I have great confidence in you; I take great pride ¹  on your behalf. I am filled with encouragement; ²  I am overflowing with joy in the midst of ³  all our suffering.

Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, ¹  any affection or mercy, ² 

So ¹  in all our distress and affliction, we were reassured about you, brothers and sisters, ²  through your faith.

She said, “You really are being kind to me, ¹  sir, ²  for you have reassured ³  and encouraged ⁴  me, your servant, ⁵  even though I am ⁶  not one of your servants!” ⁷ 

ב (Bet) She weeps bitterly at night; tears stream down her cheeks. ¹  She has no one to comfort her among all her lovers. ²  All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.

ט (Tet) Her menstrual flow ¹  has soiled ²  her clothing; ³  she did not consider ⁴  the consequences of her sin. ⁵  Her demise ⁶  was astonishing, ⁷  and there was no one to comfort her. She cried, “Look, ⁸  O Lord, on my ⁹  affliction because my enemy boasts!”

We were encouraged ¹  not only by his arrival, but also by the encouragement ²  you gave ³  him, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, ⁴  your deep concern ⁵  for me, so that I rejoiced more than ever.

Then I said, ¹  “There is no cure ²  for my grief! I am sick at heart!

However, in the future I will allure her; ¹  I will lead ²  her back into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.

so many of the Jewish people of the region ¹  had come to Martha and Mary to console them ²  over the loss of their brother.) ³ 

So now, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your little children.” Then he consoled them and spoke kindly ¹  to them.

Then I would yet have my comfort, ¹  then ²  I would rejoice, ³  in spite of pitiless pain, ⁴  for ⁵  I have not concealed the words ⁶  of the Holy One. ⁷ 

Are not my days few? ¹  Cease, ²  then, and leave ³  me alone, ⁴  that I may find a little comfort, ⁵ 

Finally, brothers and sisters, ¹  rejoice, set things right, be encouraged, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope,

When Job’s three friends heard about all this calamity that had happened to him, each of them came from his own country ²  – Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. ³  They met together ⁴  to come to show sympathy ⁵  for him and to console ⁶  him.

So they came to him, all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they dined ¹  with him in his house. They comforted him and consoled him for all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver ²  and a gold ring. ³ 

ש (Sin/Shin) They have heard ¹  that I groan, yet there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that you ²  have brought it about. ³  Bring about ⁴  the day of judgment ⁵  that you promised ⁶  so that ⁷  they may end up ⁸  like me!

I made the nations shake at the sound of its fall, when I threw it down to Sheol, along with those who descend to the pit. ¹  Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and the best of Lebanon, all that were well-watered, were comforted in the earth below.

For the household gods ¹  have spoken wickedness, the soothsayers have seen a lie, and as for the dreamers, they have disclosed emptiness and give comfort in vain. Therefore the people set out like sheep and become scattered because they have no shepherd. ²