100 Bible Verses about Eating Animals

Genesis 9:3 ESV / 862 helpful votes

Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.

Leviticus 11:1-47 ESV / 509 helpful votes

And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. Nevertheless, among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. ...

Romans 14:1-23 ESV / 353 helpful votes

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ...

Genesis 1:30 ESV / 298 helpful votes

And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

Deuteronomy 14:1-29 ESV / 271 helpful votes

“You are the sons of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. “You shall not eat any abomination. These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. ...

Acts 10:9-16 ESV / 204 helpful votes

The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” ...

Leviticus 11:2 ESV / 176 helpful votes

“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth.

Mark 7:19 ESV / 161 helpful votes

Since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)

Genesis 1:29 ESV / 156 helpful votes

And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.

Proverbs 12:10 ESV / 155 helpful votes

Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.

Romans 14:21 ESV / 137 helpful votes

It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.

Genesis 1:26 ESV / 136 helpful votes

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Isaiah 66:3 ESV / 117 helpful votes

“He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck; he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers pig's blood; he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol. These have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations;

Leviticus 11:1-30 ESV / 115 helpful votes

And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. Nevertheless, among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. ...

Genesis 1:29-31 ESV / 115 helpful votes

And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Isaiah 11:6-9 ESV / 114 helpful votes

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Mark 7:1-37 ESV / 102 helpful votes

Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” ...

Deuteronomy 14:3-21 ESV / 100 helpful votes

“You shall not eat any abomination. These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. Every animal that parts the hoof and has the hoof cloven in two and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof cloven you shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger, because they chew the cud but do not part the hoof, are unclean for you. ...

Acts 15:29 ESV / 99 helpful votes

That you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

Genesis 9:4 ESV / 98 helpful votes

But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.

Proverbs 6:16-17 ESV / 95 helpful votes

There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

Daniel 1:12 ESV / 85 helpful votes

“Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink.

Romans 14:14 ESV / 81 helpful votes

I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.

Genesis 1:29-30 ESV / 81 helpful votes

And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

Colossians 2:16 ESV / 75 helpful votes

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.

Deuteronomy 25:4 ESV / 74 helpful votes

“You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain.

Acts 10:1-48 ESV / 70 helpful votes

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. ...

Genesis 1:28 ESV / 69 helpful votes

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

1 Timothy 4:1-5 ESV / 68 helpful votes

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

1 Corinthians 8:13 ESV / 60 helpful votes

Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

1 Timothy 4:5 ESV / 59 helpful votes

For it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

Mark 7:18-19 ESV / 59 helpful votes

And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)

Leviticus 22:8 ESV / 58 helpful votes

He shall not eat what dies of itself or is torn by beasts, and so make himself unclean by it: I am the Lord.’

Genesis 9:2-3 ESV / 58 helpful votes

The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.

Acts 10:14 ESV / 56 helpful votes

But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”

Leviticus 3:17 ESV / 56 helpful votes

It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your dwelling places, that you eat neither fat nor blood.”

1 Timothy 4:3 ESV / 55 helpful votes

Who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

Genesis 4:4 ESV / 54 helpful votes

And Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,

Deuteronomy 22:10 ESV / 52 helpful votes

You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.

Matthew 6:26 ESV / 51 helpful votes

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Ezekiel 44:23 ESV / 51 helpful votes

They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.

Genesis 7:2 ESV / 50 helpful votes

Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate,

1 Timothy 4:3-5 ESV / 49 helpful votes

Who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

Isaiah 66:15-17 ESV / 49 helpful votes

“For behold, the Lord will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire will the Lord enter into judgment, and by his sword, with all flesh; and those slain by the Lord shall be many. “Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, eating pig's flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the Lord.

Proverbs 27:23 ESV / 49 helpful votes

Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds,

Deuteronomy 14:21 ESV / 49 helpful votes

“You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

Psalm 36:6 ESV / 48 helpful votes

Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord.

Genesis 1:26-28 ESV / 48 helpful votes

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

1 Corinthians 8:8 ESV / 46 helpful votes

Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.

Matthew 15:17 ESV / 46 helpful votes

Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?

Psalm 147:9 ESV / 46 helpful votes

He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry.

1 Timothy 4:1-3 ESV / 44 helpful votes

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

Romans 14:3 ESV / 44 helpful votes

Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.

Luke 14:5 ESV / 44 helpful votes

And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?”

Deuteronomy 14:6 ESV / 44 helpful votes

Every animal that parts the hoof and has the hoof cloven in two and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat.

Leviticus 11:7 ESV / 43 helpful votes

And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you.

Genesis 1:21 ESV / 43 helpful votes

So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Matthew 10:29 ESV / 42 helpful votes

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.

Isaiah 65:25 ESV / 42 helpful votes

The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.

Leviticus 17:13-14 ESV / 42 helpful votes

“Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.

Leviticus 11:4-8 ESV / 42 helpful votes

Nevertheless, among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. You shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.

Malachi 3:6 ESV / 41 helpful votes

“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

Leviticus 7:23-24 ESV / 41 helpful votes

“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, You shall eat no fat, of ox or sheep or goat. The fat of an animal that dies of itself and the fat of one that is torn by beasts may be put to any other use, but on no account shall you eat it.

Luke 24:42-43 ESV / 40 helpful votes

They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.

Psalm 50:10-11 ESV / 40 helpful votes

For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.

Luke 24:41-43 ESV / 39 helpful votes

And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.

Daniel 1:1-21 ESV / 39 helpful votes

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. ...

Leviticus 11:9 ESV / 39 helpful votes

“These you may eat, of all that are in the waters. Everything in the waters that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers, you may eat.

1 Corinthians 10:25 ESV / 38 helpful votes

Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience.

Romans 8:7 ESV / 38 helpful votes

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.

Mark 7:18 ESV / 38 helpful votes

And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him,

Genesis 7:1-3 ESV / 38 helpful votes

Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth.

Hebrews 13:8 ESV / 37 helpful votes

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Acts 15:20 ESV / 37 helpful votes

But should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.

Leviticus 11:10 ESV / 37 helpful votes

But anything in the seas or the rivers that does not have fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and of the living creatures that are in the waters, is detestable to you.

1 Corinthians 8:4-7 ESV / 36 helpful votes

Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

Romans 14:2-3 ESV / 36 helpful votes

One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.

Luke 12:6 ESV / 36 helpful votes

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.

Deuteronomy 22:6-7 ESV / 36 helpful votes

“If you come across a bird's nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. You shall let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long.

Leviticus 11:4 ESV / 35 helpful votes

Nevertheless, among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you.

Revelation 18:2 ESV / 34 helpful votes

And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV / 34 helpful votes

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Acts 11:18 ESV / 34 helpful votes

When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

Hosea 2:18 ESV / 34 helpful votes

And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety.

1 Corinthians 8:4 ESV / 33 helpful votes

Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.”

Acts 10:44-47 ESV / 33 helpful votes

While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

Acts 10:1 ESV / 33 helpful votes

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort,

Luke 24:30 ESV / 33 helpful votes

When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.

Luke 9:16 ESV / 33 helpful votes

And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.

Matthew 3:4 ESV / 33 helpful votes

Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

Genesis 1:24-25 ESV / 33 helpful votes

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

1 Corinthians 10:25-31 ESV / 32 helpful votes

Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.” If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? ...

Mark 7:14-23 ESV / 32 helpful votes

And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) ...

Matthew 15:9 ESV / 32 helpful votes

In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

Daniel 1:8 ESV / 32 helpful votes

But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.

Romans 14:5 ESV / 31 helpful votes

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.

Romans 7:12 ESV / 31 helpful votes

So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Mark 1:6 ESV / 31 helpful votes

Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.

Matthew 15:13 ESV / 31 helpful votes

He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.

James 1:17 ESV / 30 helpful votes

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Suggest a Verse


Visit the Bible online to search for words if you don’t know the specific passage your’re looking for.