3 Behold, children are a heritage and gift from the Lord,

The fruit of the womb a reward. [Deut 28:4]

4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,

So are the children of one’s youth.

5 How blessed [happy and fortunate] is the man whose quiver is filled with them;

They will not be ashamed

When they speak with their enemies [in gatherings] at the [city] gate.

1 Blessed [happy and sheltered by God’s favor] is everyone who fears the Lord [and worships Him with obedience],

Who walks in His ways and lives according to His commandments. [Ps 1:1, 2]

2 For you shall eat the fruit of [the labor of] your hands,

You will be happy and blessed and it will be well with you.

3 Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine

Within the innermost part of your house;

Your children will be like olive plants

Around your table.

4 Behold, for so shall the man be blessed and divinely favored

Who fears the Lord [and worships Him with obedience].

1 Blessed [happy and sheltered by God’s favor] is everyone who fears the Lord [and worships Him with obedience],

Who walks in His ways and lives according to His commandments. [Ps 1:1, 2]

2 For you shall eat the fruit of [the labor of] your hands,

You will be happy and blessed and it will be well with you.

3 Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine

Within the innermost part of your house;

Your children will be like olive plants

Around your table.

12 Let our sons in their youth be like plants full grown,

And our daughters like corner pillars fashioned for a palace;

2 His descendants will be mighty on earth;

The generation of the upright will be blessed.

28 And God blessed them [granting them certain authority] and said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subjugate it [putting it under your power]; and rule over (dominate) the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living thing that moves upon the earth."

4 "The *offspring of your *body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your animals, the offspring of your herd and the young of your flock will be blessed.

14 You shall be blessed above all peoples; there will be no male or female barren (childless, infertile) among you or among your cattle.

6 Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God’s wisdom and will for his abilities and talents],

Even when he is old he will not depart from it. [Eph 6:4; 2 Tim 3:15]

15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;

The rod of discipline [correction administered with godly wisdom and lovingkindness] will remove it far from him.

24 He who withholds the rod [of discipline] hates his son,

But he who loves him disciplines and trains him diligently and appropriately [with wisdom and love]. [Prov 19:18; 22:15; 23:13; 29:15, 17; Eph 6:4]

15 The rod and reproof (godly instruction) give wisdom,

But a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother.

13 Do not withhold discipline from the child;

If you *swat him with a reed-like rod [applied with godly wisdom], he will not die.

1 Hear, O children, the instruction of a father,

And pay attention [and be willing to learn] so that you may gain understanding and intelligent discernment.

1 The proverbs of Solomon:

A wise son makes a father glad,

But a foolish [stubborn] son [who refuses to learn] is a grief to his mother.

6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be [written] on your heart and mind. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your *children [impressing God’s precepts on their minds and penetrating their hearts with His truths] and shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up.

14 But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and He said to them, "Allow the children to come to Me; do not forbid them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

11 If you then, evil (sinful by nature) as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him.

52 And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and men. [1 Sam 2:26]

13 Just as a father loves his children,

So the Lord loves those who fear and worship Him [with awe-filled respect and deepest reverence].

1 See what an incredible quality of love the Father has shown to us, that we would [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

24 The Lord bless you, and keep you [protect you, sustain you, and guard you];

25 The Lord make His face shine upon you [with favor],

And be gracious to you [surrounding you with lovingkindness];

26 The Lord lift up His countenance (face) upon you [with divine approval],

And give you peace [a tranquil heart and life].’

28 Now may God give you of the dew of heaven [to water your land],

And of the fatness (fertility) of the earth,

And an abundance of grain and *new wine; [Gen 27:39; Deut 33:13, 28]

29 May peoples serve you,

And nations bow down to you;

Be lord and master over your brothers,

And may your mother’s sons bow down to you.

May those who curse you be cursed,

And may those who bless you be blessed."

3 ‘For I will pour out water on him who is thirsty,

And streams on the dry ground;

I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring

And My blessing on your descendants; [Is 32:15; 35:6, 7; Joel 2:28; John 7:37-39]

4 And they will spring up among the grass

Like willows by the streams of water.’

13 "And all your [spiritual] sons will be disciples [of the Lord],

And great will be the *well-being of your sons. [John 6:45]

5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you [and approved of you as My chosen instrument],

And before you were born I consecrated you [to Myself as My own];

I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations." [Ex 33:12; Is 49:1, 5; Rom 8:29]

38 They will be My people, and I will be their God; 39 and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may [reverently] fear Me forever, for their own good and for the good of their children after them.

13 For You formed my innermost parts;

You knit me [together] in my mother’s womb.

14 I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Wonderful are Your works,

And my soul knows it very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from You,

When I was being formed in secret,

And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;

And in Your book were all written

The days that were appointed for me,

When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape].

10 I was cast upon You from birth;

From my mother’s womb You have been my God.

25 I have been young and now I am old,

Yet I have not seen the righteous (those in right standing with God) abandoned

Or his descendants pleading for bread.

26 All day long he is gracious and lends,

And his descendants are a blessing.

4 We will not hide them from their children,

But [we will] tell to the generation to come the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,

And [tell of] His great might and power and the wonderful works that He has done.

6 Grandchildren are the crown of aged men,

And the glory of children is their fathers [who live godly lives]. [Ps 127:3; 128:3]

7 The righteous man who walks in integrity and lives life in accord with his [godly] beliefs—

How blessed [happy and spiritually secure] are his children after him [who have his example to follow].

1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord [that is, accept their guidance and discipline as His representatives], for this is right [for obedience teaches wisdom and self-discipline]. 2 Honor [esteem, value as precious] your father and your mother [and be respectful to them]—this is the first commandment with a promise— 3 so that it may be well with you, and that you may have a long life on the earth. [Ex 20:12]

4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger [do not exasperate them to the point of resentment with demands that are trivial or unreasonable or humiliating or abusive; nor by showing favoritism or indifference to any of them], but bring them up [tenderly, with lovingkindness] in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

20 Children, obey your parents [as God’s representatives] in all things, for this [attitude of respect and obedience] is well-pleasing *to the Lord [and will bring you God’s promised blessings].

21 Fathers, do not provoke or irritate or exasperate your children [with demands that are trivial or unreasonable or humiliating or abusive; nor by favoritism or indifference; treat them tenderly with lovingkindness], so they will not lose heart and become discouraged or unmotivated [with their spirits broken].

12 "Honor (respect, obey, care for) your father and your mother, so that your days may be prolonged in the land the Lord your God gives you.

7 You must submit to [correction for the purpose of] discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons; for *what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 Now if you are exempt from correction and without discipline, in which all [of God’s children] share, then you are illegitimate children and not sons [at all].

4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren [who are adults], see to it that these first learn to show great respect to their own family [as their religious duty and natural obligation], and to compensate their parents or grandparents [for their upbringing]; for this is acceptable and pleasing in the sight of God.

21 A woman, when she is in labor, has pain because her time [to give birth] has come; but when she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of her joy that a child has come into the world.

39 Moreover, your little ones whom you said would become prey, and your sons, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, shall enter Canaan, and I will give it to them and they shall possess it.