1 I have entered my garden, O my sister, my bride;
I have gathered my myrrh with my balsam spice.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;
I have drunk my wine and my milk!
Eat, friends, and drink!
Drink freely, O lovers!
2 I was asleep, but my mind was dreaming.
Listen! My lover is knocking at the door!
“Open for me, my sister, my darling,
my dove, my flawless one!
My head is drenched with dew,
my hair with the dampness of the night.”
3 “I have already taken off my robe—must I put it on again?
I have already washed my feet—must I soil them again?”
4 My lover thrust his hand through the hole,
and my feelings were stirred for him.
5 I arose to open for my beloved;
my hands dripped with myrrh—
my fingers flowed with myrrh
on the handles of the lock.
6 I opened for my beloved,
but my lover had already turned and gone away.
I fell into despair when he departed.
I looked for him but did not find him;
I called him but he did not answer me.
7 The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city.
They beat me, they bruised me;
they took away my cloak, those watchmen on the walls!
8 I admonish you, O maidens of Jerusalem—
If you find my beloved, what will you tell him?
Tell him that I am lovesick!
9 Why is your beloved better than others,
O most beautiful of women?
Why is your beloved better than others,
that you would admonish us in this manner?
10 My beloved is dazzling and ruddy;
he stands out in comparison to all other men.
11 His head is like the purest gold.
His hair is curly—black like a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves by streams of water,
washed in milk, mounted like jewels.
13 His cheeks are like garden beds full of balsam trees yielding perfume.
His lips are like lilies dripping with drops of myrrh.
14 His arms are like rods of gold set with chrysolite.
His abdomen is like polished ivory inlaid with sapphires.
15 His legs are like pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars.
16 His mouth is very sweet;
he is totally desirable.
This is my beloved!
This is my companion, O maidens of Jerusalem!
1 Where has your beloved gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned?
Tell us, that we may seek him with you.
2 My beloved has gone down to his garden,
to the flowerbeds of balsam spices,
to graze in the gardens,
and to gather lilies.
3 I am my lover’s and my lover is mine;
he grazes among the lilies.
4 My darling, you are as beautiful as Tirzah,
as lovely as Jerusalem,
as awe-inspiring as bannered armies.
5 Turn your eyes away from me—
they overwhelm me!
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from Mount Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
coming up from the washing;
each has its twin;
not one of them is missing.
7 Like a slice of pomegranate
is your forehead behind your veil.
8 There may be sixty queens,
and eighty concubines,
and young women without number.
9 But she is unique,
my dove, my perfect one!
She is the special daughter of her mother;
she is the favorite of the one who bore her.
The maidens saw her and complimented her;
the queens and concubines praised her:
10 “Who is this who appears like the dawn?
Beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,
awe-inspiring as the stars in procession?”
11 I went down to the orchard of walnut trees,
to look for the blossoms of the valley,
to see if the vines had budded
or if the pomegranates were in bloom.
12 I was beside myself with joy!
There please give me your myrrh,
O daughter of my princely people.
13 (7:1) Turn, turn, O Perfect One!
Turn, turn, that I may stare at you!
Why do you gaze upon the Perfect One
like the dance of the Mahanaim?
1 (7:2) How beautiful are your sandaled feet,
O nobleman’s daughter!
The curves of your thighs are like jewels,
the work of the hands of a master craftsman.
2 Your navel is a round mixing bowl—
may it never lack mixed wine!
Your belly is a mound of wheat,
encircled by lilies.
3 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
4 Your neck is like a tower made of ivory.
Your eyes are the pools in Heshbon
by the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon
overlooking Damascus.
5 Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel.
The locks of your hair are like royal tapestries—
the king is held captive in its tresses!
6 How beautiful you are! How lovely,
O love, with your delights!
7 Your stature is like a palm tree,
and your breasts are like clusters of grapes.
8 I want to climb the palm tree,
and take hold of its fruit stalks.
May your breasts be like the clusters of grapes,
and may the fragrance of your breath be like apples!
9 May your mouth be like the best wine,
flowing smoothly for my beloved,
gliding gently over our lips as we sleep together.
10 I am my beloved’s,
and he desires me!
11 Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside;
let us spend the night in the villages.
12 Let us rise early to go to the vineyards,
to see if the vines have budded,
to see if their blossoms have opened,
if the pomegranates are in bloom—
there I will give you my love.
13 The mandrakes send out their fragrance;
over our door is every delicacy,
both new and old, which I have stored up for you, my lover.
1 Oh, how I wish you were my little brother,
nursing at my mother’s breasts;
if I saw you outside, I could kiss you—
surely no one would despise me!
2 I would lead you and bring you to my mother’s house,
the one who taught me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
the nectar of my pomegranates.
3 His left hand is under my head,
and his right hand embraces me.
4 I admonish you, O maidens of Jerusalem:
“Do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases!”
5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on her beloved?
Under the apple tree I aroused you;
there your mother conceived you,
there she who bore you was in labor of childbirth.
6 Set me like a cylinder seal over your heart,
like a signet on your arm.
For love is as strong as death,
passion is as unrelenting as Sheol.
Its flames burst forth,
it is a blazing flame.
7 Surging waters cannot quench love;
floodwaters cannot overflow it.
If someone were to offer all his possessions to buy love,
the offer would be utterly despised.
8 We have a little sister,
and as yet she has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister
on the day when she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build on her a battlement of silver;
but if she is a door,
we will barricade her with boards of cedar.
10 I was a wall,
and my breasts were like fortress towers.
Then I found favor in his eyes.
11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon;
he leased out the vineyard to those who maintained it.
Each was to bring 1,000 shekels of silver for its fruit.
12 My vineyard, which belongs to me, is at my disposal alone.
The thousand shekels belong to you, O Solomon,
and 200 shekels belong to those who maintain it for its fruit.
13 O you who stay in the gardens,
my companions are listening attentively for your voice;
let me be the one to hear it!
14 Make haste, my beloved!
Be like a gazelle or a young stag
on the mountains of spices.
1 For it is not necessary for me to write you about this service to the saints, 2 because I know your eagerness to help. I keep boasting to the Macedonians about this eagerness of yours, that Achaia has been ready to give since last year, and your zeal to participate has stirred up most of them. 3 But I am sending these brothers so that our boasting about you may not be empty in this case, so that you may be ready just as I kept telling them. 4 For if any of the Macedonians should come with me and find that you are not ready to give, we would be humiliated (not to mention you) by this confidence we had in you. 5 Therefore I thought it necessary to urge these brothers to go to you in advance and to arrange ahead of time the generous contribution you had promised, so this may be ready as a generous gift and not as something you feel forced to do. 6 My point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each one of you should give just as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, because God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace overflow to you so that because you have enough of everything in every way at all times, you will overflow in every good work. 9 Just as it is written, “He has scattered widely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness remains forever.” 10 Now God who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your supply of seed and will cause the harvest of your righteousness to grow. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you may be generous on every occasion, which is producing through us thanksgiving to God, 12 because the service of this ministry is not only providing for the needs of the saints but is also overflowing with many thanks to God. 13 Through the evidence of this service they will glorify God because of your obedience to your confession in the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your sharing with them and with everyone. 14 And in their prayers on your behalf, they long for you because of the extraordinary grace God has shown to you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your loyal love.
Because of your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts.
2 Wash away my wrongdoing.
Cleanse me of my sin.
3 For I am aware of my rebellious acts;
I am forever conscious of my sin.
4 Against you—you above all—I have sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
So you are just when you confront me;
you are right when you condemn me.
5 Look, I was guilty of sin from birth,
a sinner the moment my mother conceived me.
6 Look, you desire integrity in the inner man;
you want me to possess wisdom.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be pure;
wash me and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven.
May the bones you crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins.
Wipe away all my guilt.
10 Create for me a pure heart, O God.
Renew a resolute spirit within me.
11 Do not reject me.
Do not take your holy Spirit away from me.
12 Let me again experience the joy of your deliverance.
Sustain me by giving me the desire to obey.
13 Then I will teach rebels your merciful ways,
and sinners will turn to you.
14 Rescue me from the guilt of murder, O God, the God who delivers me.
Then my tongue will shout for joy because of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, give me the words.
Then my mouth will praise you.
16 Certainly you do not want a sacrifice, or else I would offer it;
you do not desire a burnt sacrifice.
17 The sacrifice God desires is a humble spirit—
O God, a humble and repentant heart you will not reject.
18 Because you favor Zion, do what is good for her.
Fortify the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will accept the proper sacrifices, burnt sacrifices and whole offerings;
then bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.
24 Do not make friends with an angry person,
and do not associate with a wrathful person,
25 lest you learn his ways
and entangle yourself in a snare.
