childbearing

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.

¹⁶To the woman, he also said: “I will multiply your labors and your conceptions. In pain shall you give birth to sons, and you shall be under your husband’s power, and he shall have dominion over you.”

²⁸And God blessed them, and he said, “Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the flying creatures of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

¹⁵Yet she will be saved by bearing children, if she has continued in faith and love, and in sanctification accompanied by self-restraint.

²²The Lord, likewise remembering Rachel, heeded her and opened her womb.

¹⁴Therefore, I want the younger women to marry, to procreate children, to be mothers of families, to provide no ready opportunity for the adversary to speak evil.

¹³For Adam was formed first, then Eve. ¹⁴And Adam was not seduced, but the woman, having been seduced, was in transgression. ¹⁵Yet she will be saved by bearing children, if she has continued in faith and love, and in sanctification accompanied by self-restraint.

¹⁴Blessed shall you be among all peoples. No one will be barren among you of either gender, as much among men as among your herds. ¹⁵The Lord will take all sickness away from you. And the very grievous infirmities of Egypt, which you have known, he will not bring upon you, but upon your enemies. ¹⁶You shall devour all the peoples, which the Lord your God will deliver to you. Your eye shall not spare them, neither shall you serve their gods, lest they be your ruin. ¹⁷If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are more than I am, so how will I be able to destroy them?’ ¹⁸do not be apprehensive. Instead, recall what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all the Egyptians:

²⁸But if you take a wife, you have not sinned. And if a virgin has married, she has not sinned. Even so, such as these will have the tribulation of the flesh. But I would spare you from this.

¹A Canticle in steps. Blessed are all those who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways. ²For you will eat by the labors of your hands. Blessed are you, and it will be well with you. ³Your wife is like an abundant vine on the sides of your house. Your sons are like young olive trees surrounding your table. ⁴Behold, so will the man be blessed who fears the Lord.

²²Wives should be submissive to their husbands, as to the Lord. ²³For the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the Church. He is the Savior of his body. ²⁴Therefore, just as the Church is subject to Christ, so also should wives be subject to their husbands in all things. ²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and handed himself over for her, ²⁶so that he might sanctify her, washing her clean by water and the Word of life, ²⁷so that he might offer her to himself as a glorious Church, not having any spot or wrinkle or any such thing, so that she would be holy and immaculate.

⁹He causes a barren woman to live in a house, as the joyful mother of sons.

³Old women, similarly, should be in holy attire, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teaching well, ⁴so that they may teach prudence to the young women, so that they may love their husbands, love their children, ⁵be sensible, chaste, restrained, have concern for the household, be kind, be subordinate to their husbands: so that the Word of God may be not blasphemed.

¹⁸The Lord God also said: “It is not good for the man to be alone. Let us make a helper for him similar to himself.”

²⁸And God blessed them, and he said, “Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the flying creatures of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” ²⁹And God said: “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant upon the earth, and all the trees that have in themselves the ability to sow their own kind, to be food for you, ³⁰and for all the animals of the land, and for all the flying things of the air, and for everything that moves upon the earth and in which there is a living soul, so that they may have these on which to feed.” And so it became. ³¹And God saw everything that he had made. And they were very good. And it became evening and morning, the sixth day.

¹Similarly also, wives should be subject to their husbands, so that, even if some do not believe the Word, they may benefit without the Word, through the behavior of these wives,

¹¹Let a woman learn in silence with all subjection. ¹²For I do not permit a woman to teach, nor to be in authority over a man, but to be in silence. ¹³For Adam was formed first, then Eve. ¹⁴And Adam was not seduced, but the woman, having been seduced, was in transgression. ¹⁵Yet she will be saved by bearing children, if she has continued in faith and love, and in sanctification accompanied by self-restraint.

¹⁴And there will be joy and exultation for you, and many will rejoice in his nativity. ¹⁵For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. ¹⁶And he will convert many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷And he will go before him with the spirit and power of Elijah, so that he may turn the hearts of the fathers to the sons, and the incredulous to the prudence of the just, so as to prepare for the Lord a completed people.” ¹⁸And Zechariah said to the Angel: “How may I know this? For I am elderly, and my wife is advanced in years.” ¹⁹And in response, the Angel said to him: “I am Gabriel, who stands before God, and I have been sent to speak to you, and to proclaim these things to you.

²For example, a woman who is subject to a husband is obligated by the law while her husband lives. But when her husband has died, she is released from the law of her husband.

¹Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. ²But, because of fornication, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. ³A husband should fulfill his obligation to his wife, and a wife should also act similarly toward her husband. ⁴It is not the wife, but the husband, who has power over her body. But, similarly also, it is not the husband, but the wife, who has power over his body. ⁵So, do not fail in your obligations to one another, except perhaps by consent, for a limited time, so that you may empty yourselves for prayer. And then, return together again, lest Satan tempt you by means of your abstinence. ⁶But I am saying this, neither as an indulgence, nor as a commandment.