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47 Bible verses about caring for animals
Think about the Old Testament, how animal sacrifices were the norm. But even then, there are so many verses showing God pushing back against those sacrifices and calling for animal care. It really makes you think.
Proverbs 12:1010, for instance, says, "The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel." That's powerful. God's word includes advocating for animals. It's right there in the Bible.
If you really dig into the prophets, you'll find tons of verses urging care for animals. Hosea 8:1313 puts it plainly: "They offer sacrifices of animals and eat the meat, but the Lord is not pleased with them. Now he will remember their wickedness and punish their sins." It's a good reminder that true worship goes beyond rituals and involves how we treat all of God's creation.
So God created the large sea-creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water, according to their kinds. He also created every winged creature according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?
for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth #– #everything having the breath of life in it #– #I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so.
Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.’
Then God said, ‘Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.’ And it was so.
God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.’
The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf will be together, and a child will lead them.
Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.’ So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female. God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.’
The righteous cares about his animal’s health, but even the merciful acts of the wicked are cruel.
The fear and terror of you will be in every living creature on the earth, every bird of the sky, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are placed under your authority.Noah, as a man of the soil, began by planting a vineyard.He drank some of the wine, became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent.Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside.Then Shem and Japheth took a cloak and placed it over both their shoulders, and walking backwards, they covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father naked.When Noah awoke from his drinking and learned what his youngest son had done to him,he said: Canaan is cursed. He will be the lowest of slaves to his brothers. He also said: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; Let Canaan be Shem’s slave. Let God extend Japheth; let Japheth dwell in the tents of Shem; let Canaan be Shem’s slave.Now Noah lived for 350 years after the flood.So Noah’s life lasted for 950 years; then he died.Every creature that lives and moves will be food for you; as I gave the green plants, I have given you everything.
The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it.
‘If you come across your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.‘If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, and you want to refrain from helping it, you must help with it. ,
The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like cattle, but the serpent’s food will be dust! They will not do what is evil or destroy on my entire holy mountain,’ says the Lord.
but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work #– #you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident foreigner who is within your city gates.
Know well the condition of your flock, and pay attention to your herds,for wealth is not for ever; not even a crown lasts for all time.When hay is removed and new growth appears and the corn from the hills is gathered in,lambs will provide your clothing, and goats, the price of a field;there will be enough goat’s milk for your food – food for your household and nourishment for your female servants.
You are also to bring into the ark two of all the living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.
‘Do your work for six days but rest on the seventh day so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave as well as the resident foreigner may be refreshed.
‘If you see your brother Israelite’s ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it; make sure you return it to your brother.Do not plough with an ox and a donkey together.Do not wear clothes made of both wool and linen.Make tassels on the four corners of the outer garment you wear. ‘If a man marries a woman, has sexual relations with her, and comes to hate her,and accuses her of shameful conduct, and gives her a bad name, saying, “I married this woman and was intimate with her, but I didn’t find any evidence of her virginity,”the young woman’s father and mother will take the evidence of her virginity and bring it to the city elders at the city gate.The young woman’s father will say to the elders, “I gave my daughter to this man as a wife, but he hates her.He has accused her of shameful conduct, saying, ‘I didn’t find any evidence of your daughter’s virginity,’ but here is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.” They will spread out the cloth before the city elders.Then the elders of that city will take the man and punish him.They will also fine him a hundred silver shekels and give them to the young woman’s father, because that man gave an Israelite virgin a bad name. She will remain his wife; he cannot divorce her as long as he lives.If your brother does not live near you or you don’t know him, you are to bring the animal to your home to remain with you until your brother comes looking for it; then you can return it to him.But if this accusation is true and no evidence of the young woman’s virginity is found,they will bring the woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city will stone her to death. For she has committed an outrage in Israel by being promiscuous while living in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from you.‘If a man is discovered having sexual relations with another man’s wife, both the man who had sex with the woman and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.If there is a young woman who is a virgin engaged to a man, and another man encounters her in the city and sleeps with her,take the two of them out to the gate of that city and stone them to death #– #the young woman because she did not cry out in the city and the man because he has violated his neighbour’s fiancée. You must purge the evil from you.But if the man encounters an engaged woman in the open country, and he seizes and rapes her, only the man who raped her must die.Do nothing to the young woman, because she is not guilty of an offence deserving death. This case is just like one in which a man attacks his neighbour and murders him.When he found her in the field, the engaged woman cried out, but there was no one to rescue her.If a man encounters a young woman, a virgin who is not engaged, takes hold of her and rapes her, and they are discovered,the man who raped her is to give the young woman’s father fifty silver shekels, and she will become his wife because he violated her. He cannot divorce her as long as he lives. Do the same for his donkey, his garment, or anything your brother has lost and you have found. You must not ignore it.‘A man is not to marry his father’s wife; he must not violate his father’s marriage bed. ,If you see your brother’s donkey or ox fallen down on the road, do not ignore it; help him lift it up.
For the fate of the children of Adam and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; they all have the same breath. People have no advantage over animals since everything is futile.a time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot; All are going to the same place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.
‘If you come across a bird’s nest with chicks or eggs, either in a tree or on the ground along the road, and the mother is sitting on the chicks or eggs, do not take the mother along with the young.You may take the young for yourself, but be sure to let the mother go free, so that you may prosper and live long.
‘If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, and you want to refrain from helping it, you must help with it. ,
The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf will be together, and a child will lead them.The cow and the bear will graze, their young ones will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like cattle.An infant will play beside the cobra’s pit, and a toddler will put his hand into a snake’s den.They will not harm or destroy each other on my entire holy mountain, for the land will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the sea is filled with water.
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
He protects his flock like a shepherd; he gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them in the fold of his garment. He gently leads those that are nursing.
Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s consent.
And to them, he said, ‘Which of you whose son or ox falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day? ’
Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight.Indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed.because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.For the creation was subjected to futility #– #not willingly, but because of him who subjected it #– #in the hopethat the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.
So may I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left, as well as many animals? ’
The angel of the Lord asked him, ‘Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Look, I came out to oppose you, because I consider what you are doing to be evil.The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away from me, I would have killed you by now and let her live.’
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.
Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight.
that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labour pains until now.
Do you know when mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the deer in labour?Can you hold the wild ox to a furrow by its harness? Will it plough the valleys behind you?Can you depend on it because its strength is great? Would you leave it to do your hard work?Can you trust the wild ox to harvest your corn and bring it to your threshing-floor?The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but are her feathers and plumage like the stork’s? , She abandons her eggs on the ground and lets them be warmed in the sand.She forgets that a foot may crush them or that some wild animal may trample them.She treats her young harshly, as if they were not her own, with no fear that her labour may have been in vain.For God has deprived her of wisdom; he has not endowed her with understanding. When she proudly spreads her wings, she laughs at the horse and its rider.Do you give strength to the horse? Do you adorn his neck with a mane? Can you count the months they are pregnant so you can know the time they give birth?Do you make him leap like a locust? His proud snorting fills one with terror.He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength; he charges into battle. He laughs at fear, since he is afraid of nothing; he does not run from the sword.A quiver rattles at his side, along with a flashing spear and a javelin.He charges ahead with trembling rage; he cannot stand still at the sound of the ram’s horn.When the ram’s horn blasts, he snorts defiantly. He smells the battle from a distance; he hears the officers’ shouts and the battle cry.Does the hawk take flight by your understanding and spread its wings to the south?Does the eagle soar at your command and make its nest on high? It lives on a cliff where it spends the night; its stronghold is on a rocky crag.From there it searches for prey; its eyes penetrate the distance.They crouch down to give birth to their young; they deliver their newborn. Its brood gulps down blood, and where the slain are, it is there.Their offspring are healthy and grow up in the open field. They leave and do not return.