may the LORD lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace.’

Yet the LORD has set His affection on your fathers and loved them. And He has chosen you, their descendants after them, above all the peoples, even to this day.

I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother. You were delightful to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women.

And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, because she did not have a father or mother. The young woman was lovely in form and appearance, and when her father and mother had died, Mordecai had taken her in as his own daughter.

Yet You brought me forth from the womb; You made me secure at my mother’s breast.

For great is Your loving devotion to me; You have delivered me from the depths of Sheol.

“Because he loves Me, I will deliver him; because he knows My name, I will protect him.

Turn to me and show me mercy, as You do to those who love Your name.

The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion.

You are altogether beautiful, my darling; in you there is no flaw.

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you!

Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD.