Even though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, even though the olive crop will fail and the orchards will yield no food, even though the flock is cut off from the fold and there is no herd in the stalls, I will continue to rejoice in the Lord, and exult in the God of my salvation.
Because in my eyes you are precious, because you are honored and I love you, I will give people in exchange for you and nations in return for your life.
When the command is given, at the sound of the archangel’s voice and the call of God’s trumpet, the Lord himself will descend from heaven, and those who have died in Christ will be the first to rise. Then those of us who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them on clouds in the air to meet the Lord. And so, we will be with the Lord forever.
I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you. I will remove from your body a heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh in its place.
I love you, O Lord, my strength, O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer. My God is my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
In other words, God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, and not holding people’s transgressions against them, and he committed to us the message of reconciliation.
And now, brethren, I want to remind you of the gospel I proclaimed to you, which you received and in which you stand firm. Through it you are also being saved, provided that you are holding fast to what I proclaimed to you. If not, then you have believed in vain.
The righteous call out, and the Lord hears them; he rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord remains close to the brokenhearted, and he saves those whose spirit is crushed.
In it the righteousness of God is revealed, beginning in faith and established in faith. As it is written: “The one who is righteous will live through faith.”
Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and whose hope is the Lord. They will be like a tree planted by the water that spreads out its roots to the stream. When the heat comes, it does not fear; its leaves stay green. It is not concerned in a year of drought, and it never fails to bear fruit.