On the lampstand there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms,

Like a vine he will let his sour grapes fall, ¹  and like an olive tree he will shed his blossoms. ² 

Any one of you that I do not cut off from my altar, I will cause your ¹  eyes to fail ²  and will cause you grief. ³  All of those born to your family ⁴  will die in the prime of life. ⁵ 

The Lover to His Beloved: ¹  I went down to the orchard of walnut trees, ²  to look for the blossoms of the valley, ³  to see if the vines had budded or if the pomegranates were in bloom.

The Lover to His Beloved: Like ¹  a lily among the thorns, ²  so is my darling among the maidens.

the pure gold lampstands at the entrance to the inner sanctuary (five on the right and five on the left), the gold flower-shaped ornaments, lamps, and tongs,

Let us rise early to go to the vineyards, to see if the vines have budded, to see if their blossoms have opened, if the pomegranates are in bloom – there I will give you my love.

If anyone thinks he is acting inappropriately toward his virgin, ¹  if she is past the bloom of youth ²  and it seems necessary, he should do what he wishes; he does not sin. Let them marry.

(Now the ¹  flax and the barley were struck ²  by the hail, ³  for the barley had ripened ⁴  and the flax ⁵  was in bud.

He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, the firstfruits of their reproductive power ¹  in the tents of Ham.

Let the desert and dry region be happy; ¹  let the wilderness ²  rejoice and bloom like a lily!

On all the walls around the temple, inside and out, ¹  he carved ²  cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom.

Under the rim all the way around it ¹  were round ornaments ²  arranged in settings 15 feet long. ³  The ornaments were in two rows and had been cast with “The Sea.” ⁴ 

when the anger of God flared up against them. He killed some of the strongest of them; he brought the young men of Israel to their knees.

Babylon, the most admired ¹  of kingdoms, the Chaldeans’ source of honor and pride, ²  will be destroyed by God just as Sodom and Gomorrah were. ³ 

Therefore, as flaming fire ¹  devours straw, and dry grass disintegrates in the flames, so their root will rot, and their flower will blow away like dust. ²  For they have rejected the law of the Lord who commands armies, they have spurned the commands ³  of the Holy One of Israel. ⁴ 

‘Death has climbed in ¹  through our windows. It has entered into our fortified houses. It has taken away our children who play in the streets. It has taken away our young men who gather in the city squares.’

and they are afraid of heights and the dangers ¹  in the street; the almond blossoms ²  grow white, ³  and the grasshopper ⁴  drags itself along, ⁵  and the caper berry ⁶  shrivels up ⁷  – because man goes to his eternal home, ⁸  and the mourners go about in the streets –