When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways. Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.

Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith in God,

Let no one despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

He who assaults his father or evicts his mother is a son who brings shame and disgrace.

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with man.

until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.

And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until the time of his public appearance to Israel.

And the Child grew and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.

On the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the Wilderness of Sinai. He said: “Take a census of the whole congregation of Israel by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. You and Aaron are to number those who are twenty years of age or older by their divisions—everyone who can serve in Israel’s army. And one man from each tribe, the head of each family, must be there with you. These are the names of the men who are to assist you: From the tribe of Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur; . . .

I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

A woman must not wear men’s clothing, and a man must not wear women’s clothing, for whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD your God.

After that whole generation had also been gathered to their fathers, another generation rose up who did not know the LORD or the works that He had done for Israel.

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another. For on whatever grounds you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. And we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, O man, pass judgment on others, yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. . . .

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.

But as for you, speak the things that are consistent with sound doctrine. Older men are to be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, and sound in faith, love, and perseverance. Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in their behavior, not slanderers or addicted to much wine, but teachers of good. In this way they can train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, managers of their households, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be discredited. . . .

“I heard Your voice in the garden,” he replied, “and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him.

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

in You, my God, I trust. Do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me. Surely none who wait for You will be put to shame; but those who are faithless without cause will be disgraced.

Seek out the LORD and His strength; seek His face always.

Do not rebuke an older man, but appeal to him as to a father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.

If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and does not listen to them when disciplined, his father and mother are to lay hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown, and say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. So you must purge the evil from among you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.

I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall. But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.

For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart.

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on the earth.”

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.

He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

Your bodies will fall in this wilderness—all who were numbered in the census, everyone twenty years of age or older—because you have grumbled against Me. Surely none of you will enter the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. But I will bring your children, whom you said would become plunder, into the land you have rejected—and they will enjoy it. As for you, however, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness.

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways.

Who is like the wise man? Who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed. Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God. Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?” Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure. . . .

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.

Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

The glory of young men is their strength, and gray hair is the splendor of the old.

Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.