3 Children are a blessing

and a gift from the Lord.

4 Having a lot of children

to take care of you

in your old age

is like a warrior

with a lot of arrows.

5 The more you have,

the better off you will be,

because they will protect you

when your enemies

attack you in court.

1 The Lord will bless you

if you respect him

and obey his laws.

2 Your fields will produce,

and you will be happy—

all will go well.

3 Your wife will be as fruitful

as a grapevine,

and just as an olive tree

is rich with olives,

your home will be rich

with healthy children.

4 This is how the Lord will bless

everyone who respects him.

1 The Lord will bless you

if you respect him

and obey his laws.

2 Your fields will produce,

and you will be happy—

all will go well.

3 Your wife will be as fruitful

as a grapevine,

and just as an olive tree

is rich with olives,

your home will be rich

with healthy children.

12 Let’s pray that our young sons

will grow like strong plants

and that our daughters

will be as lovely as columns

in the corner of a palace.

2 Their descendants will have

great power in the land,

because the Lord blesses

all who do right.

28 God gave them his blessing and said:

Have a lot of children! Fill the earth with people and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the ocean, the birds in the sky, and every animal on the earth.

4 You will have many children. You will harvest large crops, and your herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats will produce many young.

14 God will bless you more than any other nation—your families will grow and your livestock increase.

6 *Teach your children

right from wrong,

and when they are grown

they will still do right.

15 All children are foolish,

but firm correction

will make them change.

24 If you love your children,

you will correct them;

if you don’t love them,

you won’t correct them.

15 Correct your children,

and they will be wise;

children out of control

disgrace their mothers.

13 Don’t fail to correct

your children.

You won’t kill them

by being firm,

1 My child, listen closely

to my teachings

and learn common sense.

1 Here are some proverbs

of Solomon:

Children with good sense

make their parents happy,

but foolish children

make them sad.

6 *Memorize his laws 7 and tell them to your children over and over again. Talk about them all the time, whether you’re at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night, or getting up in the morning.

14 When Jesus saw this, he became angry and said, "Let the children come to me! Don’t try to stop them. People who are like these little children belong to the kingdom of God.*

11 As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give good things to people who ask.

52 *Jesus became wise, and he grew strong. God was pleased with him and so were the people.

13 Just as parents are kind

to their children,

the Lord is kind

to all who worship him,

1 *Think how much the Father loves us. He loves us so much that he lets us be called his children, as we truly are. But since the people of this world did not know who Christ* is, they don’t know who we are.

24 I pray that the Lord

will bless and protect you,

25 and that he will show you mercy

and kindness.

26 May the Lord be good to you

and give you peace."

28 God will bless you, my son,

with dew from heaven

and with fertile fields,

rich with grain and grapes.

29 *Nations will be your servants

and bow down to you.

You will rule over your brothers,

and they will kneel

at your feet.

Anyone who curses you

will be cursed;

anyone who blesses you

will be blessed."

3 I will bless the thirsty land

by sending streams of water;

I will bless your descendants

by giving them my Spirit.

4 They will spring up like grass*

or like willow trees

near flowing streams.

13 *I will teach your children

and make them successful.

5 "Jeremiah, I am your Creator,

and before you were born,

I chose you to speak for me

to the nations."

38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39-41 I will make their thoughts and desires pure. Then they will realize that, for their own good and the good of their children, they must worship only me. They will even be afraid to turn away from me. I will make an agreement with them that will never end, and I won’t ever stop doing good things for them. With all my heart I promise that they will be planted in this land once again.

13 You are the one

who put me together

inside my mother’s body,

14 and I praise you because of

the wonderful way

you created me.

Everything you do is marvelous!

Of this I have no doubt.

15 Nothing about me

is hidden from you!

I was secretly woven together

out of human sight,

16 but with your own eyes you saw

my body being formed.

Even before I was born,

you had written in your book

everything about me.

10 From the day I was born,

I have been in your care,

and from the time of my birth,

you have been my God.

25 As long as I can remember,

good people have never

been left helpless,

and their children have never

gone begging for food.

26 They gladly give and lend,

and their children

turn out good.

4 and we will tell them

to the next generation.

We won’t keep secret

the glorious deeds

and the mighty miracles

of the Lord.

6 Grandparents are proud

of their grandchildren,

and children should be proud

of their parents.

7 Good people live right,

and God blesses the children

who follow their example.

1 *Children, you belong to the Lord, and you do the right thing when you obey your parents. The first commandment with a promise says, 2 *"Obey your father and your mother, 3 and you will have a long and happy life."

4 *Parents, don’t be hard on your children. Raise them properly. Teach them and instruct them about the Lord.

20 *Children must always obey their parents. This pleases the Lord.

21 *Parents, don’t be hard on your children. If you are, they might give up.

12 *Respect your father and your mother, and you will live a long time in the land I am giving you.

7 Be patient when you are being corrected! This is how God treats his children. Don’t all parents correct their children? 8 God corrects all his children, and if he doesn’t correct you, then you don’t really belong to him.

4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they should learn to serve God by taking care of her, as she once took care of them. This is what God wants them to do.

21 When a woman is about to give birth, she is in great pain. But after it is all over, she forgets the pain and is happy, because she has brought a child into the world.

39 Then the Lord spoke to you again:

People of Israel, you said that your innocent young children would be taken prisoner in the battle for the land. But someday I will let them go into the land, and with my help they will conquer it and live there.