For my enemies talk about me; those waiting for a chance to kill me plot my demise. ¹ 

My life is in continual danger, ¹  but I do not forget your law.

From the fruit of his speech ¹  a person eats good things, ²  but the faithless ³  desire ⁴  the fruit of violence. ⁵ 

The righteous has enough food to satisfy his appetite, ¹  but the belly of the wicked lacks food. ² 

for the Lord will plead their case ¹  and will rob those who are robbing ²  them.

Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, ¹  and wine to those who are bitterly distressed; ² 

All of man’s labor is for nothing more than ¹  to fill his stomach ²  – yet his appetite ³  is never satisfied!

So my heart constantly sighs for Moab, like the strumming of a harp, ¹  my inner being sighs ²  for Kir Hareseth. ³ 

Those who make cloth ¹  will be demoralized; ²  all the hired workers will be depressed. ³ 

“Now, my lord, as surely as the Lord lives and as surely as you live, it is the Lord who has kept you from shedding blood and taking matters into your own hands. Now may your enemies and those who seek to harm my lord be like Nabal.

Now seek the Lord your God wholeheartedly and with your entire being! ¹  Get up and build the sanctuary of the Lord God! Then you can bring ²  the ark of the Lord’s covenant and the holy items dedicated to God’s service ³  into the temple that is built to honor the Lord.” ⁴ 

Scarcely ¹  had I passed them by when I found my beloved! I held onto him ²  tightly and would not let him go ³  until I brought him to my mother’s house, ⁴  to the bedroom chamber ⁵  of the one who conceived me.

It will be like a hungry man dreaming that he is eating, only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty. ¹  It will be like a thirsty man dreaming that he is drinking, only to awaken and find that he is still weak and his thirst unquenched. ²  So it will be for the horde from all the nations that fight against Mount Zion.

Uriah replied to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah reside in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and my lord’s soldiers are camping in the open field. Should I go to my house to eat and drink and have marital relations ¹  with my wife? As surely as you are alive, ²  I will not do this thing!”

They said to one other, ¹  “Surely we’re being punished ²  because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was ³  when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress ⁴  has come on us!”

The land will be abandoned by them ¹  in order that it may make up for ²  its Sabbaths while it is made desolate ³  without them, ⁴  and they will make up for their iniquity because ⁵  they have rejected my regulations and have abhorred ⁶  my statutes.

David said on that day, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must approach the ‘lame’ and the ‘blind’ who are David’s enemies ¹  by going through the water tunnel.” ²  For this reason it is said, “The blind and the lame cannot enter the palace.” ³ 

But when she reached the prophet on the mountain, she grabbed hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to push her away, but the prophet said, “Leave her alone, for she is very upset. ¹  The Lord has kept the matter hidden from me; he didn’t tell me about it.”

Even if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years – even if he lives a long, long time, ¹  but cannot enjoy his prosperity – even if he were to live forever ²  – I would say, “A stillborn child ³  is better off than he is!” ⁴ 

I opened for my beloved, but my lover had already turned ¹  and gone away. ²  I fell into despair ³  when he departed. ⁴  I looked for him but did not find him; I called him but he did not answer me.