The Army and Navy Hymnal/Readings/Fatherhood and Brotherhood
SELECTION 25
FATHERHOOD AND BROTHERHOOD
I WILL make mention of the loving kindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord.
According to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us,
And the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them
According to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
For he said, Surely, they are my people, children that will not deal falsely: so he was their Saviour.
In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them:
In his love and in his pity he redeemed them;
And he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
For thou art our Father, though Abraham knoweth us not, and Israel doth not acknowledge us;
Thou, O Lord, art our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is thy name.
BEHOLD what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,
That we should be called children of God;
Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be.
We know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him;
For we shall see him even as he is.
And every one that hath this hope set on him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil:
Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
For this is the message which ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another:
We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren.
He that loveth not abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer;
And ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
But whoso hath the world's goods, and beholdeth his brother in need,
And shutteth up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him?
My little children, let us not love in word, neither with the tongue; but in deed and truth.
And this is his commandment,
That we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him.
And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.