1 The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.
2 “May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is sweeter than wine.
3 Your oils have a pleasing fragrance,
Your name is like purified oil;
Therefore the young women love you.
4 Draw me after you and let’s run together!
The king has brought me into his chambers.”
“We will rejoice in you and be joyful;
We will praise your love more than wine.
Rightly do they love you.”
5 “I am black and beautiful,
You daughters of Jerusalem,
Like the tents of Kedar,
Like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not stare at me because I am dark,
For the sun has tanned me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
They made me caretaker of the vineyards,
But I have not taken care of my own vineyard.
7 Tell me, you whom my soul loves,
Where do you pasture your flock,
Where do you have it lie down at noon?
For why should I be like one who veils herself
Beside the flocks of your companions?”
8 “If you yourself do not know,
Most beautiful among women,
Go out on the trail of the flock,
And pasture your young goats
By the tents of the shepherds.
9 “To me, my darling, you are like
My mare among the chariots of Pharaoh.
10 Your cheeks are delightful with jewelry,
Your neck with strings of beads.”
11 “We will make for you jewelry of gold
With beads of silver.”
12 “While the king was at his table,
My perfume gave forth its fragrance.
13 My beloved is to me a pouch of myrrh
Which lies all night between my breasts.
14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
In the vineyards of Engedi.”
15 “How beautiful you are, my darling,
How beautiful you are!
Your eyes are like doves.”
16 “How handsome you are, my beloved,
And so delightful!
Indeed, our bed is luxuriant!
17 The beams of our house are cedars,
Our rafters, junipers.
1 “I am the rose of Sharon,
The lily of the valleys.”
2 “Like a lily among the thorns,
So is my darling among the young women.”
3 “Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
So is my beloved among the young men.
In his shade I took great delight and sat down,
And his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4 He has brought me to his banquet hall,
And his banner over me is love.
5 Refresh me with raisin cakes,
Sustain me with apples,
Because I am lovesick.
6 His left hand is under my head,
And his right hand embraces me.”
7 “Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem,
By the gazelles or by the does of the field,
That you will not disturb or awaken my love
Until she pleases.”
8 “Listen! My beloved!
Behold, he is coming,
Leaping on the mountains,
Jumping on the hills!
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Behold, he is standing behind our wall,
He is looking through the windows,
He is peering through the lattice.
10 “My beloved responded and said to me,
‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along.
11 For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
12 The blossoms have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for pruning the vines,
And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.
13 The fig tree has ripened its fruit,
And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along!’”
14 “My dove, in the clefts of the rock,
In the hiding place of the mountain pathway,
Let me see how you look,
Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is pleasant,
And you look delightful.”
15 “Catch the foxes for us,
The little foxes that are ruining the vineyards,
While our vineyards are in blossom.”
16 “My beloved is mine, and I am his;
He pastures his flock among the lilies.
17 Until the cool of the day, when the shadows flee,
Turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle
Or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.”
1 “On my bed night after night I sought him
Whom my soul loves;
I sought him but did not find him.
2 ‘I must arise now and go around in the city;
In the streets and in the public squares
I must seek him whom my soul loves.’
I sought him but did not find him.
3 The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me,
And I said, ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’
4 Hardly had I left them
When I found him whom my soul loves;
I held on to him and would not let him go
Until I had brought him to my mother’s house,
And into the room of her who conceived me.”
5 “Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem,
By the gazelles or by the does of the field,
That you will not disturb or awaken my love
Until she pleases.”
6 “What is this coming up from the wilderness
Like columns of smoke,
Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
With all the scented powders of the merchant?
7 Behold, it is the traveling couch of Solomon;
Sixty warriors around it,
Of the warriors of Israel.
8 All of them are wielders of the sword,
Expert in war;
Each man has his sword at his side,
Guarding against the terrors of the night.
9 King Solomon has made for himself a sedan chair
From the timber of Lebanon.
10 He made its posts of silver,
Its back of gold
And its seat of purple fabric,
With its interior lovingly inlaid
By the daughters of Jerusalem.
11 Go out, you daughters of Zion,
And look at King Solomon with the crown
With which his mother has crowned him
On the day of his wedding,
And on the day of the joy of his heart.”
1 “How beautiful you are, my darling,
How beautiful you are!
Your eyes are like doves behind your veil;
Your hair is like a flock of goats
That have descended from Mount Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep
Which have come up from their watering place,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has lost her young.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread,
And your mouth is beautiful.
Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate
Behind your veil.
4 Your neck is like the tower of David,
Built with layers of stones
On which are hung a thousand shields,
All the round shields of the warriors.
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle
That graze among the lilies.
6 Until the cool of the day
When the shadows flee,
I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh
And to the hill of frankincense.
7 “You are altogether beautiful, my darling,
And there is no blemish on you.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,
You shall come with me from Lebanon.
You shall come down from the summit of Amana,
From the summit of Senir and Hermon,
From the dens of lions,
From the mountains of leopards.
9 You have enchanted my heart, my sister, my bride;
You have enchanted my heart with a single glance of your eyes,
With a single strand of your necklace.
10 How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much sweeter is your love than wine,
And the fragrance of your oils
Than that of all kinds of balsam oils!
11 Your lips drip honey, my bride;
Honey and milk are under your tongue,
And the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 A locked garden is my sister, my bride,
A locked spring, a sealed fountain.
13 Your branches are an orchard of pomegranates
With delicious fruits, henna with nard plants,
14 Nard and saffron, spice reed and cinnamon,
With all the trees of frankincense,
Myrrh, and aloes, along with all the finest balsam oils.
15 You are a garden spring,
A well of fresh water,
And flowing streams from Lebanon.”
16 “Awake, north wind,
And come, wind of the south;
Make my garden breathe out fragrance,
May its balsam oils flow.
May my beloved come into his garden
And eat its delicious fruits!”
16 But thanks be to God who puts the same earnestness in your behalf in the heart of Titus. 17 For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest, he has gone to you of his own accord. 18 We have sent along with him the brother whose fame in the things of the gospel has spread through all the churches; 19 and not only that, but he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us in this gracious work, which is being administered by us for the glory of the Lord Himself, and to show our readiness, 20 taking precaution so that no one will discredit us in our administration of this generous gift; 21 for we have regard for what is honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of other people. 22 We have sent with them our brother, whom we have often tested and found diligent in many things, but now even more diligent because of his great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, a glory to Christ. 24 Therefore, openly before the churches, show them the proof of your love and of our reason for boasting about you.
1 The Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken
And summoned the earth, from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God has shone.
3 May our God come and not keep silent;
Fire devours before Him,
And a storm is violently raging around Him.
4 He summons the heavens above,
And the earth, to judge His people:
5 “Gather My godly ones to Me,
Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
6 And the heavens declare His righteousness,
For God Himself is judge. Selah
7 “Hear, My people, and I will speak;
Israel, I will testify against you;
I am God, your God.
8 I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices,
And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
9 I will not take a bull from your house,
Nor male goats from your folds.
10 For every animal of the forest is Mine,
The cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird of the mountains,
And everything that moves in the field is Mine.
12 If I were hungry I would not tell you,
For the world is Mine, and everything it contains.
13 Shall I eat the flesh of bulls
Or drink the blood of male goats?
14 Offer God a sacrifice of thanksgiving
And pay your vows to the Most High;
15 Call upon Me on the day of trouble;
I will rescue you, and you will honor Me.”
16 But to the wicked God says,
“What right do you have to tell of My statutes
And to take My covenant in your mouth?
17 For you yourself hate discipline,
And you throw My words behind you.
18 When you see a thief, you become friends with him,
And you associate with adulterers.
19 You let your mouth loose in evil,
And your tongue harnesses deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
21 These things you have done and I kept silent;
You thought that I was just like you;
I will rebuke you and present the case before your eyes.
22 “Now consider this, you who forget God,
Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be no one to save you.
23 He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me;
And to him who sets his way properly
I will show the salvation of God.”
22 Do not rob the poor because he is poor,
Nor crush the needy at the gate;
23 For the Lord will plead their case
And take the life of those who rob them.
