'Nation' in the Bible

Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand?

May God who makes his name to reside there overthrow any king or nation who reaches out to cause such change so as to destroy this temple of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have given orders. Let them be carried out with precision!"

At the dedication offering of the Temple of God, they presented 100 bulls, 200 rams, and 400 lambs, along with a sin offering of twelve male goats for the entire nation of Israel according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

And Haman said to King Ahasuerus, There is a certain nation living here and there in small groups among the people in all the divisions of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of any other nation, and they do not keep the king's laws: for this reason it is not right for the king to let them be.

For how is it possible for me to see the evil which is to overtake my nation? how may I see the destruction of my people?

For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and in favor with his many kinsmen, one who sought the good of his people and one who spoke for the welfare of his whole nation.

When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only:

Deliver your people! Empower the nation that belongs to you! Care for them like a shepherd and carry them in your arms at all times!

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.

Remember your people whom you acquired in ancient times, whom you rescued so they could be your very own nation, as well as Mount Zion, where you dwell!

Remember how the enemy hurls insults, O Lord, and how a foolish nation blasphemes your name!

He delivered his people over to the sword, and was angry with his chosen nation.

He took him away from following the mother sheep, and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people, and of Israel, his chosen nation.

They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.

O Lord, they crush your people; they oppress the nation that belongs to you.

Certainly the Lord does not forsake his people; he does not abandon the nation that belongs to him.

When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people;

That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.

When Israel left Egypt, when the family of Jacob left a foreign nation behind,

He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.

A nation falls through a lack of guidance, but victory comes through the counsel of many.

Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.

Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

He will also lift up a standard to the distant nation,And will whistle for it from the ends of the earth;And behold, it will come with speed swiftly.

For Syria's leader is Damascus, and the leader of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will no longer exist as a nation.

Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

The leaders of this nation were misleading people, and the people being led were destroyed.

So the sovereign master was not pleased with their young men, he took no pity on their orphans and widows; for the whole nation was godless and did wicked things, every mouth was speaking disgraceful words. Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again.

I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

"How you have fallen from heaven, Day Star, son of the Dawn! How you have been thrown down to earth, you who laid low the nation!

What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.

That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.

So a strong nation will extol you; the towns of powerful nations will fear you.

Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.

Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.

In that day [it will be said of the redeemed nation of Israel],“A vineyard of wine, sing in praise of it!

But he will speak to this nation with stammering lips and in another language;

For when he sees his children,the work of My hands within his nation,they will honor My name,they will honor the Holy One of Jacoband stand in awe of the God of Israel.

all will be put to shame because of a nation that cannot help them, who cannot give them aid or help, but only shame and disgrace."

An oracle about the animals of the Negev: "Through a land of trouble, dryness, and distress, of lionesses and roaring lions, where there is no water, a land of vipers and darting snakes, he carries their riches on donkeys' backs, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a nation that cannot benefit them,

Yet he too is wise and he will bring disaster; he does not retract his decree. He will attack the wicked nation, and the nation that helps those who commit sin.

Be careful not to let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, "The LORD will save us." Has any god of any nation ever delivered his country from the king of Assyria?

“I have declared [the future] and saved [the nation] and proclaimed [that I am God],And there was no strange (alien) god among you;Therefore you are My witnesses [among the pagans],” declares the Lord,“That I am God.

The father of your nation sinned; your spokesmen rebelled against me.

‘Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it;Yes, let him recount it to Me in order,From the time that I established the ancient nation.And let them declare to them the things that are comingAnd the events that are going to take place.

“In fact, they are like stubble;Fire burns them.They cannot save themselves from the power of the flame [much less save the nation],There is no blazing coal for warmingNor fire before which to sit!

“Oh, that you had paid attention to My commandments!Then your peace and prosperity would have been like a [flowing] river,And your righteousness [the holiness and purity of the nation] like the [abundant] waves of the sea.

Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.

Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.

Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.

For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.

A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time.

For a short time your special nation possessed a land, but then our adversaries knocked down your holy sanctuary.

I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.

Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.

Now listen to what the Lord has to say, you descendants of Jacob, all you family groups from the nation of Israel.

Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.

‘Return, O faithless children [of the twelve tribes],’ says the Lord,‘For I am a master and husband to you,And I will take you [not as a nation, but individually]—one from a city and two from a [tribal] family—And I will bring you to Zion.’

At that time the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel will be reunited. Together they will come back from a land in the north to the land that I gave to your ancestors as a permanent possession. "

But, you have been unfaithful to me, nation of Israel, like an unfaithful wife who has left her husband," says the Lord.

“But the shameful act [of idolatry] has consumed the labor of our fathers since our youth—their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.

Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth.

But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.

So, mourn, you people of this nation. Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a song of mourning on the hilltops. For the Lord has decided to reject and forsake this generation that has provoked his wrath!'"

And death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant of those who remain of this evil family (nation), who remain in all the places to which I have driven them,” says the Lord of hosts.

Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

“Woe to me because of my [spiritual] brokenness!” [says Jeremiah, speaking for the nation.]“My wound is incurable.”But I said, “Surely this sickness and suffering and grief are mine,And I must bear it.”

They have gone back to the evil ways of their ancestors of old who refused to obey what I told them. They, too, have paid allegiance to other gods and worshiped them. Both the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah have violated the covenant I made with their ancestors.

"I will abandon my nation. I will forsake the people I call my own. I will turn my beloved people over to the power of their enemies.

But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD.

For,' I say, 'just as shorts cling tightly to a person's body, so I bound the whole nation of Israel and the whole nation of Judah tightly to me.' I intended for them to be my special people and to bring me fame, honor, and praise. But they would not obey me.

Then I said, "Lord, have you completely rejected the nation of Judah? Do you despise the city of Zion? Why have you struck us with such force that we are beyond recovery? We hope for peace, but nothing good has come of it. We hope for a time of relief from our troubles, but experience terror.

Are there [any] among the idols of the nation [who] cause rain to pour? Or can the heavens give showers? [Is] it not you, Yahweh our God? Therefore, we hope in you, for you do all these [things].

"I, the Lord, say: 'O nation of Israel, can I not deal with you as this potter deals with the clay? In my hands, you, O nation of Israel, are just like the clay in this potter's hand.'

At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;

If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.

And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;

But if that nation does evil in my eyes by not obeying me, I'll change my mind about the good that I said I would bring on it.

Tell them the Lord who rules over all says, 'I will do just as Jeremiah has done. I will smash this nation and this city as though it were a potter's vessel which is broken beyond repair. The dead will be buried here in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.'

But at that time they will affirm them with "I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the descendants of the former nation of Israel from the land of the north and from all the other lands where he had banished them." At that time they will live in their own land.'"

And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.

For many nations and great kings will make slaves of the king of Babylon and his nation too. I will repay them for all they have done!'"

Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.

The Lord is like a lion who has left his lair. So their lands will certainly be laid waste by the warfare of the oppressive nation and by the fierce anger of the Lord."

All nations must serve him and his son and grandson until the time comes for his own nation to fall. Then many nations and great kings will in turn subjugate Babylon.

And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.

But as for the nation that will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave it in its own land, and that nation will cultivate it and reside in it.” This is the Lord’s declaration.

Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

‘After I turned away [from You], I repented;After I was instructed, I struck my thigh [in remorse];I was ashamed and even humiliatedBecause I carried the disgrace of my youth [as a nation].’

"But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land," says the Lord. "I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people.

If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.

For I, the Lord, promise: "David will never lack a successor to occupy the throne over the nation of Israel.

Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.