Who gives breath to the people on itAnd spirit to those who walk in it,

“I am the Lord, I have called You in righteousness,I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You,And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people,As a light to the nations,

But this is a people plundered and despoiled;All of them are trapped in caves,Or are hidden away in prisons;They have become a prey with none to deliver them,And a spoil, with none to say, “Give them back!”

Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes,And the deaf, even though they have ears.

“The beasts of the field will glorify Me,The jackals and the ostriches,Because I have given waters in the wildernessAnd rivers in the desert,To give drink to My chosen people.

“The people whom I formed for MyselfWill declare My praise.

“I was angry with My people,I profaned My heritageAnd gave them into your hand.You did not show mercy to them,On the aged you made your yoke very heavy.

Thus says the Lord,“In a favorable time I have answered You,And in a day of salvation I have helped You;And I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people,To restore the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages;

Shout for joy, O heavens! And rejoice, O earth!Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains!For the Lord has comforted His peopleAnd will have compassion on His afflicted.

“Pay attention to Me, O My people,And give ear to Me, O My nation;For a law will go forth from Me,And I will set My justice for a light of the peoples.

“Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,A people in whose heart is My law;Do not fear the reproach of man,Nor be dismayed at their revilings.

I have put My words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”

Thus says your Lord, the Lord, even your GodWho contends for His people,“Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of reeling,The chalice of My anger;You will never drink it again.

For thus says the Lord God, “My people went down at the first into Egypt to reside there; then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

Now therefore, what do I have here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that My people have been taken away without cause?” Again the Lord declares, “Those who rule over them howl, and My name is continually blasphemed all day long.

Therefore My people shall know My name; therefore in that day I am the one who is speaking, ‘Here I am.’”

Break forth, shout joyfully together,You waste places of Jerusalem;For the Lord has comforted His people,He has redeemed Jerusalem.

Just as many were astonished at you, My people,So His appearance was marred more than any manAnd His form more than the sons of men.

By oppression and judgment He was taken away;And as for His generation, who consideredThat He was cut off out of the land of the livingFor the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?

Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,“The Lord will surely separate me from His people.”Nor let the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.”

And it will be said,“Build up, build up, prepare the way,Remove every obstacle out of the way of My people.”

“Cry loudly, do not hold back;Raise your voice like a trumpet,And declare to My people their transgressionAnd to the house of Jacob their sins.

“Then all your people will be righteous;They will possess the land forever,The branch of My planting,The work of My hands,That I may be glorified.

Go through, go through the gates,Clear the way for the people;Build up, build up the highway,Remove the stones, lift up a standard over the peoples.

And they will call them, “The holy people,The redeemed of the Lord”;And you will be called, “Sought out, a city not forsaken.”

For He said, “Surely, they are My people,Sons who will not deal falsely.”So He became their Savior.

Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses.Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock?Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in the midst of them,

As the cattle which go down into the valley,The Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.So You led Your people,To make for Yourself a glorious name.

Your holy people possessed Your sanctuary for a little while,Our adversaries have trodden it down.

Do not be angry beyond measure, O Lord,Nor remember iniquity forever;Behold, look now, all of us are Your people.