'Pasture' in the Bible

Jacob said, “Look, the sun is still high [overhead]; it is a long time before the flocks need to be gathered [in their folds for the night]. Water the sheep, and go, and return them to their pasture.”

And lo, there came up out of the Nile seven [healthy] cows, sleek and handsome and fat; and they grazed in the reed grass [in a marshy pasture].

and seven fat, sleek and handsome cows came up out of the river, and they grazed in the reed grass [of a marshy pasture].

Moreover, they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live temporarily (sojourn) in the land [of Egypt], for there is no pasture for the flocks of your servants [in our land], for the famine is very severe in Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.”

But the pasture lands of their cities may not be sold, for that is their permanent possession.

So now, say this to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people Israel.

So they journeyed to the entrance of Gedor, to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.

They found rich, good pasture, and the [cleared] land was wide, quiet, and peaceful; for those who had lived there previously came from Ham [and had left it a better place for those who came after them].

These, registered by name, came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and they attacked their tents and the Meunites (foreigners) who were found there, and utterly destroyed them to this day; and they settled in their place, because there was pasture there for their flocks.

“Some remove the landmarks;They [violently] seize and pasture flocks [appropriating land and flocks openly].

“He explores the mountains as his pastureAnd searches after every green thing.

O God, why have You rejected us forever?Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?

For they have devoured JacobAnd made his pasture desolate.

So we Your people, the sheep of Your pasture,Will give You thanks forever;We will declare and publish Your praise from generation to generation.

For He is our GodAnd we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.Today, if you will hear His voice,

Know and fully recognize with gratitude that the Lord Himself is God;It is He who has made us, not we ourselves [and we are His].We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

“Tell me, O you whom my soul loves,Where do you pasture your flock,Where do you make it lie down at noon?For why should I be like one who is veiledBeside the flocks of your companions?”

Then the lambs will graze [among the ruins] as in their own pasture,And strangers will eat in the desolate places of the [exiled] wealthy.

As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the pick and the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place where oxen are pastured and where sheep tread.

For the palace has been abandoned, the populated city deserted;The hill [of the city] and the watchtower have become caves [for wild animals] forever,A delight for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks,

The land mourns and dries out,Lebanon is shamed and [its lush foliage] withers;Sharon is like a desert plain,And Bashan and [Mount] Carmel shake off their leaves.

“And [the plain of] Sharon will be a place for flocks to graze,And the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,For My people who seek Me [who long for Me and require My presence in their lives].

“Shepherds with their flocks will come against her;They will pitch their tents all around her;They will pasture, each one in his place [eating up all her rich grasses].

“The wind [of adversity] will carry away all your shepherds (rulers, statesmen),And your lovers (allies) will go into exile.Surely then you will be ashamed and humiliated and disgracedBecause of all your wickedness.

“Therefore prophesy all these words against them and say to them:‘The Lord will roar from on highAnd utter His voice from His holy dwelling;He will roar mightily against His fold and pasture.He will jubilantly shout like those who tread the grapes [in the wine press],Against all the inhabitants of the earth.

“A voice! The cry of the shepherdsAnd the wailing of the masters of the flock!For the Lord is destroying their pasture,

All her beauty and majestyHave departed from the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem).Her princes have become like deerThat have found no pasture;They have fled without strengthBefore the pursuer.

I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.

“And as for you, My flock, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats [between the righteous and the unrighteous].

Is it too little a thing for you that you [unrighteous ones who are well-fed] feed in the best pasture, yet you must trample down with your feet [of wickedness] the rest of your pastures? Or that you drink clear [still] water, yet you must muddy with your feet [of wickedness] the rest [of the water]?

“As for you, My flock, the flock of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God,” says the Lord God.

For Israel is stubborn,Like a stubborn heifer.Can the Lord now pasture themLike a lamb in a large field?

When they had their pasture, they became satisfied,And being satisfied, their heart became proud (self-centered);Therefore they forgot Me.

How the animals groan!The herds of cattle are bewildered and wander aimlesslyBecause they have no pasture;Even the flocks of sheep suffer.

“I shall most certainly assemble all of you, O Jacob;I shall surely gather the remnant of Israel.I shall bring them together like sheep in the fold [multiplying the nation];Like a flock in the midst of its pasture.The place will swarm with many people and hum loudly with noise.

The seacoast will belongTo the remnant of the house of Judah;They will pasture [their flocks] on it.In the [deserted] houses of Ashkelon [in Philistia] they [of Judah] will lie down and rest in the evening,For the Lord their God will care for them;And restore their fortune [permitting them to occupy the land].