'People' in the Bible

For you are sent to the house of Israel, not to a people {of obscure speech} and {of a difficult language},

And come, go to the exiles, to the children of your people, and you must speak to them, and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh!' whether they listen or whether they fail [to listen]."

And I will give it into the hand of strangers as plunder and to the wicked people of the earth as spoil, and they will defile it.

The king will mourn, and [the] prince will be dressed with despair, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. According to their way I will do to them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, and they will know that I [am] Yahweh.'"

And [the] Spirit lifted me up, and it brought me to the eastern gate, the one facing east, of the temple of Yahweh. And look, there were twenty-five men in the doorway of the gate, and I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur in the midst of them, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, the commanders of the people.

so that they may walk in my statutes, and they will keep my regulations, and they will do them, and they will be to me a people, and I myself will be to them as God.

And you must say to the people of the land, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the inhabitants of Jerusalem about the land of Israel: "They will eat their food with anxiety and their water they will drink with horror, because their land will be desolate from its fullness because of all the violence of {those who are dwelling in it}.

"Son of man, what [is] this proverb {you people have} about the land of Israel, {saying}, '{The days are prolonged}, and every vision has come to nothing.'

"And it will be my hand against the prophets who [are] seeing falseness and who [are] practicing lying divination. They will not be in the council of my people, and they will not be written [down] in the record [book] of the house of Israel, and into the land of Israel they will not come, and [then] you will know that I [am] the Lord Yahweh.

Because, yes, because they led my people astray, {saying} 'Peace!' And [there is] not peace. And [when] anyone builds a flimsy wall, look, they coat it [with] whitewash.

And I will fully vent my rage against the wall and against those covering it [with] whitewash, and I will say to you, "{The wall is no more}, and {the people covering it are no more},

"And you, son of man, place your face toward the daughters of your people who prophesy from their {imagination}, and prophesy against them!

And you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Woe to {those who sew} magic charm bands on all the wrists of the hands of my [people] and {those who make the veils} [that are] on the head of [people of] every height, to ensnare [people's] lives! Will you ensnare [the] lives of my people {and keep yourselves alive}?

And you defiled me among my people for a handful of barley and for morsels of bread to kill persons who should not die and to keep alive persons who should not live by [means of] your lies to my people [who are] listening to [your] lies." '

And I will tear off your veils, and I will deliver my people from your hand, and they will not any longer be in your hand as prey, and you will know that I [am] Yahweh.

Therefore falseness you will not see, and divination you will not practice any longer, and I will rescue my people from your hand, and you will know that I [am] Yahweh!'"

And I will set my face against that person, and I will make him to [be] a sign and [make him] into [the subject of] proverbs; and I will cut him off from the midst of my people, and you will know I [am] Yahweh.

And the prophet, if he is deceived and he speaks a word, I Yahweh, I have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him, and I will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

so that the house of Israel will not go astray again {from me}, and they will not make themselves unclean again with all of their transgressions, and they will be for me a people, and I will be for them as God," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

Say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Will it prosper? Will he not tear out its roots, and will he not make its fruit scaly, and it will wither, and all of the freshness of its vegetation will dry up? And to lift it from its roots {will not require great strength or many people}.

Because his father {oppressed severely}; {he stole from his brother}; [that] which [is] not good he did in the midst of his people, and look! He will die through his guilt.

Cry and wail, son of man, for it is against my people; it is against all of the princes of Israel. They are thrown to [the] sword with my people; therefore {strike your thigh}.

The [people] near and the [people] far from you will make fun of you, {the unclean and the terrified}.

The conspiracy of its prophets in the midst of her [is] like a roaring lion [that] is tearing prey. They devour people, and they take wealth and treasure; they make its widows numerous in the midst of her.

Its officials [are] like wolves tearing prey in its midst, to pour out blood, to destroy people, to make dishonest gain.

They severely oppress the people of the land, and {they committed robbery}, and they mistreated [the] needy and [the] poor, and they oppressed the alien {without} justice.

And I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening, and I did in the morning {just as} I was commanded.

And the people said to me, "Will you not make known to us what these [things] that you are doing [mean] for us?"

therefore look! I [am] giving you to the people of the East as a possession, and they will set up their encampments in you, and they will make in you their dwelling places; {they themselves} will eat your fruit and {they themselves} will drink your milk.

I will give it to the people of the East in addition to the {Ammonites} as a possession, so that the {Ammonites} will not be remembered among the nations.

And I will exact my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they will do in Edom according to my anger and according to my rage, and they will know my vengeance," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

For thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I [am] bringing to Tyre Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, from [the] north, [the] king of kings, with horse and with chariot and with horsemen and [his] assembly and many people.

With the hooves of his horses he will trample all of your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and {your strong stone pillars} will tumble down to the earth.

Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Tyre, "Will not the coastlands shake from the sound of your downfall, at [the] groaning of the wounded, {at people being killed} in the midst of you?

And I will bring you down with [those who are] going down to the grave, {an ancient people}, and I will cause you to dwell in the world of [the] depths, in the ruins from of old with [those who are] going down to [the] grave, so that you will not be inhabited and {have a place} in [the] land of [the] living.

The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvan were your rowers; your {skilled men}, O Tyre, were {from your own people}, [and] they [were] your seamen.

The people of Arvan and Helech [were] on your walls all around, and Gammadites were in your towers. They hung their quivers on your walls all around; they perfected your beauty.

Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were your traders; {in exchange for people} and an object of bronze they gave [you] your wares.

The people of Dedan [were] trading [with] you, many coastlands [composed] the region of your {influence}; they brought back horns of ivory and ebony [as] your payment.

Cush and Put and Lud and all of Arabia and Kub and the people of the land of the treaty with them--by the sword they will fall."

He and his people with him, [the most] ruthless of nations, [will] be brought to destroy the land. And they will draw their swords against Egypt, and they will fill the land [with] [the] slain,

and I will make the Nile streams dry land, and I will sell the land into [the] hand of bad [people], and I will lay waste [the] land and its fullness by [the] hand of strangers. I, Yahweh, I have spoken."

[This occurred] so that all of [the] trees [with abundant] water will not become tall, and they will not set their treetop between [their] thick foliage, and [so that]{all of the trees that are abundantly watered} {will not stand up to them} in their tallness, for all of them, they have been given [over] to death, to [the] world below in the midst of {mortals}, to [the people] going down to the grave."

From the sound of its downfall I caused nations to shake when I made it go down to Sheol, with [the people] going down to [the] grave, and [so] in [the] world below all of the trees of Eden, [the] choice and the best of Lebanon, {all the well-watered trees} were comforted!

"Son of man, mourn over the hordes of Egypt, and make her go down, [and] with her [the] daughters of mighty nations, {down to the deep underworld} with [the people] going down to [the] grave.

In the midst of [the] people slain by [the] sword it is given they will fall [to] a sword; they carried her off and all of her hordes.

Elam [is] there and all of its hordes, all around its grave, all of them dead who fell by the sword, [those] who went down uncircumcised to [the] depths of [the] underworld, [those] who spread their terror to [the] land of [the] living, and [now] they bear their disgrace with [the people] going down [to the] grave.

In the midst of [the] slain they made a bed for her with all of her hordes all around its graves, all of them uncircumcised, slain by [the] sword, for their terror was spread in [the] land of [the] living, and they [now] bear their disgrace with [the people] going down to [the] grave; in the midst of [the] slain it was placed.

And you [too] in the midst of uncircumcised [people] will be broken, and you will lie with [those] slain by [the] sword.

There [is] Edom, its kings and all of its leaders who are laid [along] with their might with [those] killed by [the] sword; they will lie with [the] uncircumcised and with [the people] going down to the grave.

There are [also] the princes of [the] north, all of them, all of [the] Sidonians who have gone down, being ashamed [to lie] with [the] slain because of their terror [that they caused] from their might, and they lie uncircumcised with [those killed] by [the] sword, and they bear their disgrace [along with] [the people] going down to [the] grave.

"Son of man, speak to {your people}, and you must say to them, 'A land, if I bring over it a sword and the people of the land take a man, one from their number, and they appoint him for them as a watchman,

and he sees the sword coming against the land, and he blows on the horn and he warns the people,

And [as for] the watchman, if he sees the sword coming and {he does not blow} the horn, and the people [are] not warned, and [the] sword comes and it takes {their lives}, he will be taken through his guilt, but his blood from the hand of the watchman I will seek.'

"So you, son of man, say to {your people} [that] the righteousness of the righteous shall not save him in the day of his transgression, and the wickedness of the wicked {will not cause him to stumble} on the day of his returning from his wickedness; and [the] righteous will not be able to live by it on the day when he returns to his sin.

"Yet {your people} say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair!' [yet] their way is not fair.

"And you, son of man, {your people}, the ones talking together concerning you beside the walls and in the doorways of the houses, each one with his brother {saying}, 'Please come and hear what [is] the word {that is going out from Yahweh}.'

And they come to you {as people do}, and they sit {before you}, and my people hear your words, and they do not do them, for they [are] showing passion in their mouth, but their heart [is] going after ill-gotten gain.

And they will know that I, Yahweh their God, [am] with them and they [are] my people, the house of Israel," {declares} the Lord Yahweh,

"and you [are] my flock, the flock of my pasture. You [are] {my people}; I [am] your God," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.'"

Therefore prophesy, and you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "{Because indeed} {when you were desolate}, then they crushed you from all around, so that you became a possession to the remainder of the nations, and you became {a byword and object of slander for the people}."

" '"But you, mountains of Israel, your branch you will shoot, and your fruit you will carry for my people Israel, for they [are] soon to come.

And I will send over you my people Israel, and they will take possession of you, and you will be for them as an inheritance, and {you will no longer bereave them of their children}."

" 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh, because [they are] saying to you, "You [are] [an] eater of humans, and you are {one who makes childless} your people."

And they came into the nations {to which they went}, and they profaned {my holy name} when they said to them, 'These [are] the people of Yahweh, and from his land they went out.'

And you will dwell in the land that I gave to your ancestors, and you will be to me [as] a people, and I will be to you as God.

Like [the] flock of [the] sanctuary, like the flock of Jerusalem at its festival, so the desolate cities will be filled with flocks of people; and they will know that I [am] Yahweh.'"

Therefore prophesy, and you must say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I [am] opening your graves, and I will bring you up from your graves, my people, and I will bring you to the land of Israel!

And you will know that I [am] Yahweh when I open your graves when I bring you up from your graves, my people!

{When} {your people} say to you, {saying}, 'Will you not inform us [as to] what these [actions] mean for you?'

And they will not defile themselves again with their idols and with vile idols and with all of their transgressions, and I will save them from all of their apostasy {by which they sinned}, and I will cleanse them and they will be for me as a people and I, I will be for them as God.

And you will say, 'I will go up against a land of open country; I will come [to] the [people] being at rest {in safety}, all of them dwelling without a wall and crossbars and {without doors},

to loot loot, and to plunder plunder, {to assail} inhabited ruins and people gathered together from [various] peoples [and who are] acquiring livestock and goods [and] dwelling at the center of the world.

"Therefore prophesy, son of man, and you must say to Gog, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Will you not realize on that day when my people Israel are dwelling {in safety},

and [so] you will come from your place, from [the] remote areas of [the] north, you and many people with you, {horsemen} all of them, a great crowd and a vast army,

and you will advance against my people Israel like a cloud {covering} the land; it will be in the last days, and I will bring you against my land, so that the nations know me, {when I show myself holy through you} before their eyes, O Gog!" '

"And I will send fire against Magog and among [the people] inhabiting the coastlands {in safety}, and they will know that I [am] Yahweh.

And {my holy name} I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let the name of my holiness be profaned anymore, and the nations will know that I [am] Yahweh, [the] holy [one] in Israel.

All of the people of the land will bury them, and it will be an honor for them [on] the day when I appear," ' {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

{When the priests enter}, then they shall not go out from the sanctuary to the outer courtyard; and there they must put their garments in which they serve because they [are] holy. They must put on other garments and [then] they may approach [the area] that [is] for the people.

Then they will be in my sanctuary, [those] serving [in] my sanctuary, [as] sentries at the gates of the temple and [as] [those] serving the temple; they will slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they will stand {before them} to serve them,

When they go out to the outer courtyard to the people, they must take off their garment in which they [were] serving, and they must place them {in the holy chambers}, and they must put on other [garments], so that they will not make the people holy with their garments.

And they will teach my people [the difference] between what is holy and what is unholy, and [the difference] between unclean and clean they must show them.

[This] shall be to him {with respect to the land} as property in Israel; [and so] my princes shall not again oppress my people, but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes."

Thus says the Lord Yahweh, "Enough [of this] for you, the princes of Israel; put away violence and destruction and do justice and righteousness; revoke your [acts of] dispossession from upon my people!" {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

"All of the people of the land shall join [in] to this contribution with the prince in Israel.

And the prince shall provide on that day for himself and for all of the people of the land a bull [as] sin offering.

And the people of the land will bow down [at] the doorway of that gate on the Sabbaths and on the new moons {before} Yahweh.

And when the people of the land come {before} Yahweh at the festivals, [the] one coming [by] way of [the] gate of [the] north to bow down must go out [by] [the] way of [the] gate of [the] south, and the [one] coming [by] way of [the] gate of [the] south must go out [by the] way of [the] gate of [the] north, [so] he must not return [by] the way of the gate [by] which he came, but before it he shall go out opposite it.

But the prince shall not take from the inheritance of the people to rob them, [separating them] from their property; from his [own] property he shall bestow an inheritance on his sons, so that my people will not be driven away, any one, from his property."

And he said to me, "This [is] the place where the priests will boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, [and] where they shall bake the grain offering [in order] not to bring [them] out to the outer courtyard to make the people holy.

And he said to me, "These [are] the houses for cooking, where [the ones] serving the temple shall cook the sacrifices of the people."