Come, all you beasts of the field; eat greedily, all you beasts of the forest.
Parallel translations
- WEB All you animals of the field, come to devour, all you animals in the forest.
- KJV All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest.
- NKJV All you beasts of the field, come to devour, All you beasts in the forest.
- NASB ¶All you wild animals, All you animals in the forest, Come to eat.
- NLT Come, wild animals of the field! Come, wild animals of the forest! Come and devour my people!
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 summons the beasts of field and forest to come and devour. It matters because it announces coming judgment on a people left vulnerable by failed leaders.
Overview
This abrupt call to wild animals to feed signals impending judgment, picturing Israel as exposed prey. It transitions from the welcome of outsiders to a rebuke of Israel's own corrupt watchmen. The verse warns that when leadership fails, God's flock is left defenseless against destruction.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Jer 12:9Is not My inheritance to Me like a speckled bird of prey with other birds of prey circling against her? Go, gather all the beasts of the field; bring them to devour her.
- Deut 28:26Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the air and beasts of the earth, with no one to scare them away.
- Isa 18:6They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey, and to the beasts of the land. The birds will feed on them in summer, and all the wild animals in winter.
- Ezek 39:17And as for you, son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: Call out to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field: ‘Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great feast on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood.
- Rev 19:17–18Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out in a loud voice to all the birds flying overhead, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God,
- Ezek 29:5I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish of your streams. You will fall on the open field and will not be taken away or gathered for burial. I have given you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air.
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 56:9 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.