The Bride’s Dream
1 On my bed by night
I sought him iwhom my soul loves;
I jsought him, but found him not.
2 I will rise now and go about the city,
in the streets and in the squares;
I will seek him whom my soul loves.
I sought him, but found him not.
3 kThe watchmen found me
as they went about in the city.
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
4 Scarcely had I passed them
when I found him whom my soul loves.
I held him, and would not let him go
until I had lbrought him into my mother’s house,
and into the chamber of her who conceived me.
5 mI adjure you, O ndaughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.
Solomon Arrives for the Wedding
6 oWhat is that coming up from the wilderness
like columns of smoke,
perfumed with pmyrrh and frankincense,
with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?
7 Behold, it is the litter1 of qSolomon!
Around it are sixty mighty men,
some of the mighty men of Israel,
8 all of them wearing swords
and expert in war,
each with his sword at his thigh,
against terror by night.
9 King Solomon made himself a carriage2
from the wood of Lebanon.
10 He made its posts of silver,
its back of gold, its seat of purple;
its interior was inlaid with love
by the daughters of Jerusalem.
11 Go out, O daughters of Zion,
and look upon King Solomon,
with the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
on the day of the gladness of his heart.
Solomon Admires His Bride’s Beauty
He
1 rBehold, syou are beautiful, tmy love,
behold, you are beautiful!
uYour eyes are doves
behind your vveil.
wYour hair is like a flock of goats
leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
2 xYour teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
and not one among them has lost its young.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread,
and your mouth is lovely.
yYour cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
behind your veil.
4 zYour neck is like the tower of David,
built in rows of stone;3
on it hang a thousand shields,
all of them shields of warriors.
5 aYour two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle,
that bgraze among the lilies.
6 cUntil the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
I will go away to the dmountain of myrrh
and the hill of frankincense.
7 You are altogether beautiful, my love;
there is no flaw in you.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;
come with me from Lebanon.
Depart4 from the peak of Amana,
from the peak of Senir and Hermon,
from the dens of lions,
from the mountains of leopards.
9 You have captivated my heart, emy sister, my bride;
you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
10 How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love fthan wine,
and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
11 Your lips drip nectar, my bride;
ghoney and milk are under your tongue;
the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 A garden locked is my sister, my bride,
a hspring locked, a fountain sealed.
13 Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates
with all ichoicest fruits,
14 nard and saffron, lcalamus and cinnamon,
with all trees of frankincense,
mmyrrh and aloes,
with all choice spices—
15 a garden fountain, a well of living water,
and flowing streams from Lebanon.
16 Awake, O north wind,
and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my ngarden,
let its spices flow.
Together in the Garden of Love
She
Let omy beloved come to his garden,
and eat its choicest fruits.
He
1 I came to my pgarden, qmy sister, my bride,
I gathered my myrrh with my spice,
I ate my honeycomb with my rhoney,
I drank my wine with my milk.
Others
Eat, friends, drink,
and be drunk with love!
The Bride Searches for Her Beloved
She
2 I slept, but my heart was awake.
A sound! sMy beloved is knocking.
“Open to me, my sister, tmy love,
umy dove, my perfect one,
for my head is wet with dew,
my locks with the drops of the night.”
3 I had put off my garment;
how could I put it on?
I had bathed my feet;
how could I soil them?
4 My beloved put his hand to the latch,
and my heart was thrilled within me.
5 I arose to open to my beloved,
and my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with liquid myrrh,
on the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened to my beloved,
but my beloved had turned and gone.
My soul failed me when he spoke.
I vsought him, but found him not;
I called him, but he gave no answer.
7 wThe 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.
8 I adjure you, O xdaughters of Jerusalem,
if you find my beloved,
that you tell him
yI am sick with love.
Others
9 What is your beloved more than another beloved,
zO most beautiful among women?
What is your beloved more than another beloved,
that you thus adjure us?
When Brothers Dwell in Unity
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers odwell in unity!1
2 It is like the precious poil on the head,
running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his qrobes!
3 It is rlike the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there sthe Lord has commanded the blessing,
life forevermore.
Paul and the False Apostles
1 I wish you would bear with me in a little pfoolishness. Do bear with me! 2 For I feel a qdivine jealousy for you, since I rbetrothed you to one husband, sto present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that tas uthe serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, vyour thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For wif someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you xreceived, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. 5 Indeed, I consider that yI am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. 6 Even if I am unskilled zin speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.
7 Or adid I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I bpreached God’s gospel to you free of charge? 8 I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. 9 And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for cthe brothers who came from Macedonia dsupplied my need. So eI refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. 10 fAs the truth of Christ is in me, this gboasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. 11 And why? Because I do not love you? God knows hI do!
12 And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. 13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as iservants of righteousness. jTheir end will correspond to their deeds.
Paul’s Sufferings as an Apostle
16 I repeat, let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. 17 What I am saying with this boastful confidence, I say not as the Lord would1 but as a fool. 18 Since many boast according to the kflesh, I too will boast. 19 For you gladly bear with lfools, being wise yourselves! 20 For you bear it if someone mmakes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face. 21 To my shame, I must say, nwe were too weak for that!
But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. 22 Are they oHebrews? pSo am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they qservants of Christ? rI am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with sfar greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews tthe forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was ubeaten with rods. Once I was vstoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, wdanger from my own people, xdanger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food,2 in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?
30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my yweakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that zI am not lying. 32 aAt Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, 33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.
Paul’s Visions and His Thorn
1 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or bout of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into cparadise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— 6 though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a dfool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. 7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,3 ea thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the fpower of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, gI am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Concern for the Corinthian Church
11 I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For hI was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, ieven though I am nothing. 12 jThe signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. 13 For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches, except that kI myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!
14 Here lfor the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you. For mchildren are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 nI will most gladly spend and be spent ofor your souls. If pI love you more, am I to be loved less? 16 But granting that I myself did not burden you, I was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by deceit. 17 Did I take advantage of you through any of qthose whom I sent to you? 18 rI urged Titus to go, and sent sthe brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps?
19 Have you been thinking all along that we have been tdefending ourselves to you? It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and all for your uupbuilding, beloved. 20 For I fear that perhaps when I come vI may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be wquarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. 21 I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.
Final Warnings
1 xThis is the third time I am coming to you. Every charge must be established yby the evidence of two or three witnesses. 2 I warned zthose who sinned before and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come again I will not spare them— 3 since you seek proof that Christ is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. 4 For ahe was crucified in weakness, but lives bby the power of God. For we also are cweak in him, but in dealing with you dwe will live with him by the power of God.
5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. eTest yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is fin you?—gunless indeed you hfail to meet the test! 6 I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. 7 But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. 8 For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. 9 For we are glad when iwe are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for. 10 For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come jI may not have to be severe in my use of kthe authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.
Final Greetings
11 Finally, brothers,4 rejoice. Aim for restoration, lcomfort one another,5 magree with one another, nlive in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 oGreet one another with a holy kiss. 13 pAll the saints greet you.
14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the qfellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
