'Nations' in the Bible

Now it will come to pass thatIn the last daysThe mountain of the house of the LordWill be [firmly] established as the highest of the mountains,And will be exalted above the hills;And all the nations will stream to it.

And He will judge between the nations,And will mediate [disputes] for many peoples;And they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.Nation will not lift up the sword against nation,And never again will they learn war.

But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish [for with judgment comes the promise of salvation]. In earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He will make them honored [by the presence of the Messiah], by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.

Yet it is not Assyria’s intention [to do My will],Nor does it plan so in its heart,But instead it is its purpose to destroyAnd to cut off many nations.

Then in that dayThe nations will make supplications to the Root of JesseWho will stand as a signal for the peoples;And His resting place will be glorious.

And He will lift up a signal for the nationsAnd assemble the outcasts of Israel,And will gather the dispersed of JudahFrom the four corners of the earth.

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

Which used to strike the peoples in anger with incessant blows,Which subdued and ruled the nations in wrath with unrelenting persecution.

“Sheol below is excited about you to meet you when you come [you tyrant of Babylon];It stirs up the spirits of the dead [to greet you], all the leaders of the earth;It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones [in astonishment at your fall].

“How you have fallen from heaven,O star of the morning [light-bringer], son of the dawn!You have been cut down to the ground,You who have weakened the nations [king of Babylon]!

“All the kings of the nations, all of them lie [dead] in glorious array,Each one in his own sepulcher.

This is the plan [of God] decided for the whole earth [regarded as conquered and put under tribute by Assyria]; and this is the hand [of God] that is stretched out over all the nations.

For the fields of Heshbon have languished and withered, and the vines of Sibmah as well;The lords of the nations have trampled down [Moab’s] choice vine branches,Which reached as far as Jazer and wandered into the wilderness;Its tendrils stretched out, they passed over [the shores of] the [Dead] Sea.

Oh, the uproar of many peoplesWho roar like the roaring of the seas,And the noise of nationsWho roar like the rumbling of mighty waters!

The nations roar on like the roaring of many waters,But God will rebuke them and they will flee far away,And be chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind,Or like whirling dust before the storm.

And they were on great waters.The grain of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile River, was Tyre’s revenue;And she was the market of nations.

Therefore a strong people will honor You;Cities of terrible and violent nations will fear You.

And on this mountain He will destroy the covering that is [cast] over all peoples,And the veil [of death] that is woven and spread over all the nations.

And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel (Jerusalem),Even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,Will be like a dream, a vision of the night.

It will be as when a hungry man dreamsThat he is eating,But when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied;Or as when a thirsty man dreamsThat he is drinking,But when he awakens, in fact, he is faintAnd his thirst is not quenched.So will the multitude of all the nations beWho fight against Mount Zion.

His breath is like an overflowing river,Which reaches to the neck,To sift the nations back and forth in a sieve [of disaster],And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin.

At the sound of the tumult, the peoples flee;At the lifting up of Yourself nations scatter.

Come near, you nations, to hear; and listen, O peoples!Let the earth and all that is in it hear, and the world and all that comes forth from it.

For the Lord is angry at all the nations,And His wrath is against all their armies;He has utterly doomed them,He has given them over to slaughter.

Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you by saying, “The Lord will rescue us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations [ever] rescued his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed rescue them—Gozan, Haran [of Mesopotamia], Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar?

It is true, O Lord, that the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the countries and their lands,

In fact, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales;Now look, He lifts up the islands like fine dust.

All the nations are as nothing before Him,They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.

“Who has stirred up and put into action one from the east [the king of Persia, Cyrus the Great]Whom He calls in righteousness to His service and whom victory meets at every step?The Lord turns nations over to himAnd subdues kings.He makes them like dust with his sword,Like wind-driven chaff with his bow.

“Who has performed and done this,Calling forth [and guiding the destinies of] the generations [of the nations] from the beginning?‘I, the Lord—the first, and with the last [existing before history began, the ever-present, unchanging God]—I am He.’”

“I have stirred up and put into action one from the north [the king of Persia, Cyrus the Great], and he has come;From the rising of the sun he will call on My Name [in prayer].And he will trample on [the Babylonian] officials as on mortar,Even as a potter treads clay.”

“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;My Chosen One in whom My soul delights.I have put My Spirit upon Him;He will bring forth justice to the nations.

“I am the Lord, I have called You (the Messiah) in righteousness [for a righteous purpose],I will also take You by the hand and keep watch over You,And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people [Israel],As a light to the nations (Gentiles),

All the nations have gathered togetherSo that the peoples may be assembled.Who among them (the idolaters) can predict this [that Judah would return from captivity]And proclaim to us the former events?Let them provide their witnesses so that they may be justified,Or let them hear and say [in acknowledgement], “It is the truth.”

This is what the Lord says to His anointed, to Cyrus [king of Persia],Whose right hand I have heldTo subdue nations before him,And I will ungird the loins of kings [disarming them];To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:

“Assemble yourselves and come;Come together, you survivors of the nations!They are ignorant,Who carry around their wooden idols [in religious processions or into battle]And keep on praying to a god that cannot save them.

He says, “It is too trivial a thing that You should be My ServantTo raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel;I will also make You a light to the nationsThat My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

This is what the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, Israel’s Holy One says,To the thoroughly despised One,To the One hated by the nationTo the Servant of rulers,“Kings will see and arise,Princes shall also bow down,Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”

This is what the Lord God says,“Listen carefully, I will lift up My hand to the [Gentile] nationsAnd set up My banner to the peoples;And they will bring your sons in the fold of their garments,And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.

The Lord has bared His holy arm (His infinite power)Before the eyes of all the nations [revealing Himself as the One by Whom Israel is redeemed from captivity],That all the ends of the earth may seeThe salvation of our God.

So He will sprinkle many nations [with His blood, providing salvation],Kings will shut their mouths because of Him;For what they had not been told they will see,And what they had not heard they will understand.

“For you will spread out to the right and to the left;And your descendants will take possession of nationsAnd will inhabit deserted cities.

“Listen carefully, I have appointed him [David, representing the Messiah] to be a witness to the nations [regarding salvation],A leader and commander to the peoples.

“In fact, you [Israel] will call a nation that you do not know,And a nation that does not know you will run to you,Because of the Lord your God, even the Holy One of Israel;For He has glorified you.”

All you beasts of the field,All you beasts (hostile nations) in the forest,Come to eat.

“Nations will come to your light,And kings to the brightness of your rising.

“Then you will see and be radiant,And your heart will tremble [with joy] and rejoiceBecause the abundant wealth of the seas will be brought to you,The wealth of the nations will come to you.

“Your gates will be open continually;They shall not be shut day or night,So that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations—With their kings led in procession.

“For the nation or the kingdom which will not serve you [Jerusalem] shall perish,And the nations [that refuse to serve] shall be utterly ruined.

“You will suck the milk of the [Gentile] nationsAnd suck the breast (abundance) of kings;Then you will recognize and know that I, the Lord, am your SaviorAnd your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

But you shall be called the priests of the Lord;People will speak of you as the ministers of our God.You will eat the wealth of nations,And you will boast of their riches.

Then their offspring will be known among the nations,And their descendants among the peoples.All who see them [in their prosperity] will recognize and acknowledge themThat they are the people whom the Lord has blessed.

For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,And as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,So the Lord God will [most certainly] cause righteousness and justice and praiseTo spring up before all the nations [through the power of His word].

The nations will see your righteousness and vindication [by God],And all kings [will see] your glory;And you will be called by a new nameWhich the mouth of the Lord will designate.

Like the cattle that go down into the valley [to find better pasture and rest],The Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.So You led Your people [O Lord]To make for Yourself a beautiful and glorious name [preparing the way for the acknowledgment of Your name by all nations].

As [sure as] fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—To make Your name known to Your adversaries,That the nations may tremble at Your presence!

For the Lord says this, “Behold, I extend peace to her (Jerusalem) like a river,And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;And you will be nursed, you will be carried on her hip and [playfully] rocked on her knees.

“For I know their works and their thoughts. The time is coming to gather all nations and languages, and they will come and see My glory.

I will set up a [miraculous] sign among them, and from them I will send survivors to the nations: Tarshish, Pul (Put), Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant islands and coastlands that have not heard of My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare and proclaim My glory among the nations.

Then they shall bring all your countrymen (children of Israel) from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord—on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels—to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord.