Song of Solomon 5

THE Beloved

 ¹ I have come to my garden, my sister, my spouse;
      I have gathered my myrrh with my spice;
      I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey;
      I have drunk my wine with my milk.

THE Shulamite

    ² I sleep, but my heart is awake;
      It is the voice of my beloved!
      He knocks, saying,

      “ Open for me, my sister, my love,
      My dove, my perfect one;
      For my head is covered with dew,
      My locks with the drops of the night.”
       ³ I have taken off my robe;
      How can I put it on again?
      I have washed my feet;
      How can I defile them?
       ⁴ My beloved put his hand
      By the latch of the door,
      And my heart yearned for him.
       ⁵ I arose to open for my beloved,
      And my hands dripped with myrrh,
      My fingers with liquid myrrh,
      On the handles of the lock.
       ⁶ I opened for my beloved,
      But my beloved had turned away and was gone.
      My heart leaped up when he spoke.
      I sought him, but I could not find him;
      I called him, but he gave me no answer.
       ⁷ The watchmen who went about the city found me.
      They struck me, they wounded me;
      The keepers of the walls
      Took my veil away from me.
       ⁸ I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
      If you find my beloved,
      That you tell him I am lovesick!

THE Daughters of Jerusalem

    ⁹ What is your beloved
      More than another beloved,
      O fairest among women?
      What is your beloved
      More than another beloved,
      That you so charge us?

THE Shulamite

    ¹⁰ My beloved is white and ruddy,
      Chief among ten thousand.
       ¹¹ His head is like the finest gold;
      His locks are wavy,
      And black as a raven.
       ¹² His eyes are like doves
      By the rivers of waters,
      Washed with milk,
      And fitly set.
       ¹³ His cheeks are like a bed of spices,
      Banks of scented herbs.
      His lips are lilies,
      Dripping liquid myrrh.
       ¹⁴ His hands are rods of gold
      Set with beryl.
      His body is carved ivory
      Inlaid with sapphires.
       ¹⁵ His legs are pillars of marble
      Set on bases of fine gold.
      His countenance is like Lebanon,
      Excellent as the cedars.
       ¹⁶ His mouth is most sweet,
      Yes, he is altogether lovely.
      This is my beloved,
      And this is my friend,
      O daughters of Jerusalem!

Song of Solomon 6

THE Daughters of Jerusalem

 ¹ Where has your beloved gone,
      O fairest among women?
      Where has your beloved turned aside,
      That we may seek him with you?

THE Shulamite

    ² My beloved has gone to his garden,
      To the beds of spices,
      To feed his flock in the gardens,
      And to gather lilies.
       ³ I am my beloved’s,
      And my beloved is mine.
      He feeds his flock among the lilies.

THE Beloved

    ⁴ O my love, you are as beautiful as Tirzah,
      Lovely as Jerusalem,
      Awesome as an army with banners!
       ⁵ Turn your eyes away from me,
      For they have overcome me.
      Your hair is like a flock of goats
      Going down from Gilead.
       ⁶ Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
      Which have come up from the washing;
      Every one bears twins,
      And none is barren among them.
       ⁷ Like a piece of pomegranate
      Are your temples behind your veil.
       ⁸ There are sixty queens
      And eighty concubines,
      And virgins without number.
       ⁹ My dove, my perfect one,
      Is the only one,
      The only one of her mother,
      The favorite of the one who bore her.
      The daughters saw her
      And called her blessed,
      The queens and the concubines,
      And they praised her.
       ¹⁰ Who is she who looks forth as the morning,
      Fair as the moon,
      Clear as the sun,
      Awesome as an army with banners?

THE Shulamite

    ¹¹ I went down to the garden of nuts
      To see the verdure of the valley,
      To see whether the vine had budded
      And the pomegranates had bloomed.
       ¹² Before I was even aware,
      My soul had made me
      As the chariots of my noble people.^[a]

THE Beloved and His Friends

    ¹³ Return, return, O Shulamite;
      Return, return, that we may look upon you!

Song of Solomon 7

THE Beloved

 ¹ How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
      O prince’s daughter!
      The curves of your thighs are like jewels,
      The work of the hands of a skillful workman.
       ² Your navel is a rounded goblet;
      It lacks no blended beverage.
      Your waist is a heap of wheat
      Set about with lilies.
       ³ Your two breasts are like two fawns,
      Twins of a gazelle.
       ⁴ Your neck is like an ivory tower,
      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 Mount Carmel,
      And the hair of your head is like purple;
      A king is held captive by your tresses.
       ⁶ How fair and how pleasant you are,
      O love, with your delights!
       ⁷ This stature of yours is like a palm tree,
      And your breasts like its clusters.
       ⁸ I said, “I will go up to the palm tree,
      I will take hold of its branches.”
      Let now your breasts be like clusters of the vine,
      The fragrance of your breath like apples,
       ⁹ And the roof of your mouth like the best wine.

THE Shulamite

      The wine goes down smoothly for my beloved,
      Moving gently the lips of sleepers.^{[b]
    10} I am my beloved’s,
      And his desire is toward me.
       ¹¹ Come, my beloved,
      Let us go forth to the field;
      Let us lodge in the villages.
       ¹² Let us get up early to the vineyards;
      Let us see if the vine has budded,
      Whether the grape blossoms are open,
      And the pomegranates are in bloom.
      There I will give you my love.
       ¹³ The mandrakes give off a fragrance,
      And at our gates are pleasant fruits,
      All manner, new and old,
      Which I have laid up for you, my beloved.

Song of Solomon 8

 ¹ Oh, that you were like my brother,
      Who nursed at my mother’s breasts!
      If I should find you outside,
      I would kiss you;
      I would not be despised.
       ² I would lead you and bring you
      Into the house of my mother,
      She who used to instruct me.
      I would cause you to drink of spiced wine,
      Of the juice of my pomegranate.

(To the Daughters of Jerusalem)

    ³ His left hand is under my head,
      And his right hand embraces me.
       ⁴ I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
      Do not stir up nor awaken love
      Until it pleases.

A Relative

    ⁵ Who is this coming up from the wilderness,
      Leaning upon her beloved?

      I awakened you under the apple tree.
      There your mother brought you forth;
      There she who bore you brought you forth.

THE Shulamite to Her Beloved

    ⁶ Set me as a seal upon your heart,
      As a seal upon your arm;
      For love is as strong as death,
      Jealousy as cruel as the grave;^[c]
      Its flames are flames of fire,
      A most vehement flame.^{[d]
       7} Many waters cannot quench love,
      Nor can the floods drown it.
      If a man would give for love
      All the wealth of his house,
      It would be utterly despised.

THE Shulamite’s Brothers

    ⁸ We have a little sister,
      And she has no breasts.
      What shall we do for our sister
      In the day when she is spoken for?
       ⁹ If she is a wall,
      We will build upon her
      A battlement of silver;
      And if she is a door,
      We will enclose her
      With boards of cedar.

THE Shulamite

    ¹⁰ I am a wall,
      And my breasts like towers;
      Then I became in his eyes
      As one who found peace.
       ¹¹ Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon;
      He leased the vineyard to keepers;
      Everyone was to bring for its fruit
      A thousand silver coins.

(To Solomon)

    ¹² My own vineyard is before me.
      You, O Solomon, may have a thousand,
      And those who tend its fruit two hundred.

SHE Beloved

    ¹³ You who dwell in the gardens,
      The companions listen for your voice—
      Let me hear it!

THE Shulamite

    ¹⁴ Make haste, my beloved,
      And be like a gazelle
      Or a young stag
      On the mountains of spices.

2 Corinthians 9

Administering the Gift

 ¹ Now concerning the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you; ² for I know your willingness, about which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal has stirred up the majority. ³ Yet I have sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this respect, that, as I said, you may be ready; ⁴ lest if some Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we (not to mention you!) should be ashamed of this confident boasting.^{[a] 5} Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation.

The Cheerful Giver

   
⁶ But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. ⁹ As it is written:


      “ He has dispersed abroad,
      He has given to the poor;
      His righteousness endures forever.”<sup>[b]

10</sup> Now may^[c] He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, ¹¹ while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. ¹² For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God, ¹³ while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men, ¹⁴ and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you. ¹⁵ Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

Psalm 92

A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath day.

 ¹ It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
         And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
 ² To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
         And Your faithfulness every night,
 ³ On an instrument of ten strings,
         On the lute,
         And on the harp,
         With harmonious sound.
 ⁴ For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work;
         I will triumph in the works of Your hands.
         
 ⁵ O LORD, how great are Your works!
         Your thoughts are very deep.

²⁴ Make no friendship with an angry man,
      And with a furious man do not go,
       ²⁵ Lest you learn his ways
      And set a snare for your soul.