Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked – the God who has been my shepherd ¹  all my life long to this day,

Jethro said, “Blessed ¹  be the Lord who has delivered you from the hand of Egypt, and from the hand of Pharaoh, who has delivered the people from the Egyptians’ control! ² 

They crouch and lie down like a lion, and as a lioness, ¹  who can stir him? Blessed is the one who blesses you, and cursed is the one who curses you!’”

All along the way I, the Lord your God, ¹  have blessed your every effort. ²  I have ³  been attentive to ⁴  your travels through this great wasteland. These forty years I have ⁵  been with you; you have lacked for nothing.’”

Then you are to celebrate the Festival of Weeks ¹  before the Lord your God with the voluntary offering ²  that you will bring, in proportion to how he ³  has blessed you.

Your children ¹  will be blessed, as well as the produce of your soil, the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks.

So David sent messengers to the people of Jabesh Gilead and told them, “May you be blessed by the Lord because you have shown this kindness ¹  to your lord Saul by burying him.

Now be willing to bless your servant’s dynasty ¹  so that it may stand permanently before you, for you, O sovereign Lord, have spoken. By your blessing may your servant’s dynasty be blessed on into the future!” ² 

But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son. We shouldn’t all go. We shouldn’t burden you in that way.” Though Absalom ¹  pressed ²  him, the king ³  was not willing to go. Instead, David ⁴  blessed him.

¹ Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, who so moved in the heart of the king to so honor the temple of the Lord which is in Jerusalem!

Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people replied “Amen! Amen!” as they lifted their hands. Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

Have you ¹  not made a hedge ²  around him and his household and all that he has on every side? You have blessed ³  the work of his hands, and his livestock ⁴  have increased ⁵  in the land.

He said, “Naked ¹  I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there. ²  The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. ³  May the name of the Lord ⁴  be blessed!”

So the Lord blessed the second part of Job’s life more than the first. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.

Give sincere homage! ¹  Otherwise he ²  will be angry, ³  and you will die because of your behavior, ⁴  when his anger quickly ignites. ⁵  How blessed ⁶  are all who take shelter in him! ⁷ 

How blessed ¹  is the one whom you choose, and allow to live in your palace courts. ²  May we be satisfied with the good things of your house – your holy palace. ³ 

Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobility, ¹  and your princes feast at the proper time ²  – with self-control and not in drunkenness. ³ 

The Lord who commands armies will pronounce a blessing over the earth, saying, ¹  “Blessed be my people, Egypt, and the work of my hands, Assyria, and my special possession, ²  Israel!”

For this reason the Lord is ready to show you mercy; he sits on his throne, ready to have compassion on you. ¹  Indeed, the Lord is a just God; all who wait for him in faith will be blessed. ² 

Look at Abraham, your father, and Sarah, who gave you birth. ¹  When I summoned him, he was a lone individual, ²  but I blessed him ³  and gave him numerous descendants. ⁴