'People' in the Bible

What is going to happen to us? Our brothers have drained away our courage by describing people who are more numerous and taller than we are, and great cities whose defenses appear to be as high as heaven itself! Moreover, they said they saw Anakites there."

Instruct these people as follows: 'You are about to cross the border of your relatives the descendants of Esau, who inhabit Seir. They will be afraid of you, so watch yourselves carefully.

(The Emites used to live there, a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakites.

These people, as well as the Anakites, are also considered Rephaites; the Moabites call them Emites.

They are a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakites. But the Lord destroyed the Rephaites in advance of the Ammonites, so they dispossessed them and settled down in their place.

This very day I will begin to fill all the people of the earth with dread and to terrify them when they hear about you. They will shiver and shake in anticipation of your approach."

Commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, because he will lead these people over and will enable them to inherit the land you will see."

So be sure to do them, because this will testify of your wise understanding to the people who will learn of all these statutes and say, "Indeed, this great nation is a very wise people."

You stood before the Lord your God at Horeb and he said to me, "Assemble the people before me so that I can tell them my commands. Then they will learn to revere me all the days they live in the land, and they will instruct their children."

When you look up to the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars -- the whole heavenly creation -- you must not be seduced to worship and serve them, for the Lord your God has assigned them to all the people of the world.

You, however, the Lord has selected and brought from Egypt, that iron-smelting furnace, to be his special people as you are today.

Have a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the middle of fire, as you yourselves have, and lived to tell about it?

Then Moses called all the people of Israel together and said to them: "Listen, Israel, to the statutes and ordinances that I am about to deliver to you today; learn them and be careful to keep them!

When the Lord heard you speaking to me, he said to me, "I have heard what these people have said to you -- they have spoken well.

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. He has chosen you to be his people, prized above all others on the face of the earth.

You must destroy all the people whom the Lord your God is about to deliver over to you; you must not pity them or worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

the great judgments you saw, the signs and wonders, the strength and power by which he brought you out -- thus the Lord your God will do to all the people you fear.

Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan so you can dispossess the nations there, people greater and stronger than you who live in large cities with extremely high fortifications.

They include the Anakites, a numerous and tall people whom you know about and of whom it is said, "Who is able to resist the Anakites?"

Understand, therefore, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is about to give you this good land as a possession, for you are a stubborn people!

And he said to me, "Get up, go down at once from here because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have sinned! They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them and have made for themselves a cast metal image."

Moreover, he said to me, "I have taken note of these people; they are a stubborn lot!

I prayed to him: O, Lord God, do not destroy your people, your valued property that you have powerfully redeemed, whom you brought out of Egypt by your strength.

Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; ignore the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of these people.

Otherwise the people of the land from which you brought us will say, "The Lord was unable to bring them to the land he promised them, and because of his hatred for them he has brought them out to kill them in the desert."

They are your people, your valued property, whom you brought out with great strength and power.

Then he said to me, "Get up, set out leading the people so they may go and possess the land I promised to give to their ancestors."

the gods of the surrounding people (whether near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other).

some evil people have departed from among you to entice the inhabitants of their cities, saying, "Let's go and serve other gods" (whom you have not known before).

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. He has chosen you to be his people, prized above all others on the face of the earth.

You may not eat any corpse, though you may give it to the resident foreigner who is living in your villages and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. You are a people holy to the Lord your God. Do not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

There will never cease to be some poor people in the land; therefore, I am commanding you to make sure you open your hand to your fellow Israelites who are needy and poor in your land.

You must appoint judges and civil servants for each tribe in all your villages that the Lord your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly.

The witnesses must be first to begin the execution, and then all the people are to join in afterward. In this way you will purge evil from among you.

Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and not be so presumptuous again.

Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself or allow the people to return to Egypt to do so, for the Lord has said you must never again return that way.

This shall be the priests' fair allotment from the people who offer sacrifices, whether bull or sheep -- they must give to the priest the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach.

The rest of the people will hear and become afraid to keep doing such evil among you.

If it accepts your terms and submits to you, all the people found in it will become your slaves.

Do not blame your people Israel whom you redeemed, O Lord, and do not hold them accountable for the bloodshed of an innocent person." Then atonement will be made for the bloodshed.

If controversy arises between people, they should go to court for judgment. When the judges hear the case, they shall exonerate the innocent but condemn the guilty.

Then you must affirm before the Lord your God, "A wandering Aramean was my ancestor, and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number, but there he became a great, powerful, and numerous people.

Look down from your holy dwelling place in heaven and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us, just as you promised our ancestors -- a land flowing with milk and honey."

And today the Lord has declared you to be his special people (as he already promised you) so you may keep all his commandments.

Then he will elevate you above all the nations he has made and you will receive praise, fame, and honor. You will be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he has said.

Then Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: "Pay attention to all the commandments I am giving you today.

Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel: "Be quiet and pay attention, Israel. Today you have become the people of the Lord your God.

Moreover, Moses commanded the people that day:

"The following tribes must stand to bless the people on Mount Gerizim when you cross the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.

Cursed is the one who makes a carved or metal image -- something abhorrent to the Lord, the work of the craftsman -- and sets it up in a secret place.' Then all the people will say, 'Amen!'

Cursed is the one who disrespects his father and mother.' Then all the people will say, 'Amen!'

Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor's boundary marker.' Then all the people will say, 'Amen!'

Cursed is the one who misleads a blind person on the road.' Then all the people will say, 'Amen!'

Cursed is the one who perverts justice for the resident foreigner, the orphan, and the widow.' Then all the people will say, 'Amen!'

Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his father's former wife, for he dishonors his father.' Then all the people will say, 'Amen!'

Cursed is the one who commits bestiality.' Then all the people will say, 'Amen!'

Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his sister, the daughter of either his father or mother.' Then all the people will say, 'Amen!'

Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his mother-in-law.' Then all the people will say, 'Amen!'

Cursed is the one who kills his neighbor in private.' Then all the people will say, 'Amen!'

Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.' Then all the people will say, 'Amen!'

Cursed is the one who refuses to keep the words of this law.' Then all the people will say, 'Amen!'

The Lord will designate you as his holy people just as he promised you, if you keep his commandments and obey him.

Your sons and daughters will be given to another people while you look on in vain all day, and you will be powerless to do anything about it.

As for the produce of your land and all your labor, a people you do not know will consume it, and you will be nothing but oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives.

The Lord will force you and your king whom you will appoint over you to go away to a people whom you and your ancestors have not known, and you will serve other gods of wood and stone there.

These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.

Today he will affirm that you are his people and that he is your God, just as he promised you and as he swore by oath to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Then people will say, "Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

Then Moses called out to Joshua in the presence of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you will accompany these people to the land that the Lord promised to give their ancestors, and you will enable them to inherit it.

Gather the people -- men, women, and children, as well as the resident foreigners in your villages -- so they may hear and thus learn about and fear the Lord your God and carefully obey all the words of this law.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "You are about to die, and then these people will begin to prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land into which they are going. They will reject me and break my covenant that I have made with them.

His people have been unfaithful to him; they have not acted like his children -- this is their sin. They are a perverse and deceitful generation.

Is this how you repay the Lord, you foolish, unwise people? Is he not your father, your creator? He has made you and established you.

For the Lord's allotment is his people, Jacob is his special possession.

They have made me jealous with false gods, enraging me with their worthless gods; so I will make them jealous with a people they do not recognize, with a nation slow to learn I will enrage them.

The sword will make people childless outside, and terror will do so inside; they will destroy both the young man and the virgin, the infant and the gray-haired man.

"I said, 'I want to cut them in pieces. I want to make people forget they ever existed.

The Lord will judge his people, and will change his plans concerning his servants; when he sees that their power has disappeared, and that no one is left, whether confined or set free.

Cry out, O nations, with his people, for he will avenge his servants' blood; he will take vengeance against his enemies, and make atonement for his land and people.

Then Moses went with Joshua son of Nun and recited all the words of this song to the people.

Surely he loves the people; all your holy ones are in your power. And they sit at your feet, each receiving your words.

The Lord was king over Jeshurun, when the leaders of the people assembled, the tribes of Israel together.

May Reuben live and not die, and may his people multiply.

And this is the blessing to Judah. He said, Listen, O Lord, to Judah's voice, and bring him to his people. May his power be great, and may you help him against his foes.

He has selected the best part for himself, for the portion of the ruler is set aside there; he came with the leaders of the people, he obeyed the righteous laws of the Lord and his ordinances with Israel.

You have joy, Israel! Who is like you? You are a people delivered by the Lord, your protective shield and your exalted sword. May your enemies cringe before you; may you trample on their backs.