Everything that lives and moves will be food for you; just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you all things.
Parallel translations
- WEB Every moving thing that lives will be food for you. As I gave you the green herb, I have given everything to you.
- KJV Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
- NKJV Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.
- NASB Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I have given everything to you, as I gave the green plant.
- NLT I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables.
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
God grants humanity every moving creature for food, as he had earlier given plants. A new provision of food is established after the flood.
Overview
This expands the original grant of plant food to include animals, reflecting God's gracious provision for human life in the renewed world. It marks a development in God's dealings with humanity following the flood. The gift of food underscores God's faithful care to sustain those he has saved.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Rom 14:14I am convinced and fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
- 1 Tim 4:3–5They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from certain foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
- Col 2:21–22“Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”?
- Deut 12:15But whenever you want, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, according to the blessing the LORD your God has given you. Both the ceremonially clean and unclean may eat it as they would a gazelle or deer,
- 1 Cor 10:31So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.
- 1 Cor 10:25–26Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience,
- Col 2:16Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath.
- 1 Cor 10:23“Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is edifying.
- Acts 10:12–15It contained all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, as well as birds of the air.
- Ps 104:14–15He makes the grass grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth:
- Rom 14:3The one who eats everything must not belittle the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted him.
- Lev 11:1–47The LORD spoke again to Moses and Aaron, telling them,
- Rom 14:20Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to let his eating be a stumbling block.
- Lev 22:8He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, which would make him unclean. I am the LORD.
- Gen 1:29–30Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food.
- Rom 14:17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
- Deut 14:3–21You must not eat any detestable thing.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 9:3 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.