A retirement card needs a verse that honors the work that's done and says something about what's next. Here are the ones that do both, with suggested wording so you're not staring at a blank card.
For a retirement card
2 Timothy 4:7
I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.
World English Bible (WEB)
'I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.' Paul, near the end of his life, looking back. It's the standard retirement verse because it honors a course completed with integrity. It works for a colleague you respect and for a parent.
I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.
‘Yahweh bless you, and keep you. Yahweh make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you. Yahweh lift up his face toward you, and give you peace.’
They will still produce fruit in old age. They will be full of sap and green,
His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
One line before the verse is usually enough.
2 Timothy 4:7
I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.
World English Bible (WEB) · Letter (epistle)
'I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.' Paul, near the end of his life, looking back. It's the standard retirement verse because it honors a course completed with integrity. It works for a colleague you respect and for a parent.
Matthew 25:21
His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
World English Bible (WEB) · Gospel (Jesus’ words and life)
'Well done, good and faithful servant... Enter into the joy of your lord.' From a parable about servants entrusted with money. The line is often quoted at retirements because it praises faithfulness over results and ends with joy. It's the traditional choice, and it lands.
Psalm 92:14
They will still produce fruit in old age. They will be full of sap and green,
World English Bible (WEB) · Psalm (poetry)
'They will still produce fruit in old age.' The right verse for someone who's worried retirement means fading out. It says the opposite: green, full of sap, still bearing. Encouraging without being saccharine. The psalm compares the righteous to a palm tree and a cedar, both slow-growing and long-lived. For a card, the image of continued fruitfulness says what most people want to hear at a retirement: this isn't the end of your usefulness.
Numbers 6:24-26
‘Yahweh bless you, and keep you. Yahweh make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you. Yahweh lift up his face toward you, and give you peace.’
World English Bible (WEB) · Torah
The priestly blessing, three lines, ending in peace. It fits on any card and has been said over people at thresholds for three thousand years. If you're not sure, use this. It works because it doesn't try to summarize a career. It simply asks for blessing, protection, favor, and peace over the next stretch. Traditional enough for a formal card, warm enough for a close colleague.
Ecclesiastes 3:1
For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:
World English Bible (WEB) · Wisdom literature
'For everything there is a season.' Short and universally known. It frames retirement as a season, which is what most retirees want to hear: not an ending, a change. The verses that follow list pairs: a time to plant and to uproot, to keep and to throw away. Quoting even the first line brings that whole list to mind. It's especially good for someone who seems unsure how to feel about the change.
Psalm 90:17
Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us. Establish the work of our hands for us. Yes, establish the work of our hands.
World English Bible (WEB) · Psalm (poetry)
'Establish the work of our hands.' A prayer that what someone built would last. For a colleague whose work mattered to you, this says so without gushing. Moses wrote this at the end of a long psalm about how short life is. The request that our work would be established is a good thing to wish for someone whose work is finishing. It honors what they built.
Philippians 1:6
being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
World English Bible (WEB) · Letter (epistle)
'He who began a good work in you will complete it.' A reminder that the important work isn't over. Good for someone who's anxious about purpose after the job. Paul wrote it to people he'd worked alongside, which makes it right for a colleague. The completion he has in mind is the person, not the project. A good verse for someone who has tied their identity to the job.
2 Timothy 4:7 is the most common. Matthew 25:21 ("well done, good and faithful servant") is the traditional one. For a short card, Numbers 6:24-26.
Write one or two sentences of thanks or congratulation, then the verse with its reference. Keep it short; the verse does the work. Suggested wording is above.