Thus they will have towns in which to live, and their grazing lands will be for their cattle, for their possessions, and for all their animals.

“But now, ask the animals and they ²  will teach you, or the birds of the sky and they will tell you.

Who really knows if the human spirit ¹  ascends upward, and the animal’s spirit descends into the earth?

In it ¹  were all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles ²  of the earth and wild birds. ³ 

For the fate of humans ¹  and the fate of animals are the same: As one dies, so dies the other; both have the same breath. There is no advantage for humans over animals, for both are fleeting.

“Then ¹  a second beast appeared, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and there were three ribs ²  in its mouth between its teeth. ³  It was told, ⁴  ‘Get up and devour much flesh!’

“This is what he told me: ¹  ‘The fourth beast means that there will be a fourth kingdom on earth that will differ from all the other kingdoms. It will devour all the earth and will trample and crush it.

If from a human point of view I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, ¹  what did it benefit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. ² 

And to all the animals of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to all the creatures that move on the ground – everything that has the breath of life in it – I give ¹  every green plant for food.” It was so.

So the man named all the animals, the birds of the air, and the living creatures of the field, but for Adam ¹  no companion who corresponded to him was found. ² 

Every living creature of the earth and every bird of the sky will be terrified of you. ¹  Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are under your authority. ² 

“You will be holy ¹  people to me; you must not eat any meat torn by animals in the field. ²  You must throw it to the dogs.

He must not eat an animal that has died of natural causes ¹  or an animal torn by beasts and thus become unclean by it. I am the Lord.

Your carcasses will be food for every bird of the sky and wild animal of the earth, and there will be no one to chase them off.

The Philistine said to David, “Come here to me, so I can give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the field!” ¹ 

Your justice is like the highest mountains, ¹  your fairness like the deepest sea; you preserve ²  mankind and the animal kingdom. ³ 

I will hand them over to their enemies who want to kill them. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals. ¹ 

So I went in and looked. I noticed every figure ¹  of creeping thing and beast – detestable images ²  – and every idol of the house of Israel, engraved on the wall all around. ³ 

I will leave you on the ground, I will fling you on the open field, I will allow ¹  all the birds of the sky to settle ²  on you, and I will permit ³  all the wild animals ⁴  to gorge themselves on you.

You will fall dead on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the people who are with you. I give you as food to every kind of bird and every wild beast.