1 “I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;
I have gathered my myrrh along with my balsam.
I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey;
I have drunk my wine with my milk.
Eat, friends;
Drink and drink deeply, lovers.”
2 “I was asleep but my heart was awake.
A voice! My beloved was knocking:
‘Open to me, my sister, my darling,
My dove, my perfect one!
For my head is drenched with dew,
My locks with the dew drops of the night.’
3 I have taken off my dress,
How can I put it on again?
I have washed my feet,
How can I dirty them again?
4 My beloved extended his hand through the opening,
And my feelings were stirred for him.
5 I arose to open to my beloved;
And my hands dripped with myrrh,
And my fingers with drops of myrrh,
On the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened to my beloved,
But my beloved had turned away and had gone!
My heart went out to him as he spoke.
I searched for him but I did not find him;
I called him but he did not answer me.
7 The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me,
They struck me and wounded me;
The guards of the walls took my shawl away from me.
8 Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem,
If you find my beloved,
As to what you will tell him:
For I am lovesick.”
9 “What kind of beloved is your beloved,
O most beautiful among women?
What kind of beloved is your beloved,
That you make us swear in this way?”
10 “My beloved is dazzling and reddish,
Outstanding among ten thousand.
11 His head is like gold, pure gold;
His locks are like clusters of dates
And black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves
Beside streams of water,
Bathed in milk,
And perched in their setting.
13 His cheeks are like a bed of balsam,
Banks of herbal spices;
His lips are lilies
Dripping with drops of myrrh.
14 His hands are rods of gold
Set with topaz;
His abdomen is panels of ivory
Covered with sapphires.
15 His thighs are pillars of alabaster
Set on pedestals of pure gold;
His appearance is like Lebanon,
Choice as the cedars.
16 His mouth is full of sweetness.
And he is wholly desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
You daughters of Jerusalem.”
1 “Where has your beloved gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
That we may seek him with you?”
2 “My beloved has gone down to his garden,
To the beds of balsam,
To pasture his flock in the gardens
And gather lilies.
3 I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,
He who pastures his flock among the lilies.”
4 “You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,
As lovely as Jerusalem,
As awesome as an army with banners.
5 Turn your eyes away from me,
For they have confused me;
Your hair is like a flock of goats
That have descended from Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
That have come up from their watering place,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has lost her young.
7 Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate
Behind your veil.
8 There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,
And young women without number;
9 But my dove, my perfect one, is unique:
She is her mother’s only daughter;
She is the pure child of the one who gave birth to her.
The young women saw her and called her blessed,
The queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,
10 ‘Who is this who looks down like the dawn,
As beautiful as the full moon,
As pure as the sun,
As awesome as an army with banners?’
11 I went down to the orchard of nut trees
To see the plants of the valley,
To see whether the vine had grown
Or the pomegranates had bloomed.
12 Before I was aware, my soul set me
Over the chariots of my noble people.”
13 “Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
Come back, come back, so that we may look at you!”
“Why should you look at the Shulammite,
As at the dance of the two armies?
1 “How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
Prince’s daughter!
The curves of your hips are like jewels,
The work of the hands of an artist.
2 Your navel is like a round goblet
That never lacks mixed wine;
Your belly is like a heap of wheat,
Surrounded with lilies.
3 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle.
4 Your neck is like a tower of ivory,
Your eyes like the pools in Heshbon
By the gate of Bath-rabbim;
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon,
Which looks toward Damascus.
5 Your head crowns you like Carmel,
And the flowing hair of your head is like purple threads;
The king is captivated by your tresses.
6 How beautiful and how delightful you are,
My love, with all your delights!
7 Your stature is like a palm tree,
And your breasts are like its clusters.
8 I said, ‘I will climb the palm tree,
I will grasp its fruit stalks.’
Oh, may your breasts be like clusters of the vine,
And the fragrance of your breath like apples,
9 And your mouth like the best wine!”
“It goes down smoothly for my beloved,
Flowing gently through the lips of those who are asleep.
10 “I am my beloved’s,
And his desire is for me.
11 Come, my beloved, let’s go out to the country,
Let’s spend the night in the villages.
12 Let’s rise early and go to the vineyards;
Let’s see whether the vine has grown
And its buds have opened,
And whether the pomegranates have bloomed.
There I will give you my love.
13 The mandrakes have given forth fragrance;
And over our doors are all delicious fruits,
New as well as old,
Which I have saved for you, my beloved.
1 “Oh that you were like a brother to me
Who nursed at my mother’s breasts.
If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you;
No one would despise me, either.
2 I would lead you and bring you
Into the house of my mother, who used to instruct me;
I would give you spiced wine to drink from the juice of my pomegranates.
3 Let his left hand be under my head,
And his right hand embrace me.”
4 “Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem:
Do not disturb or awaken my love
Until she pleases.”
5 “Who is this coming up from the wilderness,
Leaning on her beloved?”
“Beneath the apple tree I awakened you;
There your mother went into labor with you,
There she was in labor and gave birth to you.
6 Put me like a seal over your heart,
Like a seal on your arm.
For love is as strong as death,
Jealousy is as severe as Sheol;
Its flames are flames of fire,
The flame of the Lord.
7 Many waters cannot quench love,
Nor will rivers flood over it;
If a man were to give all the riches of his house for love,
It would be utterly despised.”
8 “We have a little sister,
And 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 planks of cedar.”
10 “I was a wall, and my breasts were like towers;
Then I became in his eyes as one who finds peace.
11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon;
He entrusted the vineyard to caretakers.
Each one was to bring a thousand shekels of silver for its fruit.
12 My very own vineyard is at my disposal;
The thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,
And two hundred are for those who take care of its fruit.”
13 “You who sit in the gardens:
My companions are listening for your voice—
Let me hear it!”
14 “Hurry, my beloved,
And be like a gazelle or a young stag
On the mountains of balsam trees!”
1 For it is superfluous for me to write to you about this ministry to the saints; 2 for I know your willingness, of which I boast about you to the Macedonians, namely, that Achaia has been prepared since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them. 3 But I have sent the brothers, in order that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this case, so that, as I was saying, you will be prepared; 4 otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to mention you—would be put to shame by this confidence. 5 So I considered it necessary to urge the brothers that they go on ahead to you and arrange in advance your previously promised generous gift, that the same would be ready as a generous gift, and not as one grudgingly given due to greediness.
6 Now I say this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each one must do just as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace overflow to you, so that, always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; 9 as it is written:
“He scattered abroad, he gave to the poor,
His righteousness endures forever.”
10 Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; 11 you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God. 13 Because of the proof given by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all, 14 while they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. 15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
1 Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithfulness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion, wipe out my wrongdoings.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my guilt
And cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my wrongdoings,
And my sin is constantly before me.
4 Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is evil in Your sight,
So that You are justified when You speak
And blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in guilt,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in secret You will make wisdom known to me.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
Cleanse me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness,
Let the bones You have broken rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins
And wipe out all my guilty deeds.
10 Create in me a clean heart, God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach wrongdoers Your ways,
And sinners will be converted to You.
14 Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God, the God of my salvation;
Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15 Lord, open my lips,
So that my mouth may declare Your praise.
16 For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You do not take pleasure in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, God, You will not despise.
18 By Your favor do good to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices,
In burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then bulls will be offered on Your altar.
24 Do not make friends with a person given to anger,
Or go with a hot-tempered person,
25 Or you will learn his ways
And find a snare for yourself.
