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Although the following scriptures are some of the most obvious in their missionary intent, the list that follows is by no means all-inclusive. And it is not that we are trying to show that the Bible has a missionary intent, but rather that it is a missionary handbook; and missions is at the core of the gospel message.

In reading these scriptures, the following information will help you interpret them properly. The Greek word ethne has traditionally been translated as "nations". A better translation would have been "ethnic groups" or "peoples". Basileas is the word for political units or countries but this word was not used in the Greek. The reference is always to ethne. So, India is a basilea containing some 1,800 ethne. Thus, when reading the verses below you could, in your mind, replace the word "nations" with "ethnic groups" for a more correct interpretation of God's word.

Genesis 12:1-3
The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

Genesis 18:18
Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.

Genesis 22:18
…and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

Genesis 28:14
Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.

Exodus 19:5-6
For all the earth is mine and you shall be to me a Kingdom of priests

Leviticus 19:24
The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself.

Deuteronomy 32:43
Rejoice, O nations, with his people.

Joshua 4:23,24
For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until  you passed over… so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty.

1 Samuel 17:46
This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand… that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

2 Samuel 22:50
Therefore I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations.

2 Kings 19:19
Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God.

1 Chronicles 16:23-23
Sing to the Lord, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations.

2 Chronicles 6:32,33
As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm when he comes and prays toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your name.

Ezra 1:2
Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem.

Psalm 18:49
Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O Lord; I will sing praises to your name.

Psalm 46:10
Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.