Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

“Be careful not to perform your righteous acts before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. . . .

Then all your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be their prosperity.

But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Even a young man is known by his actions—whether his conduct is pure and upright.

What then shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.

Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but because it is God’s will; not out of greed, but out of eagerness;

Yet the children of your bereavement will say in your hearing, ‘This place is too small for us; make room for us to live here.’ Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has begotten these for me? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. So who has reared them? Look, I was left all alone, so where did they come from?’” This is what the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations, and raise My banner to the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders. Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in Me will never be put to shame.” Can the plunder be snatched from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be delivered? . . .

Indeed, this is what the LORD says: “Even the captives of the mighty will be taken away, and the plunder of the tyrant will be retrieved; I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. On account of My name they will deliver you to the synagogues and prisons, and they will bring you before kings and governors. This will be your opportunity to serve as witnesses. So make up your mind not to worry beforehand how to defend yourselves. For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death. . . .

After all, it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,

This is what the Lord GOD showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts just after the king’s harvest, as the late spring crop was coming up. And when the locusts had eaten every green plant in the land, I said, “Lord GOD, please forgive! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?” So the LORD relented from this plan. “It will not happen,” He said. This is what the Lord GOD showed me: The Lord GOD was calling for judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land. Then I said, “Lord GOD, please stop! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?” . . .

‘Cursed is he who lets a blind man wander in the road.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

See that you do not look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father in heaven.

A good name is more desirable than great riches; favor is better than silver and gold. The rich and the poor have this in common: The LORD is Maker of them all. The prudent see danger and take cover, but the simple keep going and suffer the consequences. The rewards of humility and the fear of the LORD are wealth and honor and life. Thorns and snares lie on the path of the perverse; he who guards his soul stays far from them. . . .