25 Anxiety weighs down the heart,(A)
    but a kind word cheers it up.

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24 Gracious words are a honeycomb,(A)
    sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.(B)

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13 A happy heart makes the face cheerful,(A)
    but heartache crushes the spirit.(B)

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The Sovereign Lord(A) has given me a well-instructed tongue,(B)
    to know the word that sustains the weary.(C)
He wakens me morning by morning,(D)
    wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.(E)

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22 A cheerful heart is good medicine,
    but a crushed(A) spirit dries up the bones.(B)

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23 A person finds joy in giving an apt reply(A)
    and how good is a timely word!(B)

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18 The words of the reckless pierce like swords,(A)
    but the tongue of the wise brings healing.(B)

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Perfume(A) and incense bring joy to the heart,
    and the pleasantness of a friend
    springs from their heartfelt advice.

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13 So the Lord spoke(A) kind and comforting words(B) to the angel who talked with me.(C)

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For I wrote you(A) out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.

Forgiveness for the Offender

If anyone has caused grief,(B) he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely. The punishment(C) inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him,(D) so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

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14 The human spirit can endure in sickness,
    but a crushed spirit who can bear?(A)

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11 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.(A)

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11 Like apples[a] of gold in settings of silver(A)
    is a ruling rightly given.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 25:11 Or possibly apricots

15 All the days of the oppressed are wretched,
    but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.(A)

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I am bowed down(A) and brought very low;
    all day long I go about mourning.(B)

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33 He took Peter, James and John(A) along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,”(B) he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”

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10 Each heart knows its own bitterness,
    and no one else can share its joy.

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Artaxerxes Sends Nehemiah to Jerusalem

In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes,(A) when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before, so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”

I was very much afraid,

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