caring for the elderly

⁸But if anyone has no concern for his own, and especially for those of his own household, he has denied the faith, and he is worse than an unbeliever.

³²Rise up in the presence of a gray-haired head, and honor the reputation of an elder, and fear the Lord your God. I am the Lord.

⁹Do not cast me off in the time of old age. Do not abandon me when my strength will fail.

¹You should not rebuke an old man, but rather plead with him, as if he were your father; with young men, like brothers; ²with old women, like mothers; with young women, in all chastity, like sisters.

¹²Honor your father and your mother, so that you may have a long life upon the land, which the Lord your God will give to you.

⁴But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let her first learn to manage her own household, and to fulfill, in turn, her own obligation to her parents; for this is acceptable before God.

²²Listen to your father, who conceived you. And do not despise your mother, when she is old.

¹Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is just.

²⁶Therefore, when Jesus had seen his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son.” ²⁷Next, he said to the disciple, “Behold your mother.” And from that hour, the disciple accepted her as his own.

¹⁷Learn to do good. Seek judgment, support the oppressed, judge for the orphan, defend the widow.

³⁵For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in;

³¹Old age is a crown of dignity, when it is found in the ways of justice.

²Honor your father and your mother. This is the first commandment with a promise:

²⁷This is religion, clean and undefiled before God the Father: to visit orphans and widows in their tribulations, and to keep yourself immaculate, apart from this age.

⁴Even to your old age, I am the same. And even with your grey hairs, I will carry you. I have made you, and I will sustain you. I will carry you, and I will save you.

³Honor those widows who are true widows. ⁴But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let her first learn to manage her own household, and to fulfill, in turn, her own obligation to her parents; for this is acceptable before God.

¹⁷The eye of one who mocks his father and who despises the childbearing of his mother, let the ravens of the torrent tear it out, and let the sons of the eagles consume it.