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who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow on the hills.
Psalms 147:8 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass grow on the mountains.
  • KJV Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.
  • NKJV Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who prepares rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.
  • NASB It is He who covers the heavens with clouds, Who provides rain for the earth, Who makes grass sprout on the mountains.
  • NLT He covers the heavens with clouds, provides rain for the earth, and makes the grass grow in mountain pastures.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

God covers the sky with clouds, sends rain, and makes grass grow. He governs the weather and sustains the earth's life.

Overview

God's providence is seen in the cycle of clouds, rain, and growing grass that sustains creation. Nothing in nature operates apart from His ordering hand. This care for the earth reflects the Father who provides for all His creatures (Matthew 6:30).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 16

  • Job 5:10He gives rain to the earth and sends water upon the fields.
  • Ps 65:9–13You attend to the earth and water it; with abundance You enrich it. The streams of God are full of water, for You prepare our grain by providing for the earth.
  • Gen 9:14Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,
  • Matt 5:45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
  • Acts 14:17Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”
  • Job 26:8–9He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their own weight.
  • Jas 5:17–18Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
  • Job 36:27–33For He draws up drops of water which distill the rain from the mist,
  • Ps 104:13–14He waters the mountains from His chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of His works.
  • Job 38:24–27In which direction is the lightning dispersed, or the east wind scattered over the earth?
  • Ps 135:1Hallelujah! Praise the name of the LORD. Give praise, O servants of the LORD,
  • Isa 5:6I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.”
  • Joel 2:23Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for He has given you the autumn rains for your vindication. He sends you showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.
  • Amos 5:7–8There are those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground.
  • Jer 14:22Can the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies alone send showers? Is this not by You, O LORD our God? So we put our hope in You, for You have done all these things.
  • 1 Kgs 18:44–45On the seventh time the servant reported, “There is a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising from the sea.” And Elijah replied, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 147:8YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 147:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.