Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted in me?
Hope in God,
for I will yet thank Him
for the help of His presence.
A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance,
but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.
The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity,
but a wounded spirit who can bear?
For thus says the High and Lofty One
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
I dwell in the high and holy place
and also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble,
and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
For thus says the Lord:
I will extend peace to her like a river
and the glory of the nations like a flowing stream.
Then you shall nurse, you shall be carried on her sides,
and dandled on her knees.
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
For this reason we do not lose heart: Even though our outward man is perishing, yet our inward man is being renewed day by day.
Our light affliction, which lasts but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and your hearts give up.