draw me close to you

⁸Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners! And purify your hearts, you duplicitous souls!

¹⁸The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth.

²⁸But it is good for me to adhere to God, to put my hope in the Lord God, so that I may announce all your prophecies, at the gates of the daughter of Zion.

²²So, let us draw near with a true heart, in the fullness of faith, having hearts cleansed from an evil conscience, and bodies absolved with clean water.

¹⁶Let the word of Christ live in you in abundance, with all wisdom, teaching and correcting one another, with psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing to God with the grace in your hearts.

³²And when I have been lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to myself.”

¹⁹The Lord is near to those who are troubled in heart, and he will save the humble in spirit.

⁴He will overshadow you with his shoulders, and you will hope under his wings.

²⁸And we know that, for those who love God, all things work together unto good, for those who, in accordance with his purpose, are called to be saints.

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.

²⁹Let no evil words proceed from your mouth, but only what is good, toward the edification of faith, so as to bestow grace upon those who listen.

¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the directors of this world of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in high places.

¹⁶And so, from now on, we know no one according to the flesh. And though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him in this way no longer. ¹⁷So if anyone is a new creature in Christ, what is old has passed away. Behold, all things have been made new. ¹⁸But all is of God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation. ¹⁹For certainly God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not charging them with their sins. And he has placed in us the Word of reconciliation. ²⁰Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, so that God is exhorting through us. We beseech you for Christ: be reconciled to God. ²¹For God made him who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the justice of God in him.

¹¹He will pasture his flock like a shepherd. He will gather together the lambs with his arm, and he will lift them up to his bosom, and he himself will carry the very young.

²⁰Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone will hear my voice and will open the door to me, I will enter to him, and I will dine with him, and he with me.

¹⁰May your kingdom come. May your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth. ¹¹Give us this day our life-sustaining bread.

⁵No one will be able to resist you during all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so will I be with you. I will not leave you, nor will I forsake you. ⁶Be strengthened and be steadfast. For you shall divide by lot, to this people, the land about which I swore to their fathers that I would deliver it to them.

³And if I distribute all my goods in order to feed the poor, and if I hand over my body to be burned, yet not have charity, it offers me nothing.

¹Then the scribes and the Pharisees came to him from Jerusalem, saying: ²“Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” ³But responding, he said to them: “And why do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said: ⁴‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Whoever will have cursed father or mother shall die a death.’ ⁵But you say: ‘If anyone will have said to father or mother, “It is dedicated, so that whatever is from me will benefit you,” ⁶then he shall not honor his father or his mother.’ So have you nullified the commandment of God, for the sake of your tradition.

⁴⁴No one is able to come to me, unless the Father, who has sent me, has drawn him. And I will raise him up on the last day.