so that his life loathes food, and his soul rejects appetizing fare. ¹ 

Of Asher he said: Asher is blessed with children, may he be favored by his brothers and may he dip his foot in olive oil. ¹ 

The Lover to His Beloved: O my beloved, you are like ¹  a ²  mare ³  among Pharaoh’s stallions. ⁴ 

He picked out for us a special land ¹  to be a source of pride for ²  Jacob, ³  whom he loves. ⁴  (Selah)

Those who sit at the city gate gossip about me; drunkards mock me in their songs. ¹ 

May you give support to the one you have chosen, ¹  to the one whom you raised up for yourself! ² 

When I was a son to my father, ¹  a tender only child ²  before my mother,

Surely he loves the people; ¹  all your holy ones ²  are in your power. ³  And they sit ⁴  at your feet, each receiving ⁵  your words.

O Lord, in your good favor you made me secure. ¹  Then you rejected me ²  and I was terrified.

But she is unique! ¹  My dove, my perfect one! She is the special daughter ²  of her mother, she is the favorite ³  of the one who bore her. The maidens ⁴  saw her and complimented her; ⁵  the queens and concubines praised her:

Go to the flock and get me two of the best young goats. I’ll prepare ¹  them in a tasty way for your father, just the way he loves them.

He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Esau ¹  said to him, “My father, get up ²  and eat some of your son’s wild game. Then you can bless me.” ³ 

So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant. ¹  Potiphar appointed Joseph ²  overseer of his household and put him in charge ³  of everything he owned.

In the day he divides his inheritance ¹  he must not appoint as firstborn the son of the favorite wife in place of the other ²  wife’s son who is actually the firstborn.

These are the final words of David: “The oracle of David son of Jesse, the oracle of the man raised up as the ruler chosen by the God of Jacob, ¹  Israel’s beloved ²  singer of songs:

Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than his other wives and concubines. ¹  He had eighteen wives and sixty concubines; he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus. He was the highest-ranking ¹  Jew, and he was admired by his numerous relatives. ²  He worked enthusiastically ³  for the good of his people and was an advocate for the welfare of ⁴  all his descendants. ⁵ 

For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; ²  a psalm of Asaph; a song. We give thanks to you, O God! We give thanks! You reveal your presence; ³  people tell about your amazing deeds.

I announced them to you beforehand; before they happened, I predicted them for you, so you could never say, ‘My image did these things, my idol, my cast image, decreed them.’

“My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds ¹  have allow them to go astray. They have wandered around in the mountains. They have roamed from one mountain and hill to another. ²  They have forgotten their resting place.