You have stolen my heart, ¹  my sister, ²  my bride! You have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, ³  with one jewel of your necklace.

The Maidens about His Beloved: Who is this coming up from the desert, leaning on her beloved? The Beloved to Her Lover: Under the apple tree I aroused you; ¹  there your mother conceived you, there she who bore you was in labor of childbirth. ² 

For this is what the Lord says: “Look, I am ready to extend to her prosperity that will flow like a river, the riches of nations will flow into her like a stream that floods its banks. ¹  You will nurse from her breast ²  and be carried at her side; you will play on her knees.

It will not be like the old ¹  covenant that I made with their ancestors ²  when I delivered them ³  from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” ⁴  says the Lord. ⁵ 

“Her sister Oholibah watched this, ¹  but she became more corrupt in her lust than her sister had been, and her acts of prostitution were more numerous than those of her sister.

“I (says the Lord) will strengthen the kingdom ¹  of Judah and deliver the people of Joseph ²  and will bring them back ³  because of my compassion for them. They will be as though I had never rejected them, for I am the Lord their God and therefore I will hear them.

Now ¹  the Word became flesh ²  and took up residence ³  among us. We ⁴  saw his glory – the glory of the one and only, ⁵  full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.

and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women ¹  and were inflamed in their passions ²  for one another. Men ³  committed shameless acts with men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son ¹  would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ² 

Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. ¹  The old commandment is the word that you have already ²  heard.

But I hope to see you right away, and we will speak face to face. ¹  (1:15) Peace be with you. ²  The friends here ³  greet you. Greet the friends ⁴  there ⁵  by name.

Therefore, remember from what high state ¹  you have fallen and repent! Do ²  the deeds you did at the first; ³  if not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place – that is, if you do not repent. ⁴ 

The Beloved to Her Lover: Awake, O north wind; come, O south wind! Blow on my garden so that its fragrant spices may send out their sweet smell. ¹  May my beloved come into his garden and eat its delightful fruit!

Indeed, the people of Israel are my dear children. They are the children I take delight in. ¹  For even though I must often rebuke them, I still remember them with fondness. So I am deeply moved with pity for them ²  and will surely have compassion on them. I, the Lord, affirm it! ³ 

You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. You have put to death people ¹  who should not die and kept alive those who should not live by your lies to my people, who listen to lies!

You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” Because you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s opinion, ¹  and he delights in them,” or “Where is the God of justice?”

Dear friends, although I have been eager to write to you ¹  about our common salvation, I now feel compelled ²  instead to write to encourage ³  you to contend earnestly ⁴  for the faith ⁵  that was once for all ⁶  entrusted to the saints. ⁷ 

and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ ¹  decrees the Lord, ²  ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,

Then he ¹  brought out gold, silver jewelry, and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave valuable gifts to her brother and to her mother.

When the days of mourning ¹  had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s royal court, ²  “If I have found favor in your sight, please say to Pharaoh, ³