So now swear to me in the Lord’s name ¹  that you will not kill ²  my descendants after me or destroy my name from the house of my father.”

Joab ¹  said, “If the Arameans start to overpower me, ²  you come to my rescue. If the Ammonites start to overpower you, ³  I will come to your rescue.

I represent the peaceful and the faithful in Israel. You are attempting to destroy an important city ¹  in Israel. Why should you swallow up the Lord’s inheritance?”

Solomon said, “If he is a loyal subject, ¹  not a hair of his head will be harmed, but if he is found to be a traitor, ²  he will die.”

If you follow my instructions ¹  by obeying ²  my rules and regulations, just as your father David did, ³  then I will grant you long life.” ⁴ 

Elijah ¹  replied, “That’s a difficult request! ²  If you see me taken from you, may it be so, but if you don’t, it will not happen.”

Joab ¹  said, “If the Arameans start to overpower me, ²  you come to my rescue. If the Ammonites start to overpower you, ³  I will come to your rescue.

“If your people Israel are defeated by an enemy ¹  because they sinned against you, then if they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you, ²  and pray for your help ³  before you in this temple,

When ¹  I close up the sky ²  so that it doesn’t rain, or command locusts to devour the land’s vegetation, ³  or send a plague among my people,

“But if you people ¹  ever turn away from me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep, ²  and decide to serve and worship other gods, ³ 

So I entered a complaint with them. I called down a curse on them, and I struck some of the men and pulled out their hair. I had them swear by God saying, “You will not marry off ¹  your daughters to their sons, and you will not take any of their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves!

When someone comes to visit, ¹  he pretends to be friendly; ²  he thinks of ways to defame me, ³  and when he leaves he slanders me. ⁴ 

The days of our lives add up to seventy years, ¹  or eighty, if one is especially strong. ²  But even one’s best years are marred by trouble and oppression. ³  Yes, ⁴  they pass quickly ⁵  and we fly away. ⁶ 

The sleep of the laborer is pleasant – whether he eats little or much – but the wealth of the rich will not allow him to sleep.

For God will evaluate every deed, ¹  including every secret thing, whether good or evil.

The Beloved to the Maidens: I adjure you, ¹  O maidens of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and by the young does ²  of the open fields: ³  Do not awaken or arouse ⁴  love ⁵  until it pleases! ⁶ 

The Adjuration Refrain The Beloved to the Maidens: ¹ I admonish you, O maidens of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and by the young does of the open fields: “Do not awake or arouse love until it pleases!”

If she is a wall, ¹  we will build on her a battlement ²  of silver; but if she is a door, we will barricade ³  her with boards ⁴  of cedar. ⁵ 

“If you, Israel, want to come back,” says the Lord, “if you want to come back to me ¹  you must get those disgusting idols ²  out of my sight and must no longer go astray. ³ 

I will surely punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord. “I will surely bring retribution on such a nation as this!” ¹