What Does the Bible Say About Birds?

Psalm 104:12 ESV / 89 helpful votes

Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches.

Matthew 6:26 ESV / 74 helpful votes

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Matthew 6:25-34 ESV / 56 helpful votes

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ...

Isaiah 40:31 ESV / 30 helpful votes

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Genesis 1:20 ESV / 28 helpful votes

And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.”

Luke 12:24 ESV / 18 helpful votes

Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!

Psalm 147:9 ESV / 16 helpful votes

He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry.

Genesis 1:21 ESV / 16 helpful votes

So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Psalm 50:11 ESV / 15 helpful votes

I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.

Matthew 13:32 ESV / 11 helpful votes

It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

Psalm 8:5-8 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

Genesis 9:2 ESV / 10 helpful votes

The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered.

Proverbs 1:17 ESV / 9 helpful votes

For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird,

Psalm 104:17 ESV / 9 helpful votes

In them the birds build their nests; the stork has her home in the fir trees.

Matthew 10:16 ESV / 8 helpful votes

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

Isaiah 38:14 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Like a swallow or a crane I chirp; I moan like a dove. My eyes are weary with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my pledge of safety!

Proverbs 27:8 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who strays from his home.

Psalm 84:1-4 ESV / 8 helpful votes

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah

Psalm 55:6 ESV / 8 helpful votes

And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest;

Job 28:7 ESV / 8 helpful votes

“That path no bird of prey knows, and the falcon's eye has not seen it.

Genesis 8:9 ESV / 8 helpful votes

But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him.

Genesis 1:20-30 ESV / 8 helpful votes

And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. ...

Revelation 8:13 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”

Luke 3:22 ESV / 7 helpful votes

And the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Mark 1:10 ESV / 7 helpful votes

And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

Matthew 3:16 ESV / 7 helpful votes

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;

Ezekiel 31:6 ESV / 7 helpful votes

All the birds of the heavens made their nests in its boughs; under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth to their young, and under its shadow lived all great nations.

Song of Solomon 2:12 ESV / 7 helpful votes

The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

Psalm 91:1-16 ESV / 7 helpful votes

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, ...

Job 38:41 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for help, and wander about for lack of food?

Genesis 1:28 ESV / 7 helpful votes

And 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 heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

James 3:7 ESV / 6 helpful votes

For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,

Matthew 26:34 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”

Matthew 10:29 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.

Daniel 2:38 ESV / 6 helpful votes

And into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are the head of gold.

Jeremiah 12:9 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Is my heritage to me like a hyena's lair? Are the birds of prey against her all around? Go, assemble all the wild beasts; bring them to devour.

Jeremiah 5:27 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; therefore they have become great and rich;

Leviticus 1:14-17 ESV / 6 helpful votes

“If his offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves or pigeons. And the priest shall bring it to the altar and wring off its head and burn it on the altar. Its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar. He shall remove its crop with its contents and cast it beside the altar on the east side, in the place for ashes. He shall tear it open by its wings, but shall not sever it completely. And the priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

Genesis 8:8 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground.

Amos 3:5 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth, when there is no trap for it? Does a snare spring up from the ground, when it has taken nothing?

Ezekiel 39:4 ESV / 5 helpful votes

You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your hordes and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.

Jeremiah 17:11 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Like the partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch, so is he who gets riches but not by justice; in the midst of his days they will leave him, and at his end he will be a fool.

Jeremiah 8:7 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Even the stork in the heavens knows her times, and the turtledove, swallow, and crane keep the time of their coming, but my people know not the rules of the Lord.

Isaiah 46:11 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.

Isaiah 34:11 ESV / 5 helpful votes

But the hawk and the porcupine shall possess it, the owl and the raven shall dwell in it. He shall stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness.

Song of Solomon 5:11 ESV / 5 helpful votes

His head is the finest gold; his locks are wavy, black as a raven.

Song of Solomon 5:2 ESV / 5 helpful votes

I slept, but my heart was awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking. “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one, for my head is wet with dew, my locks with the drops of the night.”

Song of Solomon 2:14 ESV / 5 helpful votes

O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crannies of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.

Psalm 68:13 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Though you men lie among the sheepfolds— the wings of a dove covered with silver, its pinions with shimmering gold.

1 Kings 4:33 ESV / 5 helpful votes

He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish.

Deuteronomy 22:6 ESV / 5 helpful votes

“If you come across a bird's nest 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.

Leviticus 14:6 ESV / 5 helpful votes

He shall take the live bird with the cedarwood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water.

Leviticus 14:4 ESV / 5 helpful votes

The priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live clean birds and cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop.

Leviticus 11:13-20 ESV / 5 helpful votes

“And these you shall detest among the birds; they shall not be eaten; they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, the kite, the falcon of any kind, every raven of any kind, the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind, the little owl, the cormorant, the short-eared owl, ...

Leviticus 5:10-12 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Then he shall offer the second for a burnt offering according to the rule. And the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven. “But if he cannot afford two turtledoves or two pigeons, then he shall bring as his offering for the sin that he has committed a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering. He shall put no oil on it and shall put no frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering. And he shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take a handful of it as its memorial portion and burn this on the altar, on the Lord's food offerings; it is a sin offering.

Genesis 8:19-21 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.

Genesis 8:7 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth.

Genesis 7:14 ESV / 5 helpful votes

They and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature.

Genesis 1:26-27 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:26 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Revelation 18:2 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.

1 John 4:8 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

John 1:32 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.

Luke 12:6 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.

Isaiah 34:15 ESV / 4 helpful votes

There the owl nests and lays and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow; indeed, there the hawks are gathered, each one with her mate.

Psalm 78:27 ESV / 4 helpful votes

He rained meat on them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas;

Job 39:26-30 ESV / 4 helpful votes

“Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south? Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high? On the rock he dwells and makes his home, on the rocky crag and stronghold. From there he spies out the prey; his eyes behold it from far away. His young ones suck up blood, and where the slain are, there is he.”

Job 39:13-18 ESV / 4 helpful votes

“The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are they the pinions and plumage of love? For she leaves her eggs to the earth and lets them be warmed on the ground, forgetting that a foot may crush them and that the wild beast may trample them. She deals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers; though her labor be in vain, yet she has no fear, because God has made her forget wisdom and given her no share in understanding. ...

Nehemiah 5:18 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Now what was prepared at my expense for each day was one ox and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people.

Leviticus 14:51 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And shall take the cedarwood and the hyssop and the scarlet yarn, along with the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed and in the fresh water and sprinkle the house seven times.

Leviticus 14:22 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Also two turtledoves or two pigeons, whichever he can afford. The one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.

Genesis 1:30 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

Philippians 4:6-7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Hosea 7:11 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Ephraim is like a dove, silly and without sense, calling to Egypt, going to Assyria.

Jeremiah 48:28 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, O inhabitants of Moab! Be like the dove that nests in the sides of the mouth of a gorge.

Jeremiah 5:1-31 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look and take note! Search her squares to see if you can find a man, one who does justice and seeks truth, that I may pardon her. Though they say, “As the Lord lives,” yet they swear falsely. O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth? You have struck them down, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent. Then I said, “These are only the poor; they have no sense; for they do not know the way of the Lord, the justice of their God. I will go to the great and will speak to them, for they know the way of the Lord, the justice of their God.” But they all alike had broken the yoke; they had burst the bonds. ...

Isaiah 16:2 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Like fleeing birds, like a scattered nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.

Psalm 124:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped!

Deuteronomy 14:14 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Every raven of any kind;

Leviticus 11:15 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Every raven of any kind,

Exodus 20:11 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Genesis 9:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.

1 Peter 5:6-7 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Luke 1:1-80 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ...

Ecclesiastes 12:4 ESV / 1 helpful vote

And the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low—

Psalm 139:13-14 ESV / 1 helpful vote

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

Psalm 23:1-6 ESV / 1 helpful vote

A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ...

Exodus 7:10-12 ESV / 1 helpful vote

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs.

88 Bible Verses about Birds