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 person cares for the life of his animal, yet even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness! Let them rule over the fish of the sea, over the flying creatures of the sky, over the livestock, over the whole earth, and over every crawling creature that crawls on the land.”
He causes grass to spring up for the cattle, and vegetation for man to cultivate, to bring forth bread out of the earth,
“Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your Father in heaven feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
If you see the donkey of the one that hates you lying down under its burden, do not leave it. Rather, you are to release it with him.
but the seventh day is a Shabbat to Adonai your God. In it you shall not do any work—not you, nor your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your cattle, nor the outsider that is within your gates.
The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent’s food. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,” says Adonai.
Go to the ant, you slacker— consider its ways and be wise!It has no commander, no overseer or ruler.Yet it prepares its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.
“Aren’t five sparrows being sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God.
Adonai, how countless are Your works! In wisdom You made them all— the earth is full of Your creatures.
In that day—it is a declaration of Adonai— you will proclaim, ‘My husband,’ and never again call Me, ‘My Baal.’
“If there happens to be a bird’s nest in front of you along the road, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the hen sitting on the young or on the eggs, you are not to take the hen with the young.You must certainly let the hen go, but the young you may take for yourself so that it may go well with you and you may prolong your days.
“You are to do your work for six days, but on the seventh day you will rest, so that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and also the son of your handmaid and the outsider may be refreshed.
Then Adonai Elohim took the man and gave him rest in the Garden of Eden in order to cultivate and watch over it.
The wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the kid, the calf and the young lion and the yearling together, and a little child will lead them.
Even for your livestock and for the animals that are in your land—all its increase will be enough food.
Who arranges provision for the raven, when its young cry out to God, and wander about for lack of food?
But during the seventh year you are to let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat. Whatever they leave behind, the animals of the field may eat. You are to deal with your vineyard and your olive grove in the same way.
You are not to eat anything that dies of itself. You may give it to the outsider within your gates so that he may eat it or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people to Adonai your God. You are not to boil a young goat 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. Everything moving in the field is Mine.
Like a shepherd, He tends His flock. He gathers the lambs in His arms carries them in his bosom, and gently guides nursing ewes.
Yet You made him a little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and majesty!You gave him dominion over the works of Your hands. You put all things under their feet:all sheep and oxen, and also beasts of the field,
If it is a cow or ewe, you are not to slaughter it along with its young, both in one day.
Then He said to them, “Which of you, with a son or an ox falling into a well on Yom Shabbat, will not immediately pull him out?”
The field animals honor Me —the jackals and the ostriches— because I give waters in the desert, rivers in the wilderness, to give drink to My chosen people,
He went up to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then setting him on his own animal, he brought him to a lodge for travelers and took care of him.
For it is written in the Torah of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is threshing.” Is it the oxen that concern God,
I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices, for your burnt offerings are continually before Me.I have no need of a bull from your house nor goats from your pens.
For the destiny of humankind and the destiny of animals are one and the same. As one dies, so dies the other. Both have the same breath—a human has no advantage over an animal—both are fleeting.
A tree snake will nest and lay eggs there, hatch and gather them under its shadow. Surely, hawks are gathered there, each one with her mate.
He said to them, “What man among you will not grab his sheep and lift it out, if it falls into a pit on Shabbat?How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is permitted to do good on Shabbat.”
He covers the sky with clouds. He provides rain for the earth. He makes grass sprout on the hills.
The cow and the bear will graze, their young ones lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like an ox.
“If one uncovers a pit or digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls in,the owner of the pit must pay compensation. He is to give money to the owner, and the dead animal will be his.
I will shepherd them in a good pasture—their grazing place will be on the high mountains of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground. They will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.
Adonai Elohim had formed from the ground every animal of the field and every flying creature of the sky, so He brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called them—each living creature—that was its name.
Open your mouth on behalf of those unable to speak, for the justice of all who are destitute.
Consider the ravens. They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn, yet God feeds them. How much more valuable you are than birds!
God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the land, and conquer it. Rule over the fish of the sea, the flying creatures of the sky, and over every animal that crawls on the land.”
I will leave you in the desert —you and all the fish of your streams. You will fall on the open field. You will not be gathered or picked up. I will give you as food for the beasts 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 Adonai, as the waters cover the sea.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God. Your judgments are like the great deep. You preserve man and beast, Adonai.
who teaches us more than the animals of the earth, who makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?’
but they who wait for Adonai will renew their strength. They will soar up with wings as eagles. They will run, and not grow weary. They will walk, and not be faint.
My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of Adonai. My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Then God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. So God caused a wind to pass over the land and the water subsided.
The angel of Adonai said to him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Behold, I came as an adversary because your way before Me is a reckless one!The donkey saw Me and turned away from Me these three times. If she had not turned away from Me, by now I would have killed you indeed, but let her live!”
Also of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of everything—male and female—into the ark to keep alive with you.then the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were good and they took for themselves wives, any they chose.Of the flying creatures according to their kind, of the livestock according to their kind, of all the crawling creatures of the ground according to their kind—two of everything will come to you to keep them alive.
You must not watch your brother’s donkey or ox fall down on the road and ignore it—you must certainly help him lift it up again.
“You are to be a holy people for Me. You must not eat any flesh torn by beasts in the field. You may throw it out to the dogs.
He covers the sky with clouds. He provides rain for the earth. He makes grass sprout on the hills.He gives food to the cattle and to the young ravens which cry.
“Speak to Bnei-Yisrael, saying: These are the living things which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth.“All flying insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you.Yet you may eat from all winged creeping things that go on all fours, which have legs above their feet, with which to hop on the earth.You may eat from any kind of locust, any kind of katydid, any kind of cricket and any kind of grasshopper.But all winged creeping things that have four feet are loathsome to you.“Moreover, by these also you will become unclean: whoever touches their carcasses should be unclean until the evening.Whoever carries any part of their carcass is to wash his clothes, and will be unclean until the evening.“Every animal with a separating hoof but not split, or does not chew cud, is unclean to you. Everyone who touches them will become unclean.So whatever moves on its paws, among all animals that go on all fours, is unclean to you. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until the evening.Whoever carries their carcasses, is to wash his clothes and will be unclean until the evening. They are unclean to you.“Among the creeping things that creep on the earth, the following are unclean to you: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard,Whatever has a split, divided hoof and chews cud among the animals—that you may eat.
“You are not to watch your brother’s ox or sheep going astray and ignore them —you must certainly bring them back to your brother.
Four things on earth are small, yet they are exceedingly wise:ants are creatures with little strength, yet they store up their food in summer;
It will come about that you will drink from the wadi. I have also commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
Of every clean animal you shall take with you seven of each kind, male and female; and of the animals which themselves are not clean two, male and female;The waters rose 15 cubits higher, as the mountains were covered.All flesh perished—those that crawl on the land, the flying creatures, livestock, wild animals, all creatures that swarm upon the land, and all humankind.Everything that had the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils—everything on dry land—died.So He wiped out all existence that was upon the surface of the ground, everything from people to livestock, to crawling creatures, and to flying creatures of the sky. They were wiped out off the land. Only Noah and those with him in the ark survived.The waters overpowered the land for 150 days.also of the flying creatures of the sky seven of every kind, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of the whole land.
you are to set apart to Adonai every firstborn from the womb, and every firstborn male animal you have will be Adonai’s.
but the seventh day is a Shabbat to Adonai your God. In it you are not to do any work—not you or your son or your daughter, or your slave or your maid, or your ox, your donkey or any of your livestock or the outsider within your gates, so that your slave and your maid may rest as you do.
and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped Him in strips of cloth and set Him down in a manger, since there was no room for them in the inn.
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You established—what is man, that You are mindful of him? And the son of man, that You care for him?Yet You made him a little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and majesty!You gave him dominion over the works of Your hands. You put all things under their feet:all sheep and oxen, and also beasts of the field,
Every crawling thing that is alive will be food for you, as are the green plants—I have now given you everything.Only flesh with its life—that is, its blood—you must not eat!
“Do you give the horse its strength? Do you clothe his neck with a mane?Do you count the months they fulfill and do you know the time when they give birthDo you cause him to leap like locust? His majestic snorting is terrifying!He paws in the valley and exalting in his strength he charges into the fray.He laughs at fear and is not dismayed; he does not recoil from the sword.On him the quiver rattles; the spear and javelin flash.With quaking and excitement, he swallows up the ground. He cannot stand still when the shofar sounds.At the blast of the shofar, he says, ‘Aha!’ From a distance he smells battle, the shout of the captains and the battle cry.
“You must keep My statutes. You are not to crossbreed different kinds of animals. You are not to sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor are you to wear a garment woven of two kinds of material.
Three things are stately in their stride, four that move with stately bearing:I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.a lion, mighty among beasts, who never backs down from anything;a strutting rooster, a male-goat, and a king with his army around him.
Who knows that the spirit of the sons of man ascends upward and the animal’s spirit descends into the earth?
Then God said, “Let the land bring forth living creatures according to their species—livestock, crawling creatures and wild animals, according to their species.” And it happened so.
For the life of every creature, its blood is in its life. Therefore I said to Bnei-Yisrael: You are not to eat the blood of any kind of creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it is to be cut off.
One who kills an ox is like one who kills a man; one who sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; one who offers a grain offering is like one who offers swine’s blood; one who burns incense is like one who blesses an idol. They have chosen their own ways, so their soul delights in their abominations.
But now ask the animals and they will teach you, or the birds of the sky and they will tell you,
He causes grass to spring up for the cattle, and vegetation for man to cultivate, to bring forth bread out of the earth,wine that makes man’s heart glad, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains man’s heart.
For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered or come to mind.
“The wings of the ostrich flap joyously, but are they the pinions and plumage of a stork?For she leaves her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the soil,and forgets that a foot may crush them, that a wild beast may trample them.She treats her young ones harshly, as if they were not hers; She is not concerned that her labor was in vain,for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of understanding.When she lifts herself to flee she laughs at the horse and its rider.
Like cattle that go down into a valley, the Ruach Adonai gave them rest. So You led Your people, to make Yourself a glorious Name.