You heard me say to you, ¹  ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad ²  that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am. ³ 

Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any more, but ¹  went on his way rejoicing. ² 

yet he did not leave himself without a witness by doing good, ¹  by giving you rain from heaven ²  and fruitful seasons, satisfying you ³  with food and your hearts with joy.” ⁴ 

that you abstain from meat that has been sacrificed to idols ¹  and from blood and from what has been strangled ²  and from sexual immorality. ³  If you keep yourselves from doing these things, ⁴  you will do well. Farewell. ⁵ 

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in him, ¹  so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

For they were pleased to do this, and indeed they are indebted to the Jerusalem saints. ¹  For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are obligated also to minister to them in material things.

Your obedience is known to all and thus I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.

To the rest I say – I, not the Lord ¹  – if a brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is happy to live with him, he should not divorce her.

Now I rejoice, not because you were made sad, ¹  but because you were made sad to the point of repentance. For you were made sad as God intended, ²  so that you were not harmed ³  in any way by us.

Where then is your sense of happiness ¹  now? For I testify about you that if it were possible, you would have pulled out your eyes and given them to me!

For though ¹  I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, rejoicing to see ²  your morale ³  and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

with such affection for you ¹  we were happy ²  to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.

They said to the messengers who had come, “Here’s what you should say to the men of Jabesh Gilead: ‘Tomorrow deliverance will come to you when the sun is fully up.’” When the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh Gilead, they were happy.

You seem to love your enemies and hate your friends! For you have as much as declared today that leaders and servants don’t matter to you. I realize now ¹  that if ²  Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, ³  it would be all right with you.

His servants approached and said to him, “O master, ¹  if the prophet had told you to do some difficult task, ²  you would have been willing to do it. ³  It seems you should be happy that he simply said, “Wash and you will be healed.” ⁴ 

Haman’s ¹  wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows seventy-five feet ²  high built, and in the morning tell the king that Mordecai should be hanged on it. Then go with the king to the banquet contented.” ³  It seemed like a good idea to Haman, so he had the gallows built.

So I recommend the enjoyment of life, ¹  for there is nothing better on earth ²  for a person to do ³  except ⁴  to eat, drink, and enjoy ⁵  life. ⁶  So ⁷  joy ⁸  will accompany him in his toil during the days of his life which God gives him on earth. ⁹ 

Rejoice, young man, while you are young, ¹  and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the impulses ²  of your heart and the desires ³  of your eyes, but know that God will judge your motives and actions. 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!

For this reason the Lord is ready to show you mercy; he sits on his throne, ready to have compassion on you. ¹  Indeed, the Lord is a just God; all who wait for him in faith will be blessed. ²