Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.
Parallel translations
- WEB who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass grow on the mountains.
- BSB who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow on the hills.
- 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 5:10Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields:
- Ps 65:9–13Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it.
- Gen 9:14And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
- Matt 5:45That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
- Acts 14:17Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
- Job 26:8–9He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.
- Jas 5:17–18Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
- Job 36:27–33For he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof:
- Ps 104:13–14He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.
- Job 38:24–27By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?
- Ps 135:1Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the name of the LORD; praise him, O ye servants of the LORD.
- Isa 5:6And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
- Joel 2:23Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.
- Amos 5:7–8Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,
- Jer 14:22Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.
- 1 Kgs 18:44–45And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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.