God bless you (variants include God bless or bless you[1]) is a common English phrase generally used to wish a person blessings in various situations,[1][2] especially to "will the good of another person", as a response to a sneeze, and also, when parting or writing a valediction.[1][3][4] The phrase has been used in the Hebrew Bible by Jews (cf. Numbers 6:24), and by Christians, since the time of the early Church as a benediction, as well as a means of bidding a person Godspeed.[5][6] Many clergy, when blessing their congregants individually or as a group, use the phrase "God bless you".[7]
God bless you has been attested as a leave-taking term since 1740 and can be today heard in the US as an explicit wish or blessing and as an implicit leave-taking term. Some also use the reduced variant of God bless.
The expression "May God bless you" includes blessing, meaning growth, happiness, and many other good things. It is often said by family and loved ones as a kind of prayer.
Willard2014
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).The letter ends with the solemn valediction 'God bless you .'
The beginning of this psalm echoes the priestly benediction from Numbers 6: May God bless you and keep you.
reciting the ancient Jewish benediction a parent gives to a child: "May God bless you and keep you and may God's countenance shine upon you and bring you peace."
Thus, in the Book of Blessings, as in the Divine Office, while clergy may close with a true blessing ("May almighty God bless you."), laypersons can only request God's blessing ("May the good Lord bless us.")