grandparents

⁶Sons of sons are the crown of old age. And the glory of sons is their fathers.

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

⁴Generation after generation will praise your works, and they will declare your power.

⁹And so, guard yourself and your soul carefully. You should not forget the words that your eyes have seen, and do not let them be cut away from your heart, throughout all the days of your life. You shall teach them to your sons and to your grandsons,

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.

²²The good leave behind heirs: children and grandchildren. And the substance of the sinner is preserved for the just.

¹⁷But the mercy of the Lord is from eternity, and even unto eternity, upon those who fear him. And his justice is with the sons of the sons,

¹But you are to speak the things that befit sound doctrine. ²Old men should be sober, chaste, prudent, sound in faith, in love, in patience. 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.

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.

²⁵I have been young, and now I am old; and I have not seen the just forsaken, nor his offspring seeking bread.

¹²be numbered? So make known your right hand, along with men learned in heart, in wisdom.

¹⁵They will still be multiplied in a fruitful old age, and they will endure well, ¹⁶so that they may announce that the Lord our God is righteous and that there is no iniquity in him.

²²A joyful soul makes a lifetime flourish. A gloomy spirit dries out the bones.

⁶And as he was crossing before him, he said: “The Ruler, the Lord God, merciful and lenient, patient and full of compassion and also truthful, ⁷who preserves mercy a thousand fold, who takes away iniquity, and wickedness, and also sin; and with you no one, in and of himself, is innocent. You render the iniquity of the fathers to the sons, and also to their descendants to the third and fourth generation.”

⁹Do not cast me off in the time of old age. Do not abandon me when my strength will fail. ¹⁰For my enemies have spoken against me. And those who watched for my soul have taken counsel as one, ¹¹saying: “God has abandoned him. Pursue and overtake him. For there is no one to rescue him.” ¹²O God, do not be far from me. O my God, provide for my assistance. ¹³May they be confounded, and may they fail, who drag down my soul. Let them be covered with confusion and shame, who seek evils for me. ¹⁴But I will always have hope. And I will add more to all your praise.

²⁸Do you not know, or have you not heard? The Lord is the eternal God, who has created the limits of the earth. He does not diminish, and he does not struggle. Neither is his wisdom searchable. ²⁹It is he who gives strength to the weary, and it is he who increases fortitude and strength in those who are failing. ³⁰Servants will struggle and fail, and young men will fall into infirmity. ³¹But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will take up wings like eagles. They will run and not struggle. They will walk and not tire.