20 Bible Verses about Meat

Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine he drank. So he asked permission from the chief official not to defile himself.

“When anyone presents a grain offering as a gift to the Lord, his gift must consist of fine flour. He is to pour olive oil on it, put frankincense on it,

“Now this is the law of the grain offering: Aaron’s sons will present it before the Lord in front of the altar.

Next he presented the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar in addition to the morning burnt offering.

Moses spoke to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar: “Take the grain offering that is left over from the fire offerings to the Lord, and eat it prepared without yeast beside the altar, because it is especially holy.

You are to present with the bread seven unblemished male lambs a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offerings and drink offerings, a fire offering of a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

If You are going to treat me like this, please kill me right now. If You are pleased with me, don’t let me see my misery anymore.”

Then he distributed a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake to each one in the entire Israelite community, both men and women. Then all the people left, each to his own home.

She has prepared her meat; she has mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.

for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Therefore you must distinguish the clean animal from the unclean one, and the unclean bird from the clean one. Do not become contaminated by any land animal, bird, or whatever crawls on the ground; I have set these apart as unclean for you.

“Be My holy people. You must not eat the meat of a mauled animal found in the field; throw it to the dogs.

"Tell the Israelites: You may eat all these [kinds] of land animals. You may eat any animal with divided hooves and that chews the cud. But among the ones that chew the cud or have hooves you are not to eat [these]: the camel, though it chews the cud, does not have hooves-it is unclean for you; read more.
the hyrax, though it chews the cud, does not have hooves-it is unclean for you; the hare, though it chews the cud, does not have hooves-it is unclean for you; the pig, though it has divided hooves, does not chew the cud-it is unclean for you. Do not eat any of their meat or touch their carcasses-they are unclean for you. "This [is what] you may eat from all that is in the water: You may eat everything in the water that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or streams. But these are to be detestable to you: everything that does not have fins and scales in the seas or streams, among all the swarming things and [other] living creatures in the water. They are to remain detestable to you; you must not eat any of their meat, and you must detest their carcasses. Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales will be detestable to you. "You are to detest these birds. They must not be eaten because they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, the kite, the various kinds of falcon, every kind of raven, the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the gull, the various kinds of hawk, the little owl, the cormorant, the long-eared owl, the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, the stork, the various kinds of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat. "All winged insects that walk on all fours are to be detestable to you. But you may eat these kinds of all the winged insects that walk on all fours: those that have jointed legs above their feet for hopping on the ground. You may eat these: the various kinds of locust, the various kinds of katydid, the various kinds of cricket, and the various kinds of grasshopper. All [other] winged insects that have four feet are to be detestable to you. "These will make you unclean. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening, and whoever carries any of their carcasses must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening. All animals that have hooves but do not have a divided hoof and do not chew the cud are unclean for you. Whoever touches them becomes unclean. All the four-footed animals that walk on their paws are unclean for you. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening, and anyone who carries their carcasses must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening. They are unclean for you. "These creatures that swarm on the ground are unclean for you: the weasel, the mouse, the various kinds of large lizard, the gecko, the monitor lizard, the common lizard, the skink, and the chameleon. These are unclean for you among all the swarming creatures. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean until evening. When any one of them dies and falls on anything it becomes unclean-any item of wood, clothing, leather, sackcloth, or any implement used for work. It is to be rinsed with water and will remain unclean until evening; then it will be clean. If any of them falls into any clay pot, everything in it will become unclean; you must break it. Any edible food coming into contact with [that unclean] water will become unclean, and any drinkable liquid in any container will become unclean. Anything one of their carcasses falls on will become unclean. If it is an oven or stove, it must be smashed; it is unclean and will remain unclean for you. A spring or cistern containing water will remain clean, but someone who touches a carcass [in it] will become unclean. If one of their carcasses falls on any seed that is to be sown, it is clean; but if water has been put on the seed and one of their carcasses falls on it, it is unclean for you. "If one of the animals that you use for food dies, anyone who touches its carcass will be unclean until evening. Anyone who eats some of its carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening. Anyone who carries its carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening. "All the creatures that swarm on the earth are detestable; they must not be eaten. Do not eat any of the creatures that swarm on the earth, anything that moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet, for they are detestable. Do not become contaminated by any creature that swarms; do not become unclean or defiled by them. For I am the Lord your God, so you must consecrate yourselves and be holy because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any swarming creature that crawls on the ground. For I am the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, so you must be holy because I am holy. "This is the law concerning animals, birds, all living creatures that move in the water, and all creatures that swarm on the ground, in order to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between the animals that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten."

"You must not eat any detestable thing. These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. read more.
You may eat any animal that has hooves divided in two and chews the cud. But among the ones that chew the cud or have divided hooves, you are not to eat these: the camel, the hare, and the hyrax, though they chew the cud, they do not have hooves- they are unclean for you; and the pig, though it has hooves, it does not [chew] the cud- it is unclean for you. You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses. "You may eat everything from the water that has fins and scales, but you may not eat anything that does not have fins and scales-it is unclean for you. "You may eat every clean bird, but these are the ones you may not eat: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, the kite, the various kinds of falcon, every kind of raven, the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the gull, the various kinds of hawk, the little owl, the long-eared owl, the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant, the stork, the various kinds of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat. All winged insects are unclean for you; they may not be eaten. But you may eat every clean flying creature. "You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to a resident alien within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. You must not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

(I know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. Still, to someone who considers a thing to be unclean, to that one it is unclean.) For if your brother is hurt by what you eat, you are no longer walking according to love. By what you eat, do not destroy that one for whom Christ died. Therefore, do not let your good be slandered, read more.
for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever serves the Messiah in this way is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then, we must pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another. Do not tear down God's work because of food. Everything is clean, but it is wrong for a man to cause stumbling by what he eats. It is a noble thing not to eat meat, or drink wine, or do anything that makes your brother stumble. Do you have faith? Keep it to yourself before God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever doubts stands condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith, and everything that is not from faith is sin.

About food offered to idols: We know that "we all have knowledge." Knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up. If anyone thinks he knows anything, he does not yet know it as he ought to know it. But if anyone loves God, he is known by Him. read more.
About eating food offered to idols, then, we know that "an idol is nothing in the world," and that "there is no God but one." For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth-as there are many "gods" and many "lords"- yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through Him. However, not everyone has this knowledge. In fact, some have been so used to idolatry up until now, that when they eat food offered to an idol, their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not make us acceptable to God. We are not inferior if we don't eat, and we are not better if we do eat. But be careful that this right of yours in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak. For if somebody sees you, the one who has this knowledge, dining in an idol's temple, won't his weak conscience be encouraged to eat food offered to idols? Then the weak person, the brother for whom Christ died, is ruined by your knowledge. Now when you sin like this against the brothers and wound their weak conscience, you are sinning against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother to fall, I will never again eat meat, so that I won't cause my brother to fall.

Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. I am speaking as to wise people. Judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? read more.
Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for all of us share that one bread. Look at the people of Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar? What am I saying then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I do say that what they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons! You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot share in the Lord's table and the table of demons. Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? "Everything is permissible," but not everything is helpful. "Everything is permissible," but not everything builds up. No one should seek his own [good], but [the good] of the other person. Eat everything that is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience' sake, for the earth is the Lord's, and all that is in it. If one of the unbelievers invites you over and you want to go, eat everything that is set before you, without raising questions of conscience. But if someone says to you, "This is food offered to an idol," do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who told you, and for conscience' sake. I do not mean your own conscience, but the other person's. For why is my freedom judged by another person's conscience? If I partake with thanks, why am I slandered because of something for which I give thanks? Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for God's glory. Give no offense to the Jews or the Greeks or the church of God, just as I also try to please all people in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The fear and terror of you will be in every living creature on the earth, every bird of the sky, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are placed under your authority. Every living creature will be food for you; as [I gave] the green plants, I have given you everything. read more.
However, you must not eat meat with its lifeblood in it.

“When anyone presents a grain offering as a gift to the Lord, his gift must consist of fine flour. He is to pour olive oil on it, put frankincense on it,

“Now this is the law of the grain offering: Aaron’s sons will present it before the Lord in front of the altar.

Next he presented the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar in addition to the morning burnt offering.

Moses spoke to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar: “Take the grain offering that is left over from the fire offerings to the Lord, and eat it prepared without yeast beside the altar, because it is especially holy.

You are to present with the bread seven unblemished male lambs a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offerings and drink offerings, a fire offering of a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

“When you present a grain offering baked in an oven, it must be made of fine flour, either unleavened cakes mixed with oil or unleavened wafers coated with oil.

“No grain offering that you present to the Lord is to be made with yeast, for you are not to burn any yeast or honey as a fire offering to the Lord.

He will also offer the ram as a fellowship sacrifice to the Lord, together with the basket of unleavened bread. Then the priest will offer the accompanying grain offering and drink offering.

"Now this is the law of the grain offering: Aaron's sons will present it before the Lord in front of the altar. The priest is to remove a handful of fine flour and olive oil from the grain offering, with all the frankincense that is on the offering, and burn its memorial portion on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. Aaron and his sons may eat the rest of it. It is to be eaten as unleavened bread in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the tent of meeting. read more.
It must not be baked with yeast; I have assigned it as their portion from My fire offerings. It is especially holy, like the sin offering and the restitution offering. Any male among Aaron's descendants may eat it. It is a permanent portion throughout your generations from the fire offerings to the Lord. Anything that touches the offerings will become holy."

Moses spoke to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar: "Take the grain offering that is left over from the fire offerings to the Lord, and eat it prepared without yeast beside the altar, because it is especially holy. You must eat it in a holy place because it is your portion and your sons' from the fire offerings to the Lord, for this is what I was commanded.

the one presenting his offering to the Lord must also present a grain offering of two quarts of fine flour mixed with a quart of oil.

A portion of the holiest offerings [kept] from the fire will be yours; every one of their offerings that they give Me, whether the grain offering, sin offering, or restitution offering will be most holy for you and your sons. You are to eat it as a most holy offering. Every male may eat it; it is to be holy to you.

You must eat it in a holy place because it is your portion and your sons’ from the fire offerings to the Lord, for this is what I was commanded.

On that same day men were placed in charge of the rooms that housed the supplies, contributions, firstfruits, and tenths. The legally required portions for the priests and Levites were gathered from the village fields, because Judah was grateful to the priests and Levites who were serving.

and had prepared a large room for him where they had previously stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, and the tenths of grain, new wine, and oil prescribed for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, along with the contributions for the priests. While all this was happening, I was not in Jerusalem, because I had returned to King Artaxerxes of Babylon in the thirty-second year of his [reign]. It was only later that I asked the king for a leave of absence

and you make a fire offering to the Lord from the herd or flock-either a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow, or as a freewill offering, or at your appointed festivals-to produce a pleasing aroma for the Lord, the one presenting his offering to the Lord must also present a grain offering of two quarts of fine flour mixed with a quart of oil. Prepare a quart of wine as a drink offering with the burnt offering or sacrifice of each lamb. read more.
"If you prepare a grain offering with a ram, it must be four quarts of fine flour mixed with a third of a gallon of oil. Also present a third of a gallon of wine for a drink offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. "If you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow, or as a fellowship offering to the Lord, a grain offering of six quarts of fine flour mixed with two quarts of oil must be presented with the bull. Also present two quarts of wine as a drink offering. It is a fire offering of pleasing aroma to the Lord. This is to be done for each ox, ram, lamb, or goat. This is how you must prepare each of them, no matter how many. "Every Israelite is to prepare these things in this way when he presents a fire offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. When a foreigner resides with you or someone else is among you and wants to prepare a fire offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord, he is to do exactly as you do throughout your generations. The assembly is to have the same statute for both you and the foreign resident as a permanent statute throughout your generations. You and the foreigner will be alike before the Lord. The same law and the same ordinance will apply to both you and the foreigner who resides with you."

Then the man said to me, “The northern and southern chambers that face the temple yard are the holy chambers where the priests who approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will deposit the most holy offerings—the grain offerings, sin offerings, and restitution offerings—for the place is holy.

So Moses asked the Lord, "Why have You brought such trouble on Your servant? Why are You angry with me, and why do You burden me with all these people? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth so You should tell me, 'Carry them at your breast, as a nursing woman carries a baby,' to the land that You swore to [give] their fathers? Where can I get meat to give all these people? For they are crying to me: 'Give us meat to eat!' read more.
"I can't carry all these people by myself. They are too much for me. If You are going to treat me like this, please kill me right now. If You are pleased with me, don't let me see my misery [any more]." The Lord answered Moses, "Bring Me 70 men from Israel known to you as elders and officers of the people. Take them to the tent of meeting and have them stand there with you. Then I will come down and speak with you there. I will take some of the Spirit who is on you and put [the Spirit] on them. They will help you bear the burden of the people, so that you do not have to bear it by yourself. "Tell the people: Purify yourselves [in readiness] for tomorrow, and you will eat meat because you cried before the Lord: 'Who will feed us meat? We really had it good in Egypt.' The Lord will give you meat and you will eat. You will eat, not for one day, or two days, or five days, or 10 days, or 20 days, but for a whole month-until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes nauseating to you-because you have rejected the Lord who is among you, and cried to Him: 'Why did we ever leave Egypt?' " But Moses replied, "I'm in the middle of a people with 600,000 foot soldiers, yet You say, 'I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.' If flocks and herds were slaughtered for them, would they have enough? Or if all the fish in the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?" The Lord answered Moses, "Is the Lord's power limited? You will see whether or not what I have promised will happen to you." Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. He brought 70 men from the elders of the people and had them stand around the tent. Then the Lord descended in the cloud and spoke to him. He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed [the Spirit] on the 70 elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they never did it again. Two men had remained in the camp, one named Eldad and the other Medad; the Spirit rested on them-they were among those listed, but had not gone out to the tent-and they prophesied in the camp. A young man ran and reported to Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp." Joshua son of Nun, assistant to Moses since his youth, responded, "Moses, my lord, stop them!" But Moses asked him, "Are you jealous on my account? If only all the Lord's people were prophets, and the Lord would place His Spirit on them." Then Moses returned to the camp along with the elders of Israel. A wind sent by the Lord came up and blew quail in from the sea; it dropped [them] at the camp all around, three feet off the ground, about a day's journey in every direction. The people were up all that day and night and all the next day gathering the quail-the one who took the least gathered 33 bushels-and they spread them out all around the camp. While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the Lord's anger burned against the people, and the Lord struck them with a very severe plague. So they named that place Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved [the meat]. From Kibroth-hattaavah the people moved on to Hazeroth and remained there.

(I know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. Still, to someone who considers a thing to be unclean, to that one it is unclean.) For if your brother is hurt by what you eat, you are no longer walking according to love. By what you eat, do not destroy that one for whom Christ died. Therefore, do not let your good be slandered, read more.
for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever serves the Messiah in this way is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then, we must pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another. Do not tear down God's work because of food. Everything is clean, but it is wrong for a man to cause stumbling by what he eats. It is a noble thing not to eat meat, or drink wine, or do anything that makes your brother stumble. Do you have faith? Keep it to yourself before God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever doubts stands condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith, and everything that is not from faith is sin.

About food offered to idols: We know that "we all have knowledge." Knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up. If anyone thinks he knows anything, he does not yet know it as he ought to know it. But if anyone loves God, he is known by Him. read more.
About eating food offered to idols, then, we know that "an idol is nothing in the world," and that "there is no God but one." For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth-as there are many "gods" and many "lords"- yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through Him. However, not everyone has this knowledge. In fact, some have been so used to idolatry up until now, that when they eat food offered to an idol, their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not make us acceptable to God. We are not inferior if we don't eat, and we are not better if we do eat. But be careful that this right of yours in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak. For if somebody sees you, the one who has this knowledge, dining in an idol's temple, won't his weak conscience be encouraged to eat food offered to idols? Then the weak person, the brother for whom Christ died, is ruined by your knowledge. Now when you sin like this against the brothers and wound their weak conscience, you are sinning against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother to fall, I will never again eat meat, so that I won't cause my brother to fall.

Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. I am speaking as to wise people. Judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? read more.
Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for all of us share that one bread. Look at the people of Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar? What am I saying then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I do say that what they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons! You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot share in the Lord's table and the table of demons. Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? "Everything is permissible," but not everything is helpful. "Everything is permissible," but not everything builds up. No one should seek his own [good], but [the good] of the other person. Eat everything that is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience' sake, for the earth is the Lord's, and all that is in it. If one of the unbelievers invites you over and you want to go, eat everything that is set before you, without raising questions of conscience. But if someone says to you, "This is food offered to an idol," do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who told you, and for conscience' sake. I do not mean your own conscience, but the other person's. For why is my freedom judged by another person's conscience? If I partake with thanks, why am I slandered because of something for which I give thanks? Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for God's glory. Give no offense to the Jews or the Greeks or the church of God, just as I also try to please all people in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

“You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to a temporary resident living within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. You must not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.