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;1
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.
Depart2 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?
The Bride Praises Her Beloved
She
10 My beloved is radiant and aruddy,
distinguished among ten thousand.
11 His head is the finest gold;
his locks are wavy,
black as a raven.
12 bHis eyes are like doves
beside streams of water,
bathed in milk,
sitting beside a full pool.3
13 His cheeks are like cbeds of spices,
mounds of sweet-smelling herbs.
His lips are lilies,
dripping liquid myrrh.
14 His arms are rods of gold,
set with jewels.
His body is polished ivory,4
bedecked with sapphires.5
15 His legs are alabaster columns,
set on bases of gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
choice as the cedars.
and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.
By Faith, or by Works of the Law?
1 O foolish Galatians! uWho has bewitched you? It was vbefore your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you wreceive the Spirit by works of the law or by xhearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? yHaving begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by1 the flesh? 4 Did you suffer2 so many things zin vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and aworks bmiracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham c“believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
7 Know then that dit is ethose of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that fGod would justify3 the Gentiles by faith, gpreached the gospel hbeforehand to Abraham, saying, i“In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
The Righteous Shall Live by Faith
10 For all who rely on works of the law are junder a curse; for it is written, k“Cursed be everyone who does not abide by lall things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that mno one is justified before God by the law, for n“The righteous shall live by faith.”4 12 But the law is not of faith, rather o“The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ predeemed us from the curse of the law by qbecoming a curse for us—for it is written, r“Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a stree”— 14 tso that in Christ Jesus the ublessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive vthe promised Spirit5 through faith.
The Law and the Promise
15 wTo give a human example, brothers:6 even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now xthe promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, y“And to your offspring,” zwho is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: athe law, which came b430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18 For if the cinheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.
19 Why then the law? dIt was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was eput in place through angels fby an gintermediary. 20 Now an hintermediary implies more than one, but iGod is one.
21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then jrighteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture kimprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by lfaith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
23 Now before faith came, we were held captive munder the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian nuntil Christ came, in order that we might be ojustified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were pbaptized into Christ have qput on Christ. 28 There is rneither Jew nor Greek, there is sneither slave7 nor free, there is tno male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And uif you are vChrist’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
