'Beasts' in the Bible

Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so.

God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind;

But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.

That which was torn of beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it myself. You required it of my hand whether stolen by day or stolen by night.

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go to the land of Canaan,

I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.

Also the fat of an animal which dies and the fat of an animal torn by beasts may be put to any other use, but you must certainly not eat it.

When any person eats an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or an alien, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening; then he will become clean.

He shall not eat an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, becoming unclean by it; I am the Lord.

I shall also grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down with no one making you tremble. I shall also eliminate harmful beasts from the land, and no sword will pass through your land.

I will let loose among you the beasts of the field, which will bereave you of your children and destroy your cattle and reduce your number so that your roads lie deserted.

Why then have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness, for us and our beasts to die here?

“Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.”

Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank.

The cities shall be theirs to live in; and their pasture lands shall be for their cattle and for their herds and for all their beasts.

The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, for the wild beasts would grow too numerous for you.

“Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.

Your carcasses will be food to all birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.

‘They will be wasted by famine, and consumed by plagueAnd bitter destruction;And the teeth of beasts I will send upon them,With the venom of crawling things of the dust.

The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.”

This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,

And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until it rained on them from the sky; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night.

For thus says the Lord, ‘You shall not see wind nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, both you and your cattle and your beasts.

“You will laugh at violence and famine,And you will not be afraid of wild beasts.

“For you will be in league with the stones of the field,And the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.

“But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you;And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you.

“Why are we regarded as beasts,As stupid in your eyes?

“The proud beasts have not trodden it,Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.

Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earthAnd makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’

“Surely the mountains bring him food,And all the beasts of the field play there.

All sheep and oxen,And also the beasts of the field,

But man in his pomp will not endure;He is like the beasts that perish.

Man in his pomp, yet without understanding,Is like the beasts that perish.

I shall offer to You burnt offerings of fat beasts,With the smoke of rams;I shall make an offering of bulls with male goats. Selah.

Rebuke the beasts in the reeds,The herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples,Trampling under foot the pieces of silver;He has scattered the peoples who delight in war.

They have given the dead bodies of Your servants for food to the birds of the heavens,The flesh of Your godly ones to the beasts of the earth.

You appoint darkness and it becomes night,In which all the beasts of the forest prowl about.

Beasts and all cattle;Creeping things and winged fowl;

The lion which is mighty among beastsAnd does not retreat before any,

I said to myself concerning the sons of men, “God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts.”

For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity.

They will be left together for mountain birds of prey,And for the beasts of the earth;And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them,And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.

The oracle concerning the beasts of the Negev.Through a land of distress and anguish,From where come lioness and lion, viper and flying serpent,They carry their riches on the backs of young donkeysAnd their treasures on camels’ humps,To a people who cannot profit them;

Even Lebanon is not enough to burn,Nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering.

“The beasts of the field will glorify Me,The jackals and the ostriches,Because I have given waters in the wildernessAnd rivers in the desert,To give drink to My chosen people.

Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over;Their images are consigned to the beasts and the cattle.The things that you carry are burdensome,A load for the weary beast.

All you beasts of the field,All you beasts in the forest,Come to eat.

The dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth; and no one will frighten them away.

“For the mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing,And for the pastures of the wilderness a dirge,Because they are laid waste so that no one passes through,And the lowing of the cattle is not heard;Both the birds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone.

“Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me?Are the birds of prey against her on every side?Go, gather all the beasts of the field,Bring them to devour!

I will appoint over them four kinds of doom,” declares the Lord: “the sword to slay, the dogs to drag off, and the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.

“They will die of deadly diseases, they will not be lamented or buried; they will be as dung on the surface of the ground and come to an end by sword and famine, and their carcasses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth.”

I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and I will give over their carcasses as food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.

“I have made the earth, the men and the beasts which are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to the one who is pleasing in My sight.

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they will serve him. And I have also given him the beasts of the field.”’”

I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. And their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.

But I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never been defiled; for from my youth until now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has any unclean meat ever entered my mouth.”

Moreover, I will send on you famine and wild beasts, and they will bereave you of children; plague and bloodshed also will pass through you, and I will bring the sword on you. I, the Lord, have spoken.’”

So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around.

“If I were to cause wild beasts to pass through the land and they depopulated it, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the beasts,

For thus says the Lord God, “How much more when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, wild beasts and plague to cut off man and beast from it!

“I will abandon you to the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers;You will fall on the open field; you will not be brought together or gathered.I have given you for food to the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the sky.

‘All the birds of the heavens nested in its boughs,And under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth,And all great nations lived under its shade.

On its ruin all the birds of the heavens will dwell, and all the beasts of the field will be on its fallen branches

“I will leave you on the land;I will cast you on the open field.And I will cause all the birds of the heavens to dwell on you,And I will satisfy the beasts of the whole earth with you.

“I will also destroy all its cattle from beside many waters;And the foot of man will not muddy them anymoreAnd the hoofs of beasts will not muddy them.

Thus you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of pestilence.

“As I live,” declares the Lord God, “surely because My flock has become a prey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts 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;

“I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate harmful beasts from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.

They will no longer be a prey to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them; but they will live securely, and no one will make them afraid.

The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence; the mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse and every wall will fall to the ground.

and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold.

‘Its foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant,And in it was food for all.The beasts of the field found shade under it,And the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches,And all living creatures fed themselves from it.

‘He shouted out and spoke as follows:Chop down the tree and cut off its branches,Strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit;Let the beasts flee from under itAnd the birds from its branches.

“Yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground,But with a band of iron and bronze around itIn the new grass of the field;And let him be drenched with the dew of heaven,And let him share with the beasts in the grass of the earth.

and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt and in whose branches the birds of the sky lodged—

In that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, “Chop down the tree and destroy it; yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field, and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him share with the beasts of the field until seven periods of time pass over him,”

that you be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.

and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.’

He was also driven away from mankind, and his heart was made like that of beasts, and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he recognized that the Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever He wishes.

And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another.

After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.

As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period of time.

‘These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth.

I saw the ram butting westward, northward, and southward, and no other beasts could stand before him nor was there anyone to rescue from his power, but he did as he pleased and magnified himself.

“I will destroy her vines and fig trees,Of which she said, ‘These are my wagesWhich my lovers have given me.’And I will make them a forest,And the beasts of the field will devour them.

“In that day I will also make a covenant for themWith the beasts of the field,The birds of the skyAnd the creeping things of the ground.And I will abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land,And will make them lie down in safety.

Therefore the land mourns,And everyone who lives in it languishesAlong with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky,And also the fish of the sea disappear.

How the beasts groan!The herds of cattle wander aimlesslyBecause there is no pasture for them;Even the flocks of sheep suffer.

Even the beasts of the field pant for You;For the water brooks are dried upAnd fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

Do not fear, beasts of the field,For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green,For the tree has borne its fruit,The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full.

The remnant of JacobWill be among the nations,Among many peoplesLike a lion among the beasts of the forest,Like a young lion among flocks of sheep,Which, if he passes through,Tramples down and tears,And there is none to rescue.

“For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,And the devastation of its beasts by which you terrified them,Because of human bloodshed and violence done to the land,To the town and all its inhabitants.

Flocks will lie down in her midst,All beasts which range in herds;Both the pelican and the hedgehogWill lodge in the tops of her pillars;Birds will sing in the window,Desolation will be on the threshold;For He has laid bare the cedar work.

This is the exultant cityWhich dwells securely,Who says in her heart,“I am, and there is no one besides me.”How she has become a desolation,A resting place for beasts!Everyone who passes by her will hissAnd wave his hand in contempt.