But all the young women ¹  who have not had sexual intercourse with a man ²  will be yours. ³ 

Now when the young women were being gathered again, ¹  Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. ² 

Fire consumed their ¹  young men, and their ²  virgins remained unmarried. ³ 

The mouth ¹  of an adulteress is like ²  a deep pit; ³  the one against whom the Lord is angry ⁴  will fall into it. ⁵ 

At the fords of the Arnon ¹  the Moabite women are like a bird that flies about when forced from its nest. ² 

Even on male and female servants I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

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

So ¹  they left the tomb quickly, with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

The Israelites brought a freewill offering to the Lord, every man and woman whose heart was willing to bring materials for all the work that the Lord through ¹  Moses had commanded them ²  to do.

So Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen carefully, ¹  my dear! ²  Do not leave to gather grain in another field. You need not ³  go beyond the limits of this field. You may go along beside ⁴  my female workers. ⁵ 

I also amassed silver and gold for myself, as well as valuable treasures ¹  taken from kingdoms and provinces. ²  I acquired male singers and female singers for myself, and what gives a man sensual delight ³  – a harem of beautiful concubines! ⁴ 

I am presently eighty years old. Am I able to discern good and bad? Can I ¹  taste what I eat and drink? Am I still able to hear the voices of male and female singers? Why should I ²  continue to be a burden to my lord the king?

This young woman pleased him, ¹  and she found favor with him. He quickly provided her with her cosmetics and her rations; he also provided her with the seven specially chosen ²  young women who were from the palace. He then transferred her and her young women to the best quarters in the harem. ³ 

When it became the turn of Esther daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai (who had raised her as if she were his own daughter ¹ ) to go to the king, she did not request anything except what Hegai the king’s eunuch, who was overseer of the women, had recommended. Yet Esther met with the approval of all who saw her.

But these words seemed like pure nonsense ¹  to them, and they did not believe them.

Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him led off all the people who had been left alive at Mizpah. They had rescued them from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after he killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. They led off the men, women, children, soldiers, and court officials whom they had brought away from Gibeon.

I have oxen, donkeys, sheep, and male and female servants. I have sent ¹  this message ²  to inform my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”

As they were going up the ascent to the town, they met some girls coming out to draw water. They said to them, “Is this where the seer is?”

So the king and all the members of his royal court ¹  set out on foot, though the king left behind ten concubines ²  to attend to the palace.

The Lord says, “The women ¹  of Zion are proud. They walk with their heads high ²  and flirt with their eyes. They skip along ³  and the jewelry on their ankles jingles. ⁴