¹⁴ “Return,^(A) faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband.^(B) I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion.

² I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband,^(A) to Christ, so that I might present you^(B) as a pure virgin to him.

²⁹ The bride belongs to the bridegroom.^(A) The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.^(B)

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives,^(A) just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her^{(B) 26} to make her holy,^(C) cleansing^[a] her by the washing^(D) with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself^(E) as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.^(F)