the environment

¹⁵Thus, the Lord God brought the man, and put him into the Paradise of enjoyment, so that it would be attended and preserved by him.

²⁸And 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.”

¹For the First Sabbath. A Psalm of David. The earth and all its fullness belong to the Lord: the whole world and all that dwells in it.

⁶You yourself alone, O Lord, made heaven, and the heaven of the heavens, and all their host, the earth and all things that are in it, the seas and all things that are in them. And you gave life to all these things. And the host of heaven adores you.

⁷And I led you into the land of Carmel, so that you would eat from its fruit and from its excellence. And having entered it, you defiled my land, and you turned my inheritance into an abomination.

¹⁰The just one knows the lives of his beasts. But the inner most parts of the impious are cruel.

²Here and now, it is required of attendants that each one be found to be faithful.

¹I saw the new heaven and the new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and the sea is no more.

⁶Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? And yet not one of these is forgotten in the sight of God.

³³Then the trees of the forest will give praise before the Lord. For he comes to judge the earth.

¹The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him, in order to make known to his servants the things that must soon occur, and which he signified by sending his Angel to his servant John;

¹²Then, when they were filled, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments that are left over, lest they be lost.”

²⁷Consider the lilies, how they grow. They neither work nor weave. But I say to you, not even Solomon, in all his glory, was clothed like one of these. ²⁸Therefore, if God so clothes the grass, which is in the field today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, how much more you, O little in faith? ²⁹And so, do not choose to inquire as to what you will eat, or what you will drink. And do not choose to be lifted up on high. ³⁰For all these things are sought by the Gentiles of the world. And your Father knows that you have need of these things.

⁴You shall not muzzle an ox as it is treading out your crops in the field.

²“Thus says the Lord, who will prepare, and form, and accomplish it; the Lord is his name. ³Cry out to me and I will heed you. And I will announce to you great things, things that are certain, though you do not know them.

¹⁰Then the day of the Lord shall arrive like a thief. On that day, the heavens shall pass away with great violence, and truly the elements shall be dissolved with heat; then the earth, and the works that are within it, shall be completely burned up. ¹¹Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what kind of people ought you to be? In behavior and in piety, be holy, ¹²waiting for, and hurrying toward, the advent of the day of the Lord, by which the burning heavens shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt from the heat of the fire. ¹³Yet truly, in accord with his promises, we are looking forward to the new heavens and the new earth, in which justice lives. ¹⁴Therefore, most beloved, while awaiting these things, be diligent, so that you may be found to be immaculate and unassailable before him, in peace.

¹Blessed is the man who has not followed the counsel of the impious, and has not remained in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the chair of pestilence. ²But his will is with the law of the Lord, and he will meditate on his law, day and night. ³And he will be like a tree that has been planted beside running waters, which will provide its fruit in its time, and its leaf will not fall away, and all things whatsoever that he does will prosper. ⁴Not so the impious, not so. For they are like the dust that the wind casts along the face of the earth. ⁵Therefore, the impious will not prevail again in judgment, nor sinners in the council of the just. ⁶For the Lord knows the way of the just. And the path of the impious will pass away.

²He has settled me here, in a place of pasture. He has led me out to the water of refreshment.

²⁶Consider 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?

¹⁶For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that all who believe in him may not perish, but may have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world, in order to judge the world, but in order that the world may be saved through him.