godparents

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

⁴I have no greater grace than this, when I hear that my sons are walking in the truth.

¹¹Instruct and teach these things. ¹²Let no one despise your youth, but be an example among the faithful in word, in behavior, in charity, in faith, in chastity. ¹³Until I arrive, attend to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine. ¹⁴Do not be willing to neglect the grace that is within you, which was given to you through prophecy, with the imposition of the hands of the priesthood. ¹⁵Meditate on these things, so that your progress may be manifest to all. ¹⁶Pay attention to yourself and to doctrine. Pursue these things. For in doing so, you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.

²¹But whoever acts in truth goes toward the Light, so that his works may be manifested, because they have been accomplished in God.”

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say, rejoice. ⁵Let your modesty be known to all men. The Lord is near. ⁶Be anxious about nothing. But in all things, with prayer and supplication, with acts of thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God. ⁷And so shall the peace of God, which exceeds all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. ⁸Concerning the rest, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is chaste, whatever is just, whatever is holy, whatever is worthy to be loved, whatever is of good repute, if there is any virtue, if there is any praiseworthy discipline: meditate on these. ⁹All the things that you have learned and accepted and heard and seen in me, do these. And so shall the God of peace be with you.

²to Timothy, beloved son in the faith. Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, in accord with the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus, ²to Timothy, most beloved son. Grace, mercy, peace, from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord. ³I give thanks to God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a pure conscience. For without ceasing I hold the remembrance of you in my prayers, night and day, ⁴desiring to see you, recalling your tears so as to be filled with joy, ⁵calling to mind the same faith, which is in you unfeigned, which also first dwelt in your grandmother, Lois, and in your mother, Eunice, and also, I am certain, in you.

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.

¹The parables of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel, ²in order to know wisdom and discipline, ³to understand words of prudence, and to accept the instruction of doctrine, justice and judgment, and equity, ⁴so as to give discernment to little ones, knowledge and understanding to adolescents. ⁵By listening, the wise shall become wiser and the intelligent shall possess governments. ⁶He shall turn his soul to a parable and to its interpretation, to the words of the wise and their enigmas.

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. ¹²And you shall call upon me, and you shall go forth. And you shall pray to me, and I will heed you. ¹³You shall seek me. And you will find me, when you have sought me with your whole heart.

¹⁹And may my God fulfill all your desires, according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. ²⁰And to God our Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

⁷who had raised his brother’s daughter Hadassah, who by another name was called Esther. And she had lost both her parents. She was very beautiful, with a graceful appearance. Since her father and mother had both died, Mordecai adopted her as his own daughter.

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.

²⁴And after she had weaned him, she brought him with her, along with three calves, and three measures of flour, and a small bottle of wine, and she led him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. But the boy was still a young child. ²⁵And they immolated a calf, and they presented the boy to Eli. ²⁶And Hannah said: “I beg you, my lord, as your soul lives, my lord: I am that woman, who stood before you here, praying to the Lord. ²⁷I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted to me my petition, which I asked of him. ²⁸Because of this, I have also lent him to the Lord, for all the days when he shall be lent to the Lord.” And they adored the Lord in that place. And Hannah prayed, and she said:

⁷Do not choose to wander astray. God is not to be ridiculed.

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.

⁵It is not that we are adequate to think anything of ourselves, as if anything was from us. But our adequacy is from God.