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 knows the value of the life of his animal, But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, so that they will have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
¶He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for man’s cultivation, To bring forth food from the earth,
Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like a great deep. O Yahweh, You save man and beast.
but the seventh day is a sabbath of Yahweh your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female slave or your cattle or your sojourner who is within your gates.
The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil nor act corruptly in all My holy mountain,” says Yahweh.
¶Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise, Which, having no chief, Officer or ruler, Prepares her food in the summer And gathers her provision in the harvest.
¶How numerous are Your works, O Yahweh! In wisdom You have made them all; The earth is full of Your possessions.
“And in that day I will cut a covenant for them With the beasts of the field, The birds of the sky, And the creeping things of the ground. And I will break the bow, the sword, and war from the land, And I will make them lie down in security.
So should I not have pity on Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?”
“If you happen to come upon a bird’s nest along the way, 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 certainly let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, in order that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.
“Six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your maidservant, as well as your sojourner, may refresh themselves.
Then Yahweh God took the man and set him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it 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 fatling together; And a young boy will lead them.
Even your cattle and the beasts that are in your land shall have all its produce to eat.
“Who prepares for the raven its provision When its young cry for help to God And wander about without food?
but on the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the beast of the field may eat. Thus you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove.
“You shall not eat anything which dies of itself. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your gates, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
“For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. “I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine.
Like a shepherd He will shepherd His flock; In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.
You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen, And also the animals of the field, The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
But, whether it is an ox or a sheep, you shall not slaughter both it and its young in one day.
And He said to them, “Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?”
“The beasts of the field will glorify Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I have given waters in the wilderness And rivers in the wasteland, To give drink to My chosen people.
And he came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them, and he put him on his own 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 the ox while it is threshing.” Is God merely concerned about oxen?
“I do not reprove you for your sacrifices, And your burnt offerings are continually before Me. “I shall take no young bull out of your house Nor male goats out of your folds.
For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same fate for each of them. As one dies so dies the other, and they all have the same breath. So there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity.
The owl will make its nest and find its escape there, And it will hatch its eggs and gather them in its shade. Surely, the falcons will be gathered there, Every one with its kind.
And He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if 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 then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
“Do you know the time the mountain goats give birth? Do you keep watch over the calving of the deer?
He is the One who covers the heavens with clouds, The One who provides rain for the earth, The One who makes grass to sprout on the mountains,
Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox.
“And if a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it over, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall become his.
I will shepherd 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 be shepherded in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.
And out of the ground Yahweh God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and He brought each to the man to see what he would call it; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!
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 sky and over every living thing that creeps on the earth.”
“I will abandon you to the wilderness, you and all the fish of your canals of the Nile; You will fall on the open field; you will not be brought together or gathered. I have given you for food to the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the sky.
They will do no evil nor act corruptly in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh As the waters cover the sea.
How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the sons 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?’
Yet those who hope in Yahweh Will gain new power; They will mount up with wings like eagles; They will run and not get tired; They will walk and not become weary.
Even the bird has found a home, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she sets her young, At Your altars, O Yahweh of hosts, My King and my God.
Then God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.
And the angel of Yahweh said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary because your way was contrary to me. And the donkey saw me and turned aside from me these three times. If it had not turned aside from me, I would surely have killed you just now, and let it live.”
And of every living thing of all flesh, 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 good in appearance; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.
You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down on the way and ignore them; you shall certainly help him to raise them up.
And you shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep. It shall be with its mother seven days; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.
He is the One who covers the heavens with clouds, The One who provides rain for the earth, The One who makes grass to sprout on the mountains, Who gives to the animal its food, And to the young ravens which call out.
“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘These are the creatures which you may eat from all the animals that are on the earth. ‘All the swarming things that fly and that walk on all fours are detestable to you. Yet these you may eat among all the swarming things that fly and that walk on all fours: those which have above their feet jointed legs with which to jump on the earth. These of them you may eat: the locust in its kinds and the devastating locust in its kinds and the cricket in its kinds and the grasshopper in its kinds. But all other swarming things that fly and that are four-footed are detestable to you. ‘By these, moreover, you will be made unclean: whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until evening, and whoever picks up any of their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. Concerning all the animals which divide the hoof but do not make a split hoof or which do not chew cud, they are unclean to you: whoever touches them becomes unclean. Also whatever walks on its paws, among all the creatures that walk on all fours, are unclean to you; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until evening, and the one who picks up their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening; they are unclean to you. ‘Now these are to you the unclean among the swarming things which swarm on the earth: the mole and the mouse and the great lizard in its kinds, Whatever divides a hoof, thus making split hoofs, and chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat.
“You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep straying away and ignore them; you shall certainly bring them back to your brother.
¶Four things are small on the earth, But they are exceedingly wise: The ants are not a strong people, But they prepare their food in the summer;
And it will be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to sustain you there.”
You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean, two, a male and his female; The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered. And all flesh that moved on the earth breathed its last, that is birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, as well as all mankind. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life—of all that was on the dry land—died. Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah remained, and those that were with him in the ark. And the water prevailed upon the earth 150 days. also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep their seed alive on the face of all the earth.
and you shall devote to Yahweh the first offspring of every womb and the first offspring of every beast that you own; the males belong to Yahweh.
but the seventh day is a sabbath of Yahweh your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male slave or your female slave or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who is within your gates, so that your male slave and your female slave may rest as well as you.
And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the guest room.
What is man that You remember him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen, And also the animals of the field, The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; as with the green plant, I give all to you. However, flesh with its life, that is, its blood, you shall not eat.
For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.
¶“Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane? “Can you count the months they fulfill, Or do you know the time they give birth? “Do you make him leap like the locust? His splendid snorting is terrible. “He paws in the valley and rejoices in his power; He goes out to meet the weapons. “He laughs at dread and is not dismayed; And he does not turn back from the sword. “The quiver rattles against him, The flashing spear and javelin. “With shaking and rage he races over the ground, And he does not stand still at the sound of the trumpet. “As often as the trumpet sounds he says, ‘Aha!’ And he scents the battle from afar, And the thunder of the commanders and the shout of war.
‘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 a garment upon you of two kinds of material mixed together.
¶There are three things which are stately in their march, Even four which are stately when they walk: Neither have I learned wisdom, Nor do I know the knowledge of the Holy One. The lion which is mighty among the animals And does not turn back before any, The strutting rooster, the male goat also, And a king when his army is with him.
Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth?
Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so.
“For as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘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.’
¶“But he who slaughters an ox is the one who strikes down a man; He who sacrifices a lamb is the one who breaks a dog’s neck; He who offers a grain offering is the one who offers swine’s blood; He who offers a memorial offering of frankincense is the one who blesses wickedness. As they have chosen their own ways, And their soul takes pleasure in their detestable things,
¶“But now ask the beasts, and let them instruct you; And the birds of the sky, and let them tell you.
¶He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for man’s cultivation, To bring forth food from the earth, And wine which makes man’s heart glad, To make his face glisten more than oil, And food which sustains man’s heart.
¶“For behold, I am creating a new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come upon the heart.
¶“The ostriches’ wings flap joyously But are they the pinion and plumage of a stork? For she leaves her eggs to the earth And warms them in the dust, And she forgets that a foot may crush them, Or that a beast of the field may trample them. “She treats her children cruelly, as if they were not hers; Though her labor be empty, she is without dread, Because God has made her forget wisdom, And has not given her a share of understanding. “When she raises herself up high, She laughs at the horse and his rider.
Above them the birds of the heavens dwell; They give forth their voices among the branches.
As the cattle which go down into the valley, The Spirit of Yahweh gave them rest. So You led Your people, To make for Yourself a glorious name.