'Pasture' in the Bible
He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the sheep, and go, pasture them.”
So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock:
Then his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock in Shechem.
They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now, therefore, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.”
But pasture fields of their cities shall not be sold, for that is their perpetual possession.
“Command the sons of Israel that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their possession cities to live in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands around the cities.
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 pasture lands of the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall extend from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits around.
You shall also measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, with the city in the center. This shall become theirs as pasture lands for the cities.
All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities, together with their pasture lands.
For the sons of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, and they did not give a portion to the Levites in the land, except cities to live in, with their pasture lands for their livestock and for their property.
They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “The Lord commanded through Moses to give us cities to live in, with their pasture lands for our cattle.”
So the sons of Israel gave the Levites from their inheritance these cities with their pasture lands, according to the command of the Lord.
Now the sons of Israel gave by lot to the Levites these cities with their pasture lands, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.
Thus they gave them Kiriath-arba, Arba being the father of Anak (that is, Hebron), in the hill country of Judah, with its surrounding pasture lands.
So to the sons of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands, and Libnah with its pasture lands,
and Jattir with its pasture lands and Eshtemoa with its pasture lands,
and Ain with its pasture lands and Juttah with its pasture lands and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands; nine cities from these two tribes.
From the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands,
Anathoth with its pasture lands and Almon with its pasture lands; four cities.
All the cities of the sons of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.
They gave them Shechem, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands, in the hill country of Ephraim, and Gezer with its pasture lands,
and Kibzaim with its pasture lands and Beth-horon with its pasture lands; four cities.
From the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands,
Aijalon with its pasture lands, Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; four cities.
From the half-tribe of Manasseh, they allotted Taanach with its pasture lands and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; two cities.
All the cities with their pasture lands for the families of the rest of the sons of Kohath were ten.
To the sons of Gershon, one of the families of the Levites, from the half-tribe of Manasseh, they gave Golan in Bashan, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands, and Be-eshterah with its pasture lands; two cities.
From the tribe of Issachar, they gave Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands,
Jarmuth with its pasture lands, En-gannim with its pasture lands; four cities.
From the tribe of Asher, they gave Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands,
Helkath with its pasture lands and Rehob with its pasture lands; four cities.
From the tribe of Naphtali, they gave Kedesh in Galilee, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands and Hammoth-dor with its pasture lands and Kartan with its pasture lands; three cities.
All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.
To the families of the sons of Merari, the rest of the Levites, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasture lands and Kartah with its pasture lands.
Dimnah with its pasture lands, Nahalal with its pasture lands; four cities.
From the tribe of Reuben, they gave Bezer with its pasture lands and Jahaz with its pasture lands,
Kedemoth with its pasture lands and Mephaath with its pasture lands; four cities.
From the tribe of Gad, they gave Ramoth in Gilead, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands and Mahanaim with its pasture lands,
Heshbon with its pasture lands, Jazer with its pasture lands; four cities in all.
All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the sons of Israel were forty-eight cities with their pasture lands.
These cities each had its surrounding pasture lands; thus it was with all these cities.
“Now therefore, thus you shall say 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.
They went to the entrance of Gedor, even to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.
They found rich and good pasture, and the land was broad and quiet and peaceful; for those who lived there formerly were Hamites.
These, recorded by name, came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and attacked their tents and the Meunites who were found there, and destroyed them utterly to this day, and lived in their place, because there was pasture there for their flocks.
They lived in Gilead, in Bashan and in its towns, and in all the pasture lands of Sharon, as far as their borders.
David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if it is from the Lord our God, let us send everywhere to our kinsmen who remain in all the land of Israel, also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their cities with pasture lands, that they may meet with us;
Now, therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel.
For the Levites left their pasture lands and their property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons had excluded them from serving as priests to the Lord.
Also for the sons of Aaron the priests who were in the pasture lands of their cities, or in each and every city, there were men who were designated by name to distribute portions to every male among the priests and to everyone genealogically enrolled among the Levites.
“He explores the mountains for his pastureAnd searches after every green thing.
A Maskil of Asaph.O God, why have You rejected us forever?Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
So we Your people and the sheep of Your pastureWill give thanks to You forever;To all generations we will tell of Your praise.
For He is our God,And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.Today, if you would hear His voice,
Know that the Lord Himself is God;It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;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 veils herselfBeside the flocks of your companions?”
“If you yourself do not know,Most beautiful among women,Go forth on the trail of the flockAnd pasture your young goatsBy the tents of the shepherds.
“My beloved has gone down to his garden,To the beds of balsam,To pasture his flock in the gardensAnd gather lilies.
Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture,And strangers will eat in the waste places of the wealthy.
Then He will give you rain for the seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the yield of the ground, and it will be rich and plenteous; on that day your livestock will graze in a roomy pasture.
Because the palace has been abandoned, the populated city forsaken.Hill and watch-tower have become caves forever,A delight for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks;
Saying to those who are bound, ‘Go forth,’To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’Along the roads they will feed,And their pasture will be on all bare heights.
Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks,And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.
“Sharon will be a pasture land for flocks,And the valley of Achor a resting place for herds,For My people who seek Me.
“Shepherds and their flocks will come to her,They will pitch their tents around her,They will pasture each in his place.
“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” declares the Lord.
“Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply.
“Hear the sound of the cry of the shepherds,And the wailing of the masters of the flock!For the Lord is destroying their pasture,
Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan against a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I will make him run away from it, and whoever is chosen I shall appoint over it. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can stand against Me?”
Therefore hear the plan of the Lord which He has planned against Edom, and His purposes which He has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: surely they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them.
And I will bring Israel back to his pasture and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan, and his desire will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead.
“Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan to a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I will make them run away from it, and whoever is chosen I will appoint over it. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can stand before Me?”
Therefore hear the plan of the Lord which He has planned against Babylon, and His purposes which He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: surely they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them.
All her majestyHas departed from the daughter of Zion;Her princes have become like deerThat have found no pasture;And they have fled without strengthBefore the pursuer.
I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and the sons of Ammon a resting place for flocks. Thus you will know that I am the Lord.”
“At the sound of the cry of your pilotsThe pasture lands will shake.
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.
Is it too slight a thing for you that you should feed in the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or that you should drink of the clear waters, that you must foul the rest with your feet?
“As for you, My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God,” declares the Lord God.
Since Israel is stubbornLike a stubborn heifer,Can the Lord now pasture themLike a lamb in a large field?
As they had their pasture, they became satisfied,And being satisfied, their heart became proud;Therefore they forgot Me.
How the beasts groan!The herds of cattle wander aimlesslyBecause there is no pasture for them;Even the flocks of sheep suffer.
He said,“The Lord roars from ZionAnd from Jerusalem He utters His voice;And the shepherds’ pasture grounds mourn,And the summit of Carmel dries up.”
“I will surely assemble all of you, Jacob,I will surely gather the remnant of Israel.I will put them together like sheep in the fold;Like a flock in the midst of its pastureThey will be noisy with men.
And the coast will beFor the remnant of the house of Judah,They will pasture on it.In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening;For the Lord their God will care for themAnd restore their fortune.
Thus says the Lord my God, “Pasture the flock doomed to slaughter.
Then I said, “I will not pasture you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be annihilated, let it be annihilated; and let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”
“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?
I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.