VERSES THAT HAVE ENCOURAGED, TAKEN FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

 

 

Why is your face downcast?  If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?  But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.   Genesis 4:6,7

 

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done…  Genesis 50:20

 

The LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation.  He is my God, and I will praise im.Him.  In Your unfailing love, You will lead the people You have redeemed.  In Your strength You will guide them to Your holy dwelling.  Exodus 15:2,13

 

He said, “If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His eyes…I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.”  Exodus 15:26

 

You have said, “I know you by name and you have found favor with Me.  If You are pleased with me, teach me Your ways so I may know You and continue to find favor with You.”  The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”  Exodus 33:12,13

 

The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.  Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished…  Exodus 34:6,7

 

God is not a man, that He should lie; nor a son of man, that He should change His mind.  Does He speak and then not act?  Does He promise and not fulfill?  Numbers 23:19

 

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live.  Teach them to your children, and to their children after them.   If you seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul.  When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey Him.  For the LORD your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant…  Deuteronomy 4:9, 29-31

 

He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.  Deuteronomy 10:18

 

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Deuteronomy 6:5-7

Know therefore, that the LORD your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands.  Deuteronomy 7:9

e is my God, and I will praise Him,  

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God.  The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession.  Deuteronomy 7:6

 

I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.  Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him.  For the LORD is your life.  Deuteronomy 30:19-20

 

He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just.  A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He… Is He not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?  Deuteronomy 32:4,6

 

Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in Him, for He shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves, rests between His shoulders.  Deuteronomy 33:12

 

The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, and your strength will equal your days.  Deuteronomy 33:25

 

Be strong and very courageous.  Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.  Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will be prosperous and successful.  Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.  Joshua 1:7-9

 

The LORD is with you, mighty warrior… Go in the strength you have.  Am I not sending you?  I will be with you.  Judges 6:12,14,16

 

The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation.  He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior.  The waves of death swirled about me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.  The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.  In my distress, I called to the LORD; I called out to my God.  From His temple He heard my voice; my cry came to His ears.  2 Samuel 22:2,3,5-7

 

He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters.  He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.  The LORD was my support.  He brought me out into a spacious place.  He rescued me because He delighted in me.  2 Samuel 22:17-20

 

You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD turns my darkness into light.  With Your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.  2 Samuel 22:29,30

 

As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless.  He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him.  For who is God besides the LORD?  And who is the Rock except our God?  It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.  He makes my feet like the feet of a deer.  He enables me to stand on the heights.  He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.  You give me your shield of victory.  You stoop down to make me great.  You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn.  You armed me with strength for battle.  The LORD lives!  Praise be to my Rock!  Exalted be God, the Rock, my Savior!  He is the God who avenges me.  Therefore, I will praise You, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing praises to Your name.  2 Samuel 22:31-37,40,47,48,50

 

Serve Him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.  If you seek Him, He will be found by you.  1 Chronicles 28:9

 

Be strong and courageous, and do the work.  Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you.  He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work …of the LORD is finished.  1 Chronicles 28:20

 

Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is Yours.  Wealth and honor come from You.  You are the ruler of all things.  In Your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.  Now, our God, we give thanks, and praise Your glorious name.  Everything comes from You, and we have given you only what comes from Your hand.  1 Chronicles 29:11-14

 

LORD, there is no one like You to help the powerless against the mighty.  Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on You.  2 Chronicles 14:11

 

The LORD is with you when you are with Him.  If you seek Him, He will be found by you… As for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.  2 Chronicles 15:2,7

 

The eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.  2 Chronicles 16:9

 

Do not be afraid or discourage because of this vast army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.  You will not have to fight this battle.  Take up your positions, stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them and the LORD will be with you.  Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld.  2 Chronicles 20:15,17,20

 

Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the vast army, for there is a greater power with us than with him.  With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.  2 Chronicles 32:7,8

 

Though we are slaves, our God has not deserted us in our bondage.  He has shown us kindness.  He has granted us new life to rebuild (our souls), the house of our God and repair its ruins, and He has given us a wall of protection.  Ezra 9:9

 

My witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high.  My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man He pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend.  Job 16:19-21

 

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth.  And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes I, and not another.  How my heart yearns within me!  Job 19:25-27

 

Submit to God and be at peace with Him; in this way prosperity will come to you. 

Job 22:21

 

He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold. 

Job 23:10

 

He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light.  God does all these things to a man twice, even three times-- to turn back his soul from the pit; that the light of life may shine on him.  Job 33:28-30

 

Those who suffer, He delivers in their suffering; He speaks to them in their affliction.  He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction. 

Job 36:15,16

 

I know that You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted.  Job 42:2

 

He holds victory in store for the upright.  He is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for He guards the course of the just and protects the way of His faithful ones. 

Proverbs 2:7,8

 

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. (and He shall direct your paths KJV)  Proverbs 3:5,6

 

Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first-fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing.  Proverbs 3:9,10

 

Have no fear of sudden disaster or of ruin… for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.  Proverbs 3:25,26

 

A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work.  This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?  Ecclesiastes 2:24

 

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:  If one falls down, his friend can help him up.  But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!  Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.  Ecclesiastes 4:9,10,12

 

The LORD Almighty has sworn, “Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.”  For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart Him?  His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?

 Isaiah 14:24,27

 

You will keep in perfect peace, him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You.  LORD, You establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished, You have done for us. 

My soul yearns for You in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for You. 

Isaiah 26:3,12,9

 

In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.  Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion.  For the LORD is a God of justice.  Blessed are all who wait for Him!  O People… you will weep no more.  How gracious He will be when you cry for help!  As soon as He hears, He will answer you.  Although the LORD gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind your saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”   The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the LORD binds up the bruises of His people and heals the wounds He inflicted. 

Isaiah 30:15,18-21,26

 

O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for You.  Be our strength every morning our salvation in time of distress.  Isaiah 33:2

 

He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.  Isaiah 33:6

 

The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.  Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy… they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God.  Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.  The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs.  Isaiah 35:1,2,6,7

 

Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come.  He will come to save you.”  Everlasting joy will crown their heads.  Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.  Isaiah 35:3,4,10

 

Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish.  In Your love You kept me from the pit of destruction.  You have put all my sins behind Your back.  Isaiah 38 17

Comfort, comfort my people, says Your God.  Speak tenderly and proclaim to her…that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.  Isaiah 40:1,2

 

He tends His flock like a shepherd:  He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young.  Isaiah 40:11

 

Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Even youth grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.  Isaiah 40:28-31

 

I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you.  I said, ‘you are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.  So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.  For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, “Do not fear; I will help you.  Do not be afraid… for I Myself, will help you,” declares the LORD.  Isaiah 41:9,10,13,14

 

I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys.  I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs… so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this. 

Isaiah 41:18,20

 

A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out. 

Isaiah 42:3

 

I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be… a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. 

Isaiah 42:6,7

 

I will lead the blind by ways they have not know, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth.  These things I will do; I will not forsake them.  Isaiah 42:16

 

This is a people plundered and looted, all of them trapped in pits or hidden away in prisons.  They have become plunder, with no one to rescue them.  Isaiah 42:22

 

Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by My name, whom I created for my glory whom I formed and made.

 Isaiah 43:6,7

 

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland...  I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, My chosen, the people I formed for Myself that they may proclaim My praise.  Isaiah 43:18-21

 

Now this is what the LORD says, He who created you, He who formed you, “Fear not for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.  Since you are precious and honored in My sight, and because I love you…Do not be afraid, for I am with you.  Isaiah 43:1,2,4,5

 

I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remembers your sins no more.  Isaiah 43:25

 

This is what the LORD says—He who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you.  Do not be afraid…  For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring, and My blessing on your descendants.  Isaiah 44:2-4

 

I will go before you and will level the mountains.  I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.  I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, who summons you by name…  I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge Me.  I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from Me there is no God, I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged Me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides Me.  Isaiah 45:2-6

 

Listen to Me, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth.  Even to your old age and gray hairs, I am He, I am He who will sustain you.  I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. 

Isaiah 46:3,4

 

Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart… I am God, and there is none like Me.  I say:  “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please…  What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.”  Isaiah 46:8-11

 

See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.  For My own sake, for My own sake, I do this.  Isaiah 48:10,11

 

This is what the LORD says, “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.  If only you had paid attention to My commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.  Isaiah 48:17,18

 

In the shadow of His hand, He hid me… for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD and my God has been my strength.  Isaiah 49:2,5

 

I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to say to the captives, “Come out”, and to those in darkness, “Be free.”   He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water… for the LORD comforts His people and will have compassion on His afflicted ones.

 Isaiah 49:8-10

 

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?   Though she may forget, I will not forget you!  See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands.  Isaiah 49:15,16

 

Those who hope in Me will not be disappointed… then all mankind will know that I, the LORD am your Savior, and your Redeemer.  Isaiah 49:23,26

 

Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced.  Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.  He who vindicates me is near.  Who then will bring charges against me?  …It is the Sovereign LORD who helps me.  Who is he that will condemn me?  Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of His servant?  Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God. 

Isaiah 50:7-10

 

The LORD will surely comfort Zion (His people) and look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD.  Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.  …Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.  I, even I, am He who comforts you.  Isaiah 51:3,11,12

 

I have put My words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of My hand… you are My people.  Isaiah 51:16

 

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering… Surely He took up our infirmities, and carried our sorrows… He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds, we are healed.  Isaiah 53:3-5

 

“Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame.  Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.  You will forget the shame of your youth.  For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion, I will bring you back.  In a surge of anger, I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness, I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer.  Isaiah 54:4,7,8

 

Remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.  For your Maker is your husband—the LORD Almighty is His name.  Isaiah 54: 4b,5

 

“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken, nor My covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.  Isaiah 54:10

 

“Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.  For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways.” Declares the LORD.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”  Isaiah 55:6,8,9

 e may be found; call on Him while He is nearHe may

 

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is My word that goes out from My mouth:  It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.  Isaiah 55:10,11

 

I will not accuse forever, nor will I always be angry… I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him.  Isaiah 57:16, 18

 

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:  … to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?  Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter; when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?  Then, your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear, then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.  Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say; “Here am I”.  “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.  The LORD will guide you always.  He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.  You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.  Isaiah 58:6-11

 

Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called, “Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”  Isaiah 58:12

 

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners… to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.  They will be called, “Oaks of Righteousness,” a planting of the LORD for the display of His splendor. 

Isaiah 61:1-3

 

You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD’S hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God… As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.  Isaiah 62: 3, 5

 

According to His compassion and many kindnesses, He said, “Surely they are my people, sons who will not be false to Me”; and so He became their Savior.  In all their distress He too was distressed, and the angel of His presence saved them.  In His love and mercy He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old… You, O LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer.  Isaiah 63:7-9,16

 

O LORD, You are our Father.  We are the clay, You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.  Isaiah 64:8

 

As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted.  Isaiah 66:13

 

Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.  Before you were born, I set you apart.  Jeremiah 1:5

 

My people have committed two sins:  They have forsaken Me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.  Jeremiah 2:13

 

They dress the wound of My people as though it were not serious.  ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.  Jeremiah 6:14

 

This is what the LORD says:  “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.  Jeremiah 6:16

 

Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him.  He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.  Jeremiah 17: 7,8 

 

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?  I, the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.  Jeremiah 17:9,10

 

Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for You are the one I praise.  Jeremiah 17:14

 

I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD.  They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart.  Jeremiah 24:7

 

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Jeremiah 29:11

 

“You will seek Me and find me when you seek Me with all your heart.  I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity.”  Jeremiah 29:13,14

 

“I will break the yoke of their necks and will tear off their bonds; no longer will foreigners enslave them.  Instead, they will serve the LORD their God… I am with you and will save you,” declares the LORD.  I will not completely destroy you.  I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.  Why do you cry out over your wound, your pain that has no cure?  Because of your great guilt and many sins I have done these things to you.  But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD.  I will bring him near and he will come close to Me… So you will be My people, and I will be your God.  Jeremiah 30: 8,9,11,15,17,21,22

 

I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you will loving-kindness.  I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt.  Jeremiah 31:3,4

 

They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back.  I will lead them beside streams of water, on a level path where they will not stumble.  They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more… I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.  Jeremiah 31:9,12,13

 

Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded, declares the LORD.  They will return from the land of the enemy.  So there is hope for your future, declares the LORD.  Your children will return to their own land.  Jeremiah 31:16,17

 

You disciplined me like an unruly calf, and I have been disciplined.  Restore me, and I will return, because You are the LORD my God.  After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand, I beat my breast.  I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.  “Is not this my dear son, the child in whom I delight?  …I still remember him.  Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD.  Jeremiah 31:18-20

 

How long will you wander, O unfaithful daughter…  Just as I watched over them to uproot and teardown, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the LORD.  I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be My people…   For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.  Jeremiah 31:22,28,33,34

 

I am the LORD, the God of all mankind.  Is anything too hard for Me?  I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety.  They will be My people, and I will be their God.  I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear Me for their own good and the good of their children after them.  I will make an everlasting covenant with them; I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear Me. So that they will never turn away from Me.  I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all My heart and soul.  Jeremiah 32:27,37-41

 

This is what the LORD says, He who made the earth, the LORD is His name:  “Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”  Jeremiah 33:2,3

 

The LORD is a God of retribution; He will repay in full.  Jeremiah 51:56

 

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:  Because of the LORD’S great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.  Lamentations 3:21-23

 

I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.”  The LORD is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.   Lamentations 3:24-26

 

For men are not cast off by the LORD forever.  Though He brings grief, He will show compassion, so great is His unfailing love.  For He does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.  Lamentations 3:31-33

 

And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words.  Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them.  You must speak My works to them, whether they listen or fail to listen.  Ezekiel 2:6,7

 

For this is what the Sovereign LORD says; “I Myself will search for My sheep and look after them.  As a shepherd looks after His scattered flock when He is with them, so will I look after My sheep.  I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.  I will bring them out … and I will bring them into their own land.  I will pasture them; I will tend them in a good pasture, and there they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture.  I Myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down,” declares the Sovereign LORD. “I will search for the lost and bring back the strays.  I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak… I will shepherd the flock with justice.”  Ezekiel 34:11-16

 

“You My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, are people, and I am your God,” declares the Sovereign LORD.  Ezekiel 34:31

 

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.  I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put My spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep My laws.  You will be My people, and I will be your God.  I will save you from all your uncleanness.  Ezekiel 36:25-29

 

She has not acknowledged that I was the one who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil, who lavished on her the silver and gold. I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals, but Me she forgot, declares the LORD.  I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.  There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make a door of hope.  There she will sing as in the days of her youth.  In that day, declares the LORD you will call Me ‘My husband’; you will no longer call Me, ‘My master’.  I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.  I will betroth you in faithfulness and you will acknowledge the LORD.  I will say ‘You are My people’, and they will say, ‘You are My God.’  Hosea 2:8,13,14,15,19,20,23

 

I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten. And you will praise the name of the LORD your God.  Joel 2:25,26

 

But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; My God will hear me.  Do not gloat over me, my enemy!  Though I have fallen, I will rise.  Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.  Because I have sinned against Him, I will bear the LORD’s wrath, until He pleads my case and establishes my right.  He will bring me out into the light: I will see His righteousness.  Micah 7:7-9

 

Shepherd Your people with Your staff, the flock of Your inheritance.  Who is a God like You, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance?  You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.  You will again have compassion on us. You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.  Micah 7:14,18,19

 

The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilt unpunished.  His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of His feet.  The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble.  He cares for those who trust in Him.  This is what the LORD says, “Although I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more.  Now I will break their yoke from your neck and tear your shackles away.  Nahum 1:3,7,12,13

 

How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen?  Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save?  Why do You make me look at injustice? Why do You tolerate wrong?  Destruction and violence are before me.  There is strife, and conflict abounds.  Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails.  The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. 

Habakkuk 1:2-4

 

I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.  Habakkuk 1:5

 

O LORD, are You not from everlasting?  My God, My Holy One!  Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; You cannot tolerate wrong.  Why then do You tolerate the treacherous?  Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?  Habakkuk 1:12,13

 

The righteous will live by his faith.  Has not the LORD Almighty determined that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire?  For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. 

Habakkuk 2:4,13,14

 

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God My Savior.  The Sovereign LORD is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights.  Habakkuk 3:17-19

 

The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you.  He will quiet you with His love.  He will rejoice over you with singing.  The sorrows for the appointed feasts, I will remove from you; they are a burden and a reproach to you.  At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you.  Zephaniah 3:17-19

 

Be strong, all you people, declares the LORD, and work.  For I am with you, declares the LORD Almighty.  My Spirit remains among you.  Do not fear.  Haggai 2:4,5

 

“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit”, says the LORD Almighty.  Zechariah 4:6

 

He will be like a refiner’s fire; or a launderer’s soap.  He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.  He will purify them and refine them like gold and silver.  Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness.

Malachi 3:2,3

 

“I the LORD, do not change.  Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty.  But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’  Will a man rob God?  Yet you rob Me.  But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’  “In tithes and offerings.    Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house.  Test Me in this, says the LORD Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.  I will prevent pest from devouring your crops and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” say the LORD Almighty.  Malachi 3:6-11

 

But for you who revere My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.  Malachi 4:2