Song of Songs 4

Young Man
 ¹  You are beautiful, my darling,
  beautiful beyond words.
Your eyes are like doves
  behind your veil.
Your hair falls in waves,
  like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.
 ²  Your teeth are as white as sheep,
  recently shorn and freshly washed.
Your smile is flawless,
  each tooth matched with its twin. [2] 
 ³  Your lips are like scarlet ribbon;
  your mouth is inviting.
Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates
  behind your veil.
 ⁴  Your neck is as beautiful as the tower of David,
  jeweled with the shields of a thousand heroes.
 ⁵  Your breasts are like two fawns,
  twin fawns of a gazelle grazing among the lilies.
 ⁶  Before the dawn breezes blow
  and the night shadows flee,
I will hurry to the mountain of myrrh
  and to the hill of frankincense.
 ⁷  "You are altogether beautiful, my darling, beautiful in every way."  ⁸  Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,
  come with me from Lebanon.
Come down [8]  from Mount Amana,
  from the peaks of Senir and Hermon,
where the lions have their dens
  and leopards live among the hills.

 ⁹  You have captured my heart,
  my treasure, [9]  my bride.
You hold it hostage with one glance of your eyes,
  with a single jewel of your necklace.
 ¹⁰  Your love delights me,
  my treasure, my bride.
Your love is better than wine,
  your perfume more fragrant than spices.
 ¹¹  Your lips are as sweet as nectar, my bride.
  Honey and milk are under your tongue.
Your clothes are scented
  like the cedars of Lebanon.

 ¹²  You are my private garden, my treasure, my bride,
  a secluded spring, a hidden fountain.
 ¹³  Your thighs shelter a paradise of pomegranates
  with rare spices—
henna with nard,
 ¹⁴    nard and saffron,
  fragrant calamus and cinnamon,
with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes,
  and every other lovely spice.
 ¹⁵  You are a garden fountain,
  a well of fresh water
  streaming down from Lebanon's mountains.

Young Woman
 ¹⁶  Awake, north wind!
  Rise up, south wind!
Blow on my garden
  and spread its fragrance all around.
Come into your garden, my love;
  taste its finest fruits.

Song of Songs 5

Young Man
 ¹  I have entered my garden, my treasure, [1]  my bride!
  I gather myrrh with my spices
and eat honeycomb with my honey.
  I drink wine with my milk.

Young Women of Jerusalem
Oh, lover and beloved, eat and drink!
  Yes, drink deeply of your love!

Young Woman
 ²  I slept, but my heart was awake,
  when I heard my lover knocking and calling:
"Open to me, my treasure, my darling,
  my dove, my perfect one.
My head is drenched with dew,
  my hair with the dampness of the night."

 ³  But I responded,
"I have taken off my robe.
  Should I get dressed again?
I have washed my feet.
  Should I get them soiled?"

 ⁴  My lover tried to unlatch the door,
  and my heart thrilled within me.
 ⁵  I jumped up to open the door for my love,
  and my hands dripped with perfume.
My fingers dripped with lovely myrrh
  as I pulled back the bolt.
 ⁶  I opened to my lover,
  but he was gone!
  My heart sank.
I searched for him
  but could not find him anywhere.
I called to him,
  but there was no reply.
 ⁷  The night watchmen found me
  as they made their rounds.
They beat and bruised me
  and stripped off my veil,
  those watchmen on the walls.

 ⁸  Make this promise, O women of Jerusalem—
  If you find my lover,
  tell him I am weak with love.

Young Women of Jerusalem
 ⁹  Why is your lover better than all others,
  O woman of rare beauty?
What makes your lover so special
  that we must promise this?

Young Woman
 ¹⁰  My lover is dark and dazzling,
  better than ten thousand others!
 ¹¹  His head is finest gold,
  his wavy hair is black as a raven.
 ¹²  His eyes sparkle like doves
  beside springs of water;
they are set like jewels
  washed in milk.
 ¹³  His cheeks are like gardens of spices
  giving off fragrance.
His lips are like lilies,
  perfumed with myrrh.
 ¹⁴  His arms are like rounded bars of gold,
  set with beryl.
His body is like bright ivory,
  glowing with lapis lazuli.
 ¹⁵  His legs are like marble pillars
  set in sockets of finest gold.
His posture is stately,
  like the noble cedars of Lebanon.
 ¹⁶  His mouth is sweetness itself;
  he is desirable in every way.
Such, O women of Jerusalem,
  is my lover, my friend.

<<  4:2 Hebrew Not one is missing; each has a twin.
<<  4:8 Or Look down.
<<  4:9 Hebrew my sister; also in 4:10, 12.
<<  5:1 Hebrew my sister; also in 5:2.

Galatians 3

The Law and Faith in Christ
 ¹  Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ's death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross.  ²  Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.  ³  How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?  ⁴  Have you experienced [4]  so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?
   ⁵  I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.
   ⁶  In the same way, "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith." [6]   ⁷  The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.
   ⁸  What's more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would declare the Gentiles to be righteous because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, "All nations will be blessed through you." [8]   ⁹  So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.
   ¹⁰  But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, "Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God's Book of the Law." [10]   ¹¹  So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life." [11]   ¹²  This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, "It is through obeying the law that a person has life." [12] 
   ¹³  But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." [13]   ¹⁴  Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised [14]  Holy Spirit through faith.

The Law and God's Promise
 ¹⁵  Dear brothers and sisters, [15]  here's an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or amend an irrevocable agreement, so it is in this case.  ¹⁶  God gave the promises to Abraham and his child. [16]  And notice that the Scripture doesn't say "to his children, [16] " as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says "to his child"—and that, of course, means Christ.  ¹⁷  This is what I am trying to say: The agreement God made with Abraham could not be canceled 430 years later when God gave the law to Moses. God would be breaking his promise.  ¹⁸  For if the inheritance could be received by keeping the law, then it would not be the result of accepting God's promise. But God graciously gave it to Abraham as a promise.
   ¹⁹  Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people.  ²⁰  Now a mediator is helpful if more than one party must reach an agreement. But God, who is one, did not use a mediator when he gave his promise to Abraham.
   ²¹  Is there a conflict, then, between God's law and God's promises? [21]  Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it.  ²²  But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God's promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.

God's Children through Faith
 ²³  Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed.
   ²⁴  Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith.  ²⁵  And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.
   ²⁶  For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  ²⁷  And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.  ²⁸  There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.  ²⁹  "And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God's promise to Abraham belongs to you."

<<  3:4 Or Have you suffered.
<<  3:6 Gen 15:6.
<<  3:8 Gen 12:3; 18:18; 22:18.
<<  3:10 Deut 27:26.
<<  3:11 Hab 2:4.
<<  3:12 Lev 18:5.
<<  3:13 Deut 21:23 (Greek version).
<<  3:14 Some manuscripts read the blessing of the.
<<  3:15 Greek Brothers.
<<  3:16a Greek seed; also in 3:16c, 19. See notes on Gen 12:7 and 13:15. 3:16b Greek seeds.
<<  3:21 Some manuscripts read and the promises?
<<  3:26 Greek sons.
<<  3:27 Greek have put on Christ.
<<  3:28 Greek Jew or Greek.
<<  3:29 Greek seed.