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Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
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Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
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And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
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And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”
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Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves.
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And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved.
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Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.”
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So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.
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Then Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban still another seven years.
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So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, “The Lord has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.”
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His soul was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke kindly to the young woman.
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Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors.
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But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.
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And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, who is young; his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him.’
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but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
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But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’
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You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
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The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
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“How lovely are your tents, O Jacob! Your dwellings, O Israel!
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And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them; and He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power,
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but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
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You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
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The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples;
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but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
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“Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
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And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you.
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The Essence of the Law
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
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The Lord delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day.
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He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing.
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Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
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Love and Obedience Rewarded
“Therefore you shall love the Lord your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always.
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‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,
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“For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do—to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him—
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you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
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And if it happens that he says to you, ‘I will not go away from you,’ because he loves you and your house, since he prospers with you,
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and if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and to walk always in His ways, then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three,
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Firstborn Inheritance Rights
“If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and they have borne him children, both the loved and the unloved, and if the firstborn son is of her who is unloved,
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then it shall be, on the day he bequeaths his possessions to his sons, that he must not bestow firstborn status on the son of the loved wife in preference to the son of the unloved, the true firstborn.
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Nevertheless the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you.
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And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
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in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.
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that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
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Yes, He loves the people; All His saints are in Your hand; They sit down at Your feet; Everyone receives Your words.
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But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
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Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the Lord your God.
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“Thus let all Your enemies perish, O Lord! But let those who love Him be like the sun When it comes out in full strength.” So the land had rest for forty years.
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Then Samson’s wife wept on him, and said, “You only hate me! You do not love me! You have posed a riddle to the sons of my people, but you have not explained it to me.” And he said to her, “Look, I have not explained it to my father or my mother; so should I explain it to you?”
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Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
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Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.”
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And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.”
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But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the Lord had closed her womb.
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So David came to Saul and stood before him. And he loved him greatly, and he became his armorbearer.
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Saul Resents David
Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
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Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.
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But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.
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Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.
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And Saul commanded his servants, “Communicate with David secretly, and say, ‘Look, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore, become the king’s son-in-law.’ ”
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Thus Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him;
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Now Jonathan again caused David to vow, because he loved him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
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I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; You have been very pleasant to me; Your love to me was wonderful, Surpassing the love of women.
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Solomon Is Born
Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her. So she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Now the Lord loved him,
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Amnon and Tamar
After this Absalom the son of David had a lovely sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her.
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And he said to him, “Why are you, the king’s son, becoming thinner day after day? Will you not tell me?” Amnon said to him, “I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”
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Then Amnon hated her exceedingly, so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, “Arise, be gone!”
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in that you love your enemies and hate your friends. For you have declared today that you regard neither princes nor servants; for today I perceive that if Absalom had lived and all of us had died today, then it would have pleased you well.
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So they sought for a lovely young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king.
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The young woman was very lovely; and she cared for the king, and served him; but the king did not know her.
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And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.
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Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple
Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, because he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram had always loved David.
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Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.”
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Solomon’s Heart Turns from the Lord
But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites—
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from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love.
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‘Your silver and your gold are mine; your loveliest wives and children are mine.’ ”
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Then Hiram king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon: Because the Lord loves His people, He has made you king over them.
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Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on His throne to be king for the Lord your God! Because your God has loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.”
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Now Rehoboam loved Maachah the granddaughter of Absalom more than all his wives and his concubines; for he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and begot twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
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And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Therefore the wrath of the Lord is upon you.
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Also he built towers in the desert. He dug many wells, for he had much livestock, both in the lowlands and in the plains; he also had farmers and vinedressers in the mountains and in Carmel, for he loved the soil.
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And I said: “I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments,
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And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.
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The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.
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All my close friends abhor me, And those whom I love have turned against me.
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How long, O you sons of men, Will you turn my glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness And seek falsehood? Selah
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But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name Be joyful in You.
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The Lord tests the righteous, But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.
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For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright.
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God the Sovereign Savior
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said:
I will love You, O Lord, my strength.
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Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house, And the place where Your glory dwells.
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Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints! For the Lord preserves the faithful, And fully repays the proud person.
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He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
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Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good?
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For the Lord loves justice, And does not forsake His saints; They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.
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My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague, And my relatives stand afar off.
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Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, “The Lord be magnified!”
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The Glories of the Messiah and His Bride
To the Chief Musician. Set to “The Lilies.” A Contemplation of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.
My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
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You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.
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He will choose our inheritance for us, The excellence of Jacob whom He loves. Selah
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You love evil more than good, Lying rather than speaking righteousness. Selah
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You love all devouring words, You deceitful tongue.
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Also, the descendants of His servants shall inherit it, And those who love His name shall dwell in it.
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Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; And let those who love Your salvation say continually, “Let God be magnified!”
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But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved.
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The Blessedness of Dwelling in the House of God
To the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts!
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The Lord loves the gates of Zion More than all the dwellings of Jacob.
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Loved one and friend You have put far from me, And my acquaintances into darkness.
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“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
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Praise to the Lord for His Love and Faithfulness
A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath day.
It is good to give thanks to the Lord, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
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You who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
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The King’s strength also loves justice; You have established equity; You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
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The Lord’s Eternal Love
A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the Lord.
Hear my prayer, O Lord, And let my cry come to You.
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In return for my love they are my accusers, But I give myself to prayer.
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Thus they have rewarded me evil for good, And hatred for my love.
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As he loved cursing, so let it come to him; As he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him.
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Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death
I love the Lord, because He has heard My voice and my supplications.
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And I will delight myself in Your commandments, Which I love.
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My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments, Which I love, And I will meditate on Your statutes.
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מ MEM
Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.
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ס SAMEK
I hate the double-minded, But I love Your law.
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You put away all the wicked of the earth like dross; Therefore I love Your testimonies.
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Therefore I love Your commandments More than gold, yes, than fine gold!
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Look upon me and be merciful to me, As Your custom is toward those who love Your name.
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Your word is very pure; Therefore Your servant loves it.
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Consider how I love Your precepts; Revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness.
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I hate and abhor lying, But I love Your law.
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Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble.
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My soul keeps Your testimonies, And I love them exceedingly.
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Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you.
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A Song of God’s Majesty and Love
A Praise of David.
I will extol You, my God, O King; And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
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The Lord preserves all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy.
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The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; The Lord raises those who are bowed down; The Lord loves the righteous.
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“How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, And fools hate knowledge.
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For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.
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Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; Love her, and she will keep you.
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As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love.
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Come, let us take our fill of love until morning; Let us delight ourselves with love.
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I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me.
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That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth, That I may fill their treasuries.
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But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; All those who hate me love death.”
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Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
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Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins.
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As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout, So is a lovely woman who lacks discretion.
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The House of the Righteous Shall Stand
Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, But he who hates correction is stupid.
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Wisdom Loves Righteousness
A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.
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He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.
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The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But He loves him who follows righteousness.
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A scoffer does not love one who corrects him, Nor will he go to the wise.
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Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, Than a fatted calf with hatred.
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Righteous lips are the delight of kings, And they love him who speaks what is right.
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He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates friends.
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A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.
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He who loves transgression loves strife, And he who exalts his gate seeks destruction.
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Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.
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He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; He who keeps understanding will find good.
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Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty; Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread.
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He who loves pleasure will be a poor man; He who loves wine and oil will not be rich.
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He who loves purity of heart And has grace on his lips, The king will be his friend.
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Open rebuke is better Than love carefully concealed.
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Whoever loves wisdom makes his father rejoice, But a companion of harlots wastes his wealth.
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A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.
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He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; Nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity.
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Death Comes to All
For I considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them.
-
Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share In anything done under the sun.
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Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun.
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Solomon’s Love for a Shulamite Girl
The song of songs, which is Solomon’s.
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The Banquet
The Shulamite
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth— For your love is better than wine.
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Because of the fragrance of your good ointments, Your name is ointment poured forth; Therefore the virgins love you.
-
Draw me away!
The Daughters of Jerusalem
We will run after you. The Shulamite
The king has brought me into his chambers. The Daughters of Jerusalem
We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will remember your love more than wine. The Shulamite
Rightly do they love you.
-
I am dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, Like the tents of Kedar, Like the curtains of Solomon.
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(To Her Beloved)
Tell me, O you whom I love, Where you feed your flock, Where you make it rest at noon. For why should I be as one who veils herself By the flocks of your companions?
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I have compared you, my love, To my filly among Pharaoh’s chariots.
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Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, Your neck with chains of gold.
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The Beloved
Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair! You have dove’s eyes.
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The Beloved
Like a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters.
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The Shulamite to the Daughters of Jerusalem
He brought me to the banqueting house, And his banner over me was love.
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Sustain me with cakes of raisins, Refresh me with apples, For I am lovesick.
-
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the does of the field, Do not stir up nor awaken love Until it pleases.
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My beloved spoke, and said to me: “Rise up, my love, my fair one, And come away.
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The fig tree puts forth her green figs, And the vines with the tender grapes Give a good smell. Rise up, my love, my fair one, And come away!
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“O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret places of the cliff, Let me see your face, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your face is lovely.”
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A Troubled Night
The Shulamite
By night on my bed I sought the one I love; I sought him, but I did not find him.
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“I will rise now,” I said, “And go about the city; In the streets and in the squares I will seek the one I love.” I sought him, but I did not find him.
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The watchmen who go about the city found me; I said, “Have you seen the one I love?”
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Scarcely had I passed by them, When I found the one I love. I held him and would not let him go, Until I had brought him to the house of my mother, And into the chamber of her who conceived me.
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I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the does of the field, Do not stir up nor awaken love Until it pleases.
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He made its pillars of silver, Its support of gold, Its seat of purple, Its interior paved with love By the daughters of Jerusalem.
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The Bridegroom Praises the Bride
The Beloved
Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair! You have dove’s eyes behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats, Going down from Mount Gilead.
-
Your lips are like a strand of scarlet, And your mouth is lovely. Your temples behind your veil Are like a piece of pomegranate.
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You are all fair, my love, And there is no spot in you.
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How fair is your love, My sister, my spouse! How much better than wine is your love, And the scent of your perfumes Than all spices!
-
The Shulamite’s Troubled Evening
The Shulamite
I sleep, but my heart is awake; It is the voice of my beloved! He knocks, saying, “Open for me, my sister, my love, My dove, my perfect one; For my head is covered with dew, My locks with the drops of the night.”
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I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, That you tell him I am lovesick!
-
His mouth is most sweet, Yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, And this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem!
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Praise of the Shulamite’s Beauty
The Beloved
O my love, you are as beautiful as Tirzah, Lovely as Jerusalem, Awesome as an army with banners!
-
How fair and how pleasant you are, O love, with your delights!
-
Let us get up early to the vineyards; Let us see if the vine has budded, Whether the grape blossoms are open, And the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love.
-
Lovers Reunited at Their Country Home
Oh, that you were like my brother, Who nursed at my mother’s breasts! If I should find you outside, I would kiss you; I would not be despised.
-
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, Do not stir up nor awaken love Until it pleases.
-
Love Renewed in Lebanon
A Relative
Who is this coming up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved? I awakened you under the apple tree. There your mother brought you forth; There she who bore you brought you forth.
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The Shulamite to Her Beloved
Set me as a seal upon your heart, As a seal upon your arm; For love is as strong as death, Jealousy as cruel as the grave; Its flames are flames of fire, A most vehement flame.
-
Many waters cannot quench love, Nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love All the wealth of his house, It would be utterly despised.
-
Your princes are rebellious, And companions of thieves; Everyone loves bribes, And follows after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, Nor does the cause of the widow come before them.
-
The voice said, “Cry out!” And he said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
-
Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life.
-
“All of you, assemble yourselves, and hear! Who among them has declared these things? The Lord loves him; He shall do His pleasure on Babylon, And His arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
-
“Also the sons of the foreigner Who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, And to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants— Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And holds fast My covenant—
-
Also behind the doors and their posts You have set up your remembrance; For you have uncovered yourself to those other than Me, And have gone up to them; You have enlarged your bed And made a covenant with them; You have loved their bed, Where you saw their nudity.
-
“For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery for burnt offering; I will direct their work in truth, And will make with them an everlasting covenant.
-
In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the Angel of His Presence saved them; In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; And He bore them and carried them All the days of old.
-
“Rejoice with Jerusalem, And be glad with her, all you who love her; Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her;
-
“Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I remember you, The kindness of your youth, The love of your betrothal, When you went after Me in the wilderness, In a land not sown.
-
Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst. But you said, ‘There is no hope. No! For I have loved aliens, and after them I will go.’
-
“Why do you beautify your way to seek love? Therefore you have also taught The wicked women your ways.
-
Israel Is Shameless
“They say, ‘If a man divorces his wife, And she goes from him And becomes another man’s, May he return to her again?’ Would not that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the harlot with many lovers; Yet return to Me,” says the Lord.
-
“And when you are plundered, What will you do? Though you clothe yourself with crimson, Though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, Though you enlarge your eyes with paint, In vain you will make yourself fair; Your lovers will despise you; They will seek your life.
-
The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule by their own power; And My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?
-
I have likened the daughter of Zion To a lovely and delicate woman.
-
They shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked, which they have sought and which they have worshiped. They shall not be gathered nor buried; they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth.
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The Lord called your name, Green Olive Tree, Lovely and of Good Fruit. With the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire on it, And its branches are broken.
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Thus says the Lord to this people: “Thus they have loved to wander; They have not restrained their feet. Therefore the Lord does not accept them; He will remember their iniquity now, And punish their sins.”
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“Go up to Lebanon, and cry out, And lift up your voice in Bashan; Cry from Abarim, For all your lovers are destroyed.
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The wind shall eat up all your rulers, And your lovers shall go into captivity; Surely then you will be ashamed and humiliated For all your wickedness.
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All your lovers have forgotten you; They do not seek you; For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, With the chastisement of a cruel one, For the multitude of your iniquities, Because your sins have increased.
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The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
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She weeps bitterly in the night, Her tears are on her cheeks; Among all her lovers She has none to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; They have become her enemies.
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“I called for my lovers, But they deceived me; My priests and my elders Breathed their last in the city, While they sought food To restore their life.
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God’s Love for Jerusalem
Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
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“When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine,” says the Lord God.
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Men make payment to all harlots, but you made your payments to all your lovers, and hired them to come to you from all around for your harlotry.
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Jerusalem’s Lovers Will Abuse Her
‘Now then, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord!
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Thus says the Lord God: “Because your filthiness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your harlotry with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, and because of the blood of your children which you gave to them,
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surely, therefore, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved, and all those you hated; I will gather them from all around against you and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness.
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They shall burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; and I will make you cease playing the harlot, and you shall no longer hire lovers.
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The Older Sister, Samaria
“Oholah played the harlot even though she was Mine; And she lusted for her lovers, the neighboring Assyrians,
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“Therefore I have delivered her Into the hand of her lovers, Into the hand of the Assyrians, For whom she lusted.
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“Then the Babylonians came to her, into the bed of love, And they defiled her with their immorality; So she was defiled by them, and alienated herself from them.
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Judgment on Jerusalem
“Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I will stir up your lovers against you, From whom you have alienated yourself, And I will bring them against you from every side:
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So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain.
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Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them.
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Its leaves were lovely, Its fruit abundant, And in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, The birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches, And all flesh was fed from it.
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whose leaves were lovely and its fruit abundant, in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of the heaven had their home—
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And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments,
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The Lord’s Love for His Unfaithful People
Say to your brethren, ‘My people,’ And to your sisters, ‘Mercy is shown.’
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For their mother has played the harlot; She who conceived them has behaved shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, Who give me my bread and my water, My wool and my linen, My oil and my drink.’
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She will chase her lovers, But not overtake them; Yes, she will seek them, but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, For then it was better for me than now.’
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Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, And no one shall deliver her from My hand.
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“And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, Of which she has said, ‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me.’ So I will make them a forest, And the beasts of the field shall eat them.
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I will punish her For the days of the Baals to which she burned incense. She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry, And went after her lovers; But Me she forgot,” says the Lord.
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Israel Will Return to God
Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans.”
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Their drink is rebellion, They commit harlotry continually. Her rulers dearly love dishonor.
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For they have gone up to Assyria, Like a wild donkey alone by itself; Ephraim has hired lovers.
