Song of Solomon 5

He

 ¹I^(A) came to my garden, my^(B) sister, my bride,
   I gathered my^(C) myrrh with my spice,
   I ate my^(D) honeycomb with my honey,
   I^(E) drank my wine with my milk.

   Others

   Eat,^(F) friends, drink,
   and be drunk with love!

The Bride Searches for Her Beloved

   She

 ²I slept, but my heart was awake.A sound! My beloved is^(G) knocking."Open to me, my^(H) sister, my^(I) love,
   my^(J) dove, my^(K) perfect one,
for my head is wet with dew,
   my^(L) locks with the drops of the night."
^3(M) I had put off my garment;
   how could I put it on?
I had^(N) bathed my feet;
   how could I soil them?
⁴My beloved put his hand to the latch,
   and my heart was thrilled within me.
⁵I arose to open to my beloved,
   and my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with^(O) liquid myrrh,
   on the handles of the bolt.
⁶I opened to my beloved,
   but my beloved had turned and gone.
My soul failed me when he^(P) spoke.^(Q) I sought him, but found him not;
   ^(R) I called him, but he gave no answer.
^7(S) The watchmen found me
   as they went about in the city;
they beat me, they bruised me,
   they took away my veil,
   those watchmen of the walls.
⁸I^(T) adjure you, O^(U) daughters of Jerusalem,
   if you find my beloved,
that you tell him
   ^(V) I am sick with love.Others

 ⁹What is your beloved more than another beloved,
   O^(W) most beautiful among women?
What is your beloved more than another beloved,
   that you thus^(X) adjure us?

The Bride Praises Her Beloved

   She

 ¹⁰My beloved is radiant and^(Y) ruddy,
   ^(Z) distinguished among ten thousand.
¹¹His head is the finest gold;
   ^(AA) his locks are wavy,
   black as a raven.
¹²His^(AB) eyes are like doves
   beside streams of water,
bathed in milk,
   sitting beside a full pool.^[a]
13His^(AC) cheeks are like^(AD) beds of spices,
   mounds of sweet-smelling herbs.
His lips are^(AE) lilies,
   dripping^(AF) liquid myrrh.
¹⁴His arms are rods of gold,
   set with^(AG) jewels.
His body is polished ivory,^[b]
   bedecked with^(AH) sapphires.^[c]
15His legs are alabaster columns,
   set on bases of gold.
His appearance is like^(AI) Lebanon,
   choice as the cedars.
¹⁶His^(AJ) mouth^[d] is most sweet,
   and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
   O^(AK) daughters of Jerusalem.

Song of Solomon 6

Others

 ¹Where has your beloved gone,
   O^(AL) most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
   that we may seek him with you?

Together in the Garden of Love

   She

 ²My beloved has gone down to his^(AM) garden
   to^(AN) the beds of spices,
to^(AO) graze^[e] in the gardens
   and to gather^(AP) lilies.
^3(AQ) I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;
   he grazes among the lilies.

Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other

   He

 ⁴You are beautiful as^(AR) Tirzah,^(AS) my love,
   ^(AT) lovely as^(AU) Jerusalem,
   ^(AV) awesome as an army with banners.
⁵Turn away your eyes from me,
   for they overwhelm me—
^(AW) Your hair is like a flock of goats
   leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
^6(AX) Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
   that have come up from the washing;
all of them bear twins;
   not one among them has lost its young.
^7(AY) Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
   behind your veil.
⁸There are^(AZ) sixty^(BA) queens and eighty^(BB) concubines,
   and virgins without number.
⁹My^(BC) dove, my^(BD) perfect one, is the only one,
   the only one of her mother,
   pure to^(BE) her who bore her.
^(BF) The young women saw her and called her blessed;
   ^(BG) the queens and concubines also, and they praised her.

 ^10(BH) "Who is this who looks down like the dawn,
   beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,
   ^(BI) awesome as an army with banners?"She

 ¹¹I went down to the nut orchard
   to look at^(BJ) the blossoms of the valley,
^(BK) to see whether the vines had budded,
   whether the pomegranates were in bloom.
^12(BL) Before I was aware, my desire set me
   among^(BM) the chariots of my kinsman, a prince.^[f]Others

 ^13[g] Return, return, O^(BN) Shulammite,
   return, return, that we may look upon you.

   He

   Why should you look upon^(BO) the Shulammite,
   as upon^(BP) a dance before two armies?^[h]

Song of Solomon 7

 ¹How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
   O^(BQ) noble daughter!
Your rounded thighs are like^(BR) jewels,
   the work of^(BS) a master hand.
²Your navel is a rounded bowl
   that never lacks mixed wine.
Your belly is a heap of wheat,
   encircled with^(BT) lilies.
^3(BU) Your two breasts are like two fawns,
   twins of a gazelle.
⁴Your^(BV) neck is like an ivory tower.Your^(BW) eyes are pools in^(BX) Heshbon,
   by the gate of Bath-rabbim.
Your nose is like a tower of^(BY) Lebanon,
   which looks toward^(BZ) Damascus.
⁵Your head crowns you like^(CA) Carmel,
   and your^(CB) flowing locks are like purple;
   a king is held captive in the tresses.

 ^6(CC) How beautiful and^(CD) pleasant you are,
   O loved one, with all your delights!^[i]
7Your stature is like a palm tree,
   and your breasts are like its clusters.
⁸I say I will climb the palm tree
   and lay hold of its fruit.
Oh may your breasts be like^(CE) clusters of the vine,
   and the scent of your breath like apples,
⁹and your^(CF) mouth^[j] like the best wine.

   She

   It goes down smoothly for my beloved,
   gliding over lips and teeth.^[k]

 ^10(CG) I am my beloved’s,
   ^(CH) and his desire is for me.

The Bride Gives Her Love

 ^11(CI) Come, my beloved,
   let us go out into the fields
   and lodge in the villages;^[l]
12let us go out early to the vineyards
   ^(CJ) and see whether the vines have budded,
whether^(CK) the grape blossoms have opened
   and the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my love. ^13(CL) The mandrakes give forth fragrance,
   and beside our doors are all choice fruits,
^(CM) new as well as old,
   which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.

Song of Solomon 8

Longing for Her Beloved

 ¹Oh that you were like a brother to me
   who nursed at my mother’s breasts!
If I found you outside, I would kiss you,
   and none would despise me.
²I would lead you and^(CN) bring you
   into the house of my mother—
   she who used to teach me.
I would give you^(CO) spiced wine to drink,
   the juice of my pomegranate.
^3(CP) His left hand is under my head,
   and his right hand embraces me!
⁴I^(CQ) adjure you, O^(CR) daughters of Jerusalem,
   ^(CS) that you not stir up or awaken love
   until it pleases.

 ^5(CT) Who is that coming up from the wilderness,
   leaning on her beloved?

   

   Under the apple tree I awakened you.
There your mother was in labor with you;
   there she who bore you was in labor.

 ⁶Set me as a seal upon your heart,
   as^(CU) a seal upon your arm,
for^(CV) love is strong as death,
   ^(CW) jealousy^[m] is fierce as the grave.^[n]
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
   the very^(CX) flame of the LORD.
⁷Many waters cannot quench love,
   neither can floods drown it.
If a man offered for love
   all the wealth of his^(CY) house,
   he^[o] would be utterly despised.

Final Advice

   Others

 ⁸We have a little sister,
   and she^(CZ) has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister
   on the day when she is spoken for?
⁹If she is a wall,
   we will build on her a battlement of silver,
but if she is a door,
   we will enclose her with^(DA) boards of cedar.She

 ^10(DB) I was a wall,
   and my^(DC) breasts were like towers;
then I was in his eyes
   as one who finds^[p] peace.

 ¹¹Solomon had^(DD) a vineyard at Baal-hamon;
   he^(DE) let out the vineyard to^(DF) keepers;
   each one was to bring for its fruit^(DG) a thousand pieces of silver.
¹²My vineyard, my very own, is before me;
   you, O Solomon, may have the thousand,
   and^(DH) the keepers of the fruit two hundred.He

 ^13(DI) O you who dwell in the gardens,
   with^(DJ) companions listening for your voice;
   ^(DK) let me hear it.She

 ^14(DL) Make haste, my beloved,
   and be^(DM) like a gazelle
or a young stag
   on^(DN) the mountains of spices.

2 Corinthians 9

The Collection for Christians in Jerusalem

 ¹Now^(A) it is superfluous for me to write to you about^(B) the ministry for the saints, ²for I know your readiness,^(C) of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready^(D) since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. ³But^(E) I am sending^[a] the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready,^(F) as I said you would be. ⁴Otherwise, if some Macedonians^(G) come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. ⁵So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the^(H) gift^[b] you have promised, so that it may be ready^(I) as a willing gift,^(J) not as an exaction.^[c]

The Cheerful Giver

 ⁶The point is this:^(K) whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully^[d] will also reap bountifully. ⁷Each one must give as he has decided in his heart,^(L) not reluctantly or under compulsion, for^(M) God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And^(N) God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency^[e] in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. ⁹As it is written,

   ^(O) "He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
   his righteousness endures forever."

 ¹⁰He who supplies^(P) seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and^(Q) increase the harvest of your righteousness. ^11(R) You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which^(S) through us will produce thanksgiving to God. ¹²For the ministry of this service is not only supplying^(T) the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. ¹³By their approval of this service,^(U) they^[f] will glorify God because of your submission flowing from your^(V) confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, ¹⁴while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. ^15(W) Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

Psalm 92

How Great Are Your Works

A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath.

 ^1(A) It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
   to sing praises to your name,^(B) O Most High;
²to declare your^(C) steadfast love in^(D) the morning,
   and your faithfulness by night,
³to the music of^(E) the lute and the harp,
   to the melody of the lyre.
⁴For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your^(F) work;
   at^(G) the works of your hands I sing for joy.

 ⁵How^(H) great are your works, O LORD!
   Your^(I) thoughts are very^(J) deep!

²⁴Make no friendship with a man given to anger,
   nor go with a wrathful man,
²⁵lest you learn his ways
   and entangle yourself in a snare.