Old/New Testament
1 The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.(A)
Woman
2 Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your caresses[a] are more delightful than wine.(B)
3 The fragrance of your perfume is intoxicating;(C)
your name is perfume poured out.(D)
No wonder young women[b] adore you.
4 Take me with you(E)—let’s hurry.
Oh, that the king would bring[c] me to his chambers.
Young Women
We will rejoice and be glad in you;
we will celebrate your caresses more than wine.
Woman
It is only right that they adore you.
5 Daughters of Jerusalem,(F)
I am dark like the tents of Kedar,(G)
yet lovely(H) like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not stare at me because I am dark,
for the sun has gazed on me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;(I)
they made me take care of the vineyards.(J)
I have not taken care of my own vineyard.
7 Tell me, you whom I love:(K)
Where do you pasture your sheep?(L)
Where do you let them rest at noon?(M)
Why should I be like one who veils herself[d]
beside the flocks of your companions?(N)
Man
8 [e]If you do not know,
most beautiful of women,(O)
follow[f] the tracks of the flock,
and pasture your young goats
near the shepherds’ tents.
9 I compare you, my darling,(P)
to a[g] mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.(Q)
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with jewelry,(R)
your neck with its necklace.
11 We will make gold jewelry for you,
accented with silver.
Woman
12 While the king is on his couch,[h]
my perfume[i] releases its fragrance.(S)
13 The one I love is a sachet of myrrh to me,(T)
spending the night between my breasts.
14 The one I love is a cluster of henna blossoms to me,(U)
in the vineyards of En-gedi.(V)
Man
15 How beautiful you are, my darling.
How very beautiful!
Your eyes are doves.(W)
Woman
16 How handsome you are, my love.(X)
How delightful!
Our bed is verdant;
17 the beams of our house are cedars,
and our rafters are cypresses.[j]
2 I am a wildflower[k] of Sharon,
a lily[l] of the valleys.(Y)
Man
2 Like a lily among thorns,
so is my darling among the young women.
Woman
3 Like an apricot[m] tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my love among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
4 He brought me to the banquet hall,[n](Z)
and he looked on me with love.[o](AA)
5 Sustain me with raisins;
refresh me with apricots,[p]
for I am lovesick.(AB)
6 May his left hand be under my head,
and his right arm embrace me.(AC)
7 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field,
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.[q](AD)
8 Listen! My love is approaching.
Look! Here he comes,
leaping over the mountains,(AE)
bounding over the hills.
9 My love is like a gazelle
or a young stag.(AF)
See, he is standing behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.
10 My love calls to me:
Man
Arise,(AG) my darling.
Come away, my beautiful one.
11 For now the winter is past;
the rain has ended and gone away.
12 The blossoms appear in the countryside.
The time of singing[r] has come,
and the turtledove’s cooing is heard in our land.(AH)
13 The fig tree ripens its figs;(AI)
the blossoming vines give off their fragrance.(AJ)
Arise, my darling.
Come away, my beautiful one.
14 My dove,(AK) in the clefts of the rock,(AL)
in the crevices of the cliff,
let me see your face,[s]
let me hear your voice;(AM)
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.(AN)
Woman
15 [t]Catch the foxes for us(AO)—
the little foxes that ruin the vineyards—
for our vineyards are in bloom.(AP)
Woman
16 My love is mine and I am his;(AQ)
he feeds among the lilies.
17 Until the day breaks[u]
and the shadows flee,
turn around, my love, and be like a gazelle
or a young stag(AR) on the divided mountains.[v](AS)
3 In my bed at night[w]
I sought the one I love;(AT)
I sought him, but did not find him.[x](AU)
2 I will arise now and go about the city,
through the streets and the plazas.(AV)
I will seek the one I love.
I sought him, but did not find him.
3 The guards who go about the city found me.(AW)
I asked them, “Have you seen the one I love?”
4 I had just passed them
when I found the one I love.
I held on to him and would not let him go
until I brought him to my mother’s house(AX)—
to the chamber of the one who conceived me.
5 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field,
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.[y](AY)
Narrator
6 Who is this(AZ) coming up from the wilderness
like columns of smoke,
scented with myrrh and frankincense(BA)
from every fragrant powder of the merchant?
7 Look! Solomon’s bed
surrounded by sixty warriors
from the mighty men of Israel.
8 All of them are skilled with swords
and trained in warfare.
Each has his sword at his side(BB)
to guard against the terror of the night.(BC)
9 King Solomon made a carriage for himself
with wood from Lebanon.
10 He made its posts of silver,
its back[z] of gold,
and its seat of purple.
Its interior is inlaid with love[aa]
by the young women of Jerusalem.(BD)
11 Go out, young women of Zion,(BE)
and gaze at King Solomon,
wearing the crown his mother placed on him
on the day of his wedding(BF)—
the day of his heart’s rejoicing.
Paul Defends His Gospel at Jerusalem
2 Then after fourteen years I went up again(A) to Jerusalem with Barnabas,(B) taking Titus(C) along also. 2 I went up according to a revelation(D) and presented to them the gospel I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those recognized as leaders. I wanted to be sure I was not running, and had not been running, in vain. 3 But not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4 This matter arose because some false brothers(E) had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus in order to enslave us. 5 But we did not give up and submit to these people for even a moment, so that the truth(F) of the gospel would be preserved for you.
6 Now from those recognized as important (what they[a] once were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism[b](G))—they added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised,(H) just as Peter(I) was for the circumcised, 8 since the one at work in Peter for an apostleship to the circumcised was also at work in me for the Gentiles. 9 When James,(J) Cephas,[c](K) and John(L)—those recognized as pillars(M)—acknowledged the grace that had been given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to me and Barnabas, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 They asked only that we would remember the poor,(N) which I had made every effort to do.
Freedom from the Law
11 But when Cephas[d] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned.[e] 12 For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party. 13 Then the rest of the Jews(O) joined his hypocrisy,(P) so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas[f] in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile(Q) and not like a Jew,(R) how can you compel Gentiles to live(S) like Jews?” [g]
15 We are Jews by birth and not “Gentile sinners,” 16 and yet because we know that a person is not justified by the works of the law(T) but by faith in Jesus Christ,[h] even we ourselves have believed in Christ Jesus. This was so that we might be justified by faith in Christ[i] and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will[j] be justified. 17 But if we ourselves are also found to be “sinners” while seeking to be justified by Christ,(U) is Christ then a promoter[k](V) of sin? Absolutely not!(W) 18 If I rebuild(X) those things that I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker.(Y) 19 For through the law I died to the law,(Z) so that I might live for God.(AA) 20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.(AB) The life I now live in the body,[l] I live by faith in the Son of God,(AC) who loved(AD) me(AE) and gave himself(AF) for me.(AG) 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law,(AH) then Christ died(AI) for nothing.
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