But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; it touches you, and you are dismayed.
Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me!
And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.
If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.
“He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.”
But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”
Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have made firm the feeble knees.
To you, O Lord, I cry, and to the Lord I plead for mercy: