17 Bible Verses about Refugees

And Abram saith unto Sarai, 'Lo, thine handmaid is in thine hand, do to her that which is good in thine eyes;' and Sarai afflicted her, and she fleeth from her presence. And a messenger of Jehovah findeth her by the fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur, and he saith, 'Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, whence hast thou come, and whither dost thou go?' and she saith, 'From the presence of Sarai, my mistress, I am fleeing.'

And Israel journeyeth, and all that he hath, and cometh in to Beer-Sheba, and sacrificeth sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac;

And the sons of Israel journey from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, apart from infants; and a great rabble also hath gone up with them, and flock and herd -- very much cattle. And they bake with the dough which they have brought out from Egypt unleavened cakes, for it hath not fermented; for they have been cast out of Egypt, and have not been able to delay, and also provision they have not made for themselves.

And it cometh to pass, in the days of the judging of the judges, that there is a famine in the land, and there goeth a man from Beth-Lehem-Judah to sojourn in the fields of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.

And on their having withdrawn, lo, a messenger of the Lord doth appear in a dream to Joseph, saying, 'Having risen, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and be thou there till I may speak to thee, for Herod is about to seek the child to destroy him.' And he, having risen, took the child and his mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt, and he was there till the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled that was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, 'Out of Egypt I did call My Son.'

and having found a certain Jew, by name Aquilas, of Pontus by birth, lately come from Italy, and Priscilla his wife -- because of Claudius having directed all the Jews to depart out of Rome -- he came to them,

'Thou dost not shut up a servant unto his lord, who is delivered unto thee from his lord; with thee he doth dwell, in thy midst, in the place which he chooseth within one of thy gates, where it is pleasing to him; thou dost not oppress him.

for I did hunger, and ye gave me to eat; I did thirst, and ye gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and ye received me;

And the cities which ye give to the Levites are the six cities of refuge, which ye give for the fleeing thither of the man-slayer, and besides them ye give forty and two cities;

And Jehovah speaketh unto Joshua, saying, 'Speak unto the sons of Israel, saying, Give for you cities of refuge, as I have spoken unto you by the hand of Moses, for the fleeing thither of a man-slayer smiting life inadvertently, without knowledge; and they have been to you for a refuge from the redeemer of blood.read more.
When one hath fled unto one of these cities, and hath stood at the opening of the gate of the city, and hath spoken in the ears of the elders of that city his matter, then they have gathered him into the city unto them, and have given to him a place, and he hath dwelt with them. 'And when the redeemer of blood doth pursue after him, then they do not shut up the man-slayer into his hand, for without knowledge he hath smitten his neighbour, and is not hating him hitherto; and he hath dwelt in that city till his standing before the company for judgment, till the death of the chief priest who is in those days -- then doth the man-slayer turn back and hath come unto his city, and unto his house, unto the city whence he fled.'

A habitation is the eternal God, And beneath are arms age-during. And He casteth out from thy presence the enemy, and saith, 'Destroy!'

My God is my rock -- I take refuge in Him; My shield, and the horn of my salvation, My high tower, and my refuge! My Saviour, from violence Thou savest me!

And Jehovah is a tower for the bruised, A tower for times of adversity.

And I -- I sing of Thy strength, And I sing at morn of Thy kindness, For thou hast been a tower to me, And a refuge for me in a day of adversity.

For Thou hast been a stronghold for the poor, A stronghold for the needy in his distress, A refuge from storm, a shadow from heat, When the spirit of the terrible is as a storm -- a wall.

O Jehovah, my strength, and my fortress, And my refuge in a day of adversity, Unto Thee nations do come from the ends of earth, And say, Only falsehood did our fathers inherit, Vanity, and none among them is profitable.

Good is Jehovah for a strong place in a day of distress. And He knoweth those trusting in Him.