Song of Solomon 6–8; Galatians 4

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Song of Solomon 6–8

Others

Where has your beloved gone,

O cmost beautiful among women?

Where has your beloved turned,

that we may seek him with you?

Together in the Garden of Love

She

My beloved has gone down to his qgarden

to rthe beds of spices,

to sgraze1 in the gardens

and to gather tlilies.

uI am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;

he grazes among the lilies.

Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other

He

You are beautiful as vTirzah, wmy love,

xlovely as yJerusalem,

zawesome as an army with banners.

Turn away your eyes from me,

for they overwhelm me

aYour hair is like a flock of goats

leaping down the slopes of Gilead.

bYour 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.

cYour cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate

behind your veil.

There are dsixty equeens and eighty econcubines,

and fvirgins without number.

My gdove, my hperfect one, is the only one,

the only one of her mother,

pure to iher who bore her.

jThe young women saw her and called her blessed;

ethe queens and econcubines also, and they praised her.

10  kWho is this who looks down like the dawn,

beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,

lawesome as an army with banners?

She

11  I went down to the nut orchard

to look at mthe blossoms of the valley,

nto see whether the vines had budded,

whether the pomegranates were in bloom.

12  oBefore I was aware, my desire set me

among pthe chariots of my kinsman, a prince.2

Others

13  3 Return, return, O qShulammite,

return, return, that we may look upon you.

He

Why should you look upon qthe Shulammite,

as upon ra dance before stwo armies?4

How beautiful are your feet in sandals,

O tnoble daughter!

Your rounded thighs are like ujewels,

the work of va master hand.

Your navel is a rounded bowl

that never lacks mixed wine.

Your belly is a heap of wheat,

encircled with wlilies.

xYour two breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle.

Your yneck is like an ivory tower.

Your zeyes are pools in aHeshbon,

by the gate of Bath-rabbim.

Your nose is like a tower of bLebanon,

which looks toward cDamascus.

Your head crowns you like eCarmel,

and your fflowing locks are like purple;

a king is held captive in the tresses.

gHow beautiful and hpleasant you are,

O loved one, with all your delights!5

Your stature is like a palm tree,

and your breasts are like its clusters.

I say I will climb the palm tree

and lay hold of its fruit.

Oh may your breasts be like iclusters of the vine,

and the scent of your breath like apples,

and your jmouth6 like the best wine.

She

It goes down smoothly for my beloved,

gliding over lips and teeth.7

10  kI am my beloved’s,

land his desire is for me.

The Bride Gives Her Love

11  mCome, my beloved,

let us go out into the fields

and lodge in the villages;8

12  let us go out early to the vineyards

nand see whether the vines have budded,

whether othe grape blossoms have opened

and the pomegranates are in bloom.

There I will give you my love.

13  pThe mandrakes give forth fragrance,

and beside our doors are all choice fruits,

qnew as well as old,

which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.

Longing for Her Beloved

Oh 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.

I would lead you and rbring you

into the house of my mother

she who used to teach me.

I would give you sspiced wine to drink,

the juice of my pomegranate.

tHis left hand is under my head,

and his right hand embraces me!

I uadjure you, O vdaughters of Jerusalem,

wthat you not stir up or awaken love

until it pleases.

xWho 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.

Set me as a seal upon your heart,

as ya seal upon your arm,

for zlove is strong as death,

ajealousy9 is fierce as the grave.10

Its flashes are flashes of fire,

the very bflame of the Lord.

Many waters cannot quench love,

neither can floods drown it.

If a man offered for love

all the wealth of his chouse,

he11 would be utterly despised.

Final Advice

Others

We have a little sister,

and she dhas no breasts.

What shall we do for our sister

on the day when she is spoken for?

If she is a wall,

we will build on her a battlement of silver,

but if she is a door,

we will enclose her with eboards of cedar.

She

10  fI was a wall,

and my gbreasts were like towers;

then I was in his eyes

as one who finds12 peace.

11  Solomon had ha vineyard at Baal-hamon;

he ilet out the vineyard to jkeepers;

each one was to bring for its fruit ka thousand pieces of silver.

12  My vineyard, my very own, is before me;

you, O Solomon, may have the thousand,

and lthe keepers of the fruit two hundred.

He

13  mO you who dwell in the gardens,

with ncompanions listening for your voice;

olet me hear it.

She

14  pMake haste, my beloved,

and be qlike a gazelle

or a young stag

on rthe mountains of spices.


Galatians 4

Sons and Heirs

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave,1 though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, cwere enslaved to the elementary principles2 of the world. But dwhen the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, eborn fof woman, born gunder the law, hto redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive iadoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent jthe Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba! Father! So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then kan heir through God.

Paul’s Concern for the Galatians

Formerly, when you ldid not know God, you mwere enslaved to those that by nature nare not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather oto be known by God, phow can you turn back again to qthe weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? 10 rYou observe days and months and seasons and years! 11 I am afraid sI may have labored over you in vain.

12 Brothers,3 tI entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. uYou did me no wrong. 13 You know it was vbecause of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you wat first, 14 and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me xas an angel of God, yas Christ Jesus. 15 What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I then become your enemy by ztelling you the truth?4 17 They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. 18 It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and anot only when I am present with you, 19 bmy little children, cfor whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ dis formed in you! 20 I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

Example of Hagar and Sarah

21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, eone by a slave woman and fone by a free woman. 23 But gthe son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while hthe son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two icovenants. jOne is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia;5 she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But kthe Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written,

lRejoice, O barren one who does not bear;

break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!

For the children of the desolate one will be more

than those of the one who has a husband.

28 Now you,6 brothers, mlike Isaac, nare children of promise. 29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh opersecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, pso also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? qCast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman. 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but rof the free woman.