“Mission is not something the Bible merely speaks about—mission is what the Bible is about.” Because the Bible has a lot to say about God’s heart and will for the nations we couldn’t put every passage in one post. However, we have pulled together 20 great missions passages to use for personal reflection or memorization. Discuss them in your small group or use them to guide times of prayer alone or with friends.

1. Genesis 12:3; 22:18; 26:4-5; 28:14

I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who treat you with contempt,

and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you (12:3).

And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed My command” (22:18).

I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky, I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring, ⁵ because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My mandate, My commands, My statutes, and My instructions” (26:4-5).

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

2. Leviticus 19:34; Deuteronomy 10:18-19

You must regard the foreigner who lives with you as the native-born among you. You are to love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God (Lev. 19:34).

He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing. ¹⁹ You also must love the foreigner, since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt (Deut. 10:18-19).

3. 1 Kings 8:41-43, 60

Even for the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of Your name—⁴² for they will hear of Your great name, mighty hand, and outstretched arm, and will come and pray toward this temple—⁴³ may You hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, and do according to all the foreigner asks You for. Then all the people on earth will know Your name, to fear You as Your people Israel do and know that this temple I have built is called by Your name.

…and so that all the peoples of the earth may know that Yahweh is God. There is no other!

4. Psalm 2:8

Ask of Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance and the ends of the earth Your possession.

5. Isaiah 2:2-3

In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house will be established at the top of the mountains and will be raised above the hills. All nations will stream to it, ³ and many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us about His ways so that we may walk in His paths.” For instruction will go out of Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

6. Isaiah 6:8

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Who should I send? Who will go for Us? I said: Here I am. Send me.

7. Isaiah 56:3-7; Mark 11:17

For the Lord says this: “For the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold firmly to My covenant, ⁵ I will give them, in My house and within My walls, a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters. I will give each of them an everlasting name that will never be cut off. ⁶ And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord minister to Him, love the name of Yahweh and become His servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold firmly to My covenant—

⁷ I will bring them to My holy mountain and let them rejoice in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” (Is. 56:3-7)

 Then He began to teach them: “Is it not written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of thieves!” (Mk. 11:17)

8. Jeremiah 1:5-10

I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born. I appointed you a prophet to the nations. ⁶ But I protested, “Oh no, Lord, God! Look, I don’t know how to speak since I am only a youth.” ⁷ Then the Lord said to me: Do not say, “I am only a youth, ”for you will go to everyone I send you to and speak whatever I tell you.   ⁸ Do not be afraid of anyone, for I will be with you to deliver you. This is the Lord’s declaration. ⁹ Then the Lord reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and told me: I have now filled your mouth with My words. ¹⁰ See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and demolish, to build and plant.

9. Joel 2:28-32

After this I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will have dreams, and your young men will see visions. ²⁹ I will even pour out My Spirit on the male and female slaves in those days. ³⁰ I will display wonders in the heavens and on the earth: blood, fire, and columns of smoke. ³¹ The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and awe-inspiring Day of the Lord comes. ³² Then everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh will be saved, for there will be an escape for those on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, as the Lord promised, among the survivors the Lord calls.

10. Matthew 28:18-20

Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

11. Luke 10:1-3

After this, the Lord appointed 70 others, and He sent them ahead of Him in pairs to every town and place where He Himself was about to go. ² He told them: “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest. ³ Now go; I’m sending you out like lambs among wolves.

12. Acts 1:8; 2:1-12

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (1:8).

When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. ³ And tongues, like flames of fire that were divided, appeared to them and rested on each one of them. ⁴ Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit gave them ability for speech. ⁵ There were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. ⁶ When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. ⁷ And they were astounded and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ How is it that each of us can hear in our own native language? ⁹ Parthians, Medes, Elamites; those who live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹ Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking the magnificent acts of God in our own languages.” ¹² They were all astounded and perplexed, saying to one another, “What could this be?” (2:1-12).

13. Acts 8:26-40

An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip: “Get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is the desert road.) ²⁷ So he got up and went. There was an Ethiopian man, a eunuch and high official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to worship in Jerusalem ²⁸ and was sitting in his chariot on his way home, reading the prophet Isaiah aloud. ²⁹ The Spirit told Philip, “Go and join that chariot.” ³⁰ When Philip ran up to it, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you’re reading?” ³¹ “How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² Now the Scripture passage he was reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb is silent before its shearer, so He does not open His mouth. ³³ In His humiliation justice was denied Him. Who will describe His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.” ³⁴ The eunuch replied to Philip, “I ask you, who is the prophet saying this about—himself or another person?” ³⁵ So Philip proceeded to tell him the good news about Jesus, beginning from that Scripture. ³⁶ As they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, “Look, there’s water! What would keep me from being baptized?” ³⁷ And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” ³⁸ Then he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. ³⁹ When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer. But he went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ Philip appeared in Azotus, and he was traveling and evangelizing all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

14. Acts 10:34-35; 11:15-18

³⁴ Then Peter began to speak: “Now I really understand that God doesn’t show favoritism, ³⁵ but in every nation the person who fears Him and does righteousness is acceptable to Him (10:34-35).

¹⁵ “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came down on them, just as on us at the beginning. ¹⁶ Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ Therefore, if God gave them the same gift that He also gave to us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I possibly hinder God?” ¹⁸ When they heard this they became silent. Then they glorified God, saying, “So God has granted repentance resulting in life even to the Gentiles!” (11:15-18).

15. Acts 13:1-12

In the church that was at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² As they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them to.” ³ Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off. ⁴ Being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they came down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. ⁵ Arriving in Salamis, they proclaimed God’s message in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John as their assistant. ⁶ When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came across a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. ⁷ He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear God’s message. ⁸ But Elymas the sorcerer (this is the meaning of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹ Then Saul—also called Paul—filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at the sorcerer ¹⁰ and said, “You son of the Devil, full of all deceit and all fraud, enemy of all righteousness! Won’t you ever stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord? ¹¹ Now, look! The Lord’s hand is against you. You are going to be blind, and will not see the sun for a time.” Suddenly a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. ¹² Then the proconsul, seeing what happened, believed and was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.

16. Acts 16:6-10

They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia and were prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in Asia. ⁷ When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. ⁸ So, bypassing Mysia, they came down to Troas. ⁹ During the night a vision appeared to Paul: A Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!” ¹⁰ After he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to evangelize them.

17. Acts 19:8-10

⁸ Then he entered the synagogue and spoke boldly over a period of three months, engaging in discussion and trying to persuade them about the things of the kingdom of God. ⁹ But when some became hardened and would not believe, slandering the Way in front of the crowd, he withdrew from them and met separately with the disciples, conducting discussions every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. ¹⁰ And this went on for two years, so that all the inhabitants of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the message about the Lord.

18. Romans 10:12-17

…for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord of all is rich to all who call on Him. ¹³ For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. ¹⁴ But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵ And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who announce the gospel of good things! ¹⁶ But all did not obey the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message? ¹⁷ So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.

19. Romans 15:20-21

My aim is to evangelize where Christ has not been named, so that I will not build on someone else’s foundation, ²¹ but, as it is written:  Those who were not told about Him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.

20. Revelation 7:9-10

 After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ And they cried out in a loud voice:  Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!