'Dear' in the Bible

{I am distressed} over you, my brother Jonathan. you [were] very dear to me; your love [was] more wonderful to me than the love of women.

[Is] Ephraim my dear son, or [the] child of [my] delight? For {as often as} I have earnestly spoken against him, I still remember him. {Therefore} my bowels are turbulent for him, surely I will have compassion on him," {declares} Yahweh.

it seemed best to us, {having reached a unanimous decision}, [and] having chosen men, to send [them] to you together with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul,

Do not take revenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to [God's] wrath, for it is written, "Vengeance [is] mine, I will repay," says the Lord.

also [greet] the church in their house. Greet Epenetus my dear [friend], who is {the first convert} of Asia for Christ.

Greet Ampliatus, my dear [friend] in the Lord.

Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my dear [friend] Stachys.

Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, the laborers in the Lord. Greet Persis, the dear [friend] who {has worked hard} in the Lord.

I am not writing these [things] to shame you, but admonishing [you] as my dear children.

Because of this, I have sent to you Timothy, who is my dear and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ Jesus, just as I teach everywhere in every church.

Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.

So then, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, [because you] know that your labor is not [in] vain in the Lord.

Therefore [since we] have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of body and spirit, accomplishing holiness in the fear of God.

Have you been thinking all this time that we are defending ourselves to you? We are speaking in Christ before God, and all [these things], dear friends, [are] for your edification.

Now, so that you also may know {my circumstances}, what I am doing, Tychicus, my dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make known to you all [things],

Therefore my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

So then, my beloved and greatly desired brothers, my joy and crown, thus stand firm in the Lord, dear friends.

just as you learned [it] from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave who is a faithful minister of Christ [on] our behalf,

Tychicus, my dear brother and faithful servant and fellow slave in the Lord, will make known to you all {my circumstances},

together with Onesimus, my faithful and dear brother, who is [one] of you. They will make known to you all {the circumstances} here.

Luke the physician, our dear friend, greets you, [as does] Demas.

Longing for you in this way, we determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own souls, because you had become dear to us.

to Timothy, [my] dear child. Grace, mercy, [and] peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon, our dear friend and fellow worker,

But even if we are speaking in this way, dear friends, we are convinced of better [things] concerning you, and belonging to salvation.

Do not be deceived, my dear brothers.

Understand [this], my dear brothers: every person must be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,

Listen, my dear brothers! Did not God choose the poor of the world [to be] rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?

Dear friends, I urge [you] as foreigners and temporary residents to abstain from fleshly desires which wage war against your soul,

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, [when it] takes place to test you, as [if] [something] strange were happening to you.

Dear friends, this [is] already the second letter I am writing to you, in [both of] which I am attempting to stir up your sincere mind by a reminder,

Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your [notice], that one day with the Lord [is] like a thousand years, and a thousand years [is] like one day.

Therefore, dear friends, [because you] are waiting for these [things], make every effort to be found at peace, spotless and unblemished in him.

And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our dear brother Paul wrote to you, according to the wisdom that was given to him,

Therefore, dear friends, [because you] know [this] beforehand, guard yourselves so that you do not lose your own safe position [because you] have been led away by the error of lawless persons.

Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the message which you have heard.

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever he is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is.

Dear friends, if our heart does not condemn [us], we have confidence before God,

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits [to determine] if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been fathered by God and knows God.

Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another.

Dear friend, I pray you may prosper concerning everything and be healthy, just as your soul prospers.

Dear friend, you act faithfully [in] whatever you do for the brothers, {even though they are strangers}.

Dear friend, do not imitate [what is] evil, but [what is] good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.

Dear friends, [although I] was making every effort to write to you concerning our common salvation, I considered [it] a necessity to write to you to encourage [you] to contend for the faith delivered once and for all to the saints.

But you, dear friends, remember the words proclaimed beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,

But you, dear friends, [by] building yourselves up in your most holy faith, [by] praying in the Holy Spirit,