9 Bible Verses About International Trade (NIV)

²⁰ You may charge a foreigner interest, but not a brother Israelite, so that the LORD your God may bless you in everything you put your hand to in the land you are entering to possess.

¹⁴ This is what the LORD says: "The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, and those tall Sabeans- they will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you, coming over to you in chains. They will bow down before you and plead with you, saying, 'Surely God is with you, and there is no other; there is no other god.'"

⁵ saying, "When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?"- skimping the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, ⁶ buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat.

¹ "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. ² See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. ³ Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. ⁴ "Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm. ⁵ Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come. ⁶ Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the LORD. ⁷ All Kedar's flocks will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth will serve you; they will be accepted as offerings on my altar, and I will adorn my glorious temple. ⁸ "Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests? ⁹ Surely the islands look to me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your sons from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor. ¹⁰ "Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion. ¹¹ Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that men may bring you the wealth of the nations- their kings led in triumphal procession. ¹² For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined. ¹³ "The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the pine, the fir and the cypress together, to adorn the place of my sanctuary; and I will glorify the place of my feet. ¹⁴ The sons of your oppressors will come bowing before you; all who despise you will bow down at your feet and will call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel. ¹⁵ "Although you have been forsaken and hated, with no one traveling through, I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations. ¹⁶ You will drink the milk of nations and be nursed at royal breasts. Then you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. ¹⁷ Instead of bronze I will bring you gold, and silver in place of iron. Instead of wood I will bring you bronze, and iron in place of stones. I will make peace your governor and righteousness your ruler. ¹⁸ No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise. ¹⁹ The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. ²⁰ Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end. ²¹ Then will all your people be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor. ²² The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the LORD; in its time I will do this swiftly."

¹ For three years there was no war between Aram and Israel. ² But in the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down to see the king of Israel. ³ The king of Israel had said to his officials, "Don't you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us and yet we are doing nothing to retake it from the king of Aram?" ⁴ So he asked Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth Gilead?" Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, "I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses." ⁵ But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, "First seek the counsel of the LORD." ⁶ So the king of Israel brought together the prophets-about four hundred men-and asked them, "Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?Go," they answered, "for the Lord will give it into the king's hand." ⁷ But Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there not a prophet of the LORD here whom we can inquire of?" ⁸ The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.The king should not say that," Jehoshaphat replied. ⁹ So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, "Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once." ¹⁰ Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them. ¹¹ Now Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared, "This is what the LORD says: 'With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.'" ¹² All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. "Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious," they said, "for the LORD will give it into the king's hand." ¹³ The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, "Look, as one man the other prophets are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably." ¹⁴ But Micaiah said, "As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him only what the LORD tells me." ¹⁵ When he arrived, the king asked him, "Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?Attack and be victorious," he answered, "for the LORD will give it into the king's hand." ¹⁶ The king said to him, "How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?" ¹⁷ Then Micaiah answered, "I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the LORD said, 'These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.'" ¹⁸ The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?" ¹⁹ Micaiah continued, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. ²⁰ And the LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?'"One suggested this, and another that. ²¹ Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.' ²² "'By what means?' the LORD asked. "'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,' he said. "'You will succeed in enticing him,' said the LORD. 'Go and do it.' ²³ "So now the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you." ²⁴ Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. "Which way did the spirit from the LORD go when he went from me to speak to you?" he asked. ²⁵ Micaiah replied, "You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner room." ²⁶ The king of Israel then ordered, "Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king's son ²⁷ and say, 'This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.'" ²⁸ Micaiah declared, "If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me." Then he added, "Mark my words, all you people!" ²⁹ So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. ³⁰ The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will enter the battle in disguise, but you wear your royal robes." So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle. ³¹ Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, "Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel." ³² When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, "Surely this is the king of Israel." So they turned to attack him, but when Jehoshaphat cried out, ³³ the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel and stopped pursuing him. ³⁴ But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor. The king told his chariot driver, "Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I've been wounded." ³⁵ All day long the battle raged, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. The blood from his wound ran onto the floor of the chariot, and that evening he died. ³⁶ As the sun was setting, a cry spread through the army: "Every man to his town; everyone to his land!" ³⁷ So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried him there. ³⁸ They washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria (where the prostitutes bathed), and the dogs licked up his blood, as the word of the LORD had declared. ³⁹ As for the other events of Ahab's reign, including all he did, the palace he built and inlaid with ivory, and the cities he fortified, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? ⁴⁰ Ahab rested with his fathers. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king. ⁴¹ Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. ⁴² Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother's name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. ⁴³ In everything he walked in the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The high places, however, were not removed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. ⁴⁴ Jehoshaphat was also at peace with the king of Israel. ⁴⁵ As for the other events of Jehoshaphat's reign, the things he achieved and his military exploits, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ⁴⁶ He rid the land of the rest of the male shrine prostitutes who remained there even after the reign of his father Asa. ⁴⁷ There was then no king in Edom; a deputy ruled. ⁴⁸ Now Jehoshaphat built a fleet of trading ships to go to Ophir for gold, but they never set sail-they were wrecked at Ezion Geber. ⁴⁹ At that time Ahaziah son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my men sail with your men," but Jehoshaphat refused. ⁵⁰ Then Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of David his father. And Jehoram his son succeeded him. ⁵¹ Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. ⁵² He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, because he walked in the ways of his father and mother and in the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. ⁵³ He served and worshiped Baal and provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger, just as his father had done.

¹ The word of the LORD came to me: ² "Son of man, take up a lament concerning Tyre. ³ Say to Tyre, situated at the gateway to the sea, merchant of peoples on many coasts, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "'You say, O Tyre, "I am perfect in beauty." ⁴ Your domain was on the high seas; your builders brought your beauty to perfection. ⁵ They made all your timbers of pine trees from Senir; they took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you. ⁶ Of oaks from Bashan they made your oars; of cypress wood from the coasts of Cyprus they made your deck, inlaid with ivory. ⁷ Fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail and served as your banner; your awnings were of blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah. ⁸ Men of Sidon and Arvad were your oarsmen; your skilled men, O Tyre, were aboard as your seamen. ⁹ Veteran craftsmen of Gebal were on board as shipwrights to caulk your seams. All the ships of the sea and their sailors came alongside to trade for your wares. ¹⁰ "'Men of Persia, Lydia and Put served as soldiers in your army. They hung their shields and helmets on your walls, bringing you splendor. ¹¹ Men of Arvad and Helech manned your walls on every side; men of Gammad were in your towers. They hung their shields around your walls; they brought your beauty to perfection. ¹² "'Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of goods; they exchanged silver, iron, tin and lead for your merchandise. ¹³ "'Greece, Tubal and Meshech traded with you; they exchanged slaves and articles of bronze for your wares. ¹⁴ "'Men of Beth Togarmah exchanged work horses, war horses and mules for your merchandise. ¹⁵ "'The men of Rhodes traded with you, and many coastlands were your customers; they paid you with ivory tusks and ebony. ¹⁶ "'Aram did business with you because of your many products; they exchanged turquoise, purple fabric, embroidered work, fine linen, coral and rubies for your merchandise. ¹⁷ "'Judah and Israel traded with you; they exchanged wheat from Minnith and confections, honey, oil and balm for your wares. ¹⁸ "'Damascus, because of your many products and great wealth of goods, did business with you in wine from Helbon and wool from Zahar. ¹⁹ "'Danites and Greeks from Uzal bought your merchandise; they exchanged wrought iron, cassia and calamus for your wares. ²⁰ "'Dedan traded in saddle blankets with you. ²¹ "'Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your customers; they did business with you in lambs, rams and goats. ²² "'The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; for your merchandise they exchanged the finest of all kinds of spices and precious stones, and gold. ²³ "'Haran, Canneh and Eden and merchants of Sheba, Asshur and Kilmad traded with you. ²⁴ In your marketplace they traded with you beautiful garments, blue fabric, embroidered work and multicolored rugs with cords twisted and tightly knotted. ²⁵ "'The ships of Tarshish serve as carriers for your wares. You are filled with heavy cargo in the heart of the sea. ²⁶ Your oarsmen take you out to the high seas. But the east wind will break you to pieces in the heart of the sea. ²⁷ Your wealth, merchandise and wares, your mariners, seamen and shipwrights, your merchants and all your soldiers, and everyone else on board will sink into the heart of the sea on the day of your shipwreck. ²⁸ The shorelands will quake when your seamen cry out. ²⁹ All who handle the oars will abandon their ships; the mariners and all the seamen will stand on the shore. ³⁰ They will raise their voice and cry bitterly over you; they will sprinkle dust on their heads and roll in ashes. ³¹ They will shave their heads because of you and will put on sackcloth. They will weep over you with anguish of soul and with bitter mourning. ³² As they wail and mourn over you, they will take up a lament concerning you: "Who was ever silenced like Tyre, surrounded by the sea?" ³³ When your merchandise went out on the seas, you satisfied many nations; with your great wealth and your wares you enriched the kings of the earth. ³⁴ Now you are shattered by the sea in the depths of the waters; your wares and all your company have gone down with you. ³⁵ All who live in the coastlands are appalled at you; their kings shudder with horror and their faces are distorted with fear. ³⁶ The merchants among the nations hiss at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.'"

¹ Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. ² Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.

¹ So King Solomon ruled over all Israel. ² And these were his chief officials: Azariah son of Zadok-the priest; ³ Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha-secretaries; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud-recorder; ⁴ Benaiah son of Jehoiada-commander in chief; Zadok and Abiathar-priests; ⁵ Azariah son of Nathan-in charge of the district officers; Zabud son of Nathan-a priest and personal adviser to the king; ⁶ Ahishar-in charge of the palace; Adoniram son of Abda-in charge of forced labor.

¹ This is what the LORD says: "See, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon and the people of Leb Kamai. ² I will send foreigners to Babylon to winnow her and to devastate her land; they will oppose her on every side in the day of her disaster. ³ Let not the archer string his bow, nor let him put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; completely destroy her army. ⁴ They will fall down slain in Babylon, fatally wounded in her streets. ⁵ For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the LORD Almighty, though their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel. ⁶ "Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the LORD's vengeance; he will pay her what she deserves. ⁷ Babylon was a gold cup in the LORD's hand; she made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad. ⁸ Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Wail over her! Get balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed. ⁹ "'We would have healed Babylon, but she cannot be healed; let us leave her and each go to his own land, for her judgment reaches to the skies, it rises as high as the clouds.' ¹⁰ "'The LORD has vindicated us; come, let us tell in Zion what the LORD our God has done.' ¹¹ "Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields! The LORD has stirred up the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is to destroy Babylon. The LORD will take vengeance, vengeance for his temple. ¹² Lift up a banner against the walls of Babylon! Reinforce the guard, station the watchmen, prepare an ambush! The LORD will carry out his purpose, his decree against the people of Babylon. ¹³ You who live by many waters and are rich in treasures, your end has come, the time for you to be cut off. ¹⁴ The LORD Almighty has sworn by himself: I will surely fill you with men, as with a swarm of locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you. ¹⁵ "He made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. ¹⁶ When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. ¹⁷ "Every man is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. His images are a fraud; they have no breath in them. ¹⁸ They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish. ¹⁹ He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including the tribe of his inheritance- the LORD Almighty is his name. ²⁰ "You are my war club, my weapon for battle- with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms, ²¹ with you I shatter horse and rider, with you I shatter chariot and driver, ²² with you I shatter man and woman, with you I shatter old man and youth, with you I shatter young man and maiden, ²³ with you I shatter shepherd and flock, with you I shatter farmer and oxen, with you I shatter governors and officials. ²⁴ "Before your eyes I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for all the wrong they have done in Zion," declares the LORD. ²⁵ "I am against you, O destroying mountain, you who destroy the whole earth," declares the LORD. "I will stretch out my hand against you, roll you off the cliffs, and make you a burned-out mountain. ²⁶ No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone, nor any stone for a foundation, for you will be desolate forever," declares the LORD. ²⁷ "Lift up a banner in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations for battle against her; summon against her these kingdoms: Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander against her; send up horses like a swarm of locusts. ²⁸ Prepare the nations for battle against her- the kings of the Medes, their governors and all their officials, and all the countries they rule. ²⁹ The land trembles and writhes, for the LORD's purposes against Babylon stand- to lay waste the land of Babylon so that no one will live there. ³⁰ Babylon's warriors have stopped fighting; they remain in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become like women. Her dwellings are set on fire; the bars of her gates are broken. ³¹ One courier follows another and messenger follows messenger to announce to the king of Babylon that his entire city is captured, ³² the river crossings seized, the marshes set on fire, and the soldiers terrified." ³³ This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled; the time to harvest her will soon come." ³⁴ "Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured us, he has thrown us into confusion, he has made us an empty jar. Like a serpent he has swallowed us and filled his stomach with our delicacies, and then has spewed us out. ³⁵ May the violence done to our flesh be upon Babylon," say the inhabitants of Zion. "May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia," says Jerusalem. ³⁶ Therefore, this is what the LORD says: "See, I will defend your cause and avenge you; I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. ³⁷ Babylon will be a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object of horror and scorn, a place where no one lives. ³⁸ Her people all roar like young lions, they growl like lion cubs. ³⁹ But while they are aroused, I will set out a feast for them and make them drunk, so that they shout with laughter- then sleep forever and not awake," declares the LORD. ⁴⁰ "I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and goats. ⁴¹ "How Sheshach will be captured, the boast of the whole earth seized! What a horror Babylon will be among the nations! ⁴² The sea will rise over Babylon; its roaring waves will cover her. ⁴³ Her towns will be desolate, a dry and desert land, a land where no one lives, through which no man travels. ⁴⁴ I will punish Bel in Babylon and make him spew out what he has swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him. And the wall of Babylon will fall. ⁴⁵ "Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the LORD. ⁴⁶ Do not lose heart or be afraid when rumors are heard in the land; one rumor comes this year, another the next, rumors of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler. ⁴⁷ For the time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon; her whole land will be disgraced and her slain will all lie fallen within her. ⁴⁸ Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for out of the north destroyers will attack her," declares the LORD. ⁴⁹ "Babylon must fall because of Israel's slain, just as the slain in all the earth have fallen because of Babylon. ⁵⁰ You who have escaped the sword, leave and do not linger! Remember the LORD in a distant land, and think on Jerusalem." ⁵¹ "We are disgraced, for we have been insulted and shame covers our faces, because foreigners have entered the holy places of the LORD's house." ⁵² "But days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will punish her idols, and throughout her land the wounded will groan. ⁵³ Even if Babylon reaches the sky and fortifies her lofty stronghold, I will send destroyers against her," declares the LORD. ⁵⁴ "The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians. ⁵⁵ The LORD will destroy Babylon; he will silence her noisy din. Waves of enemies will rage like great waters; the roar of their voices will resound. ⁵⁶ A destroyer will come against Babylon; her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken. For the LORD is a God of retribution; he will repay in full. ⁵⁷ I will make her officials and wise men drunk, her governors, officers and warriors as well; they will sleep forever and not awake," declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty. ⁵⁸ This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Babylon's thick wall will be leveled and her high gates set on fire; the peoples exhaust themselves for nothing, the nations' labor is only fuel for the flames." ⁵⁹ This is the message Jeremiah gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of his reign. ⁶⁰ Jeremiah had written on a scroll about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon-all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. ⁶¹ He said to Seraiah, "When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. ⁶² Then say, 'O LORD, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither man nor animal will live in it; it will be desolate forever.' ⁶³ When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. ⁶⁴ Then say, 'So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring upon her. And her people will fall.'" The words of Jeremiah end here.