~ "I Have Loved You" ~

The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:

"I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with loving-kindness.
I will build you up again
and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel.
Again you will take up your tambourines
and go out to dance with the joyful.
Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria;
the farmers will plant them and enjoy their fruit.
There will be a day
when the watchmen cry out on the hills of Ephraim,
'Come, let us go up to Zion,
to the Lord our God.'"

(Jeremiah 31:3-5)