'Dear' in the Bible

“At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, ‘A searing wind blows from the barren heights in the wilderness on the way to My dear people. It comes not to winnow or to sift;

My dear people, dress yourselves in sackclothand roll in the dust.Mourn as you would for an only son,a bitter lament,for suddenly the destroyer will come on us.

They have treated superficially the brokennessof My dear people,claiming, ‘Peace, peace,’when there is no peace.

Listen—the cry of my dear peoplefrom a far away land,“Is the Lord no longer in Zion,her King not within her?”Why have they provoked me to angerwith their carved images,with their worthless foreign idols?

I am broken by the brokennessof my dear people.I mourn; horror has taken hold of me.

Is there no balm in Gilead?Is there no physician there?So why has the healing of my dear peoplenot come about? >

If my head were a spring of water,my eyes a fountain of tears,I would weep day and nightover the slain of my dear people.

Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says:I am about to refine them and test them,for what else can I dobecause of My dear people?

"Tell these people this, Jeremiah: 'My eyes overflow with tears day and night without ceasing. For my people, my dear children, have suffered a crushing blow. They have suffered a serious wound.

I will rebuild you, my dear children Israel, so that you will once again be built up. Once again you will take up the tambourine and join in the happy throng of dancers.

Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.

I will say, 'My dear children of Israel, keep in mind the road you took when you were carried off. Mark off in your minds the landmarks. Make a mental note of telltale signs marking the way back. Return, my dear children of Israel. Return to these cities of yours.

Go up to Gilead and get medicinal ointment, you dear poor people of Egypt. But it will prove useless no matter how much medicine you use; there will be no healing for you.

Pack your bags for exile, you inhabitants of poor dear Egypt. For Memphis will be laid waste. It will lie in ruins and be uninhabited.

Poor dear Egypt will be put to shame. She will be handed over to the people from the north."