The Bibles thought on immigrants
During this time of governmental and civic shift of mindset and policy regarding foreigners, immigrants, and refugees I wanted to take a minute to let the word of God speak. I have compiled a list of passages throughout the Bible's many writings and have placed them here for our examination. While the majority of these passages were written to the ancient Israelites we must remember that God gave Israel command for them to follow so that they could set the example to the rest of the world of how God wanted human communities to function and treat one another. If we ignore their function then we also ignore God's desire for human communities. This list is not exhaustive but it is comprehensive. Each verse is hyperlinked so that you can check my work and explore even further.
Exo 20:10 - but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates
Exo 22:21 - “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt
Exo 23:9 - “You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt
Exo 23:12 - “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed
Lev 16:29 - “And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves[fn] and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you
Lev 19:10 - And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God
Lev 19:33 - “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
Lev 19:34 - You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Lev 23:22 - “And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORDyour God.”
Lev 24:22 - You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the LORD your God.”
Lev 25:6 - The Sabbath of the land shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves and for your hired worker and the sojourner who lives with you
Lev 25:23 - “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me.
Lev 25:35 - “If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you.
Num 9:14 - And if a stranger sojourns among you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its rule, so shall he do. You shall have one statute, both for the sojourner and for the native.”
Num 15:14 - And if a stranger is sojourning with you, or anyone is living permanently among you, and he wishes to offer a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD, he shall do as you do
Num 15:15 - For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before the LORD
Num 15:16 - One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.”
Deu 1:16 - And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him
Deu 5:14 - but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you
Deu 10:18 - He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing
Deu 10:19 - Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt
Deu 14:29 - And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do
Deu 16:11 - And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your towns, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there
Deu 16:14 - You shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your towns
Deu 23:7 - “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a sojourner in his land
Deu 24:14 - “You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns.
Deu 24:17 - “You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow’s garment in pledge
Deu 24:19 - “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands
Deu 24:20 - When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow
Deu 24:21 - When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow
Deu 26:11 - And you shall rejoice in all the good that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you
Deu 26:12 - “When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled
Deu 26:13 - then you shall say before the LORD your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them
Deu 27:19 - “‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen
Psa 94:3-6 - O LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult? They pour out their arrogant words; all the evildoers boast. They crush your people, O LORD, and afflict your heritage. They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless
Psa 146:9 - The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin
Jer 7:5 - “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another
Jer 7:6 - if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm
Jer 22:3 - Thus says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.
Eze 22:7 - Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you.
Eze 22:29 - The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice.
Eze 47:22 - You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the sojourners who reside among you and have had children among you. They shall be to you as native-born children of Israel. With you they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel
Zec 7:10 - do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart
Mal 3:5 - “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts
Mat 25:35 - For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me
Eph 2:12 - remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world
Heb 11:13 - These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth
3Jo 1:5 - Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are,