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Read with care

We include figures such as Hannah, Naomi, Mary, and Eunice, alongside wisdom about teaching and mutual care. Some selections concern all caregivers rather than biological mothers. The difference matters when choosing a reading to share.

Proverbs 31 is an ancient poem of praise, not a checklist that every mother must meet. Read the whole chapter and avoid using individual lines to impose an impossible standard.

How to use these passages

Choose a passage that suits the person and occasion. Read its story before quoting it. Where the relationship is painful or loss is recent, a quiet word of support may be more fitting than a verse about idealized family life.

Nine places to begin

Passages from this collection

This editorial collection contains 41 distinct passages. Read these examples in context, or use the generator to discover more.

Ruth 4:14-17

The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has not left you today without a near kinsman. Let his name be famous in Israel. He shall be to you a restorer of life and sustain you in your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” Naomi took the child, laid him in her bosom, and became nurse to him. The women, her neighbors, gave him a name, saying, “A son is born to Naomi”. They named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Read Ruth 4 →
1 Samuel 1:26-28

She said, “Oh, my lord, as your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to Yahweh. I prayed for this child, and Yahweh has given me my petition which I asked of him. Therefore I have also given him to Yahweh. As long as he lives he is given to Yahweh.” He worshiped Yahweh there.

Read 1 Samuel 1 →
Proverbs 31:26-29

She opens her mouth with wisdom. Kind instruction is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household, and doesn’t eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also praises her: “Many women do noble things, but you excel them all.”

Read Proverbs 31 →
Isaiah 66:13

As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you. You will be comforted in Jerusalem.”

Read Isaiah 66 →
Luke 1:46-49

Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, for he has looked at the humble state of his servant. For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed. For he who is mighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name.

Read Luke 1 →
John 19:26-27

Therefore when Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour, the disciple took her to his own home.

Read John 19 →
2 Timothy 1:3-5

I thank God, whom I serve as my forefathers did, with a pure conscience. How unceasing is my memory of you in my petitions, night and day longing to see you, remembering your tears, that I may be filled with joy; having been reminded of the sincere faith that is in you, which lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, in you also.

Read 2 Timothy 1 →
Exodus 20:12

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.

Read Exodus 20 →
1 John 3:18

My little children, let’s not love in word only, or with the tongue only, but in deed and truth.

Read 1 John 3 →
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