'Prey' in the Bible
The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
“Judah is a lion’s whelp;From the prey, my son, you have gone up.He couches, he lies down as a lion,And as a lion, who dares rouse him up?
“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;In the morning he devours the prey,And in the evening he divides the spoil.”
Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.”
Your children, however, whom you said would become a prey—I will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected.
“Behold, a people rises like a lioness,And as a lion it lifts itself;It will not lie down until it devours the prey,And drinks the blood of the slain.”
They took all the spoil and all the prey, both of man and of beast.
They brought the captives and the prey and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest and to the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan opposite Jericho.
Moreover, your little ones who you said would become a prey, and your sons, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them and they shall possess it.
“The lion perishes for lack of prey,And the whelps of the lioness are scattered.
“They slip by like reed boats,Like an eagle that swoops on its prey.
“The path no bird of prey knows,Nor has the falcon’s eye caught sight of it.
“I broke the jaws of the wickedAnd snatched the prey from his teeth.
“Can you hunt the prey for the lion,Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
They will be delivered over to the power of the sword;They will be a prey for foxes.
You are resplendent,More majestic than the mountains of prey.
The young lions roar after their preyAnd seek their food from God.
A lazy man does not roast his prey,But the precious possession of a man is diligence.
Its roaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions;It growls as it seizes the preyAnd carries it off with no one to deliver it.
Then the Lord said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet and write on it in ordinary letters: Swift is the booty, speedy is the prey.
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.
For thus says the Lord to me,“As the lion or the young lion growls over his prey,Against which a band of shepherds is called out,And he will not be terrified at their voice nor disturbed at their noise,So will the Lord of hosts come down to wage war on Mount Zion and on its hill.”
Your tackle hangs slack;It cannot hold the base of its mast firmly,Nor spread out the sail.Then the prey of an abundant spoil will be divided;The lame will take the plunder.
But this is a people plundered and despoiled;All of them are trapped in caves,Or are hidden away in prisons;They have become a prey with none to deliver them,And a spoil, with none to say, “Give them back!”
Calling a bird of prey from the east,The man of My purpose from a far country.Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.I have planned it, surely I will do it.
“Can the prey be taken from the mighty man,Or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?”
Surely, thus says the Lord,“Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away,And the prey of the tyrant will be rescued;For I will contend with the one who contends with you,And I will save your sons.
Yes, truth is lacking;And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey.Now the Lord saw,And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice.
“Is Israel a slave? Or is he a homeborn servant?Why has he become a prey?
“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!
‘Therefore all who devour you will be devoured;And all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity;And those who plunder you will be for plunder,And all who prey upon you I will give for prey.
‘When she brought up one of her cubs,He became a lion,And he learned to tear his prey;He devoured men.
‘And he walked about among the lions;He became a young lion,He learned to tear his prey;He devoured men.
There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in the midst of her.
Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain.
Also they will make a spoil of your riches and a prey of your merchandise, break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses, and throw your stones and your timbers and your debris into the water.
“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;
therefore, I will deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another.
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.
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 wastes and to the forsaken cities which have become a prey and a derision to the rest of the nations which are round about,
therefore thus says the Lord God, “Surely in the fire of My jealousy 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 scorn of soul, to drive it out for a prey.”
Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey?Does a young lion growl from his den unless he has captured something?
The lion tore enough for his cubs,Killed enough for his lionesses,And filled his lairs with preyAnd his dens with torn flesh.
“Behold, I am against you,” declares the Lord of hosts. “I will burn up her chariots in smoke, a sword will devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard.”
Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage;Her prey never departs.
“Therefore wait for Me,” declares the Lord,“For the day when I rise up as a witness.Indeed, My decision is to gather nations,To assemble kingdoms,To pour out on them My indignation,All My burning anger;For all the earth will be devouredBy the fire of My zeal.