My roots reach the water, and the dew lies on my branches all night long.

But ¹  no stranger had to spend the night outside, for I opened my doors to the traveler ²  –

Is the wild ox willing to be your servant? Will it spend the night at your feeding trough?

Strength lodges in its neck, and despair ¹  runs before it.

but, despite their wealth, people do not last, ¹  they are like animals ²  that perish. ³ 

Fearing the Lord ¹  leads ²  to life, ³  and one who does so will live ⁴  satisfied; he will not be afflicted ⁵  by calamity.

My beloved is like a fragrant pouch of myrrh ¹  spending the night ²  between my breasts.

“You must not offer ¹  the blood of my sacrifice with bread containing yeast; the fat of my festal sacrifice must not remain until morning. ² 

“You must not offer the blood of my sacrifice with yeast; the sacrifice from the feast of Passover must not remain until the following morning. ¹ 

For his anger lasts only a brief moment, and his good favor restores one’s life. ¹  One may experience sorrow during the night, but joy arrives in the morning. ² 

How tragic that the once-faithful city has become a prostitute! ¹  She was once a center of ²  justice, fairness resided in her, but now only murderers. ³ 

There must not be a scrap of yeast within your land ¹  for seven days, nor can any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until the next morning. ² 

Hushai went on to say, “You know your father and his men – they are soldiers and are as dangerous as a bear out in the wild that has been robbed of her cubs. ¹  Your father is an experienced soldier; he will not stay overnight with the army.

So get up now and go out and give some encouragement to ¹  your servants. For I swear by the Lord that if you don’t go out there, not a single man will stay here with you tonight! This disaster will be worse for you than any disaster that has overtaken you from your youth right to the present time!”