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!
Witnesses to Jesus
30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and pmy judgment is just, because I seek qnot my own will but rthe will of him who sent me. 31 If I salone tbear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 33 You usent to John, and he has vborne witness to the wtruth. 34 Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may xbe saved. 35 He was a burning and yshining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me zto accomplish, the very works that I am doing, abear witness about me that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself bborne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, chis form you have never seen, 38 and you do not have his word dabiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has esent. 39 You fsearch the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that gbear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to hcome to me that you may have life. 41 I do not receive glory from people. 42 But I know that you do not have the love of God iwithin you. 43 I have come jin my Father’s name, and you kdo not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 How can you believe, when you receive lglory from one another and do not mseek the nglory that comes from the only God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, oon whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for phe wrote of me. 47 But qif you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”