discouragement

¹¹For I know the thoughts that I think over you, says the Lord: thoughts of peace and not of affliction, so that I may give you patience and an end.

⁵Have confidence in the Lord with all your heart, and do not depend upon your own prudence. ⁶In all your ways, consider him, and he himself will direct your steps.

⁹Behold, I am instructing you. Be strengthened, and be steadfast. Do not dread, and do not fear. For the Lord your God is with you in all things, wherever you may go.”

³³These things I have spoken to you, so that you may have peace in me. In the world, you will have difficulties. But have confidence: I have overcome the world.”

⁹And he said to me: “My grace is sufficient for you. For virtue is perfected in weakness.” And so, willingly shall I glory in my weaknesses, so that the virtue of Christ may live within me.

⁷Cast all your cares upon him, for he takes care of you.

²⁶And similarly, the Spirit also helps our weakness. For we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself asks on our behalf with ineffable sighing.

³¹So, what should we say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

⁵⁸And so, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and unmovable, abounding always in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not useless in the Lord.

¹³So may the God of hope fill you with every joy and with peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope and in the virtue of the Holy Spirit.

⁷Therefore, be subject to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

²⁵Act manfully, and let your heart be strengthened, all you who hope in the Lord.

⁸And the Lord, who is your commander, will himself be with you. He will neither renounce nor abandon you. Do not be afraid, and do not dread.”

¹Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? ²And he will rise up like a tender plant in his sight, and like a root from the thirsty ground. There is no beautiful or stately appearance in him. For we looked upon him, and there was no aspect, such that we would desire him. ³He is despised and the least among men, a man of sorrows who knows infirmity. And his countenance was hidden and despised. Because of this, we did not esteem him. ⁴Truly, he has taken away our weaknesses, and he himself has carried our sorrows. And we thought of him as if he were a leper, or as if he had been struck by God and humiliated. ⁵But he himself was wounded because of our iniquities. He was bruised because of our wickedness. The discipline of our peace was upon him. And by his wounds, we are healed. ⁶We have all gone astray like sheep; each one has turned aside to his own way. And the Lord has placed all our iniquity upon him.

¹⁷For though our tribulation is, at the present time, brief and light, it accomplishes in us the weight of a sublime eternal glory, beyond measure. ¹⁸And we are contemplating, not the things that are seen, but the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are temporal, whereas the things that are not seen are eternal.

⁶But without faith, it is impossible to please God. For whoever approaches God must believe that he exists, and that he rewards those who seek him.

¹Furthermore, since we also have so great a cloud of witnesses over us, let us set aside every burden and sin which may surround us, and advance, through patience, to the struggle offered to us.

¹⁰The thief does not come, except so that he may steal and slaughter and destroy. I have come so that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.

¹⁰Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not turn away, for I am your God. I have strengthened you, and I have assisted you, and the right hand of my just one has upheld you. ¹¹Behold, all who fight against you shall be confounded and ashamed. They will be as if they did not exist, and the men who contradict you will perish. ¹²You will seek them, and you will not find them. The men who rebel against you will be as if they did not exist. And the men who make war against you will be like something that has been consumed. ¹³For I am the Lord your God. I take you by your hand, and I say to you: Do not be afraid. I have helped you. ¹⁴Fear not, O worm of Jacob, you who are dead within Israel. I have helped you, says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.