'Nations' in the Bible

Now it will come about thatIn the last daysThe mountain of the house of the LordWill be established as the chief of the mountains,And will be raised above the hills;And all the nations will stream to it.

And He will judge between the nations,And will render decisions for many peoples;And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.Nation will not lift up sword against nation,And never again will they learn war.

Yet it does not so intend,Nor does it plan so in its heart,But rather it is its purpose to destroyAnd to cut off many nations.

Then in that dayThe nations will resort to the root of Jesse,Who will stand as a signal for the peoples;And His resting place will be glorious.

And He will lift up a standard for the nationsAnd assemble the banished ones of Israel,And will gather the dispersed of JudahFrom the four corners of the earth.

A sound of tumult on the mountains,Like that of many people!A sound of the uproar of kingdoms,Of nations gathered together!The Lord of hosts is mustering the army for battle.

Which used to strike the peoples in fury with unceasing strokes,Which subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained persecution.

“Sheol from beneath is excited over you to meet you when you come;It arouses for you the spirits of the dead, all the leaders of the earth;It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones.

“How you have fallen from heaven,O star of the morning, son of the dawn!You have been cut down to the earth,You who have weakened the nations!

“All the kings of the nations lie in glory,Each in his own tomb.

This is the plan devised against the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations.

For the fields of Heshbon have withered, the vines of Sibmah as well;The lords of the nations have trampled down its choice clustersWhich reached as far as Jazer and wandered to the deserts;Its tendrils spread themselves out and passed over the sea.

Alas, the uproar of many peoplesWho roar like the roaring of the seas,And the rumbling of nationsWho rush on like the rumbling of mighty waters!

The nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters,But He will rebuke them and they will flee far away,And be chased like chaff in the mountains before the wind,Or like whirling dust before a gale.

And were on many waters.The grain of the Nile, the harvest of the River was her revenue;And she was the market of nations.

Therefore a strong people will glorify You;Cities of ruthless nations will revere You.

And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples,Even the veil which is stretched over all nations.

And the multitude of all the nations who wage war against Ariel,Even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,Will be like a dream, a vision of the night.

It will be as when a hungry man dreams—And behold, he is eating;But when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied,Or as when a thirsty man dreams—And behold, he is drinking,But when he awakens, behold, he is faintAnd his thirst is not quenched.Thus the multitude of all the nations will beWho wage war against Mount Zion.

His breath is like an overflowing torrent,Which reaches to the neck,To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve,And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin.

At the sound of the tumult peoples flee;At the lifting up of Yourself nations disperse.

Draw near, O nations, to hear; and listen, O peoples!Let the earth and all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it.

For the Lord’s indignation is against all the nations,And His wrath against all their armies;He has utterly destroyed them,He has given them over to slaughter.

Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

Did the gods of those nations which my fathers have destroyed deliver them, even Gozan and Haran and Rezeph and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar?

Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales;Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust.

All the nations are as nothing before Him,They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.

“Who has aroused one from the eastWhom He calls in righteousness to His feet?He delivers up nations before himAnd subdues kings.He makes them like dust with his sword,As the wind-driven chaff with his bow.

“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;My chosen one in whom My soul delights.I have put My Spirit upon Him;He will bring forth justice to the nations.

“I am the Lord, I have called You in righteousness,I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You,And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people,As a light to the nations,

All the nations have gathered togetherSo that the peoples may be assembled.Who among them can declare thisAnd proclaim to us the former things?Let them present their witnesses that they may be justified,Or let them hear and say, “It is true.”

Thus says the Lord to Cyrus His anointed,Whom I have taken by the right hand,To subdue nations before himAnd to loose the loins of kings;To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:

“Gather yourselves and come;Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations;They have no knowledge,Who carry about their wooden idolAnd pray to a god who cannot save.

He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My ServantTo raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel;I will also make You a light of the nationsSo that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Thus says the Lord God,“Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nationsAnd set up My standard to the peoples;And they will bring your sons in their bosom,And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.

The Lord has bared His holy armIn the sight of all the nations,That all the ends of the earth may seeThe salvation of our God.

Thus He will sprinkle many nations,Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him;For what had not been told them they will see,And what they had not heard they will understand.

“For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left.And your descendants will possess nationsAnd will resettle the desolate cities.

“Nations will come to your light,And kings to the brightness of your rising.

“Then you will see and be radiant,And your heart will thrill and rejoice;Because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you,The wealth of the nations will come to you.

“Your gates will be open continually;They will not be closed day or night,So that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations,With their kings led in procession.

“For the nation and the kingdom which will not serve you will perish,And the nations will be utterly ruined.

“You will also suck the milk of nationsAnd suck the breast of kings;Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your SaviorAnd your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

But you will be called the priests of the Lord;You will be spoken of as ministers of our God.You will eat the wealth of nations,And in their riches you will boast.

Then their offspring will be known among the nations,And their descendants in the midst of the peoples.All who see them will recognize themBecause they are the offspring whom the Lord has blessed.

For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up,So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praiseTo spring up before all the nations.

The nations will see your righteousness,And all kings your glory;And you will be called by a new nameWhich the mouth of the Lord will designate.

As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—To make Your name known to Your adversaries,That the nations may tremble at Your presence!

For thus says the Lord, “Behold, I extend peace to her like a river,And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;And you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees.

“For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory.

I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations.

Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord.