the sons of God ¹  saw that the daughters of humankind were beautiful. Thus they took wives for themselves from any they chose.

So they looked through all Israel ¹  for a beautiful young woman and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king.

Consider Assyria, ¹  a cedar in Lebanon, ²  with beautiful branches, like a forest giving shade, and extremely tall; its top reached into the clouds.

Now the young woman was very beautiful. She was a virgin; no man had ever had sexual relations with her. ¹  She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came back up.

One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of his palace. ¹  From the roof he saw a woman bathing. Now this woman was very attractive. ² 

She will place a fair ¹  garland on your head; she will bestow ²  a beautiful crown ³  on you.”

In that day your ¹  beautiful young women ²  and your ³  young men will faint from thirst. ⁴ 

The woman became pregnant ¹  and gave birth to a son. When ²  she saw that ³  he was a healthy ⁴  child, she hid him for three months.

The Maidens to the Beloved: Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Where has your beloved turned? Tell us, ¹  that we may seek him with you. ² 

The Lord who commands armies told me this: ¹  “Many houses will certainly become desolate, large, impressive houses will have no one living in them. ² 

God has made everything fit beautifully ¹  in its appropriate time, but ²  he has also placed ignorance ³  in the human heart ⁴  so that ⁵  people ⁶  cannot discover what God has ordained, ⁷  from the beginning to the end ⁸  of their lives. ⁹ 

Now he was acting as the guardian ¹  of Hadassah ²  (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, for neither her father nor her mother was alive. ³  This young woman was very attractive and had a beautiful figure. ⁴  When her father and mother died, Mordecai had raised her ⁵  as if she were his own daughter.

So Jesse had him brought in. ¹  Now he was ruddy, with attractive eyes and a handsome appearance. The Lord said, “Go and anoint him. This is the one!”

The Lover to His Beloved: If you do not know, O most beautiful of women, simply follow the tracks of my flock, and pasture your little lambs beside the tents of the shepherds.

The fig tree has budded, the vines have blossomed and give off their fragrance. Arise, come away my darling; my beautiful one, come away with me!”

I, the Lord, once called ¹  you a thriving olive tree, one that produced beautiful fruit. But I will set you ²  on fire, fire that will blaze with a mighty roar. ³  Then all your branches will be good for nothing. ⁴ 

You also took your beautiful jewelry, made of my gold and my silver I had given to you, and made for yourself male images and engaged in prostitution ¹  with them.

Realize ¹  that to them you are like a sensual song, a beautiful voice and skilled musician. ²  They hear your words, but they do not obey them. ³ 

The one advancing against him will do as he pleases, and no one will be able to stand before him. He will prevail in the beautiful land, and its annihilation will be within his power. ¹ 

Then he will enter the beautiful land. ¹  Many ²  will fall, but these will escape: ³  Edom, Moab, and the Ammonite leadership.