when those who keep watch over the house ¹  begin to tremble, ²  and the virile men begin to stoop over, ³  and the grinders ⁴  begin to cease because they grow few, and those who look through the windows grow dim, ⁵ 

The fragrance ¹  of your colognes ²  is delightful; ³  your name ⁴  is like the finest ⁵  perfume. ⁶  No wonder the young women ⁷  adore ⁸  you!

For I, the Lord, tell you what will happen to ¹  the children who are born here in this land and to the men and women who are their mothers and fathers. ² 

Everyone was supposed to free their male and female Hebrew slaves. No one was supposed to keep a fellow Judean enslaved. ¹ 

They must not marry a widow or a divorcee, but they may marry a virgin from the house of Israel ¹  or a widow who is a priest’s widow.

The land will mourn, clan by clan – the clan of the royal household of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the clan of the family of Nathan ¹  by itself and their wives by themselves;

While ¹  they were going, some ²  of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened.

Then ¹  they went out and ran from the tomb, for terror and bewilderment had seized them. ²  And they said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

But when this son of yours ¹  came back, who has devoured ²  your assets with prostitutes, ³  you killed the fattened calf ⁴  for him!’

Greet Tryphena ¹  and Tryphosa, laborers in the Lord. Greet my dear friend ²  Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord.

So I want younger women to marry, raise children, and manage a household, in order to give the adversary no opportunity to vilify us. ¹ 

for no prophecy was ever borne of human impulse; rather, men ¹  carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

In the evening she went, and in the morning she returned to a separate part ¹  of the harem, to the authority of Shaashgaz the king’s eunuch who was overseeing the concubines. She would not go back to the king unless the king was pleased with her ²  and she was requested by name.

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!

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

In this way Jacob ¹  became extremely prosperous. He owned ²  large flocks, male and female servants, camels, and donkeys.

The king of Egypt said ¹  to the Hebrew midwives, ²  one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, ³ 

But ¹  the midwives feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live. ² 

So God treated the midwives well, ¹  and the people multiplied and became very strong.

No woman will miscarry her young ¹  or be barren in your land. I will fulfill ²  the number of your days.