'Prey' in the Bible

The birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

and in the top basket there were some of all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds [of prey] were eating [these foods] out of the basket on my head.”

“Judah, a lion’s cub;With the prey, my son, you have gone high up [the mountain].He stooped down, he crouched like a lion,And like a lion—who dares rouse him?

“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;In the morning he devours the prey,And at night he divides the spoil.”

Why is the Lord bringing us to this land [of Canaan], to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder. Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”

But your children whom you said would become plunder, I will bring in, and they will know the land which you have despised and rejected.

“Behold, a people rises up like a lionessAnd lifts itself up like a lion;He will not lie down until he devours the preyAnd drinks the blood of the slain.”

They took all the plunder and all the spoils of war, both people and livestock.

Then they brought the captives, the spoils, and the plunder to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the congregation of the Israelites at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan [River] across from Jericho.

“You and Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the fathers’ households of the congregation are to take a count of the spoil of war that was captured, both people and livestock.

The plunder that remained from the spoil of war which the warriors had taken, was 675,000 sheep,

Moreover, your little ones whom you said would become prey, and your sons, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, shall enter Canaan, and I will give it to them and they shall possess it.

I will abandon the remnant (remainder) of My inheritance and hand them over to their enemies; and they will become plunder and spoil to all their enemies,

[And Nehemiah prayed] Hear, O our God, how we are despised! Return their taunts on their own heads. Give them up as prey in a land of captivity.

“The lion perishes for lack of prey,And the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

“They pass by like the [swift] boats made of reeds,Like an eagle that swoops down on its prey.

“He who denounces and informs against his friends for a share of the spoil,The eyes of his children will also languish and fail.

“Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert,The poor go to their work, diligently seeking food;As bread for their children in the desert.

“The path [deep within] no bird of prey knows,And the falcon’s eye has not caught sight of it.

“And I smashed the jaws of the wickedAnd snatched the prey from his teeth.

“Can you [Job] hunt the prey for the lion,Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions

“Who provides prey for the ravenWhen its young cry to GodAnd wander about without food?

“From there he spies out the prey;His eyes see it from far away.

“He looks on everything that is high [without terror];He is monarch over all the sons of pride. [And now, Job, who are you who does not dare to disturb the beast, yet who dares resist Me, the beast’s creator? Everything under the heavens is Mine; therefore, who can have a claim against God?]”

He crushes [his prey] and crouches;And the unfortunate fall by his mighty claws.

He is like a lion eager to tear [his prey],And like a young lion lurking in hiding places.

They will be given over to the power of the sword;They will be a prey for foxes.

You are glorious and resplendent,More majestic than the mountains of prey.

The young lions roar after their preyAnd seek their food from God.

Blessed be the Lord,Who has not given us as prey to be torn by their teeth.

She lurks and lies in wait like a robber [who waits for prey],And she increases the faithless among men.

Their roaring is like a lioness, they roar like young lions;They growl and seize their preyAnd carry it off and there is no one to save it.

Then the Lord said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet [for public display] and write on it in ordinary characters: Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

So as to deprive the needy of justiceAnd rob the poor of My people of rightful claims,So that widows may be their spoilAnd that they may plunder the fatherless.

I send Assyria against a godless nationAnd commission it against the people of My wrathTo take the spoil and to seize the plunder,And to trample them down like mud in the streets.

‘Your pomp and magnificence have been brought down to Sheol,Along with the music of your harps;The maggots [which prey on the dead] are spread out under you [as a bed]And worms are your covering [Babylonian rulers].’

For so the Lord says to me,“As the lion or the young lion growls over his prey,And though a large group of shepherds is called out against himHe will not be terrified at their voice nor cringe at their noise,So the Lord of hosts will come down to wage war on Mount Zion and on its hill.”

Your ship’s ropes (tackle) hang loose;They cannot hold the base of their mast firmly,Nor spread out the sail.Then an abundance of spoil and plunder will be divided;Even the lame will take the plunder.

But this is a people despoiled and plundered;All of them are trapped in holes,Or are hidden away in prisons.They have become a prey with no one to rescue them,And a spoil, with no one to say, “Give them back!”

“Can the spoils of war be taken from the mighty man,Or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?”

Indeed, this is what the Lord says,“Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away,And the tyrant’s spoils of war will be rescued;For I will contend with your opponent,And I will save your children.

Yes, truth is missing;And he who turns away from evil makes himself a prey.Now the Lord saw it,And it displeased Him that there was no justice.

“Is Israel a servant? Is he a slave by birth?Why has he become a captive and a prey?

“Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me [unlike the others]?Are the birds of prey (enemies) surrounding her on every side?Go, gather all the [wild] beasts of the field;Bring them to devour [her]!

Moreover, I will hand over all the riches of this city, all the result of its labor, all its precious things; even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will hand over to their enemies, and they will plunder them, and take them away and carry them to Babylon.

‘Therefore all who devour you will be devoured;And all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity.And they who plunder you will become plunder,And all who prey upon you I will give for prey.

“They (the Chaldean lords) will be roaring together [before their sudden capture] like young lions [roaring over their prey],They (the princes) will be growling like lions’ cubs.

‘When she [the royal mother-city] brought up [Jehoahaz] one of her cubs,He became a [young] lion,And he learned to catch and tear the prey;He devoured men.

‘And he moved among the lions;He became a young lion,He learned to tear the prey;He devoured men.

There is a conspiracy of her [false] prophets in her midst, like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured [human] life; they have taken [in their greed] treasure and precious things; they have made many widows among her.

Her princes within her are like wolves tearing and devouring the prey, shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain.

therefore, behold, I have stretched out My hand against you and will hand you over as prey and spoil to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and will cause you to perish from the countries; I will destroy you. Then you shall know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”

Her island in the midst of the sea will become a dry place to spread nets, for I have spoken,’ says the Lord God, ‘and she will become a prey and a spoil for the nations.

Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will carry off her wealth and capture her spoil and seize her plunder; and it shall be the wages for his army.

“As I live,” says the Lord God, “certainly because My flock has become prey, My flock has even become food for every predator of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock;

therefore, I will rescue My flock, and they shall no longer be prey; and I will judge between one sheep [ungodly] and another [godly].

They will no longer be prey to the nations, and the predators of the earth will not devour them; but they will live safely, and no one will make them afraid [in the day of the Messiah’s reign].

Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate ruins and to the deserted cities which have become prey and a mockery to the rest of the nations which surround you,

therefore thus says the Lord God, “Most certainly in the fire of My jealousy (love for that which is Mine) I have spoken against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with uttermost contempt, so that they might empty it out [and possess it] as prey.”

to take spoil and seize plunder, to turn your hand against the ruins which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world [Israel].’

Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish (southern Spain), with all its young lions (villages) will say to you, ‘Have you come to take spoil? Have you assembled your hordes [of fighting men] to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take great spoil?’”’

“As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God, ‘Say to every kind of bird and to every animal of the field, “Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice that I am slaughtering for you, as a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you will eat flesh and drink blood.

Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey?Does a young lion growl from his den if he has not captured something?

The lion [of Assyria] tore enough for his cubs (Assyrian citizens),Killed [enough prey] for his lionesses,And filled his lairs with preyAnd his dens with torn flesh.

“Behold, I am against you [Nineveh],” declares the Lord of hosts, “and I will burn your chariots in the smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the land, and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard.”

“Therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord of hosts,The God of Israel,“Moab will in fact become like SodomAnd the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah,A land possessed by nettles and salt pits,And a perpetual desolation.The remnant of My people will plunder themAnd what is left of My nation will inherit them [as their own].”

“Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and robbery and self-indulgence (unrestrained greed).

So that we are no longer children [spiritually immature], tossed back and forth [like ships on a stormy sea] and carried about by every wind of [shifting] doctrine, by the cunning and trickery of [unscrupulous] men, by the deceitful scheming of people ready to do anything [for personal profit].

And they, [the ungodly in their spiritual apathy], having become callous and unfeeling, have given themselves over [as prey] to unbridled sensuality, eagerly craving the practice of every kind of impurity [that their desires may demand].