On the first Sunday in October, many churches celebrate Thanksgiving: pumpkins, bread and apples before the altar, and gratitude for having enough to eat. Here you will find 20 Bible verses about harvest and Thanksgiving – verses for church services, table prayers and nursery celebrations, and verses about what “sowing and reaping” means for our lives.
God gives seed and harvest
Verses for Thanksgiving and giving thanks at the table.
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As long as the earth remains, sowing and reaping, frost and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease.
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All eyes look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You stretch out your hand and fill with good things everything that lives.
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You make grass grow for the cattle and crops for people to use, so that you bring bread from the earth and make wine that gladdens the human heart.
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You water the land and make it very fruitful. Your springs overflow with water. You make its grain grow abundantly; you build up the land.
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You crown the year with your bounty, and your footsteps overflow with abundance.
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The land yields its produce. May God, our God, bless us.
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And when you have eaten and are full, you shall praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.
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He gives food to all flesh, for his goodness endures forever.
Psalm 136:25GratitudeTable prayer
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And they do not even say in their hearts, “Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives us the early and late rains at the proper time and faithfully protects our harvest year after year.”
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May the LORD also do us good and may our land yield its produce.
Sowing and reaping in life
What the Bible teaches about applying the harvest to everyday life.
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Do not be deceived! God cannot be mocked. For whatever a person sows, this they will also reap.
Galatians 6:7GuiltPunishment
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But let us do good, and not grow weary, for in due season we will reap without fail.
Galatians 6:9PatienceExhaustion
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But this is what I mean: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously in blessing will also reap in blessing.
2 Corinthians 9:6GivingGenerosity
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Those who sow with tears will reap with joy.
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Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send workers into his harvest.”
Matthew 9:37-38Mission
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So sow righteousness and reap love; plow new ground, because now is the time to seek the LORD, until he comes and pours out his righteousness on you.
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Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest.
John 4:35bMission
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So be patient, dear brothers, until the LORD’s appointed time. Look, a farmer waits patiently for the earth’s rich harvest until he receives the early and late rains.
James 5:7Patience
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And these are the ones in whom the Word has been sown in good soil: they hear it, accept it, and bear fruit—some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, and some a hundredfold.
Mark 4:20Bearing fruit
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I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who gives the growth.
1 Corinthians 3:6-7Growth
Bible texts: Luther Bible 1912 (public domain), carefully adapted to modern spelling.
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Thanksgiving in the Bible
Feasts of thanksgiving for the harvest are already found in the Old Testament: the festival of weeks in early summer and the Feast of Booths in autumn. After the flood, God promises that “sowing and reaping” shall not cease (Genesis 8:22) – one of the most popular verses for Thanksgiving. Psalm 145:15-16 is said at the table in many families: “All eyes look to you.” And Deuteronomy 8:10 reminds us not to forget to give thanks after we have eaten our fill. You can find short prayers for the table at Bible table prayers.
What you sow, you will reap
Jesus and Paul repeatedly use the imagery of the field to describe life. Galatians 6:7 is a serious warning, while Galatians 6:9 is an encouragement: doing good is worth it, even if the harvest seems far off. Psalm 126:5 comforts all who are currently “sowing with tears.” And 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 takes the pressure off: we plant and water – God gives the growth. You can also find suitable verses for the season at Bible verses for autumn.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Bible verse is suitable for Thanksgiving?
Genesis 8:22 (“As long as the earth remains, sowing and reaping shall not cease”), Psalm 145:15-16 and Psalm 104:14-15 are the best known. Psalm 136:25 is also well suited for children.
When is Thanksgiving?
In the Protestant and Catholic churches in Germany, it is usually on the first Sunday in October. Some churches also celebrate at the end of September.
