'Nations' in the Bible

King David also dedicated these to the Lord, along with the silver and gold he had carried off from all the nations—from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and the Amalekites.

He said:Yahweh, the God of our ancestors, are You not the God who is in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand, and no one can stand against You.

He burned incense in the Valley of Hinnom and burned his children in the fire, imitating the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.

Who among all the gods of these nations that my predecessors completely destroyed was able to deliver his people from my power, that your God should be able to do the same for you?

Many were bringing an offering to the Lord to Jerusalem and valuable gifts to King Hezekiah of Judah, and he was exalted in the eyes of all the nations after that.

He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, imitating the detestable practices of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.

So Manasseh caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to stray so that they did worse evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.

All the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, imitating all the detestable practices of the nations, and they defiled the Lord’s temple that He had consecrated in Jerusalem.

There were 150 Jews and officials, as well as guests from the surrounding nations at my table.

In it was written:It is reported among the nations—and Geshem agrees—that you and the Jews plan to rebel. This is the reason you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king

When all our enemies heard this, all the surrounding nations were intimidated and lost their confidence, for they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God.

Didn’t King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations. He was loved by his God and God made him king over all Israel, yet foreign women drew him into sin.

He makes nations great, then destroys them;He enlarges nations, then leads them away.

But when God is silent, who can declare Him guilty?When He hides His face, who can see Him?Yet He watches over both individuals and nations,

Do not long for the nightwhen nations will disappear from their places.

For He judges the nations with these;He gives food in abundance.

Why do the nations rebeland the peoples plot in vain?

Ask of Me,and I will make the nations Your inheritanceand the ends of the earth Your possession.

You have rebuked the nations:You have destroyed the wicked;You have erased their name forever and ever.

The nations have fallen into the pit they made;their foot is caught in the net they have concealed.

The wicked will return to Sheol—all the nations that forget God.

Rise up, Lord! Do not let man prevail;let the nations be judged in Your presence.

Put terror in them, Lord;let the nations know they are only men.Selah

The Lord is King forever and ever;the nations will perish from His land.

You have freed me from the feuds among the people;You have appointed me the head of nations;a people I had not known serve me.

Therefore I will praise You, Yahweh, among the nations;I will sing about Your name.

All the ends of the earth will rememberand turn to the Lord.All the families of the nationswill bow down before You,

for kingship belongs to the Lord;He rules over the nations.

The Lord frustrates the counsel of the nations;He thwarts the plans of the peoples.

to plant them,You drove out the nations with Your hand;to settle them,You crushed the peoples.

You hand us over to be eaten like sheepand scatter us among the nations.

You make us a joke among the nations,a laughingstock among the peoples.

Nations rage, kingdoms topple;the earth melts when He lifts His voice.

“Stop your fighting—and know that I am God,exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.”

He subdues peoples under usand nations under our feet.

God reigns over the nations;God is seated on His holy throne.

Will they escape in spite of such sin?God, bring down the nations in wrath.

I will praise You, Lord, among the peoples;I will sing praises to You among the nations.

Lord God of Hosts, You are the God of Israel,rise up to punish all the nations;do not show grace to any wicked traitors.Selah

But You laugh at them, Lord;You ridicule all the nations.

You silence the roar of the seas,the roar of their waves,and the tumult of the nations.

He rules forever by His might;He keeps His eye on the nations.The rebellious should not exalt themselves.Selah

so that Your way may be known on earth,Your salvation among all nations.

Let the nations rejoice and shout for joy,for You judge the peoples with fairnessand lead the nations on earth.Selah

Let all kings bow down to him,all nations serve him.

May his name endure forever;as long as the sun shines,may his fame increase.May all nations be blessed by himand call him blessed.

He drove out nations before them.He apportioned their inheritance by lotand settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

A psalm of Asaph.God, the nations have invaded Your inheritance,desecrated Your holy temple,and turned Jerusalem into ruins.

Pour out Your wrath on the nationsthat don’t acknowledge You,on the kingdoms that don’t call on Your name,

Why should the nations ask,“Where is their God?”Before our eyes,let vengeance for the shed blood of Your servantsbe known among the nations.

You uprooted a vine from Egypt;You drove out the nations and planted it.

Rise up, God, judge the earth,for all the nations belong to You.

All the nations You have madewill come and bow down before You, Lord,and will honor Your name.

The One who instructs nations,the One who teaches man knowledge—does He not discipline?

Declare His glory among the nations,His wonderful works among all peoples.

Say among the nations: “The Lord reigns.The world is firmly established; it cannot be shaken.He judges the peoples fairly.”

The Lord has made His victory known;He has revealed His righteousnessin the sight of the nations.

Then the nations will fear the name of Yahweh,and all the kings of the earth Your glory,

He gave them the lands of the nations,and they inheritedwhat other peoples had worked for.

and would disperse their descendantsamong the nations,scattering them throughout the lands.

but mingled with the nationsand adopted their ways.

He handed them over to the nations;those who hated them ruled them.

Save us, Yahweh our God,and gather us from the nations,so that we may give thanks to Your holy nameand rejoice in Your praise.

I will praise You, Lord, among the peoples;I will sing praises to You among the nations.

He will judge the nations, heaping up corpses;He will crush leaders over the entire world.

He has shown His people the power of His worksby giving them the inheritance of the nations.

Yahweh is exalted above all the nations,His glory above the heavens.

Why should the nations say,“Where is their God?”

Praise the Lord, all nations!Glorify Him, all peoples!

All the nations surrounded me;in the name of Yahweh I destroyed them.

Our mouths were filled with laughter then,and our tongues with shouts of joy.Then they said among the nations,“The Lord has done great things for them.”

He struck down many nationsand slaughtered mighty kings:

The idols of the nations are of silver and gold,made by human hands.

inflicting vengeance on the nationsand punishment on the peoples,

In the last daysthe mountain of the Lord’s house will be establishedat the top of the mountainsand will be raised above the hills.All nations will stream to it,

He will settle disputes among the nationsand provide arbitration for many peoples.They will turn their swords into plowsand their spears into pruning knives.Nations will not take up the sword against other nations,and they will never again train for war.

He raises a signal flag for the distant nationsand whistles for them from the ends of the earth.Look—how quickly and swiftly they come!

Nevertheless, the gloom of the distressed land will not be like that of the former times when He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the future He will bring honor to the Way of the Sea, to the land east of the Jordan, and to Galilee of the nations.

But this is not what he intends;this is not what he plans.It is his intent to destroyand to cut off many nations.

For he said:I have done this by my own strengthand wisdom, for I am clever.I abolished the borders of nationsand plundered their treasures;like a mighty warrior, I subjugated the inhabitants.

My hand has reached out, as if into a nest,to seize the wealth of the nations.Like one gathering abandoned eggs,I gathered the whole earth.No wing fluttered;no beak opened or chirped.

On that day the root of Jessewill stand as a banner for the peoples.The nations will seek Him,and His resting place will be glorious.

He will lift up a banner for the nationsand gather the dispersed of Israel;He will collect the scattered of Judahfrom the four corners of the earth.

Listen, a tumult on the mountains,like that of a mighty people!Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,like nations being gathered together!The Lord of Hosts is mobilizing an army for war.

The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland. Then the house of Israel will possess them as male and female slaves in the Lord’s land. They will make captives of their captors and will rule over their oppressors.

It struck the peoples in angerwith unceasing blows.It subdued the nations in ragewith relentless persecution.

Sheol below is eager to greet your coming.He stirs up the spirits of the departed for you—all the rulers of the earth.He makes all the kings of the nationsrise from their thrones.

Shining morning star,how you have fallen from the heavens!You destroyer of nations,you have been cut down to the ground.

All the kings of the nationslie in splendor, each in his own tomb.

This is the plan preparedfor the whole earth,and this is the hand stretched outagainst all the nations.

For Heshbon’s terraced vineyardsand the grapevines of Sibmah have withered.The rulers of the nationshave trampled its choice vinesthat reached as far as Jazerand spread to the desert.Their shoots spread outand reached the Dead Sea.

Ah! The roar of many peoples—they roar like the roaring of the seas.The raging of the nations—they rage like the raging of mighty waters.

The nations rage like the raging of many waters.He rebukes them, and they flee far away,driven before the wind like chaff on the hillsand like tumbleweeds before a gale.

on many waters.Tyre’s revenue was the grain from Shihor—the harvest of the Nile.She was the merchant among the nations.

For this is how it will be on earthamong the nations:like a harvested olive tree,like a gleaning after a grape harvest.

On this mountainHe will destroy the burial shroud,the shroud over all the peoples,the sheet covering all the nations;

All the many nationsgoing out to battle against Ariel—all the attackers, the siege works against her,and those who oppress her—will then be like a dream, a vision in the night.

It will be like a hungry one who dreams he is eating,then wakes and is still hungry;and like a thirsty one who dreams he is drinking,then wakes and is still thirsty, longing for water.So it will be for all the many nationswho go to battle against Mount Zion.

His breath is like an overflowing torrentthat rises to the neck.He comes to sift the nations in a sieve of destructionand to put a bridle on the jaws of the peoplesto lead them astray.

The peoples flee at the thunderous noise;the nations scatter when You rise in Your majesty.