You have redeemed us in your blood, [some] from every peopleand
nation.(Revelation 5 : 9 )
You need to prophesy again upon peoplesand nations.(Revelation 10 : 11 )
You will put me as the head of the nations;a peoplewhom I had not
known will serve me. (Psalms 18 : 43 )
Jehovah makes the counsel of the nationsuseless; he turns the thoughts
of the peoplesupside down. (Psalms 33 : 10 )
You will make us a proverb among the nations,a shaking of the head
among the peoples.(Psalms 44 : 14 )
Jehovah will subdue the peoplesunder us, and the nationsunder our
feet. Jehovah rules over the nations;the willing among the peopleshave
gathered. (Psalms 47 : 3 , 8 , 9 )
The peopleswill confess you and the nationswill rejoice, because you
are going to judge the peoplesin uprightness and lead the nationson
earth. (Psalms 67 : 3 , 4 , 5 )
Remember me, Jehovah, with the good pleasure of your people,so that
I may rejoice in the joy of your nations.(Psalms 106 : 4 , 5 )
There are more passages like this as well.
Both nations and peoples are mentioned because “nations” mean
those who focus on goodness or, in an opposite sense, on evil; and “peo-
ples” mean those who focus on truths or, in an opposite sense, on falsi-
ties. For this reason, those who belong to the Lord’s spiritual kingdom
are called “peoples” and those who belong to the Lord’s heavenly king-
dom are called “nations,” since all who are in the spiritual kingdom focus
on truths and therefore intelligence; and all who are in the heavenly
kingdom focus on good actions and therefore wisdom.252 The same is true of many other paired expressions. For instance,
where the word “joy” occurs, the word “gladness” also occurs, as in the
following examples:
Behold, joyand gladness,killing an ox. (Isaiah 22 : 13 )
Joyand gladnesswill be attained; sadnessand moaning will flee. (Isaiah
35 : 10 ; 51 : 11 )
Gladnessand joywere cut off from the house of our God. (Joel 1 : 16 )