wayward children

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

¹⁶For this reason, we are not insufficient. But it is as though our outer man is corrupted, while our inner man is renewed from day to day. 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.

⁷When the ways of man will please the Lord, he will convert even his enemies to peace.

¹My little sons, this I write to you, so that you may not sin. But if anyone has sinned, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Just One.

⁷But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, so that what is sublime may be of the power of God, and not of us. ⁸In all things, we endure tribulation, yet we are not in anguish. We are constrained, yet we are not destitute. ⁹We suffer persecution, yet we have not been abandoned. We are thrown down, yet we do not perish.

¹³And after not many days, the younger son, gathering it all together, set out on a long journey to a distant region. And there, he dissipated his substance, living in luxury. ¹⁴And after he had consumed it all, a great famine occurred in that region, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵And he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that region. And he sent him to his farm, in order to feed the swine. ¹⁶And he wanted to fill his belly with the scraps that the swine ate. But no one would give it to him. ¹⁷And returning to his senses, he said: ‘How many hired hands in my father’s house have abundant bread, while I perish here in famine!

¹²If I have spoken to you about earthly things, and you have not believed, then how will you believe, if I will speak to you about heavenly things?

¹⁶And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love. And he who abides in love, abides in God, and God in him.

¹⁴Convert, O rebellious sons, says the Lord. For I am your leader. And so, I will take you, one from a city, and two from a family, and I will lead you into Zion. ¹⁵And I will give you pastors according to my own heart. And they will feed you with knowledge and doctrine. ¹⁶And when you have been multiplied and increased in the land in those days, says the Lord, they will no longer say: ‘The Ark of the covenant of the Lord!’ And it will not enter into the heart, and they will not call it to mind. It will neither be visited, nor made use of, any longer. ¹⁷In that time, Jerusalem will be called: ‘The Throne of the Lord.’ And all the nations will be gathered to it, in the name of the Lord, in Jerusalem. And they will not walk after the depravity of their own most wicked heart. ¹⁸In those days, the house of Judah will go to the house of Israel, and they will come from the land of the north, at the same time, to the land that I gave to your fathers. ¹⁹But I said: How shall I place you among the sons, and distribute to you a desirable land, the preeminent inheritance of the host of the Gentiles? And I said: You will call me Father, and you will not cease to walk after me.

¹Therefore, interrupting an explanation of the basics of Christ, let us consider what is more advanced, not presenting again the fundamentals of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, ²of the doctrine of baptism, and also of the imposition of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. ³And we shall do this, if indeed God permits it. ⁴For it is impossible for those who were once illuminated, and have even tasted of the heavenly gift, and have become sharers in the Holy Spirit, ⁵who, despite having tasted the good Word of God and the virtues of the future age, have yet fallen away, ⁶to be renewed again to penance, since they are crucifying again in themselves the Son of God and are still maintaining pretenses.

⁶But he should ask with faith, doubting nothing. For he who doubts is like a wave on the ocean, which is moved about by the wind and carried away;

¹In their tribulation, they will arise early to me. Come, let us return to the Lord. ²For he has seized us, and he will heal us. He will strike, and he will cure us. ³He will revive us after two days; on the third day he will raise us up, and we will live in his sight. We will understand, and we will continue on, so that we may know the Lord. His landing place has been prepared like the first light of morning, and he will come to us like the early and the late rains of the land. ⁴What am I to do with you, Ephraim? What am I to do with you, Judah? Your mercy is like the morning mist, and like the dew passing away in the morning. ⁵Because of this, I have cut them with the prophets, I have slain them with the words of my mouth; and your opinions will depart like the light. ⁶For I desired mercy and not sacrifice, and knowledge of God more than holocausts.

¹⁶So then, let your light shine in the sight of men, so that they may see your good works, and may glorify your Father, who is in heaven.

¹³rescinding the word of God through your tradition, which you have handed down. And you do many other similar things in this way.”

¹“So then, if you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God, so as to keep and do all of his commandments, which I instruct to you this day, the Lord your God will cause you to be more exalted than all the nations which exist upon the earth. ²And all these blessings shall come to you and take hold of you, but only if you listen to his precepts. ³Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed in the field. ⁴Blessed shall be the fruit of your loins, and the fruit of your land, and the fruit of your cattle, the droves of your herds, and the folds of your sheep. ⁵Blessed shall be your barns, and blessed your storehouses. ⁶Blessed shall you be entering and departing.

¹Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not apparent. ²For this reason, the ancients were given testimony. ³By faith, we understand the world to be fashioned by the Word of God, so that the visible might be made by the invisible. ⁴By faith, Abel offered to God a much better sacrifice than that of Cain, through which he obtained testimony that he was just, in that God offered testimony to his gifts. And through that sacrifice, he still speaks to us, though he is dead. ⁵By faith, Enoch was transferred, so that he would not see death, and he was not found because God had transferred him. For before he was transferred, he had testimony that he pleased God. 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.

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: ²“Stand at the gate to the house of the Lord, and preach this word there, and say: Listen to the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter through these gates to adore the Lord. ³Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Make your ways and your intentions good, and I will live with you in this place. ⁴Do not choose to trust in lying words, saying: ‘This is the temple of the Lord! The temple of the Lord! The temple of the Lord!’ ⁵For if you direct your ways and your intentions well, if you exercise judgment between a man and his neighbor, ⁶if you do not act with deceit toward the new arrival, the orphan, and the widow, and if you do not pour out innocent blood in this place, and if you do not walk after strange gods, which is to your own harm,