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.
The just one knows the lives of his beasts. But the inner most parts of the impious are cruel.
The Lord watches over new arrivals. He will support the orphan and the widow. And he will destroy the ways of sinners.
And he said: "Let us make Man to our image and likeness. And let him rule over the fish of the sea, and the flying creatures of the air, and the wild beasts, and the entire earth, and every animal that moves on the earth."
Consider the birds of the air, how they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of much greater value than they are?
He has not done so much for every nation, and he has not made his judgments manifest to them. Alleluia.
If you see the donkey of one who hates you, fallen under its burden, you shall not pass by without lifting it up with him.
But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. You shall not do any work in it: you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, your beast and the newcomer who is within your gates.
The wolf and the lamb will pasture together. The lion and the ox will eat hay. And dust will be the food of the serpent. They will not harm, and they will not kill, on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.
Go to the ant, you lazy one, and consider her ways, and so learn wisdom.For though she has no ruler, nor instructor, nor leader,she provides meals for herself in the summer, and she gathers at the harvest what she may eat.
Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? And yet not one of these is forgotten in the sight of God.
And in that day, I will strike a deal with them, with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creatures of the earth. And I will crush the bow and the sword, and I will wipe away war from the earth. And I will let them sleep securely.
And shall I not spare Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than one hundred and twenty thousand men, who do not know the difference between their right and their left, and many beasts?"
If, as you are walking along the way, you find a bird's nest, in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is nurturing the young or the eggs, you shall not take her with her young.Instead, you shall permit her to go, retaining the young that you have caught, so that it may be well with you, and you may live for a long time.
For six days, you shall work. On the seventh day, you shall cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the newcomer and the son of your handmaid may be refreshed.
Thus, the Lord God brought the man, and put him into the Paradise of enjoyment, so that it would be attended and preserved by him.
The wolf will dwell with the lamb; and the leopard will lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion and the sheep will abide together; and a little boy will drive them.
Who provides the raven with its meal, when her chicks cry out to God, as they wander around because they have no food?
But in the seventh year, you shall release it and cause it to rest, so that the poor of your people may eat. And whatever remains, let the beasts of the field eat it. So shall you do with your vineyard and your olive grove.
But whatever has died of itself, you shall not eat from it. Give it to the sojourner, who is within your gates, so that he may eat, or sell it to him. For you are the holy people of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in the milk of his mother.
In my hearing, you will grant gladness and rejoicing. And the bones that have been humbled will exult.Turn your face away from my sins, and erase all my iniquities.
He will pasture his flock like a shepherd. He will gather together the lambs with his arm, and he will lift them up to his bosom, and he himself will carry the very young.
You reduced him to a little less than the Angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor,and you have set him over the works of your hands.You have subjected all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and in addition: the beasts of the field,
Whether it is an ox, or a sheep, they shall not be immolated on the same day with their newborns.
And responding to them, he said, "Which of you will have a donkey or an ox fall into a pit, and will not promptly pull him out, on the day of the Sabbath?"
The wild beasts of the field will glorify me, with the serpents and the ostriches. For I have brought waters to the desert, rivers to inaccessible places, in order to give drink to my people, to my elect.
And approaching him, he bound up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. And setting him on his pack animal, he brought him to an inn, and he took care of him.
For it is written in the law of Moses: "You shall not bind the mouth of an ox, while it is treading out the grain." Is God here concerned with the oxen?
For behold, you have loved truth. The obscure and hidden things of your wisdom, you have manifested to me.You will sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be cleansed. You will wash me, and I will be made whiter than snow.
For this reason, the passing away of man and of beasts is one, and the condition of both is equal. For as a man dies, so also do they die. All things breathe similarly, and man has nothing more than beast; for all these are subject to vanity.
In that place, the hedgehog has kept its den, and has raised its young, and has dug around them, and has kept them warm in its shadow. In that place, the birds of prey have joined together, one to another.
But he said to them: "Who is there among you, having even one sheep, if it will have fallen into a pit on the Sabbath, would not take hold of it and lift it up?How much better is a man than a sheep? And so, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbaths."
Do you know at what time the wild goats have given birth among the rocks, or do you observe the deer when they go into labor?
The calf and the bear will feed together; their young ones will rest together. And the lion will eat straw like the ox.
If a man digs or opens a cistern, and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,then the owner of the cistern shall repay the price of the beasts, and what is dead will belong to him.
I will feed them in very fertile pastures, and their pastures will be on the lofty mountains of Israel. There they will rest on the green grass, and they will be fed in the fat pastures, on the mountains of Israel.
Therefore, the Lord God, having formed from the soil all the animals of the earth and all the flying creatures of the air, brought them to Adam, in order to see what he would call them. For whatever Adam would call any living creature, that would be its name.
Open your mouth for the mute and for all the cases of the sons who are passing through.
Consider the ravens. For they neither sow nor reap; there is no storehouse or barn for them. And yet God pastures them. How much more are you, compared to them?
And God blessed them, and he said, "Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the flying creatures of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth."
And I will cast you into the desert, with all the fish of your river. You will fall upon the surface of the earth; you will not be taken up, nor gathered together. I have given you to the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the air, to be devoured.
They will not harm, and they will not kill, on all my holy mountain. For the earth has been filled with the knowledge of the Lord, like the waters covering the sea.
Be subject to the Lord and pray to him. Do not choose to compete with him who prospers in his way, with the man who does injustice.
who teaches us in addition to the beasts of the earth, and who educates us along with the birds of the air?"
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will take up wings like eagles. They will run and not struggle. They will walk and not tire.
Then God remembered Noah, and all living things, and all the cattle, which were with him in the ark, and he brought a wind across the earth, and the waters were diminished.
And the Angel said to him: "Why did you beat your donkey three times? I have come to be an adversary to you, because your way is perverse and contrary to me.And unless the donkey had turned aside from the way, allowing a place for my opposition, I would have killed you, and she would have lived."
And from every living thing of all that is flesh, you shall lead pairs into the ark, so that they may survive with you: from the male sex and the female,the sons of God, seeing that the daughters of men were beautiful, took to themselves wives from all whom they chose.from birds, according to their kind, and from beasts, in their kind, and from among all animals on earth, according to their kind; pairs from each shall enter with you, so that they may be able to live.
If you see that your brother's donkey or ox has fallen along the way, you shall not disregard it. Instead, you shall lift it up with him.
You shall do likewise with those of the oxen and the sheep. For seven days, let it be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall repay it to me.
He announces his word to Jacob, his justices and his judgments to Israel.He has not done so much for every nation, and he has not made his judgments manifest to them. Alleluia.
Say to the sons of Israel: These are the animals that you ought to eat out of all the living things of the earth.Of all that flies, whatever steps upon four feet shall be abominable to you.But whatever certainly walks upon four feet, and also has longer legs behind, with which it hops upon the earth,you shall eat, such as the beetle in its kind, and the cricket, and grasshopper, and the locust, each one according to its kind.But among flying things, whatever has only four feet shall be detestable to you.And whoever will have touched their carcasses shall be defiled, and he shall be unclean until evening.And if it will be necessary to carry any of these dead things, he shall wash his clothes, and he shall be unclean until the sun sets.Every animal that certainly has a hoof, but which is not divided, nor does it chew over again, shall be unclean. And whoever will have touched it shall be contaminated.Whatever walks upon its hands, out of all the animals that advance on all fours, shall be unclean. Whoever will have touched their carcasses shall be polluted until evening.And whoever will have carried this kind of carcass shall wash his clothes, and he shall be unclean until evening. For all these are unclean to you.Likewise, these shall be considered among the polluted things, out of all that moves upon the earth: the weasel, and the mouse, and the crocodile, each one according to its kind,All that has a divided hoof, and that chews over again, among the cattle, you shall eat.
"If you see your brother's ox or sheep wander astray, you shall not pass by. Instead, you shall lead them back to your brother.
Four things are least upon the earth, and they are wiser than the wise:the ants, an infirm people who provide food for themselves at the harvest,
And there you shall drink from the torrent. And I have instructed the ravens to feed you there."
From all the clean animals, take seven and seven, the male and the female. Yet truly, from animals that are unclean, take two and two, the male and the female.The water was fifteen cubits higher than the mountains which it covered.And all flesh was consumed which moved upon the earth: flying things, animals, wild beasts, and all moving things that crawl upon the ground. And all men,and everything in which there is the breath of life on earth, died.And he wiped away all substance that was upon the earth, from man to animal, the crawling things just as much as the flying things of the air. And they were wiped away from the earth. But only Noah remained, and those who were with him in the ark.And the waters possessed the earth for one hundred and fifty days.But also from the birds of the air, take seven and seven, the male and the female, so that offspring may be saved upon the face of the whole earth.
then you shall set aside for the Lord all that opens the womb and all that is first to go forth among your cattle. Whatever you will have of the male sex, you shall consecrate to the Lord.
The seventh is the day of the Sabbath, that is, the rest of the Lord your God. You shall not do any work in it, nor shall your son, nor daughter, nor man servant, nor woman servant, nor ox, nor donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor the sojourner who is within your gates, so that your men and woman servants may rest, just as you do.
And she brought forth her firstborn son. And she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them at the inn.
For I will behold your heavens, the works of your fingers: the moon and the stars, which you have founded.What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you visit him?You reduced him to a little less than the Angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor,and you have set him over the works of your hands.You have subjected all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and in addition: the beasts of the field,
And everything that moves and lives will be food for you. Just as with the edible plants, I have delivered them all to you,except that flesh with blood you shall not eat.
Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine, and Ephraim is the supporter of my head. Judah is my king.
Will you supply strength to the horse, or envelope his throat with neighing?Have you numbered the months since their conception, and do you know at what time they gave birth?Will you alarm him as the locusts do? His panic is revealed by the display of his nostrils.He digs at the earth with his hoof; he jumps around boldly; he advances to meet armed men.He despises fear; he does not turn away from the sword.Above him, the quiver rattles, the spear and the shield shake.Seething and raging, he drinks up the earth; neither does he pause when the blast of the trumpet sounds.When he hears the bugle, he says, "Ha!" He smells the battle from a distance, the exhortation of the officers, and the battle cry of the soldiers.
Observe my laws. You shall not cause your cattle to breed with other kinds of animals. You shall not sow your field with diverse seeds. You shall not be clothed with a garment which has been woven from two things.
There are three things that advance well, and a fourth that marches happily on:I have not learned wisdom, and I have not known the knowledge of sanctity.a lion, the strongest of beasts, who fears nothing that he meets,a rooster prepared at the loins, likewise a ram, and a king, whom none can resist.
Who knows if the spirit of the sons of Adam ascend upward, and if the spirit of the beasts descend downward?
God also said, "Let the land produce living souls in their kind: cattle, and animals, and wild beasts of the earth, according to their species." And so it became.
For the life of all flesh is in the blood. Therefore, I said to the sons of Israel: You shall not eat the blood of any flesh at all, because the life of the flesh is in the blood, and whoever has eaten it shall perish.
Whoever immolates an ox, it is as if he slaughters a man. Whoever sacrifices a sheep, it is as if he is smashing the head of a dog. Whoever offers an oblation, it is as if he is offering swine's blood. Whoever makes remembrance with incense, it is as if he is blessing an idol. All these things, they have chosen according to their own ways, and their soul has taken delight in their own abominations.
In truth, ask the mules, and they will teach you, and the birds of the sky, and they will reveal to you.
he allowed no man to harm them, and he reproved kings on their behalf.Do not be willing to touch my Christ, and do not be willing to malign my prophets.
For behold, I create the new heavens and the new earth. And the former things will not be in memory and will not enter into the heart.
The wing of the ostrich is like the wings of the heron, and of the hawk.When she leaves eggs behind in the earth, will you perhaps warm them in the dust?She forgets that feet may trample them, or that the beasts of the field may shatter them.She is hardened against her young, as if they were not hers; she has labored in vain, with no fear compelling her.For God has deprived her of wisdom; neither has he given her understanding.Yet, when the time is right, she raises her wings on high; she ridicules the horse and his rider.
Like an animal who descends to an open field, the Spirit of the Lord was their guide. Thus did you lead your people, in order to make a glorious name for yourself.