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Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will 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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Now Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for game; but Rebekah loved Jacob.
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and prepare a delicious meal for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die.”
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Go now to the flock and bring me two choice young goats from there, so that I may prepare them as a delicious meal for your father, such as he loves.
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So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made a delicious meal such as his father loved.
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Now Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”
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So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him like only a few days because of his love for her.
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So Jacob had relations with Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.
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Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and named him Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has seen my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.”
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But he was deeply attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her.
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Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a multicolored tunic.
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And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms.
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And we said to my lord, ‘We have an old father and a little boy born in our father’s old age. Now his brother is dead, so he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him.’
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but showing favor to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
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But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not leave as a free man,’
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You shall not take vengeance, nor hold any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.
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The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native 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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Because He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants after them. And He personally brought you from Egypt by His great power,
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but showing favor to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
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And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
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but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
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Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His faithfulness to a thousand generations for those who love Him and keep His commandments;
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And He will love you, bless you, and make you numerous; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain, your new wine, and your oil, the newborn of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you.
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“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 love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
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Yet the Lord set His affection on your fathers, to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, you over all the other peoples, as it is this day.
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He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the stranger by giving him food and clothing.
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So show your love for the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
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Rewards of Obedience
“You shall therefore love the Lord your God, and always keep His directive, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments.
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“And it shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul,
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For if you are careful to keep all of this commandment which I am commanding you to do, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and cling to Him,
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you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
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But it shall come about, if he says to you, ‘I will not leave you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is doing well with you,
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if you carefully follow all of this commandment which I am commanding you today, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in His ways always—then you shall add three more cities for yourself, besides these three.
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“If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him sons, and the firstborn son belongs to the unloved,
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then it shall be on the day that he wills what he owns as an inheritance to his sons, he is not allowed to treat the son of the loved wife as the firstborn, at the expense of the son of the unloved, who actually is the firstborn son.
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Nevertheless, the Lord your God was unwilling to 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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“Moreover, the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, so that you may live.
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in that I am commanding you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, so that you may live and become numerous, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to take possession of it.
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Indeed, He loves the people; All Your holy ones are in Your hand, And they followed in Your steps; Everyone takes of Your words.
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Only be very careful to follow the commandment and the Law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God and walk in all His ways, and keep His commandments and cling to Him, and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
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So take great care for yourselves that you love the Lord your God.
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May all Your enemies perish in this way, Lord; But may those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might.” And the land was at rest for forty years.
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So Samson’s wife wept in front of him and said, “You only hate me, and you do not love me; you have proposed a riddle to the sons of my people, and have not told it to me.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told it to my father or mother; so should I tell you?”
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After this it came about that he was in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
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Delilah Extracts His Secret
Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have toyed with me these three times and have not told me where your great strength is.”
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May he also be to you one who restores life and sustains your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”
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but to Hannah he would give a double portion, because he loved Hannah, but the Lord had closed her womb.
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Then David came to Saul and attended him; and Saul greatly loved him, and he became his armor bearer.
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Jonathan and David
Now it came about, when he had finished speaking to Saul, that Jonathan committed himself to David, and Jonathan loved him as himself.
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Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.
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But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he would go out to battle and return before them.
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David Marries Saul’s Daughter
Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. When they informed Saul, the thing was pleasing to him.
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Then Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in secret, saying, ‘Behold, the king delights in you, and all his servants love you; now then, become the king’s son-in-law.’”
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When Saul saw and realized that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him,
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And Jonathan made David vow again because of his love for him, because he loved him as he loved his own life.
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I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; You have been a close friend to me. Your love for me was more wonderful Than the love of women.
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Solomon Born
Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went in to her and slept with her; and she gave birth to a son, and he named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved him,
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Amnon and Tamar
Now it was after this that Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister whose name was Tamar, and Amnon the son of David was in love with her.
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And he said to him, “Why are you, the king’s son, so depressed morning after morning? Will you not tell me?” So Amnon said to him, “I am in love with Tamar, the sister of my brother Absalom.”
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Then Amnon hated her with a very great hatred; indeed, the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, “Get up, go away!”
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by loving those who hate you, and by hating those who love you. For you have revealed today that commanders and servants are nothing to you; for I know today that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then it would be right as far as you are concerned.
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Now Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he was sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.
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Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you to put you on the throne of Israel; because the Lord loves Israel forever, He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.”
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Solomon Turns from God
Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
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from the nations of which the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, “You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you; they will certainly turn your heart away to follow their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love.
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Huram to Assist
Then Huram, king of Tyre, answered in a letter 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 as king for the Lord your God; because your God loved Israel, establishing them forever, He made you king over them, to carry out justice and righteousness.”
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Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom more than all his other wives and concubines. For he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and fathered 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, and by doing so bring wrath on yourself from the Lord?
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He also built towers in the wilderness and carved out many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both in the lowland and in the plain. He also had plowmen and vinedressers in the hill country and the fertile fields, for he loved the soil.
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I said, “Please, Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps the covenant and faithfulness for those who love Him and keep His commandments:
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Did Solomon the king of Israel not sin regarding these things? Yet among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; yet the foreign women caused even him to sin.
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Esther Becomes Queen
The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal turban on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.
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But now He has exhausted me; You have laid waste all my group of loved ones.
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All my associates loathe me, And those I love have turned against me.
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“The wings of the ostrich flap joyously, With the pinion and feathers of love,
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You sons of man, how long will my honor be treated as an insult? How long will you love what is worthless and strive for a lie? Selah
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But rejoice, all who take refuge in You, Sing for joy forever! And may You shelter them, That those who love Your name may rejoice in You.
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The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, And His soul hates one who loves violence.
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For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will see His face.
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The Lord Praised for Rescuing David.
For the music director. 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 rescued him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said,
“I love You, Lord, my strength.”
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Lord, I love the dwelling of Your house, And the place where Your glory remains.
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Love the Lord, all His godly ones! The Lord watches over the faithful But fully repays the one who acts arrogantly.
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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 person who desires life And loves length of days, that he may see good?
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For the Lord loves justice And does not abandon His godly ones; They are protected forever, But the descendants of the wicked will be eliminated.
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My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague; And my kinsmen stand far away.
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May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; May those who love Your salvation continually say, “The Lord be exalted!”
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A Song Celebrating the King’s Marriage.
For the music director; according to the Shoshannim. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.
My heart is moved with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
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You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of joy above Your companions.
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He chooses our inheritance for us, The pride of Jacob whom He loves. Selah
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You love evil more than good, Lies more than speaking what is right. Selah
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You love all words that devour, You deceitful tongue.
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The descendants of His servants will inherit it, And those who love His name will live in it.
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May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; And may those who love Your salvation say continually, “May God be exalted!”
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But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved.
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Longing for the Temple Worship.
For the music director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
How lovely are Your dwelling places, Lord of armies!
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The Lord loves the gates of Zion More than all the other dwelling places of Jacob.
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You have removed lover and friend far from me; My acquaintances are in a hiding place.
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“Because he has loved Me, I will save him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
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Hate evil, you who love the Lord, Who watches over the souls of His godly ones; He saves them from the hand of the wicked.
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The strength of the King loves justice; You have established order; You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
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In return for my love they act as my accusers; But I am in prayer.
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So they have repaid me evil for good, And hatred for my love.
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He also loved cursing, so it came to him; And he did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him.
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Thanksgiving for Rescue from Death.
I love the Lord, because He hears My voice and my pleas.
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I will delight in Your commandments, Which I love.
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And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, Which I love; And I will meditate on Your statutes.
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Mem
How I love Your Law! It is my meditation all the day.
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Samekh
I hate those who are double-minded, But I love Your Law.
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You have removed all the wicked of the earth like impurities; Therefore I love Your testimonies.
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Therefore I love Your commandments Above gold, yes, above pure gold.
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Turn to me and be gracious to me, As is right for 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, Lord, according to Your faithfulness.
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I hate and loathe falsehood, But I love Your Law.
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Those who love Your Law have great peace, 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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Hope in the Lord’s Forgiving Love.
A Song of Ascents.
Out of the depths I have cried to You, Lord.
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Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; Sing praises to His name, for it is lovely.
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The Lord watches over all who love Him, But He will destroy all the wicked.
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The Lord opens the eyes of those who are blind; The Lord raises up those who are bowed down; The Lord loves the righteous.
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“How long, you naive ones, will you love simplistic thinking? And how long will scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge?
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For whom the Lord loves He disciplines, Just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.
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Do not abandon her, and she will guard you; Love her, and she will watch over you.
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Like a loving doe and a graceful mountain goat, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love.
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Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning; Let’s delight ourselves with caresses.
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I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me.
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To endow those who love me with wealth, That I may fill their treasuries.
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But one who sins against me injures himself; All those who hate me love death.”
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Do not rebuke a scoffer, or he will hate you; Rebuke a wise person and he will love you.
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Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all offenses.
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Contrast of the Upright and the Wicked
One who loves discipline loves knowledge, But one who hates rebuke is stupid.
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He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.
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The poor is hated even by his neighbor, But those who love the rich are many.
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The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But He loves the one who pursues righteousness.
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A scoffer does not love one who rebukes him; He will not go to the wise.
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Better is a portion of vegetables where there is love, Than a fattened ox served with hatred.
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Righteous lips are the delight of kings, And one who speaks right is loved.
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One who conceals an offense seeks love, But one who repeats a matter separates close friends.
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A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.
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One who loves wrongdoing loves strife; One who makes his doorway high 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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One who gets wisdom loves his own soul; One who keeps understanding will find good.
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Do not love sleep, or you will become poor; Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with food.
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One who loves pleasure will become a poor person; One who loves wine and oil will not become rich.
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One who loves purity of heart And whose speech is gracious, the king is his friend.
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Better is open rebuke Than love that is concealed.
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A man who loves wisdom makes his father glad, But he who involves himself with prostitutes wastes his wealth.
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A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.
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The Foolishness of Riches
One who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor one who loves abundance with its income. This too is futility.
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People Are in the Hand of God
For I have taken all this to my heart, even to examine it all, that righteous people, wise people, and their deeds are in the hand of God. People do not know whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits them.
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Indeed their love, their hate, and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun.
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Enjoy life with the wife whom you love all the days of your futile life which He has given you under the sun, all the days of your futility; for this is your reward in life and in your work which you have labored under the sun.
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The Bride
“May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is sweeter than wine.
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Your oils have a pleasing fragrance, Your name is like purified oil; Therefore the young women love you.
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Draw me after you and let’s run together! The king has brought me into his chambers.”
The Chorus
“We will rejoice in you and be joyful; We will praise your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you.”
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Tell me, you whom my soul loves, Where do you pasture your flock, Where do you have it lie down at noon? For why should I be like one who veils herself Beside the flocks of your companions?”
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Solomon, the Lover, Speaks
“If you yourself do not know, Most beautiful among women, Go out on the trail of the flock, And pasture your young goats By the tents of the shepherds.
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He has brought me to his banquet hall, And his banner over me is love.
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Refresh me with raisin cakes, Sustain me with apples, Because I am lovesick.
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The Groom
“Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the does of the field, That you will not disturb or awaken my love Until she pleases.”
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The Bride’s Troubled Dream
“On my bed night after night I sought him Whom my soul loves; I sought him but did not find him.
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‘I must arise now and go around in the city; In the streets and in the public squares I must seek him whom my soul loves.’ I sought him but did not find him.
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The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me, And I said, ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’
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Hardly had I left them When I found him whom my soul loves; I held on to him and would not let him go Until I had brought him to my mother’s house, And into the room of her who conceived me.”
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The Groom
“Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the does of the field, That you will not disturb or awaken my love Until she pleases.”
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Solomon’s Love Expressed
“How beautiful you are, my darling, How beautiful you are! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil; Your hair is like a flock of goats That have descended from Mount Gilead.
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How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much sweeter is your love than wine, And the fragrance of your oils Than that of all kinds of balsam oils!
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The Torment of Separation
The Groom
“I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh along with my balsam. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, friends; Drink and drink deeply, lovers.”
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Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, As to what you will tell him: For I am lovesick.”
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The Groom
“You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling, As lovely as Jerusalem, As awesome as an army with banners.
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How beautiful and how delightful you are, My love, with all your delights!
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The Union of Love
“I am my beloved’s, And his desire is for me.
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Let’s rise early and go to the vineyards; Let’s see whether the vine has grown And its buds have opened, And whether the pomegranates have bloomed. There I will give you my love.
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The Lovers Speak
“Oh that you were like a brother to me Who nursed at my mother’s breasts. If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you; No one would despise me, either.
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The Groom
“Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem: Do not disturb or awaken my love Until she pleases.”
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Put me like a seal over your heart, Like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, Jealousy is as severe as Sheol; Its flames are flames of fire, The flame of the Lord.
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Many waters cannot quench love, Nor will rivers flood over it; If a man were to give all the riches of his house for love, It would be utterly despised.”
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Your rulers are rebels And companions of thieves; Everyone loves a bribe And chases after gifts. They do not obtain justice for the orphan, Nor does the widow’s case come before them.
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A voice says, “Call out.” Then he answered, “What shall I call out?” All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
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Since you are precious in My sight, Since you are honored and I love you, I will give other people in your place and other nations in exchange for your life.
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Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them has declared these things? The Lord loves him; he will carry out His good pleasure against Babylon, And His arm will be against the Chaldeans.
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“Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, To attend to His service and to love the name of the Lord, To be His servants, every one who keeps the Sabbath so as not to profane it, And holds firmly to My covenant;
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His watchmen are blind, All of them know nothing. All of them are mute dogs unable to bark, Dreamers lying down, who love to slumber;
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Behind the door and the doorpost You have set up your sign; Indeed, far removed from Me, you have uncovered yourself, And have gone up and made your bed wide. And you have made an agreement for yourself with them, You have loved their bed, You have looked at their manhood.
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For I, the Lord, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; And I will faithfully give them their reward, And make an everlasting covenant with them.
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In all their distress He was distressed, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.
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Joy in Jerusalem’s Future
“Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her; Be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her,
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“Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I remember regarding you the devotion of your youth, Your love when you were a bride, Your following after Me in the wilderness, Through a land not sown.
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Keep your feet from being bare, And your throat from thirst; But you said, ‘It is hopeless! No! For I have loved strangers, And I will walk after them.’
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How well you prepare your way To seek love! Therefore even to the wicked women You have taught your ways.
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The Defiled Land
God says, “If a husband divorces his wife And she leaves him And becomes another man’s wife, Will he return to her again? Would that land not be completely defiled? But you are a prostitute with many lovers; Yet you turn to Me,” declares the Lord.
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However, as a woman treacherously leaves her lover, So you have dealt treacherously with Me, House of Israel,” declares the Lord.
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And you, desolate one, what will you do? Although you dress in scarlet, Although you adorn yourself with jewelry of gold, Although you enlarge your eyes with makeup, In vain you make yourself beautiful. Your lovers despise you; They seek your life.
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The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it this way! But what will you do when the end comes?
-
They will spread them out to the sun, the moon, and to all the heavenly lights, which they have loved, which they have served, which they have followed, which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered nor buried; they will be like dung on the face of the ground.
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This is what the Lord says to this people: “So much they have loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet. Therefore the Lord does not accept them; now He will remember their wrongdoing and call their sins to account.”
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Go up to Lebanon and cry out, And raise your voice in Bashan; Cry out also from Abarim, For all your lovers have been crushed.
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The wind will sweep away all your shepherds, And your lovers will go into captivity; Then you will certainly be ashamed and humiliated Because of 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 punishment of a cruel one, Because your wrongdoing is great, And your sins are numerous.
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The Lord appeared to him long ago, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you out with kindness.
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She weeps bitterly in the night, And her tears are on her cheeks; She has no one to comfort her Among all her lovers. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; They have become her enemies.
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I called to my lovers, but they deserted me; My priests and my elders perished in the city While they sought food to restore their strength themselves.
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“Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My garment over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine,” declares the Lord God.
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Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you give your gifts to all your lovers and lavish favors on them so that they will come to you from every direction for your obscene practices.
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This is what the Lord God says: “Because your lewdness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered through your obscene practices with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your sons that you gave to idols,
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therefore, behold, I am going to gather all your lovers whom you pleased, all those whom you loved as well as all those whom you hated. So I will gather them against you from every direction and expose your nakedness to them so that they may see all your nakedness.
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I will also hand you over to your lovers, and they will tear down your shrines, demolish your high places, strip you of your clothing, take away your jewels, and will leave you naked and bare.
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And they will burn your houses with fire and execute judgments against you in the sight of many women. Then I will put an end to your prostitution, and you will also no longer pay your lovers.
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“Oholah prostituted herself while she was Mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the Assyrians, her neighbors,
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Therefore, I handed her over to her lovers, to the Assyrians, after whom she lusted.
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And the Babylonians came to her to the bed of love and defiled her with their obscene practice. And when she had been defiled by them, she turned away from them in disgust.
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She lusted after their lovers, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose discharge is like the discharge of horses.
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“Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Behold I am going to incite your lovers against you, from whom you turned away in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side:
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And behold, you are to them like a love song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them.
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I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed, and said, “Oh, Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and faithfulness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,
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For their mother has committed prostitution; She who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, Who give me my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’
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And she will pursue her lovers, but she will not reach them; And she will seek them, but will not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my first husband, Because it was better for me then than now!’
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So now I will uncover her lewdness Before the eyes of her lovers, And no one will rescue her from My hand.
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And I will destroy her vines and fig trees, Of which she said, ‘They are my wages for prostitution Which my lovers have given me.’ And I will turn them into a forest, And the animals of the field will devour them.
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I will punish her for the days of the Baals When she used to offer sacrifices to them And adorn herself with her nose ring and jewelry, And follow her lovers, so that she forgot Me,” declares the Lord.
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Hosea’s Redemption of Gomer
Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet is committing adultery, as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.”
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Their liquor is gone, They prostitute themselves continually; Their rulers dearly love shame.
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For they have gone up to Assyria, Like a wild donkey all alone; Ephraim has paid fees for lovers.
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Ephraim Punished
Do not rejoice, Israel, with jubilation like the nations! For you have been unfaithful, abandoning your God. You have loved the earnings of unfaithfulness on every threshing floor.
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I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your forefathers as the earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season. But they came to Baal-peor and devoted themselves to shame, And they became as detestable as that which they loved.
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All their evil is at Gilgal; Indeed, I came to hate them there! Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house! I will no longer love them; All their leaders are rebels.
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Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh, And I passed over her lovely neck; I will harness Ephraim, Judah will plow, Jacob will harrow for himself.
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God Yearns over His People
When Israel was a youth I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son.
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I pulled them along with cords of a man, with ropes of love, And I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws; And I bent down and fed them.
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A merchant, in whose hands are fraudulent balances, Loves to exploit.
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I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, Because My anger has turned away from them.
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Offer a thanksgiving offering also from that which is leavened, And proclaim voluntary offerings, make them known. For so you love to do, you sons of Israel,” Declares the Lord God.
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Hate evil, love good, And establish justice in the gate! Perhaps the Lord God of armies Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
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You who hate good and love evil, Who tear off their skin from them And their flesh from their bones,
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He has told you, mortal one, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?
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The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will rejoice over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
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Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury; for all these things are what I hate,’ declares the Lord.”
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“The Lord of armies says this: ‘The fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth months will become joy, jubilation, and cheerful festivals for the house of Judah; so love truth and peace.’
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For how great will their loveliness and beauty be! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine, the virgins.
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God’s Love for Jacob
The pronouncement of the word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi:
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“I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have You loved us?” “Was Esau not Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob;
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Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord which He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
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“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
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But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
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For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors, do they not do the same?
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“And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they will be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
