Song of Solomon 1:1-4:16
1 Solomon’s Most Excellent Love Song.
2 Oh, how I wish you would kiss me passionately!
For your lovemaking is more delightful than wine.
3 The fragrance of your colognes is delightful;
your name is like the finest perfume.
No wonder the young women adore you!
4 Draw me after you; let us hurry!
May the king bring me into his bedroom chambers!
We will rejoice and delight in you;
we will praise your love more than wine.
How rightly the young women adore you!
5 I am dark but lovely, O maidens of Jerusalem,
dark like the tents of Qedar,
lovely like the tent curtains of Salmah.
6 Do not stare at me because I am dark,
for the sun has burned my skin.
My brothers were angry with me;
they made me the keeper of the vineyards.
Alas, my own vineyard I could not keep!
7 Tell me, O you whom my heart loves,
where do you pasture your sheep?
Where do you rest your sheep during the midday heat?
Tell me lest I wander around
beside the flocks of your companions!
8 If you do not know, O most beautiful of women,
simply follow the tracks of my flock,
and pasture your little lambs
beside the tents of the shepherds.
9 O my beloved, you are like a mare
among Pharaoh’s stallions.
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments;
your neck is lovely with strings of jewels.
11 We will make for you gold ornaments
studded with silver.
12 While the king was at his banqueting table,
my nard gave forth its fragrance.
13 My beloved is like a fragrant pouch of myrrh
spending the night between my breasts.
14 My beloved is like a cluster of henna blossoms
in the vineyards of En Gedi.
15 Oh, how beautiful you are, my beloved!
Oh, how beautiful you are!
Your eyes are like doves!
16 Oh, how handsome you are, my lover!
Oh, how delightful you are!
The lush foliage is our canopied bed;
17 the cedars are the beams of our bedroom chamber;
the pines are the rafters of our bedroom.
1 I am a meadow flower from Sharon,
a lily from the valleys.
2 Like a lily among the thorns,
so is my darling among the maidens.
3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my beloved among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
4 He brought me into the banquet hall,
and he looked at me lovingly.
5 Sustain me with raisin cakes,
refresh me with apples,
for I am faint with love.
6 His left hand is under my head,
and his right hand embraces me.
7 I admonish you, O maidens of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles and by the young does of the open fields:
Do not awaken or arouse love until it pleases!
8 Listen! My lover is approaching!
Look! Here he comes,
leaping over the mountains,
bounding over the hills!
9 My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the window,
peering through the lattice.
10 My lover spoke to me, saying:
“Arise, my darling;
My beautiful one, come away with me!
11 Look! The winter has passed,
the winter rains are over and gone.
12 Blossoms have appeared in the land,
the time for pruning and singing has come;
the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree has ripened its figs,
the vines have blossomed and give off their fragrance.
Arise, come away my darling;
my beautiful one, come away with me!”
14 O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the hiding places of the mountain crags,
let me see your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.
15 Catch the foxes for us,
the little foxes,
that ruin the vineyards—
for our vineyard is in bloom.
16 My lover is mine and I am his;
he grazes among the lilies.
17 Until the dawn arrives and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved—
be like a gazelle or a young stag
on the mountain gorges.
1 All night long on my bed
I longed for my lover.
I longed for him but he never appeared.
2 “I will arise and look all around throughout the town,
and throughout the streets and squares;
I will search for my beloved.”
I searched for him but I did not find him.
3 The night watchmen found me—the ones who guard the city walls.
“Have you seen my beloved?”
4 Scarcely had I passed them by
when I found my beloved!
I held onto him tightly and would not let him go
until I brought him to my mother’s house,
to the bedroom chamber of the one who conceived me.
5 I admonish you, O maidens of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles and by the young does of the open fields:
“Do not awaken or arouse love until it pleases!”
6 Who is this coming up from the wilderness
like a column of smoke,
like a fragrant billow of myrrh and frankincense,
every kind of fragrant powder of the traveling merchants?
7 Look! It is Solomon’s portable couch!
It is surrounded by sixty warriors,
some of Israel’s mightiest warriors.
8 All of them are skilled with a sword,
well trained in the art of warfare.
Each has his sword at his side,
to guard against the terrors of the night.
9 King Solomon made a sedan chair for himself
of wood imported from Lebanon.
10 Its posts were made of silver;
its back was made of gold.
Its seat was upholstered with purple wool;
its interior was inlaid with leather by the maidens of Jerusalem.
11 Come out, O maidens of Zion,
and gaze upon King Solomon!
He is wearing the crown with which his mother crowned him
on his wedding day,
on the most joyous day of his life!
1 Oh, you are beautiful, my darling!
Oh, you are beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil are like doves.
Your hair is like a flock of female goats
descending from Mount Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep
coming up from the washing place;
each of them has a twin,
and not one of them is missing.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread;
your mouth is lovely.
Your forehead behind your veil
is like a slice of pomegranate.
4 Your neck is like the tower of David
built with courses of stones;
one thousand shields are hung on it—
all shields of valiant warriors.
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of the gazelle
grazing among the lilies.
6 Until the dawn arrives
and the shadows flee,
I will go up to the mountain of myrrh,
and to the hill of frankincense.
7 You are altogether beautiful, my darling!
There is no blemish in you!
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,
come with me from Lebanon.
Descend from the crest of Amana,
from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon,
from the lions’ dens
and the mountain haunts of the leopards.
9 You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride!
You have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
10 How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine;
the fragrance of your perfume is better than any spice!
11 Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride,
honey and milk are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 You are a locked garden, my sister, my bride;
you are an enclosed spring, a sealed-up fountain.
13 Your shoots are a royal garden full of pomegranates
with choice fruits:
henna with nard,
14 nard and saffron,
calamus and cinnamon with every kind of spice,
myrrh and aloes with all the finest spices.
15 You are a garden spring,
a well of fresh water flowing down from Lebanon.
16 Awake, O north wind; come, O south wind!
Blow on my garden so that its fragrant spices may send out their sweet smell.
May my beloved come into his garden
and eat its delightful fruit!
2 Corinthians 8:16-24
16 But thanks be to God who put in the heart of Titus the same devotion I have for you, 17 because he not only accepted our request, but since he was very eager, he is coming to you of his own accord. 18 And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his work in spreading the gospel. 19 In addition, this brother has also been chosen by the churches as our traveling companion as we administer this generous gift to the glory of the Lord himself and to show our readiness to help. 20 We did this as a precaution so that no one should blame us in regard to this generous gift we are administering. 21 For we are concerned about what is right not only before the Lord but also before men. 22 And we are sending with them our brother whom we have tested many times and found eager in many matters, but who now is much more eager than ever because of the great confidence he has in you. 23 If there is any question about Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; if there is any question about our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, a glory to Christ. 24 Therefore show them openly before the churches the proof of your love and of our pride in you.
Psalm 50:1-23
1 El, God, the Lord has spoken,
and summoned the earth to come from the east and west.
2 From Zion, the most beautiful of all places,
God has come in splendor.
3 “May our God come
and not be silent.”
Consuming fire goes ahead of him,
and all around him a storm rages.
4 He summons the heavens above,
as well as the earth, so that he might judge his people.
5 He says:
“Assemble my covenant people before me,
those who ratified a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
6 The heavens declare his fairness,
for God is judge. (Selah)
7 He says:
“Listen, my people. I am speaking!
Listen, Israel. I am accusing you.
I am God, your God!
8 I am not condemning you because of your sacrifices,
or because of your burnt sacrifices that you continually offer me.
9 I do not need to take a bull from your household
or goats from your sheepfolds.
10 For every wild animal in the forest belongs to me,
as well as the cattle that graze on a thousand hills.
11 I keep track of every bird in the hills,
and the insects of the field are mine.
12 Even if I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and all it contains belong to me.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls?
Do I drink the blood of goats?
14 Present to God a thank offering.
Repay your vows to the Most High.
15 Pray to me when you are in trouble.
I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
16 God says this to the evildoer:
“How can you declare my commands,
and talk about my covenant?
17 For you hate instruction
and reject my words.
18 When you see a thief, you join him;
you associate with men who are unfaithful to their wives.
19 You do damage with words,
and use your tongue to deceive.
20 You plot against your brother;
you slander your own brother.
21 When you did these things, I was silent,
so you thought I was exactly like you.
But now I will condemn you
and state my case against you.
22 Carefully consider this, you who reject God.
Otherwise I will rip you to shreds
and no one will be able to rescue you.
23 Whoever presents a thank offering honors me.
To whoever obeys my commands, I will reveal my power to deliver.”
Proverbs 22:22-23
22 Do not exploit a poor person because he is poor
and do not crush the needy in court,
23 for the Lord will plead their case
and will rob the life of those who are robbing them.
