being a good parent

⁴And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but educate them with the discipline and correction of the Lord.

⁶The proverb is: A youth is close to his way; even when he is old, he will not withdraw from it.

³Behold, the inheritance of the Lord is sons, the reward is the fruit of the womb. ⁴Like arrows in the hand of the powerful, so are the sons of those who have been cast out. ⁵Blessed is the man who has filled his desire from these things. He will not be confounded when he speaks to his enemies at the gate.

⁵You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. ⁶And these words, which I instruct to you this day, shall be in your heart. ⁷And you shall explain them to your sons. And you shall meditate upon them sitting in your house, and walking on a journey, when lying down and when rising up.

²¹Fathers, do not provoke your children to indignation, lest they lose heart.

¹Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is just. ²Honor your father and your mother. This is the first commandment with a promise: ³so that it may be well with you, and so that you may have a long life upon the earth. ⁴And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but educate them with the discipline and correction of the Lord.

⁴Let each of you not consider anything to be your own, but rather to belong to others.

¹Blessed is the man who has not followed the counsel of the impious, and has not remained in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the chair of pestilence. ²But his will is with the law of the Lord, and he will meditate on his law, day and night. ³And he will be like a tree that has been planted beside running waters, which will provide its fruit in its time, and its leaf will not fall away, and all things whatsoever that he does will prosper. ⁴Not so the impious, not so. For they are like the dust that the wind casts along the face of the earth. ⁵Therefore, the impious will not prevail again in judgment, nor sinners in the council of the just. ⁶For the Lord knows the way of the just. And the path of the impious will pass away.

¹²Therefore, all things whatsoever that you wish that men would do to you, do so also to them. For this is the law and the prophets.

¹The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Joatham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. ²Listen, O heavens, and pay attention, O earth, for the Lord has spoken. I have nurtured and raised children, but they have spurned me. ³An ox knows his owner, and a donkey knows the manger of his lord, but Israel has not known me, and my people have not understood. ⁴Woe to a sinful nation, a people burdened by iniquity, a wicked offspring, accursed children. They have abandoned the Lord. They have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel. They been taken away backwards. ⁵For what reason shall I continue to strike you, as you increase transgressions? The entire head is feeble, and the entire heart is grieving. ⁶From the sole of the foot, even to the top of the head, there is no soundness within. Wounds and bruises and swelling sores: these are not bandaged, nor treated with medicine, nor soothed with oil.

⁵And you have forgotten the consolation which speaks to you like sons, saying: “My son, do not be willing to neglect the discipline of the Lord. Neither should you become weary, while being rebuked by him.” ⁶For whomever the Lord loves, he chastises. And every son whom he accepts, he scourges. ⁷Persevere in discipline. God presents you to himself as sons. But what son is there, whom his father does not correct? ⁸But if you are without that discipline in which all have become sharers, then you are of adultery, and you are not sons. ⁹Then, too, we have certainly had the fathers of our flesh as instructors, and we reverenced them. Should we not obey the Father of spirits all the more, and so live? ¹⁰And indeed, for a few days and according to their own wishes, they instructed us. But he does so to our benefit, so that we may receive his sanctification.

¹“Do not let your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe in me also. ²In my Father’s house, there are many dwelling places. If there were not, I would have told you. For I go to prepare a place for you. ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will return again, and then I will take you to myself, so that where I am, you also may be. ⁴And you know where I am going. And you know the way.” ⁵Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” ⁶Jesus said to him: “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.

¹²If I have spoken to you about earthly things, and you have not believed, then how will you believe, if I will speak to you about heavenly things? ¹³And no one has ascended to heaven, except the one who descended from heaven: the Son of man who is in heaven. ¹⁴And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so also must the Son of man be lifted up, ¹⁵so that whoever believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life. ¹⁶For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that all who believe in him may not perish, but may have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world, in order to judge the world, but in order that the world may be saved through him.