For God is my witness that I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

So when we could bear it no longer, we decided to stay on in Athens ¹  alone.

As I remember your tears, I long to see you, ¹  so that I may be filled with joy.

A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness. ²  O God, you are my God! I long for you! ³  My soul thirsts ⁴  for you, my flesh yearns for you, in a dry and parched ⁵  land where there is no water.

The people of Judah ¹  assembled to ask for the Lord’s help; ²  they came from all the cities of Judah to ask for the Lord’s help. ³ 

He followed ¹  God during the lifetime of ²  Zechariah, who taught him how to honor God. As long as he followed ³  the Lord, God caused him to succeed. ⁴ 

everyone who has determined to follow God, ¹  the Lord God of his ancestors, even if he is not ceremonially clean according to the standards of the temple.” ² 

He wholeheartedly and successfully reinstituted service in God’s temple and obedience to the law, in order to follow his God. ¹ 

Now Ezra had dedicated himself ¹  to the study of the law of the Lord, to its observance, and to teaching ²  its statutes and judgments in Israel.

The wicked man is so arrogant he always thinks, “God won’t hold me accountable; he doesn’t care.” ¹ 

“Because of the violence done to the oppressed, ¹  because of the painful cries ²  of the needy, I will spring into action,” ³  says the Lord. “I will provide the safety they so desperately desire.” ⁴ 

I yearn for the Lord, ¹  more than watchmen do for the morning, yes, more than watchmen do for the morning. ² 

The Beloved about Her Lover: All night long ¹  on my bed ²  I longed for ³  my lover. ⁴  I longed for ⁵  him but he never appeared. ⁶ 

But those whose hearts are devoted to detestable things and abominations, I hereby repay them for what they have done, ¹  says the sovereign Lord.”

This is how you assessed ¹  the obscene conduct of your youth, when the Egyptians fondled ²  your nipples and squeezed ³  your young breasts.

“As for those who grieve because they cannot attend the festivals – I took them away from you; they became tribute and were a source of shame to you. ¹ 

For I long to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift ¹  to strengthen you,

I feel torn between the two, ¹  because I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far,

So then, my brothers and sisters, ¹  dear friends whom I long to see, my joy and crown, stand in the Lord in this way, my dear friends!

But as it is, ¹  they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.