Family Proclamations & Blessing

⁴Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One. ⁵And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts. ⁷And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸Tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.

¹⁴Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; cast aside the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. ¹⁵But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!”

¹⁷But from everlasting to everlasting the loving devotion of the LORD extends to those who fear Him, and His righteousness to their children’s children— ¹⁸to those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.

¹A song of ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain. ²In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for bread to eat—for He gives sleep to His beloved. ³Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward. ⁴Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are children born in one’s youth. ⁵Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. He will not be put to shame when he confronts the enemies at the gate.

¹³Then all your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be their prosperity.

¹Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ²“Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise), ³“that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on the earth.” ⁴Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

¹⁷And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? ¹⁸Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed. ¹⁹For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has promised.”

²⁶“Please, my lord,” said Hannah, “as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. ²⁷I prayed for this boy, and since the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him, ²⁸I now dedicate the boy to the LORD. For as long as he lives, he is dedicated to the LORD.” So they worshiped the LORD there.

¹A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my instruction; listen to the words of my mouth. ²I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning, ³that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us. ⁴We will not hide them from their children but will declare to the next generation the praises of the LORD and His might and the wonders He has performed. ⁵For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children, ⁶that the coming generation would know them—even children yet to be born—to arise and tell their own children ⁷that they should put their confidence in God, not forgetting His works, but keeping His commandments. ⁸Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

¹Hallelujah! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in His commandments. ²His descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.

¹A song of ascents. Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in His ways! ²For when you eat the fruit of your labor, blessings and prosperity will be yours. ³Your wife will be like a fruitful vine flourishing within your house, your sons like olive shoots sitting around your table. ⁴In this way indeed shall blessing come to the man who fears the LORD. ⁵May the LORD bless you from Zion, that you may see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life, ⁶that you may see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel!

⁸Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother. ⁹For they are a garland of grace on your head and a pendant around your neck.

¹Every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.

⁶Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of a son is his father.

⁶Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

⁵Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD. ⁶And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

⁴Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ ⁵and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? ⁶So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

¹³Now people were bringing the little children to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them, and the disciples rebuked those who brought them. ¹⁴But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and told them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵Truly I tell you, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶And He took the children in His arms, placed His hands on them, and blessed them.

³⁸Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

²⁹Calling for lights, the jailer rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.” ³²Then Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house. ³³At that hour of the night, the jailer took them and washed their wounds. And without delay, he and all his household were baptized. ³⁴Then he brought them into his home and set a meal before them. So he and all his household rejoiced that they had come to believe in God.

²⁹Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen. ³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice. ³²Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.

²¹Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. ²²Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. ²³For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior. ²⁴Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. ²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her ²⁶to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹Indeed, no one ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church. ³⁰For we are members of His body. ³¹“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” ³²This mystery is profound, but I am speaking about Christ and the church. ³³Nevertheless, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

¹²Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. ¹³Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴And over all these virtues put on love, which is the bond of perfect unity. ¹⁵Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, for to this you were called as members of one body. And be thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. ¹⁸Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. ¹⁹Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. ²⁰Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord. ²¹Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they will not become discouraged.

⁸If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

³I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as did my forefathers, as I constantly remember you night and day in my prayers. ⁴Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced is in you as well.