Your carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and no one shall frighten them away.
Parallel translations
- WEB Your dead body will be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there will be no one to frighten them away.
- KJV And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.
- BSB Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the air and beasts of the earth, with no one to scare them away.
- NASB Your dead bodies will serve as food for all birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.
- NLT Your corpses will be food for all the scavenging birds and wild animals, and no one will be there to chase them away.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The unburied dead will become food for birds and beasts, a sign of utter disgrace.
Overview
Lack of burial was a profound dishonor in the ancient world. This image of corpses left to scavengers depicts total defeat and shame. It conveys the horror of judgment that strips away even the dignity of the dead.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Jer 16:4“They shall die grievous deaths: they shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried; they shall be as dung on the surface of the ground; and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth.”
- Jer 34:20I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth.
- Jer 7:33The dead bodies of this people shall be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth; and no one shall frighten them away.
- Jer 19:7“‘“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 their dead bodies will I give to be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth.
- Jer 8:1“At that time,” says Yahweh, “they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves;
- 1 Sam 17:44–46The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky, and to the animals of the field.”
- Isa 34:3Their slain will also be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies will come up; and the mountains will melt in their blood.
- Ezek 39:17–20You, son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Speak to the birds of every sort, and to every animal of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat meat and drink blood.
- Ps 79:1–3A Psalm by Asaph. God, the nations have come into your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 28:26 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.