"Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child,' to the land which You swore to their fathers?

"All these cities [were] fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides a great many rural towns.

For whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a father the son [in whom] he delights.

Look down from heaven, And see from Your habitation, holy and glorious. Where [are] Your zeal and Your strength, The yearning of Your heart and Your mercies toward me? Are they restrained?

Doubtless You [are] our Father, Though Abraham was ignorant of us, And Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O LORD, [are] our Father; Our Redeemer from Everlasting [is] Your name.

They shall come with weeping, And with supplications I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, In a straight way in which they shall not stumble; For I am a Father to Israel, And Ephraim [is] My firstborn.

[Is] Ephraim My dear son? [Is he] a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still; Therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the LORD.

"In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

"For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

"If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if [he asks] for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?

"Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

"And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

"But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put [it] on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on [his] feet.

Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and [to] My God and your God.' "

And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;

If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?

Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected [us,] and we paid [them] respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?

Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

For as the heavens are high above the earth, [So] great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;

But the mercy of the LORD [is] from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children's children,

The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those who hope in His mercy.

Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, And the LORD listened and heard [them;] So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the LORD And who meditate on His name.

"They shall be Mine," says the LORD of hosts, "On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him."

But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves.

"Men [and] brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent.