For you have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin:5 And you have forgotten the consolation, which speaketh to you, as unto children, saying: My son, neglect not the discipline of the Lord; neither be thou wearied whilst thou art rebuked by him.6 For whom the Lord loveth, he chastiseth; and he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.7 Persevere under discipline. God dealeth with you as with his sons; for what son is there, whom the father doth not correct?11 Now all chastisement for the present indeed seemeth not to bring with it joy, but sorrow: but afterwards it will yield, to them that are exercised by it, the most peaceable fruit of justice.12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees,13 And make straight steps with your feet: that no one, halting, may go out of the way; but rather be healed.14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness: without which no man shall see God.15 Looking diligently, lest any man be wanting to the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up do hinder, and by it many be defiled.
Let us then also pray for those who have fallen into any sin, that meekness and humility may be given to them, so that they may submit, not unto us, but to the will of God. For in this way they shall secure a fruitful and perfect remembrance from us, with sympathy for them, both in our prayers to God, and our mention of them to the saints. Let us receive correction, beloved, on account of which no one should feel displeased. Those exhortations by which we admonish one another are both good [in themselves] and highly profitable, for they tend to unite us to the will of God. For thus saith the holy Word: "The Lord hath severely chastened me, yet hath not given me over to death." [Psalm 118:18] "For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." [Hebrews 12:6] "The righteous," saith it, "shall chasten me in mercy, and reprove me; but let not the oil of sinners make fat my head." [Psalm 141:5] And again he saith, "Blessed is the man whom the Lord reproveth, and reject not thou the warning of the Almighty. For He causes sorrow, and again restores [to gladness]; He woundeth, and His hands make whole. He shall deliver thee in six troubles, yea, in the seventh no evil shall touch thee. In famine He shall rescue thee from death, and in war He shall free thee from the power of the sword. From the scourge of the tongue will He hide thee, and thou shalt not fear when evil cometh. Thou shalt laugh at the unrighteous and the wicked, and shalt not be afraid of the beasts of the field. For the wild beasts shall be at peace with thee: then shalt thou know that thy house shall be in peace, and the habitation of thy tabernacle shall not fail. Thou shall know also that thy seed shall be great, and thy children like the grass of the field. And thou shall come to the grave like ripened corn which is reaped in its season, or like a heap of the threshing-floor which is gathered together at the proper time." [Job 5:17-26] Ye see, beloved, that protection is afforded to those that are chastened of the Lord; for since God is good, He corrects us, that we may be admonished by His holy chastisement.
For David himself. Bless the Lord, O my soul: and let all that is within me bless his holy name.2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all he hath done for thee.13 As a father hath compassion on his children, so hath the Lord compassion on them that fear him:14 For he knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are dust:17 But the mercy of the Lord is from eternity and unto eternity upon them that fear him: And his justice unto children’s children,18 To such as keep his covenant, And are mindful of his commandments to do them.
Our life on earth, brothers, is such that our existence is very transitory. We play, as it were, a game on earth: we do not exist, and we are born, and being born we are dissolved. We are like a fleeting dream, an apparition without substance, the flight of a bird that passes, a ship that leaves no trace on the sea. We are dust, a vapor, the morning dew, a flower growing but a moment and withering in a moment. "[A] man's days are as grass: as the flower of the field, so shall he flourish." Beautifully has blessed David meditated on our weakness. Again he says, "Declare to me how few are my days." He defines the days of humankind as the measure of a handbreadth. What would you say to Jeremiah, who, complaining of his birth, even blames his mother, and that, for the failings of others? "I have seen everything," says Ecclesiastes. I have reviewed in my mind all human things, wealth, luxury, power, glory that is not stable, wisdom that eludes us more often that it is mastered.
And going out from thence, he went into his own country; and his disciples followed him.2 And when the sabbath was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were in admiration at his doctrine, saying: How came this man by all these things? and what wisdom is this that is given to him, and such mighty works as are wrought by his hands?3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joseph, and Jude, and Simon? are not also his sisters here with us? And they were scandalized in regard of him.†4 And Jesus said to them: A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and in his own house, and among his own kindred.5 And he could not do any miracles there, only that he cured a few that were sick, laying his hands upon them.†6 And he wondered because of their unbelief, and he went through the villages round about teaching.
(de Con. Evan. ii. 42) Matthew indeed says that He was called the son of a carpenter; nor are we to wonder, since both might have been said, for they believed Him to be a carpenter, because He was the son of a carpenter.
About CSB. A personal translation of the New Testament, rendered directly from the public-domain Greek in a literary style — not a scholarly critical edition, and not for liturgical or doctrinal authority. It is one reader's work, offered for enjoyment; where it matters, weigh it against an established translation. (Placeholder text — final wording to come.)