'Flock' in the Bible

Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering;

Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.

Go now to the flock and bring me two choice young goats from there, that I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father, such as he loves.

When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.

So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock:

let me pass through your entire flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted sheep and every black one among the lambs and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such shall be my wages.

Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban; and he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with Laban’s flock.

Moreover, whenever the stronger of the flock were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the gutters, so that they might mate by the rods;

but when the flock was feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s.

So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to his flock in the field,

If he spoke thus, ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flock brought forth speckled; and if he spoke thus, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock brought forth striped.

And it came about at the time when the flock were mating that I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which were mating were striped, speckled, and mottled.

When Laban had gone to shear his flock, then Rachel stole the household idols that were her father’s.

These twenty years I have been in your house; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, and you changed my wages ten times.

These are the records of the generations of Jacob.Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.

Then his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock in Shechem.

Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “I will go.”

Then he said to him, “Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

He said, “I am looking for my brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing the flock.”

He said, therefore, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” She said, moreover, “Will you give a pledge until you send it?”

Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and they came to draw water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.

Then the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and helped them and watered their flock.

So they said, “An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and what is more, he even drew the water for us and watered the flock.”

Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When any man of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or the flock.

‘But if his offering is from the flock, of the sheep or of the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall offer it a male without defect.

But if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord is from the flock, he shall offer it, male or female, without defect.

He shall also bring his guilt offering to the Lord for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin.

“If a person acts unfaithfully and sins unintentionally against the Lord’s holy things, then he shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord: a ram without defect from the flock, according to your valuation in silver by shekels, in terms of the shekel of the sanctuary, for a guilt offering.

He is then to bring to the priest a ram without defect from the flock, according to your valuation, for a guilt offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his error in which he sinned unintentionally and did not know it, and it will be forgiven him.

Then he shall bring to the priest his guilt offering to the Lord, a ram without defect from the flock, according to your valuation, for a guilt offering,

When a man offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to fulfill a special vow or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it.

For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord.

then make an offering by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering or a sacrifice to fulfill a special vow, or as a freewill offering or in your appointed times, to make a soothing aroma to the Lord, from the herd or from the flock.

He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you.

There you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the contribution of your hand, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock.

You are not allowed to eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, or the firstborn of your herd or flock, or any of your votive offerings which you vow, or your freewill offerings, or the contribution of your hand.

If the place which the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter of your herd and flock which the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates whatever you desire.

You shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.

You shall furnish him liberally from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you.

“You shall consecrate to the Lord your God all the firstborn males that are born of your herd and of your flock; you shall not work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock.

You shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where the Lord chooses to establish His name.

“Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.

“Cursed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.

Moreover, it shall eat the offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed, who also leaves you no grain, new wine, or oil, nor the increase of your herd or the young of your flock until they have caused you to perish.

Curds of cows, and milk of the flock,With fat of lambs,And rams, the breed of Bashan, and goats,With the finest of the wheat—And of the blood of grapes you drank wine.

So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David who is with the flock.”

but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s flock at Bethlehem.

So David arose early in the morning and left the flock with a keeper and took the supplies and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the circle of the camp while the army was going out in battle array shouting the war cry.

But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock,

“Now a traveler came to the rich man,And he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd,To prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him;Rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

They pledged to put away their wives, and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their offense.

“They send forth their little ones like the flock,And their children skip about.

“But now those younger than I mock me,Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.

You led Your people like a flockBy the hand of Moses and Aaron.

But He led forth His own people like sheepAnd guided them in the wilderness like a flock;

For the choir director; set to El Shoshannim; Eduth. A Psalm of Asaph.Oh, give ear, Shepherd of Israel,You who lead Joseph like a flock;You who are enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth!

But He sets the needy securely on high away from affliction,And makes his families like a flock.

“Tell me, O you whom my soul loves,Where do you pasture your flock,Where do you make it lie down at noon?For why should I be like one who veils herselfBeside the flocks of your companions?”

“If you yourself do not know,Most beautiful among women,Go forth on the trail of the flockAnd pasture your young goatsBy the tents of the shepherds.

“My beloved is mine, and I am his;He pastures his flock among the lilies.

“How beautiful you are, my darling,How beautiful you are!Your eyes are like doves behind your veil;Your hair is like a flock of goatsThat have descended from Mount Gilead.

“Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn ewesWhich have come up from their washing,All of which bear twins,And not one among them has lost her young.

“My beloved has gone down to his garden,To the beds of balsam,To pasture his flock in the gardensAnd gather lilies.

“I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,He who pastures his flock among the lilies.”

“Turn your eyes away from me,For they have confused me;Your hair is like a flock of goatsThat have descended from Gilead.

“Your teeth are like a flock of ewesWhich have come up from their washing,All of which bear twins,And not one among them has lost her young.

Like a shepherd He will tend His flock,In His arm He will gather the lambsAnd carry them in His bosom;He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses.Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock?Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in the midst of them,

For the shepherds have become stupidAnd have not sought the Lord;Therefore they have not prospered,And all their flock is scattered.

But if you will not listen to it,My soul will sob in secret for such pride;And my eyes will bitterly weepAnd flow down with tears,Because the flock of the Lord has been taken captive.

“Lift up your eyes and seeThose coming from the north.Where is the flock that was given you,Your beautiful sheep?

Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds,” declares the Lord.

“Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply.

“Wail, you shepherds, and cry;And wallow in ashes, you masters of the flock;For the days of your slaughter and your dispersions have come,And you will fall like a choice vessel.

“Flight will perish from the shepherds,And escape from the masters of the flock.

“Hear the sound of the cry of the shepherds,And the wailing of the masters of the flock!For the Lord is destroying their pasture,

Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,And declare in the coastlands afar off,And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather himAnd keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”

“They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion,And they will be radiant over the bounty of the Lord—Over the grain and the new wine and the oil,And over the young of the flock and the herd;And their life will be like a watered garden,And they will never languish again.

Therefore hear the plan of the Lord which He has planned against Edom, and His purposes which He has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: surely they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them.

“Wander away from the midst of BabylonAnd go forth from the land of the Chaldeans;Be also like male goats at the head of the flock.

“Israel is a scattered flock, the lions have driven them away. The first one who devoured him was the king of Assyria, and this last one who has broken his bones is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

Therefore hear the plan of the Lord which He has planned against Babylon, and His purposes which He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: surely they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them.

And with you I shatter the shepherd and his flock,And with you I shatter the farmer and his team,And with you I shatter governors and prefects.

“Take the choicest of the flock,And also pile wood under the pot.Make it boil vigorously.Also seethe its bones in it.”

“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?

You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock.

My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them.”’”

“As I live,” declares the Lord God, “surely because My flock has become a prey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock;

‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I will deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.”’”

I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest,” declares the Lord God.

“As for you, My flock, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats.

As for My flock, they must eat what you tread down with your feet and drink what you foul with your feet!’”

therefore, I will deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another.

‘Thus says the Lord God, “This also I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them: I will increase their men like a flock.

Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so will the waste cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”’”

When you have finished cleansing it, you shall present a young bull without blemish and a ram without blemish from the flock.

For seven days you shall prepare daily a goat for a sin offering; also a young bull and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be prepared.

and one sheep from each flock of two hundred from the watering places of Israel—for a grain offering, for a burnt offering and for peace offerings, to make atonement for them,” declares the Lord God.

Those who recline on beds of ivoryAnd sprawl on their couches,And eat lambs from the flockAnd calves from the midst of the stall,