'Nations' in the Bible

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,And before you were born I consecrated you;I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

“See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms,To pluck up and to break down,To destroy and to overthrow,To build and to plant.”

At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of the Lord,’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord; nor will they walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart.

“Then I said,‘How I would set you among My sonsAnd give you a pleasant land,The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’And I said, ‘You shall call Me, My Father,And not turn away from following Me.’

And you will swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’In truth, in justice and in righteousness;Then the nations will bless themselves in Him,And in Him they will glory.”

“A lion has gone up from his thicket,And a destroyer of nations has set out;He has gone out from his placeTo make your land a waste.Your cities will be ruinsWithout inhabitant.

“Report it to the nations, now!Proclaim over Jerusalem,‘Besiegers come from a far country,And lift their voices against the cities of Judah.

“Therefore hear, O nations,And know, O congregation, what is among them.

I will scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them until I have annihilated them.”

Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and all those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart.”

Thus says the Lord,“Do not learn the way of the nations,And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavensAlthough the nations are terrified by them;

Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?Indeed it is Your due!For among all the wise men of the nationsAnd in all their kingdoms,There is none like You.

But the Lord is the true God;He is the living God and the everlasting King.At His wrath the earth quakes,And the nations cannot endure His indignation.

Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know YouAnd on the families that do not call Your name;For they have devoured Jacob;They have devoured him and consumed himAnd have laid waste his habitation.

Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain?Or can the heavens grant showers?Is it not You, O Lord our God?Therefore we hope in You,For You are the one who has done all these things.

O Lord, my strength and my stronghold,And my refuge in the day of distress,To You the nations will comeFrom the ends of the earth and say,“Our fathers have inherited nothing but falsehood,Futility and things of no profit.”

“Therefore thus says the Lord,‘Ask now among the nations,Who ever heard the like of this?The virgin of IsraelHas done a most appalling thing.

“Many nations will pass by this city; and they will say to one another, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this great city?’

behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them and make them a horror and a hissing, and an everlasting desolation.

This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.

(For many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.)’”

For thus the Lord, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it.

Then I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it:

‘A clamor has come to the end of the earth,Because the Lord has a controversy with the nations.He is entering into judgment with all flesh;As for the wicked, He has given them to the sword,’ declares the Lord.”

then I will make this house like Shiloh, and this city I will make a curse to all the nations of the earth.”’”

All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will make him their servant.

Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Even so will I break within two full years the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.’” Then the prophet Jeremiah went his way.

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they will serve him. And I have also given him the beasts of the field.”’”

I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’

I will pursue them with the sword, with famine and with pestilence; and I will make them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse and a horror and a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them,

‘For I am with you,’ declares the Lord, ‘to save you;For I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you,Only I will not destroy you completely.But I will chasten you justlyAnd will by no means leave you unpunished.’

For thus says the Lord,“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,And shout among the chief of the nations;Proclaim, give praise and say,‘O Lord, save Your people,The remnant of Israel.’

Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,And declare in the coastlands afar off,And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather himAnd keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”

It will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for them, and they will fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.’

“Take a scroll and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.

But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the entire remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations to which they had been driven away, in order to reside in the land of Judah—

provoking Me to anger with the works of your hands, burning sacrifices to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you are entering to reside, so that you might be cut off and become a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

That which came as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.

The nations have heard of your shame,And the earth is full of your cry of distress;For one warrior has stumbled over another,And both of them have fallen down together.

“O Jacob My servant, do not fear,” declares the Lord,“For I am with you.For I will make a full end of all the nationsWhere I have driven you,Yet I will not make a full end of you;But I will correct you properlyAnd by no means leave you unpunished.”

I have heard a message from the Lord,And an envoy is sent among the nations, saying,“Gather yourselves together and come against her,And rise up for battle!”

“For behold, I have made you small among the nations,Despised among men.

“Declare and proclaim among the nations.Proclaim it and lift up a standard.Do not conceal it but say,‘Babylon has been captured,Bel has been put to shame, Marduk has been shattered;Her images have been put to shame, her idols have been shattered.’

“For behold, I am going to arouse and bring up against BabylonA horde of great nations from the land of the north,And they will draw up their battle lines against her;From there she will be taken captive.Their arrows will be like an expert warriorWho does not return empty-handed.

Your mother will be greatly ashamed,She who gave you birth will be humiliated.Behold, she will be the least of the nations,A wilderness, a parched land and a desert.

“How the hammer of the whole earthHas been cut off and broken!How Babylon has becomeAn object of horror among the nations!

At the shout, “Babylon has been seized!” the earth is shaken, and an outcry is heard among the nations.

Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord,Intoxicating all the earth.The nations have drunk of her wine;Therefore the nations are going mad.

He says, “You are My war-club, My weapon of war;And with you I shatter nations,And with you I destroy kingdoms.

Lift up a signal in the land,Blow a trumpet among the nations!Consecrate the nations against her,Summon against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz;Appoint a marshal against her,Bring up the horses like bristly locusts.

Consecrate the nations against her,The kings of the Medes,Their governors and all their prefects,And every land of their dominion.

“How Sheshak has been captured,And the praise of the whole earth been seized!How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!

“I will punish Bel in Babylon,And I will make what he has swallowed come out of his mouth;And the nations will no longer stream to him.Even the wall of Babylon has fallen down!

Thus says the Lord of hosts,“The broad wall of Babylon will be completely razedAnd her high gates will be set on fire;So the peoples will toil for nothing,And the nations become exhausted only for fire.”