'People' in the Bible

“The ox [instinctively] knows its owner,And the donkey its master’s feeding trough,But Israel does not know [Me as Lord],My people do not understand.”

Ah, sinful nation,A people loaded down with wickedness [with sin, with injustice, with wrongdoing],Offspring of evildoers,Sons who behave corruptly!They have abandoned (rejected) the Lord,They have despised the Holy One of Israel [provoking Him to anger],They have turned away from Him.

Hear the word of the Lord [rulers of Jerusalem],You rulers of [another] Sodom,Listen to the law and instruction of our God,You people of [another] Gomorrah.

And many peoples shall come and say,“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,To the house (temple) of the God of Jacob;That He may teach us His waysAnd that we may walk in His paths.”For the law will go out from ZionAnd the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

Most certainly [Lord] You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob,Because they are filled with influences from the east,And they are soothsayers [who foretell] like the Philistines;Also they strike bargains with the children of foreigners (pagans).

And the people will be oppressed,Each one by another, and each one by his neighbor;The boy will be arrogant and insolent toward the elderAnd the vulgar (common) toward the honorable [person of rank].

He will protest on that day, saying,“I will not be a governor;For in my house there is neither bread nor clothing;You should not make me a judge and ruler of the people.”

O My people! Children are their oppressors,And women rule over them.O My people! Your leaders lead you astrayAnd confuse (destroy, swallow up) the direction of your paths.

The Lord rises to contend,And stands to judge the people.

The Lord enters into judgment with the elders of His people and their princes,“For it is you who have devoured the vineyard [with your oppression, you have robbed the people and ruined the country];The plunder of the poor is in your houses.

“What do you mean by crushing My peopleAnd grinding the face of the poor?”Declares the Lord God of hosts.

Now let me sing for my greatly Beloved [Lord]A song of my Beloved about His vineyard (His chosen people).My greatly Beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile slope (the promised land, Canaan).

“And now, says the Lord, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,Judge between Me and My vineyard (My people).

Therefore My people go into exile because they lack knowledge [of God];And their honorable men are famished,And their common people are parched with thirst.

Therefore the anger of the Lord has burned against His people,And He has stretched out His hand against them and has struck them down.And the mountains trembled, and their dead bodies lay like rubbish in the middle of the streets.In spite of all this God’s anger is not turned away,But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].

He will lift up a flag to [call] the distant nations [to bring His judgment on Judah],And will whistle for them from the ends of the earth;And indeed, they will come with great speed swiftly.

Then I said,“Woe is me! For I am ruined,Because I am a man of [ceremonially] unclean lips,And I live among a people of unclean lips;For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

And He said, “Go, and tell this people:‘Keep on listening, but do not understand;Keep on looking, but do not comprehend.’

“Make the heart of this people insensitive,Their ears dull,And their eyes dim,Otherwise they might see with their eyes,Hear with their ears,Understand with their hearts,And return and be healed.”

The Lord has removed [His] people far away,And there are many deserted places in the midst of the land.

“And though a tenth [of the people] remain in the land,It will again be subject to destruction [consumed and burned],Like a massive terebinth tree or like an oakWhose stump remains when it is chopped down.The holy seed [the elect remnant] is its stump [the substance of Israel].”

When the house of David (Judah) was told, “Aram is allied with Ephraim (Israel),” the hearts of Ahaz and his people trembled as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind.

For the head (capital) of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is [King] Rezin (now within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces and will no longer be a people).

The Lord will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim (the ten northern tribes) separated from Judah—[He will call for] the king of Assyria.”

In that day [when foreign armies swarm the land] the Lord will shave with a razor, hired from the regions beyond the Euphrates (that is, with the king of Assyria), [that razor will shave] the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard [leaving Judah stripped, shamed and scorned].

So I approached [my wife] the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz [to remind the people of the prophecy];

“Because these people (Judah) have refused the gently flowing waters of ShiloahAnd rejoice in Rezin [the king of Aram] and Remaliah’s son [Pekah the king of Israel],

For in this way the Lord spoke to me with His strong hand [upon me] and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people [behaving as they do], saying,

“You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy,And you are not to fear what they fear nor be in dread of it.

When the people [instead of trusting God] say to you, “Consult the mediums [who try to talk to the dead] and the soothsayers who chirp and whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?

[Direct those people] to the law and to the testimony! If their teachings are not in accord with this word, it is because they have no dawn.

The people who walk in [spiritual] darknessWill see a great Light;Those who live in the dark land,The Light will shine on them.

And all the people know it,That is, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria [its capital],Who say in pride and arrogance of heart:

Yet the people do not turn back [in repentance] to Him who struck them,Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts [as their most essential need].

For those who lead this people are causing them to go astray;And those who are led [astray] by them are swallowed up.

By the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land is burned up,And the people are like fuel for the fire;No man spares his brother.

So as to deprive the needy of justiceAnd rob the poor of My people of rightful claims,So that widows may be their spoilAnd that they may plunder the fatherless.

I send Assyria against a godless nationAnd commission it against the people of My wrathTo take the spoil and to seize the plunder,And to trample them down like mud in the streets.

“My hand has found the wealth of the people like a nest,And as one gathers eggs that are abandoned, so I have gathered all the earth;And there was not one that flapped its wing, or that opened its beak and chirped.”

Therefore, the Lord God of hosts says this, “O My people who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian who strikes you with a rod and lifts up his staff against you, as [the king of] Egypt did.

Then it will happen on that day that the LordWill again acquire with His hand a second timeThe remnant of His people, who will remain,From Assyria, from [Lower] Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush (Ethiopia), from Elam [in Persia], from Shinar [Babylonia], from Hamath [in Aram],And from the coastlands bordering the [Mediterranean] Sea.

Ephraim and Judah will [unite and] swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines toward the west;Together they will plunder the sons (Arabs) of the east.They will possess Edom and Moab,And the sons of Ammon will be subject to them.

And there will be a highway from AssyriaFor the remnant of His people who will be left,Just as there was for IsraelIn the day when they came up out of the land of Egypt.

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

And like the hunted gazelle,Or like sheep that no man gathers,Each [foreign resident] will turn [and go back] to his own people,And each one flee to his own land.

“You will not be united with them in burial,Because you have destroyed your land,You have slain your people.May the descendants of evildoers never be named!

to break the Assyrian in My land, and on My mountains I will trample him underfoot. Then the Assyrian’s yoke will be removed from them (the people of Judah) and his burden removed from their shoulder.

“Then what answer will one give the messengers of the [Philistine] nation?That the Lord has founded Zion,And the afflicted of His people will seek and find refuge in it.”

But now the Lord speaks, saying, “Within three years, as the years of a hired man [who will not serve longer than the agreed time], the glory of Moab will be degraded along with all the great population, and the remnant [that survives] will be very small and of no account.”

Which sends ambassadors by the sea,Even in vessels of papyrus on the surface of the waters.Go, swift messengers, to a nation [of people] tall and smooth (clean shaven),To a people feared far and wide,A powerful and oppressive nationWhose land the rivers divide.

At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hostsFrom a people tall and smooth (clean shaven),From a people feared far and wide,A powerful and oppressive nation,Whose land the rivers divide—To the place [of worship] of the name of the Lord of hosts, to Mount Zion [in Jerusalem].

whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My heritage.”

O my threshed people [Judah, who must be judged and trampled down by Babylon], my afflicted of the threshing floor.What I have heard from the Lord of hosts,The God of Israel, I have [joyfully] announced to you [that Babylon is to fall].

Therefore I say, “Look away from me;Let me weep bitterly.Do not try to comfort me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

Now look at the land of the Chaldeans (Babylonia)—this is the people which was not; the Assyrians allocated Tyre for desert creatures—they set up their siege towers, they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin.

And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor [as God’s impartial judgment of sin comes on all].

The earth dries up and crumbles away, the world dries out and crumbles away, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away.

Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live on it suffer the punishment of their guilt. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned [under the curse of God’s wrath], and few people are left.

From the ends of the earth we hear songs, “Glory and honor to the Righteous One,”But I say, “I waste away, I waste away. Woe to me!The treacherous deal treacherously,Indeed, the treacherous deal very treacherously.”

Therefore a strong people will honor You;Cities of terrible and violent nations will fear You.

He will swallow up death [and abolish it] for all time.And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,And He will take away the disgrace of His people from all the earth;For the Lord has spoken.

Though Your hand is lifted up [to strike], O Lord, the wicked do not see it.Let them see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame;Indeed, let the fire reserved for Your enemies consume them.

Come, my people, enter your chambersAnd shut your doors behind you;Hide for a little whileUntil the [Lord’s] wrath is past.

When its branches are dry, they are broken off;The women come and make a fire with them.For they are not a people of understanding,Therefore He who made them will not have compassion on them,And He who created them will not be gracious to them.

In that day the Lord of hosts will become a magnificent crownAnd a glorious diadem to the [converted] remnant of His people,

Indeed, the Lord will teach this people [in a more humiliating way]By [men with] stammering lips and a foreign tongue,

Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, you arrogant menWho rule this people who are in Jerusalem!

Then the Lord said,“Because this nation approaches [Me only] with their wordsAnd honors Me [only] with their lip service,But they remove their hearts far from Me,And their reverence for Me is a tradition that is learned by rote [without any regard for its meaning],

Therefore, listen carefully, I will again do marvelous and amazing things with this people, wonderful and astonishing things;And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,And the understanding of their discerning men will be hidden.”

“All will be ashamed because of a people (the Egyptians) who cannot benefit them,Who are not a help or benefit, but a shame and also a disgrace.”

A [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning the beasts of the Negev (the South):Through a land of trouble and anguish,From where come lioness and lion, viper and [fiery] flying serpent,They carry their riches on the shoulders of young donkeysAnd their treasures on the humps of camels,To a people (Egyptians) who cannot benefit them.

For this is a rebellious people, lying sons,Sons who refuse to listen toThe law and instruction of the Lord;

O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will most certainly be gracious to you at the sound of your cry for help; when He hears it, He will answer you.

The light of the full moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days [concentrated in one], in the day the Lord binds up the fracture of His people and heals the wound He has inflicted [because of their sins].

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

For the land of my people growing over with thorns and briars—Yes, [mourn] for all the houses of joy in the joyous city.

Then my people will live in a peaceful surrounding,And in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places.

“The peoples will be burned to lime,Like thorns cut down which are burned in the fire.

You will no longer see the fierce and insolent people,A people of unintelligible speech which no one comprehends,Of a strange and stammering tongue which no one understands.

And no inhabitant [of Zion] will say, “I am sick”;The people who dwell there will be forgiven their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing].

For My sword is satiated [with blood] in heaven;Indeed, it will come down for judgment on EdomAnd on the people whom I have doomed for destruction.

Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please, speak to your servants in Aramaic, because we understand it; and do not speak to us in Judean (Hebrew) in the hearing of the people who are [stationed] on the wall.”

It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh [the commander], whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to taunt and defy the living God, and will avenge the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the remnant [of His people] that is left.’”

“Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.

The grass withers, the flower fades,When the breath of the Lord blows upon it;Most certainly [all] the people are [like] grass.

“Listen to Me in silence, you islands and coastlands,And let the nations gain their strength;Let them come near, then let them speak;Let us come together for judgment [and decide the issue between us concerning the enemy from the east].

This is what God the Lord says,He who created the heavens and stretched them out,Who spread out the earth and its produce,Who gives breath to the people on itAnd spirit to those who walk on it,

“I am the Lord, I have called You (the Messiah) in righteousness [for a righteous purpose],I will also take You by the hand and keep watch over You,And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people [Israel],As a light to the nations (Gentiles),

But this is a people despoiled and plundered;All of them are trapped in holes,Or are hidden away in prisons.They have become a prey with no one to rescue them,And a spoil, with no one to say, “Give them back!”

Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes,And the deaf, even though they have ears.

“The beasts of the field will honor Me,Jackals and ostriches,Because I have given waters in the wildernessAnd rivers in the desert,To give drink to My people, My chosen.

“The people whom I formed for MyselfWill make known My praise.

‘Who is like Me? Let him proclaim it and declare it;Yes, let him confront Me,Since I established the people of antiquity.And let them [those supposed gods] tell those people [who foolishly follow them] the things to comeAnd the events that are going to take place.

“I was angry with My people,I profaned [Judah] My inheritanceAnd gave them into your hand [Babylon].You showed them no mercy;You made your yoke very heavy on the aged.

“For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it [I refrain and do not completely destroy you];For how can My Name be defiled and profaned [as it would if My chosen people were completely destroyed]?And I will not give My glory to another [by permitting the worshipers of idols to triumph over you].

This is what the Lord says,“In a favorable time I have answered You,And in a day of salvation I have helped You;And I will keep watch over You and give You for a covenant of the people,To restore the land [from its present state of ruin] and to apportion and give as inheritances the deserted hereditary lands,

Shout for joy, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth,And break forth into singing, O mountains!For the Lord has comforted His peopleAnd will have compassion on His afflicted.

But Zion (Jerusalem in captivity) said, “The Lord has abandoned me,And my Lord has forgotten me.”

“Listen carefully to Me [says the Lord], O My people,And hear Me, O My nation;For a [divine] law will go forth from Me,And I will quickly establish My justice as a light to the peoples.

“Listen to Me, you who know righteousness (right standing with God),The people in whose heart is My law and instruction;Do not fear the reproach and taunting of man,Nor be distressed at their reviling.