'People' in the Bible

Now, O Yahweh God, let your word to David my father be fulfilled, for you yourself have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.

Now, give to me wisdom and knowledge that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can judge this, your great people?"

Then God said to Solomon, "Because this was with your heart and you did not ask for wealth, possessions, honor, and the lives of your enemies, and also did not ask for {long life}, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge that you might judge my people over whom I have made you king,

Then Huram king of Tyre answered in a letter, and he sent [word] to Solomon: "Because Yahweh loves his people, he has made you king over them."

And he appointed from them seventy thousand {to bear burdens}, eighty thousand {to quarry} in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred overseers to make the people work.

'From the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt I did not choose a city among all the tribes of Israel to build a house in order for my name [to be] there. Nor did I choose a man to be leader over my people Israel.

But I have chosen my name to be there in Jerusalem, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.'

And listen to the pleas of your servant and your people Israel when they pray toward this place, that you yourself might hear from the place of your dwelling, from the heavens, that you might hear and forgive.

"And if your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against you and they repent and confess your name and pray and plead before you in this house,

then may you yourself hear from the heavens and forgive the sin of your people Israel and again bring them back to the land that you gave to them and to their ancestors.

then may you yourself hear from the heavens and forgive the sin of your servants and your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and give rain upon your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance.

[then] any prayer, any plea that is [made] by any person and by all your people Israel, each one who knows his own affliction and his own anguish and [who] spreads out his hands to this house,

"And also, with respect to the foreigner, he who [is] not of your people Israel, but comes from a distant land, for the sake of your great name and your powerful hand and outstretched arm, when he comes and prays to this house,

then may you yourself hear from the heavens, from your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner asks of you, so that all peoples of earth will know of your name and fear you, as [do] your people Israel, and that they may know that your name {possesses} this house that I have built.

"When your people go out to battle against their enemy according to the way that you have sent them, and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name,

then may you hear their prayer and their pleas from the heavens, from your dwelling place, and uphold their case and forgive your people who sinned against you.

Then the king and all the people were offering a sacrifice before Yahweh.

And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

And on the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents rejoicing and festive of heart on account of the goodness that Yahweh had done for David, Solomon, and Israel his people.

When I hold back the heavens so that there is not rain, and when I command the locust to devour the earth, and if I send disease among my people,

[then if] my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and will pray and will seek my face and will turn from their evil ways, then I myself shall hear from the heavens and will forgive their sins and heal their land.

All the people who remained from the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites who were not from Israel,

And these [were] the commanders of the garrisons that belonged to King Solomon, two hundred and fifty who exercised authority over the people.

And he said to them, "In three days return to me again." And the people went away.

Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the elders who had been {serving} before Solomon his father when he was alive, saying, "What word do you advise to answer this people?"

And they said to him, "If you will be good to this people and please them, then speak good words to them. Then they will be your servants {forever}."

And he said to them, "What do you advise that we should say in return to this people, who said to me, 'Lighten the yoke that your father has put upon us'?"

Then the young men who had grown up with him said to him, "Thus you should say to this people who have said to you, 'Your father made our yoke heavy, so you yourself should lighten [it] for us.' Thus you should say to them, 'My little finger [is] thicker than the loins of my father.

Then Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had spoken, saying, "Return to me on the third day."

So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turning [of events] from God, so that Yahweh might fulfill his word that he had spoken by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

So all Israel [saw] that the king would not listen to them, and the people answered the king, saying, "What portion [is there] for us in David? [We have] no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Each to your tents, O Israel! Now look to your own house, David!" And all Israel went to their own tents.

with one thousand two hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen. And there was no number to the people who came up with him from Egypt--Libyans, Sukkites, and Cushites.

And Abijah and his people struck a great blow against them, and the dead from Israel [that] fell [were] five hundred thousand chosen men.

And the {Israelites} were subdued at that time, and the people of Judah were victorious, for they relied upon Yahweh the God of their ancestors.

Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in {the prison}, for he was enraged with him concerning this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.

And they taught in Judah, and the scroll of the law of Yahweh [was] with them when they went around in all the cities of Judah, and they taught the people.

And {after some years} he went down to Ahab in Samaria. And Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cattle for him and for the people who [were] with him, and urged him to go up against Ramoth-Gilead.

And Ahab the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, "Will you go up with me to Ramoth-Gilead?" And he answered him, "I [am] as you [are], and my people [are] as your people with you in war."

And Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem and returned and went out among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and brought them back to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.

O, our God, did you yourself not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it to the descendants of Abraham your friend forever?

And now, look, the people of Moab and Ammon and Mount Seir whom you did not allow Israel to come against when they came from Egypt, from whom they turned aside and did not destroy,

And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed singers to Yahweh [who were] giving praise to the splendor of [his] holiness when they went out before the army. And they said, "Give thanks to Yahweh, for his loyal love [is] everlasting!"

And {when} they began with singing and praise, Yahweh set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who were coming against Judah. And they were defeated

when the people of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to destroy and demolish [them]. And when the inhabitants of Seir had made an end of them, each helped to destroy his comrade.

When Jehoshaphat came with his people to plunder their booty, they found among them in abundance possessions, corpses, and precious items. And they took plunder for themselves {until they could carry no more}. And they were three days in plundering the booty, for it [was] abundant.

Only the high places were not removed. The people still had not yet set their heart on the God of their ancestors.

behold, Yahweh is inflicting a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions,

And it happened [that] {after many days, at the end of two years}, his bowels came out because of his illness, and he died in terrible agony. And his people did not make a fire for him like the fire for his ancestors.

and one third at the house of the king, and one third at the Gate of the Foundation. And all the people [shall be] in the courtyards of the house of Yahweh.

Let no one enter into the house of Yahweh except the priests and the ministering Levites. They themselves may enter, for they [are] holy, but all the people shall keep the requirements of Yahweh.

And he appointed all the people, each [with] his weapon in his hand from the south side of the house to the north side of the house around the altar and the house.

When Athaliah heard the sound of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people [at] the house of Yahweh.

And she looked and, behold, the king was standing by his column at the entrance, and the commanders and trumpeters beside the king, along with all the people of the land, rejoicing and blowing with trumpets, and the singers with the instruments of song leading the praise. And Athaliah tore her garments and cried, "Conspiracy! Conspiracy!"

And Jehoiada {made} a covenant between himself and all the people and the king, that they should be Yahweh's people.

Then all the people went to the house of Baal and broke it down. And they smashed his altars and his images, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.

And he took the commanders of hundreds, the noblemen, the governors over the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of Yahweh. And they came through the upper gate [to] the house of the king, and they set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.

So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet [after] Athaliah had been killed with the sword.

And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and they brought [their tax] and threw [it] into the chest until [it was] finished.

Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people and said to them, "Thus says God: 'Why are you transgressing the commandments of Yahweh so that you will not succeed? For you have forsaken Yahweh, so he will forsake you.'"

And it happened at the turn of the year [that] the army of Aram went up against him, and they came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the commanders of the people from among the people, and all the war booty they sent to the king of Damascus.

So {Yahweh became very angry} with Amaziah and sent a prophet to him, and he said to him, "Why have you sought the gods of the people who could not deliver their own people from your hand?"

Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah (now he [was] sixteen years old) and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah.

So King Uzziah was leprous until the day of his death, and he lived in a separate house as a leper, for he was cut off from the house of Yahweh. And Jotham his son [was] over the house of the king, judging the people of the land.

And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that his father Uzziah had done--only he did not go into the temple of Yahweh. But the people still acted corruptly.

So now, you yourselves plan to subdue people of Judah and Jerusalem as slaves and female servants for yourselves. {Is there not also guilt on your part} against Yahweh your God?

And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had established with the people, for the matter happened suddenly.

but they were not able to make it at that time, for the priests had not consecrated themselves {in sufficient numbers}, and the people had not been assembled in Jerusalem--

So many people gathered in Jerusalem to hold the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month; [it was] a very great assembly.

For a majority of the people, many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves. But they ate the Passover sacrifice {otherwise than prescribed}, but Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, "May the good Yahweh make atonement unto

And Yahweh listened to Hezekiah, and he healed the people.

Then the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to his holy dwelling place in the heavens.

Then he said to the people, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to give a gift for the priests and the Levites, so that they might be strong in the law of Yahweh.

Then the people of Israel and Judah who were living in the cities of Judah, they also brought a tithe of cattle and sheep and a tithe of consecrated objects to Yahweh their God. And they gave heaps [upon] heaps.

When Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed Yahweh and his people Israel.

And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, saying, "Since the offerings began to be brought to the house of Yahweh, [we have] eaten and been satisfied, and have much to spare, for Yahweh has blessed his people. Now [see] this abundant remainder!"

Then many people were gathered, and they blocked off all the springs and the river that flowed through the midst of the land, saying, "Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?"

And he appointed commanders for battle over the people and gathered them to himself into the public square of the gate of the city. And he spoke to their hearts, saying,

With him [is] the arm of flesh, and with us [is] Yahweh our God, to help us and to fight our battles." And the people took confidence with the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah.

Who among all the gods of those nations whom my ancestors utterly destroyed was able to save his people from my hand, that your God will be able to save you from my hand?

So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you. Do not let him urge you according to this. Do not put trust in him, for no god of any nation and kingdom has been able to save his people from my hand and from the hand of my ancestors. Surely then your God will not save you from my hand!'"

And he wrote letters to treat Yahweh the God of Israel with contempt and spoke against him, saying, "As the gods of the nations of the earth who did not save their people from my hand, so likewise the God of Hezekiah will not save his people from my hand."

Then they called with a great voice in Judean to the people of Jerusalem who [were] upon the wall to frighten them and terrify them, so that they could take the city captive.

And Yahweh spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they would not listen.

Nevertheless, the people offered at the high places, but only to Yahweh their God.

But the people of the land struck down all who conspired against King Amon. And the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.

And the king went up to the house of Yahweh with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with the priests and the Levites--all the people from great to small--and they read in their ears all the words of the scroll of the covenant that was found in the house of Yahweh.

And he said to the Levites who [were] teaching all Israel, who were sanctified to Yahweh, "Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. There is no [need] to carry it on [your] shoulders. Now serve Yahweh your God and his people Israel.

And stand in the sanctuary according to the clans of {your families} for your brothers, the {lay people}, and a part of the {family} of the Levites.

Then Josiah provided for the {lay people} sheep, lambs, and young goats, all for the Passover for all who were found [there], to the sum of thirty thousand, along with three thousand bulls. These [were] the possession of the king.

And his officials contributed a freewill offering to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, commanders of the house of God, gave to the priests two thousand six hundred Passover [lambs] and three hundred bulls.

And they set aside the burnt offerings to give them to the clans of the {families} for the {lay people}, to offer to Yahweh according to what is written in the scroll of Moses. And thus they did with the bulls.

Then they roasted the Passover [lamb] in the fire according to the ordinance. And they boiled the holy offerings in pots, in kettles, and in dishes and brought it quickly to the {lay people}.

And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and made him king in place of his father in Jerusalem.

All the leaders of the priests and the people likewise increased in unfaithfulness according to all the detestable things of the nations. And they polluted the house of Yahweh that he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

And Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, had repeatedly and persistently sent to them by the hand of his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.

But they were mocking the messengers of God and despising his words and scoffing at his prophets until the wrath of Yahweh rose against his people until there was no remedy.

"Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: 'Yahweh the God of heaven has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has appointed me to build a house for him at Jerusalem, which [is] in Judah. Whoever [is] among you from all his people, may Yahweh his God go up with him.'"