Old/New Testament
Man
4 How beautiful you are, my darling.
How very beautiful!
Behind your veil,
your eyes are doves.(A)
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down Mount Gilead.(B)
2 Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep
coming up from washing,
each one bearing twins,
and none has lost its young.[a](C)
3 Your lips are like a scarlet cord,(D)
and your mouth[b] is lovely.
Behind your veil,
your brow[c] is like a slice of pomegranate.(E)
4 Your neck is like the tower of David,(F)
constructed in layers.
A thousand shields are hung on it—
all of them shields of warriors.
5 Your breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle,(G) that feed among the lilies.
6 Until the day breaks[d]
and the shadows flee,(H)
I will make my way to the mountain of myrrh
and the hill of frankincense.(I)
7 You are absolutely beautiful,(J) my darling;
there is no imperfection in you.
8 Come with me from Lebanon,[e](K) my bride;(L)
come with me from Lebanon!
Descend from the peak of Amana,
from the summit of Senir and Hermon,(M)
from the dens of the lions,
from the mountains of the leopards.
9 You have captured my heart,(N) my sister,(O) my bride.
You have captured my heart with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
10 How delightful your caresses are, my sister, my bride.
Your caresses are much better than wine,(P)
and the fragrance of your perfume than any balsam.
11 Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride.(Q)
Honey and milk(R) are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 My sister, my bride, you are a locked garden—
a locked garden[f] and a sealed spring.(S)
13 Your branches are a paradise[g] of pomegranates
with choicest fruits;(T)
henna with nard,
14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,(U)
with all the trees of frankincense,(V)
myrrh and aloes,(W)
with all the best spices.
15 You are a garden spring,
a well of flowing water(X)
streaming from Lebanon.
Woman
16 Awaken,(Y) north wind;
come, south wind.
Blow on my garden,
and spread the fragrance of its spices.
Let my love come to his garden
and eat its choicest fruits.(Z)
Man
5 I have come to my garden—my sister, my bride.
I gather[h] my myrrh with my spices.
I eat my honeycomb with my honey.
I drink my wine with my milk.
Narrator
Woman
2 I was sleeping, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My love was knocking!(AB)
Man
Open to me, my sister, my darling,
my dove, my perfect one.
For my head is drenched with dew,
my hair with droplets of the night.
Woman
3 I have taken off my clothing.(AC)
How can I put it back on?
I have washed my feet.
How can I get them dirty?
4 My love thrust his hand through the opening,
and my feelings were stirred for him.
5 I rose to open for my love.
My hands dripped with myrrh,(AD)
my fingers with flowing myrrh
on the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened to my love,
but my love had turned and gone away.
My heart sank[j] because he had left.[k]
I sought him, but did not find him.(AE)
I called him, but he did not answer.
7 The guards who go about the city found me.(AF)
They beat and wounded me;
they took my cloak[l] from me—
the guardians of the walls.(AG)
8 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you,(AH)
if you find my love,
tell him that I am lovesick.(AI)
Young Women
9 What makes the one you love better than another,
most beautiful of women?(AJ)
What makes him better than another,
that you would give us this charge?
Woman
11 His head is purest gold.
His hair is wavy[n](AM)
and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves(AN)
beside flowing streams,
washed in milk
and set like jewels.[o]
13 His cheeks(AO) are like beds of spice,
mounds of[p] perfume.
His lips are lilies,
dripping with flowing myrrh.(AP)
14 His arms[q] are rods of gold
set[r] with beryl.(AQ)
His body[s] is an ivory panel
covered with lapis lazuli.(AR)
15 His legs are alabaster pillars
set on pedestals of pure gold.
His presence is like Lebanon,(AS)
as majestic as the cedars.(AT)
16 His mouth is sweetness.
He is absolutely desirable.(AU)
This is my love, and this is my friend,
young women of Jerusalem.
Justification through Faith
3 You foolish(A) Galatians! Who has cast a spell on you,[a] before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed[b] as crucified?(B) 2 I only want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by believing what you heard?[c] 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by the Spirit, are you now finishing by the flesh? 4 Did you experience[d](C) so much for nothing—if in fact it was for nothing? 5 So then, does God give you the Spirit and work miracles(D) among you by your doing the works of the law? Or is it by believing what you heard— 6 just like Abraham who believed God,(E) and it was credited to him for righteousness?[e](F)
7 You know, then, that those who have faith, these are Abraham’s sons.(G) 8 Now the Scripture saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and proclaimed the gospel ahead of time to Abraham,(H) saying, All the nations[f] will be blessed through you.[g](I) 9 Consequently, those who have faith are blessed with Abraham,(J) who had faith.[h]
Law and Promise
10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse,(K) because it is written,(L) Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed.[i](M) 11 Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live(N) by faith.[j](O) 12 But the law is not based on faith; instead, the one who does these things will live by them.[k](P) 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us,(Q) because it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.[l](R) 14 The purpose was that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles by Christ Jesus, so that we could receive the promised Spirit through faith.(S)
15 Brothers and sisters, I’m using a human illustration. No one sets aside or makes additions to a validated human will.[m] 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say “and to seeds,” as though referring to many, but referring to one, and to your seed,[n](T) who is Christ. 17 My point is this: The law, which came 430 years later,(U) does not invalidate a covenant previously established by God[o] and thus cancel the promise. 18 For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on the promise; but God has graciously given it to Abraham through the promise.
The Purpose of the Law
19 Why, then, was the law given?(V) It was added for the sake of transgressions[p] until the Seed to whom the promise was made would come. The law was put into effect through angels(W) by means of a mediator.(X) 20 Now a mediator is not just for one person alone, but God is one.(Y) 21 Is the law therefore contrary to God’s promises? Absolutely not! For if the law had been granted with the ability to give life, then righteousness would certainly be on the basis of the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin’s power,[q](Z) so that the promise might be given on the basis of faith(AA) in Jesus Christ to those who believe.(AB) 23 Before this faith(AC) came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed.(AD) 24 The law, then, was our guardian until Christ,(AE) so that we could be justified by faith. 25 But since that faith(AF) has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for through faith you are all sons of God in Christ Jesus.
Sons and Heirs
27 For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ.(AG) 28 There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free,(AH) male and female;(AI) since you are all one(AJ) in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs(AK) according to the promise.(AL)
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