Category
VERSES ABOUT NATURE
Think about this: God created everything. The earth, the sky, the whole world—it all belongs to Him. He made it all, just like Exodus 20:11 says: "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." He created it all perfectly, and He deserves all the praise for the amazing things He's done.
You know, we should really stand in awe of God and give Him glory. The time is coming when He will judge the world, so let's worship the One who made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and the springs of water.
When you're out enjoying nature – at the beach, in the mountains, or just looking at a beautiful tree – remember who made it all so beautiful and perfect. Let's give God all the glory He deserves.
A righteous man has kind regard for the life of his animal, But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel. [Deut 25:4]
The Lord is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works [the entirety of things created].
Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth.” [Ps 104:30; Heb 1:2; 11:3]
¶He causes grass to grow for the cattle, And all that the earth produces for cultivation by man, So that he may bring food from the earth—
Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow [seed]nor reap [the harvest] nor gather [the crops]into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they?
“You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing [to prevent him from eating any of the grain]. [1 Cor 9:9, 10; 1 Tim 5:17, 18]
If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall not leave the man to deal with it [alone]; you must help him release the animal [from its burden].
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God, Your judgments are like the great deep. O Lord, You preserve man and beast.
but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the Lord your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock or the temporary resident (foreigner) who stays within your [city] gates.
The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox [there will no longer be predator and prey]; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain (Zion),” says the Lord.
¶Go to the ant, O lazy one; Observe her ways and be wise, [Job 12:7]Which, having no chief, Overseer or ruler,She prepares her food in the summer And brings in her provisions [of food for the winter] in the harvest.
Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? Yet not one of them has [ever] been forgotten in the presence of God.
¶O Lord, how many and varied are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; The earth is full of Your riches and Your creatures.
“And in that day I will make a covenant for Israel With the animals of the open country And with the birds of the heavens And with the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow and the sword and [banish] war from the land And will make them lie down in safety.
Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 [innocent] persons, who do not know the difference between their right and left hand [and are not yet accountable for sin], as well as many [blameless] animals?”
“If you happen to come upon a bird’s nest along the road, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the mother [bird] is sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young.You shall certainly let the mother go, but you may take the young for yourself, so that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.
“Six days [each week] you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall stop [working] so that your ox and your donkey may settle down and rest, and the son of your female servant, as well as your stranger, may be refreshed.
So the Lord God took the man [He had made] and settled him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.
¶And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatted steer together; And a little child will lead them.
even your domestic animals and the [wild] animals that are in your land shall have all its crops to eat.
but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie uncultivated, so that the poor among your people may eat [what the land grows naturally]; whatever they leave the animals of the field may eat. You shall do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.
“You shall not eat anything that dies on its own. You may give it to the stranger (resident alien, foreigner) who is in your [city] gates, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner [since they are not under God’s law], but you are a people holy (set apart) to the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat or a lamb in its mother’s milk.
“For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills.“I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine.
He will protect His flock like a shepherd, He will gather the lambs in His arm, He will carry them in His bosom; He will gently and carefully lead those nursing their young.
You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, [1 Cor 15:27; Eph 1:22, 23; Heb 2:6-8]All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field,The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
And whether [the mother] is a cow or a sheep, you shall not kill both it and its young in one day.
Then He said to them, “Which one of you, having a son or an ox that falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?”
Whoever loves instruction and discipline loves knowledge, But he who hates reproof and correction is stupid.
“The beasts of the field will honor Me, Jackals and ostriches, Because I have given waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My people, My chosen. [Is 41:17, 18; 48:21]
and went to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them [to sooth and disinfect the injuries]; and he put him on his own pack-animal, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain [to keep it from eating the grain].” Is it [only] for oxen that God cares? [Deut 25:4]
“I do not reprove you for your sacrifices; Your burnt offerings are continually before Me.“I will accept no young bull from your house Nor male goat from your folds.
For the [earthly] fate of the sons of men and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no preeminence or advantage for man [in and of himself] over an animal, for all is vanity.
There the arrow snake will make her nest and lay her eggs, And hatch them and gather her young under her protection; Indeed, the birds of prey will be gathered there [to breed], Every one with its own kind.
But He said to them, “What man is there among you who, if he has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful and permissible to do good on the Sabbath.”
“Do you know the time when the wild goats of the rock give birth [to their young]? Do you observe the calving of the deer?
They give drink to every beast of the field; The wild donkeys quench their thirst there.
Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who provides rain for the earth, Who makes grass grow on the mountains.
And the cow and the bear will graze [together], Their young will lie down together, And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The lambs will supply wool for your clothing, And the goats will bring the price of a field.
“If a man leaves a pit open, or digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he shall give money to the animal’s owner, but the dead [animal] shall be his.
I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.
The eyes of all look to You [in hopeful expectation], And You give them their food in due time.
So the Lord God formed out of the ground every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
“If I were hungry, I would not tell you, For the world and all it contains are Mine. [1 Cor 10:26]
Open your mouth for the mute, For the rights of all who are unfortunate and defenseless; [1 Sam 19:4; Esth 4:16; Job 29:15, 16]
Consider the ravens, for they neither sow [seed] nor reap [the crop]; they have no storehouse or barn, and yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than the birds!
And God blessed them [granting them certain authority] and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subjugate it [putting it under your power]; and rule over (dominate) the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
“I will abandon you to the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers; You will fall on the open field; and you will not be gathered up or buried. I have given you as food to the [wild] animals of the earth and the birds of the sky.
They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea.
How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! The children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth And makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’
But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] Will gain new strength and renew their power; They will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun]; They will run and not become weary, They will walk and not grow tired. [Heb 12:1-3]
The bird has found a house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young— Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts, My King and my God.
And God remembered and thought kindly of Noah and every living thing and all the animals that were with him in the ark; and God made a wind blow over the land, and the waters receded.
The Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your behavior was obstinate and contrary to Me.The donkey saw Me and turned away from Me these three times. If she had not turned away from Me, I would have certainly killed you now, and let her live.”
And of every living thing [found on land], you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful and desirable; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose and desired.Of fowls and birds according to their kind, of animals according to their kind, of every crawling thing of the ground according to its kind—two of every kind shall come to you to keep them alive.
You shall not see your countryman’s donkey or his ox fall down along the road, and ignore [your duty to help] them; you shall certainly help him lift it up.
You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep. It shall be with its mother for seven days; on the eighth day you shall give it [as an offering] to Me.
Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who provides rain for the earth, Who makes grass grow on the mountains.He gives to the beast its food, And to the young ravens that for which they cry.
“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Among all the animals which are on the earth, these are the animals which you may eat. [Mark 7:15-19]‘All winged insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you;yet of all winged insects that walk on all fours you may eat those which have legs above their feet with which to leap on the ground.Of these you may eat: the whole species of migratory locust, of bald locust, of cricket, and of grasshopper. [Matt 3:4]But all other winged insects which are four footed are detestable to you.‘By [contact with] these you will become unclean; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until the evening (dusk),and whoever picks up any of their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.Concerning all the animals which divide the hoof, but do not have a split hoof, or which do not chew the cud, they are unclean to you; whoever touches them becomes unclean.Also all animals that walk on their paws, among all kinds of animals that walk on four legs, are unclean to you; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until the evening,and the one who picks up their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.‘These also are unclean to you among the swarming things that crawl around on the ground [and multiply profusely]: the mole, the mouse, and any kind of great lizard,You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof [that is, a hoof split into two parts especially at its distal extremity] and chews the cud.
“You shall not see your countryman’s ox or his sheep straying away or being stolen, and ignore [your duty to help] them; you shall certainly take them back to him. [Prov 24:12]
¶There are four things that are small on the earth, But they are exceedingly wise:The ants are not a strong people, Yet they prepare their food in the summer; [Prov 6:6]
You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to sustain you there [with food].”
Of every clean animal you shall take with you seven pair, the male and his female, and of animals that are not clean, two each the male and his female; [Lev 11:1-13][In fact] the waters became fifteen cubits higher [than the highest ground], and the mountains were covered.All living beings that moved on the earth perished—birds and cattle (domestic animals), [wild] animals, all things that swarm and crawl on the earth, and all mankind.Everything on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath and spirit of life, died.God destroyed (blotted out, wiped away) every living thing that was on the surface of the earth; man and animals and the crawling things and the birds of the heavens were destroyed from the land. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. [Matt 24:37-44]The waters covered [all of] the earth for a hundred and fifty days (five months).also of the birds of the air, seven pair, the male and the female, to keep the offspring alive on the surface of the earth.
you shall set apart and dedicate to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock shall be the Lord’s.
but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the Lord your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock or the stranger who stays inside your [city] gates, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.
and she gave birth to her Son, her firstborn; and she wrapped Him in [swaddling] cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no [private] room for them in the inn.
“You shall not plow with an ox [a clean animal] and a donkey [an unclean animal] together. [2 Cor 6:14-16]
What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of [earthborn] man that You care for him?Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, [1 Cor 15:27; Eph 1:22, 23; Heb 2:6-8]All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field,The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; I give you everything, as I gave you the green plants and vegetables.But you shall not eat meat along with its life, that is, its blood. [Lev 7:26; Acts 15:20; 21:25]
¶“Have you given the horse his might? Have you clothed his neck with quivering and a shaking mane?“Can you count the months that they carry offspring, Or do you know the time when they give birth?“Have you [Job] made him leap like a locust? The majesty of his snorting [nostrils] is terrible.“He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength; He goes out to meet the weapons [of armed men].“He laughs at fear and is not dismayed; And [in battle] he does not turn back from the sword.“The quiver rattles against him, [As do] the flashing spear and the lance [of his rider].“With fierceness and rage he races to devour the ground, And he does not stand still at the sound of the [war] trumpet.“As often as the trumpet sounds he says, ‘Aha!’ And he smells the battle from far away, And senses the thunder of the captains and the war cry.
‘You are to keep My statutes. You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor wear clothing of two kinds of material mixed together.
¶There are three things which are stately in step, Even four which are stately in their stride:I have not learned [skillful and godly] wisdom, Nor do I have knowledge of the Holy One [who is the source of wisdom].The lion, which is mighty among beasts And does not turn back before any;The strutting rooster, the male goat also, And the king when his army is with him.
Who knows if the spirit of man ascends upward and the spirit of the animal descends downward to the earth?
Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to (limited to, consistent with) their kind: livestock, crawling things, and wild animals of the earth according to their kinds”; and it was so [because He had spoken them into creation].
“For in regard to the life of all flesh, its blood is [the same] as its life; therefore I said to the Israelites, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off [excluding him from the atonement made for them].’
¶“He who kills an ox [for pagan sacrifice] is [as guilty] as one who kills a man; He who sacrifices a lamb, as one who breaks a dog’s neck; He who offers a grain offering, as one who offers swine’s blood; He who offers incense, as one who blesses an idol. Such people have chosen their own ways, And their soul delights in their repulsive acts;
¶“Now ask the animals, and let them teach you [that God does not deal with His creatures according to their character]; And ask the birds of the air, and let them tell you;
¶The Lord is [unwaveringly] righteous in all His ways And gracious and kind in all His works.
¶He causes grass to grow for the cattle, And all that the earth produces for cultivation by man, So that he may bring food from the earth—And wine which makes the heart of man glad, So that he may make his face glisten with oil, And bread to sustain and strengthen man’s heart.
¶“Behold, I am creating new heavens and a new earth; And the former things [of life] will not be remembered or come to mind. [Is 66:22; 2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21:1]
¶“The [flightless] wings of the ostrich wave joyously; With the pinion (shackles, fetters) and plumage of love,For she leaves her eggs on the ground And warms them in the dust,Forgetting that a foot may crush them, Or that the wild beast may trample them.“She treats her young cruelly, as if they were not hers; Though her labor is in vain because she is unconcerned [for the safety of her brood],For God has made her forget wisdom, And has not given her a share of understanding.“Yet when she lifts herself on high, [So swift is she that] she laughs at the horse and his rider.
Beside them the birds of the heavens have their nests; They lift up their voices and sing among the branches. [Matt 13:32]
Like the cattle that go down into the valley [to find better pasture and rest], The Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. So You led Your people [O Lord] To make for Yourself a beautiful and glorious name [preparing the way for the acknowledgment of Your name by all nations].