Explore the deep bond between humans and animals in the divine story of creation. Take a reflective journey to appreciate respect, compassion, and the special gifts animals offer in a Bible verse about animals. 

Animals in Creation

• Genesis 1:24 – And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so.
• Genesis 1:25 – God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
• Genesis 2:19 – “Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.”
• Genesis 2:20 – “So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.”
• Psalm 104:24 – “How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.”
• Psalm 104:25 – “There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number—living things both large and small.”
• Job 12:7 – “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;”

Animals as Symbols

• Isaiah 40:31 – “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
• Matthew 10:16 – “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”
• Luke 13:32 – “He replied, ‘Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’”
• John 10:11 – “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
• Revelation 5:5 – “Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.'”
• Revelation 4:7 – “The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.”
• Proverbs 6:6 – “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!”
• Proverbs 30:30 – “a lion, mighty among beasts, who retreats before nothing;”
• Psalm 22:16 – “Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet.”
• Psalm 23:1 – “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.”

Animals in Sacrifice

• Leviticus 1:2 – “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When anyone among you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock.”
• Leviticus 1:3 – “If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect. You must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord.”
• Leviticus 1:10 – “If the offering is a burnt offering from the flock, from either the sheep or the goats, you are to offer a male without defect.”
• Leviticus 4:3 – “‘If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the Lord a young bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he has committed.”
• Leviticus 4:32 – ““‘If someone brings a lamb as their sin offering, they are to bring a female without defect.”
• Leviticus 5:6 – “As a penalty for the sin they have committed, they must bring to the Lord a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for them for their sin.”
• Leviticus 22:19 – “you must present a male without defect from the cattle, sheep or goats in order that it may be accepted on your behalf.”
• Numbers 7:17 – “and as the sacrifice of fellowship offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nahshon son of Amminadab.”
• Exodus 12:3 – “Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.”
• Exodus 12:5 – “The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.”

Animals in Judgment

• Isaiah 11:7 – “The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.”
• Jeremiah 15:3 – “I will send four kinds of destroyers against them,” declares the Lord, “the sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds and the wild animals to devour and destroy.”
• Jeremiah 12:4 – “How long will the land lie parched and the grass in every field be withered? Because those who live in it are wicked, the animals and birds have perished. Moreover, the people are saying, ‘He will not see what happens to us.’”
• Ezekiel 14:15 – “Or if I send wild animals through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the animals,”
• Hosea 4:3 – “Because of this the land dries up, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea are swept away.”
• Zephaniah 1:3 – “I will sweep away both man and beast; I will sweep away the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea—and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble.” “When I destroy all mankind on the face of the earth,” declares the Lord,”
• Isaiah 34:11 – “The desert owl and screech owl will possess it; the great owl and the raven will nest there. God will stretch out over Edom the measuring line of chaos and the plumb line of desolation.”
• Isaiah 34:14 – “Desert creatures will meet with hyenas, and wild goats will bleat to each other; there the night creatures will also lie down and find for themselves places of rest.”
• Ezekiel 39:17 – “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Call out to every kind of bird and all the wild animals: ‘Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrifice I am preparing for you, the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood.”
• Ezekiel 39:18 – “You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth as if they were rams and lambs, goats and bulls—all of them fattened animals from Bashan.”

God’s Care for Animals

• Psalm 36:6 – “Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.”
• Psalm 50:10 – “for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.”
• Psalm 50:11 – “I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine.”
• Psalm 104:14 – “He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate—bringing forth food from the earth:”
• Psalm 147:9 – “He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call.”
• Job 38:41 – “Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?”
• Luke 12:24 – “Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!”
• Deuteronomy 25:4 – “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”
• Psalm 104:21 – “The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God.”

Animals in Parables and Teachings

• Matthew 13:4 – “As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.”
• Matthew 13:32 – “Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
• Luke 12:6 – “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.”
• Matthew 10:29 – “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.”
• Matthew 7:6 – “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”
• Matthew 6:26 – “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”
• Luke 15:4 – “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?”
• Luke 15:5 – “And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders”
• Matthew 25:32 – “All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”
• John 10:14 – “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—”

Animals in Prophecy

• Isaiah 65:25 – “The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.”
• Jeremiah 27:6 – “Now I will give all your countries into the hands of my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject to him.”
• Ezekiel 34:25 – ““‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety.”
• Daniel 7:3 – “Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.”
• Daniel 7:4 – “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it.”
• Daniel 7:5 – “And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’”
• Daniel 7:6 – “After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.”
• Daniel 7:7 – “After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.”

Animals in Wisdom Literature

• Proverbs 12:10 – “The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.”
• Proverbs 30:25 – “Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer;”
• Proverbs 30:26 – “hyraxes are creatures of little power, yet they make their home in the crags;”
• Proverbs 30:27 – “locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks;”
• Proverbs 30:28 – “a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings’ palaces.”
• Job 39:1 – “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?”
• Job 39:5 – “Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied its ropes?”
• Job 39:13 – “The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wings and feathers of the stork.”
• Job 39:19 – “Do you give the horse its strength or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?”
• Job 39:26 – “Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south?”

Animals in Worship

• Revelation 5:13 – “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!'”
• Revelation 19:17 – “And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, ‘Come, gather together for the great supper of God,'”
• Psalm 148:7 – “Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,”
• Psalm 150:6 – “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.”
• Isaiah 43:20 – “The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen,”
• Psalm 8:7 – “all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild,”
• Psalm 8:8 – “the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.”
• Psalm 148:1 – “Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights above.”
• Psalm 103:22 – “Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the Lord, my soul.”

Animals in Daily Life

• Proverbs 27:23 – “Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds;”
• Proverbs 27:26 – “the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field.”
• Proverbs 27:27 – “You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed your family and to nourish your female servants.”
• Deuteronomy 14:4 – “These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,”
• Deuteronomy 14:5 – “the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep.”
• Exodus 23:12 – “Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.”
• Proverbs 12:27 – “The lazy do not roast any game, but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt.”
• Proverbs 27:25 – “When the hay is removed and new growth appears and the grass from the hills is gathered in,”
• Genesis 4:4 – “And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering,”
• 1 Samuel 17:34 – “But David said to Saul, ‘Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,'”

Animals in the New Testament

• Matthew 3:4 – “John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.”
• Luke 10:34 – “He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.”
• Mark 1:13 – “and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.”
• Matthew 21:2 – “saying to them, ‘Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.'”
• Matthew 21:5 – “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'”
• Luke 2:7 – “and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.”
• John 21:6 – “He said, ‘Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’ When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.”
• John 21:11 – “So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.”
• Mark 11:2 – “saying to them, ‘Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.'”
• Mark 11:7 – “When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it.”

Animals in God’s Kingdom

• Isaiah 11:6 – “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.”
• Isaiah 11:8 – “The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.”
• Hosea 2:18 – “In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety.”
• Ezekiel 34:28 – “They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid.”
• Isaiah 66:3 – “But whoever sacrifices a bull is like one who kills a person, and whoever offers a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever makes a grain offering is like one who presents pig’s blood, and whoever burns memorial incense is like one who worships an idol. They have chosen their own ways, and they delight in their abominations;”
• Zephaniah 3:19 – “At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you. I will rescue the lame; I will gather the exiles. I will give them praise and honor in every land where they have suffered shame.”
• Zephaniah 3:20 – “At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,” says the Lord.”

Animals in Miracles

• Exodus 8:6 – “So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land.”
• Exodus 8:17 – “They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came on people and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats.”
• Exodus 8:21 – “If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies; even the ground will be covered with them.”
• Exodus 9:3 – “the hand of the Lord will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses, donkeys and camels and on your cattle, sheep and goats.”
• Exodus 9:9 – “It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on people and animals throughout the land.”

Conclusion

A Bible verse about animals allows us to recognize animals as a blessing. Treating them with respect and compassion is key. This understanding deepens our connection to the interconnected and loving design of God’s creation. Let’s continue to appreciate and harmoniously coexist with the precious creatures that share our world.