'People' in the Bible

"My servant Moses [is] dead. Get up and cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I [am] giving to them, to the {Israelites}.

Be strong and courageous, for you will give the people this land as an inheritance that I swore to their ancestors to give them.

Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,

"Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people: 'Prepare your provisions; {in} three days you [are to] cross the Jordan to go possess the land that Yahweh your God [is] giving you to possess.'"

and they commanded the people: "When you see the Levitical priests carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God you must set out from your place and go after it.

And Joshua said to the people, "Sanctify yourselves, because tomorrow Yahweh will do wonders in your midst."

And Joshua said to the priests, "Take up the ark of the covenant and cross [over] {ahead of the people}." And they took up the ark of the covenant and went {ahead of the people}.

And it happened, when the people set out from their tents to cross [over] the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant were {ahead of the people}.

the waters flowing down from above stood [still]; they stood up [in] one heap very far from Adam, the city that [is] beside Zarethan, while [the waters] flowing down to the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, {were completely cut off}; and the people crossed [over] opposite Jericho.

"Take twelve men from the people, {one man from each tribe},

The priests carrying the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything that Yahweh commanded Joshua to tell the people was finished, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua. And the people hastily crossed [over].

And it happened, when all the people had finished crossing, the ark of Yahweh and the priests crossed [over] in front of the people.

And the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth [day] of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho.

This [is] the reason why Joshua circumcised all the people: all the males who went out from Egypt, all the warriors, died in the wilderness as they went out from Egypt {on the journey}.

For all the people who left were circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness {on the journey} [after] they left from Egypt were not circumcised.

And when they blow long on the horn of the ram, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people will shout [with] a great war cry, and the wall of the city will fall flat, and {the people will charge, each one straight ahead}."

And he said to the people, "Go forward and march around the city, and let the armed [men] pass before the ark of Yahweh.

{And when Joshua spoke} to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the presence of Yahweh went forward and they blew the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of Yahweh followed behind them.

But Joshua commanded the people, saying, "You will not shout, and you will not let your voice be heard; a word will not go out from your mouth until the day I say to you 'Shout!' Then you will shout."

And at the seventh time the priests blew on the trumpets, and Joshua said to the people, "Shout! For Yahweh has given you the city.

So the people shouted, and they blew on the trumpets. And when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, they raised a great shout, and the wall fell flat. {The people charged, each one straight ahead into the city}, and they captured it.

And they returned to Joshua and said to him, "Do not let all the people go up and attack Ai; [only] two or three thousand men should go up because they [are] few. Do not make all the people weary [up] there."

So about three thousand from the people went up there, and they fled before the men of Ai.

The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them, and they chased them from the gate up to Shebarim and killed them on the slope. And the hearts of the people melted and became like water.

And Joshua said, "Ah, my Lord! Why did you bring this people across the Jordan to give us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content and stayed beyond the Jordan.

Get up, sanctify the people, and say, 'Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow. Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: "[There are] devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You will be unable to stand before you enemies until you remove the devoted things from your midst."

Then I and all of the people who [are] with me will approach the city. And when they go out to meet us {as before}, we will flee from them.

So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the [place of the] ambush, and they sat between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai; but Joshua spent the night {with the people}.

Joshua rose early in the morning and mustered the people, and he went up [with] the elders of Israel before the people of Ai.

All of the people who [were] in the city were called to pursue after them. As they pursued after Joshua, they were drawn away from the city.

Then the men of Ai looked behind them, and they saw smoke from the city rising to the sky; {they had no power to flee this way or that}, and the people fleeing the wilderness turned around to the pursuers.

All the people that fell on that day, both men and women, [were] twelve thousand--all the inhabitants of Ai.

Then all Israel, {foreigner as well as native}, with the elders, officials, and judges stood {on either side} of the ark before the priests and the Levites, who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh. Half of them [stood] in front of Mount Gerizim, and the other half in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses Yahweh's servant had commanded before to bless the people of Israel.

and all the people returned to the camp safely to Joshua [at] Makkedah. {No one spoke} against the {Israelites}.

And Yahweh also gave it into the hand of Israel, and its king and all the people in it he struck with {the edge of the sword}. He left in it no survivor. He did to its king just as he did to the king of Jericho.

Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish, and Joshua struck him and his people until he left no survivor behind.

And they captured it on that day, and he struck it with {the edge of the sword}, and all the people that [were] in it on that day he utterly destroyed as he had done to Lachish.

and captured it, and they struck it with {the edge of the sword}, its king and all its cities, and all the people that [were] in it; he left behind no survivor, as he had done to Eglon, and he utterly destroyed it and all the people that [were] in it.

and he captured it and its king and all its cities, and they struck them with {the the edge of the sword}, and they utterly destroyed all the people that [were] in it; he left behind no survivor, just as he had done to Hebron. Thus he did to Debir and its king what he had done to Libnah and its king.

He struck all the people that [were] in it with {the edge of the sword}, utterly destroying them. {There was no one left who breathed}, and he burned Hazor with fire.

And all the spoil and livestock of these cities the {Israelites} took as booty; they struck the people with {the edge of the sword}, until they had destroyed them--they left behind no one who breathed.

My companions who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt, but I remained true to Yahweh my God.

The descendants of Joseph spoke with Joshua, saying, "Why have you given us one allotment and one share [as] an inheritance? We are many people, which Yahweh has blessed."

And Joshua said to them, "If you [are] many people, go up to the forest and clear [a place] there for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is [too] narrow for you."

And Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, "You are many people and have great power; you will not have one allotment [only];

And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: '{Long ago} your ancestors--Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor--lived beyond the river, and they served other gods.

And the people answered and said, "Far be it from us that we would forsake Yahweh to serve other gods,

And Yahweh drove out all the people before us, the Amorites who live [in] the land. We will serve Yahweh, for he [is] our God."

But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve Yahweh, for he [is] a holy and jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.

And the people said to Joshua, "No, we will serve Yahweh."

And Joshua said to the people, "You [are] witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves to serve Yahweh." And they said, "[We are] witnesses."

And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to his voice."

So Joshua {made a covenant} with the people on that day, and he established for them a statute and a judgment at Shechem.

And Joshua said to all the people, "Look, this stone will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of Yahweh that he spoke with us. It will be as a witness against you, so that you do not deny your God."

Then Joshua sent the people away to their inheritance.