For how ¹  were you treated worse than the other churches, except that I myself was not a burden to you? Forgive me this injustice!

so that ¹  you will not do us any harm, just as we have not harmed ²  you, but have always treated you well ³  before sending you away ⁴  in peace. Now you are blessed by the Lord.” ⁵ 

May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. You will be ¹  lord ²  over your brothers, and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. ³  May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed.”

But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, please stay here, ¹  for I have learned by divination ²  that the Lord has blessed me on account of you.”

Indeed, ¹  you had little before I arrived, ²  but now your possessions have increased many times over. ³  The Lord has blessed you wherever I worked. ⁴  But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?” ⁵ 

Then seven bad-looking, thin cows were coming up after them from the Nile, ¹  and they stood beside the other cows at the edge of the river. ² 

The seven lean, bad-looking cows that came up after them represent seven years, as do the seven empty heads of grain burned with the east wind. They represent ¹  seven years of famine.

It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the Lord favored and chose you – for in fact you were the least numerous of all peoples.

At that time the people of Israel were divided in their loyalties. Half the people supported Tibni son of Ginath and wanted to make him king; the other half supported Omri.

May his fame endure! ¹  May his dynasty last as long as the sun remains in the sky! ²  May they use his name when they formulate their blessings! ³  May all nations consider him to be favored by God! ⁴ 

Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by how you use worldly wealth, ¹  so that when it runs out you will be welcomed ²  into the eternal homes. ³ 

Because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided ¹  to put out to sea ²  from there. They hoped that ³  somehow they could reach ⁴  Phoenix, ⁵  a harbor of Crete facing ⁶  southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

May the Lord your God be praised because he favored ¹  you by placing you on the throne of Israel! Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he made you king so you could make just and right decisions.” ² 

May the Lord your God be praised because he favored ¹  you by placing you on his throne as the one ruling on his behalf! ²  Because of your God’s love for Israel and his lasting commitment to them, ³  he made you king over them so you could make just and right decisions.” ⁴ 

Draw me ¹  after you; let us hurry! ²  May the king ³  bring ⁴  me into his ⁵  bedroom chambers! ⁶  The Maidens ⁷  to the Lover: We will ⁸  rejoice and delight in you; ⁹  we will praise your love more than wine. The Beloved to Her Lover: How rightly the young women adore you!

young men in whom there was no physical defect and who were handsome, ¹  well versed in all kinds of wisdom, well educated ²  and having keen insight, ³  and who were capable ⁴  of entering the king’s royal service ⁵  – and to teach them the literature and language ⁶  of the Babylonians. ⁷