6 "Put me like a seal on your heart,

Like a seal on your arm;

For love is as strong as death,

Jealousy is as severe and cruel as Sheol (the place of the dead).

Its flashes are flashes of fire,

[A most vehement flame] the very flame of the *Lord! [Deut 4:24; Is 49:16; 1 Cor 10:22]

7 "Many waters cannot quench love,

Nor can rivers drown it.

If a man would offer all the riches of his house for love,

It would be utterly scorned and despised."

(The Chorus)

9 "You have ravished my heart and given me courage, my sister, my [promised] bride;

You have ravished my heart and given me courage with a single glance of your eyes,

With one jewel of your necklace.

2 "May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!" [Solomon arrives, she turns to him, saying,]

"For your love is better than wine.

3 "The aroma of your oils is fragrant and pleasing;

Your name is perfume poured out;

Therefore the maidens love you.

15 "Behold, how beautiful you are, my darling,

Behold, how beautiful you are!

Your eyes are dove’s eyes."

(The Shulammite Bride)

16 "Behold, how fair and handsome you are, my beloved;

And so delightful!

Our arbor is green and luxuriant.

18 Now the Lord God said, "It is not good (beneficial) for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper [one who balances him—a counterpart who is] *suitable and complementary for him."

22 And the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man He made (fashioned, formed) into a woman, and He brought her and presented her to the man. 23 Then Adam said,

"This is now bone of my bones,

And flesh of my flesh;

She shall be called Woman,

Because she was taken out of Man."

24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. [Matt 19:5; 1 Cor 6:16; Eph 5:31-33]

22 He who finds a [*true and faithful] wife finds a good thing

And obtains favor and approval from the Lord. [Prov 19:14; 31:10]

18 Let your fountain (wife) be blessed [with the rewards of fidelity],

And rejoice in the wife of your youth. [Song 4:12, 15]

19 Let her be as a loving hind and graceful doe,

Let her breasts refresh and satisfy you at all times;

Always be *exhilarated and delight in her love.

20 Why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an immoral woman

And embrace the bosom of an outsider (pagan)?

6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate."

4 Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant. 5 It is not rude; it is not self-seeking, it is not provoked [nor overly sensitive and easily angered]; it does not take into account a wrong endured.6 It does not rejoice at injustice, but rejoices with the truth [when right and truth prevail]. 7 Love bears all things [regardless of what comes], believes all things [looking for the best in each one], hopes all things [remaining steadfast during difficult times], endures all things [without weakening].

28 Even so husbands should and are morally obligated to love their own wives as [being in a sense] their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own body, but [instead] he nourishes and protects and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,

33 However, each man among you [without exception] is to love his wife as his very own self [with behavior worthy of respect and esteem, always seeking the best for her with an attitude of lovingkindness], and the wife [must see to it] that she respects and delights in her husband [that she notices him and prefers him and treats him with loving concern, treasuring him, honoring him, and holding him dear]. [1 Pet 3:2]

14 Beyond all these things put on and wrap yourselves in [unselfish] love, which is the perfect bond of unity [for everything is bound together in agreement when each one seeks the best for others].

9 Two are better than one because they have a more satisfying return for their labor; 10 for if *either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and does not have another to lift him up. 11 Again, if two lie down together, then they keep warm; but how can one be warm alone?12 And though one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

15 But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth.

5 "When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out [to fight] with the army nor be charged with any duty; he shall be free at home for one year and shall bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken.