Twenty-four Bible texts related to foreigners, refugees, and immigrants

How does the Bible say we are to view and treat the alien, refugees, immigrants. It's a bit overwhelming, but here are a number of passages that apply, some more than others. I will add emphases, but leave them uninterpreted. Many are about 'resident aliens' rather than refugees, but not all. (Note that the English Standard Version accurately translates the Hebrew word as 'sojourner' and 'sojourner in your land' instead of 'alien' and 'resident alien.') We may find ways to excuse or rationalize why many do not apply in current situations... but does that circumvent the heart and purpose of these texts? And perhaps non-believers or those of others faiths are free to see things differently, and act differently, but we are people called to obey more than the surface of the words, but the intent and heart that gave rise to the words. (See Mark 12.30-31.) We fail. And since we are all alien refugees, and immigrants in God's realm, I am grateful that he receives and forgives. How will we respond?...

Exodus 22  21 You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

Exodus 23  9 You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

Leviticus 19  33 “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 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.'' (English Standard Version)

Leviticus 23  22 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 1  16 I charged your judges at that time: “Give the members of your community a fair hearing, and judge rightly between one person and another, whether citizen or resident alien.

Deuteronomy 10  18 [It is the Lord] who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. 19 You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 24  20 When you beat your olive trees, do not strip what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. 21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow.

Deuteronomy 26  5 You shall make this response before the Lord your God: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous.''

Deuteronomy 27  19 “Cursed be anyone who deprives the alien, the orphan, and the widow of justice.” All the people shall say, “Amen!”

Psalm 39:12“Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; do not hold your peace at my tears. For I am your passing guest, an alien, like all my forebears.

Isaiah 16:3-4“Give counsel, grant justice, make your shade like nigh at the height of noon; hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive; let the outcasts of Moab settle among you; be a refuge to them from the destroyer.”

Jeremiah 7  4 Do not trust in these deceptive words: “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.”  5 For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, 6 if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, 7 then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors forever and ever.

Zechariah 7  10 Do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.

Malachi 3  5 Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

Matthew 25   41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, ...43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 

Mark 7  26 Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”28 But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

Mark 12   30 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Acts 28   2 The natives showed us unusual kindness. Since it had begun to rain and was cold, they kindled a fire and welcomed all of us around it.

Romans 12  13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

Hebrews 13  2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Philippians 2:4  “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

1 John 3:17  But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?

Ephesians 2  19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God.

1 Peter 3  9 Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called—that you might inherit a blessing.