Old/New Testament
The Wedding Night: Praise of the Bride[a]
The Lover to His Beloved:
4 Oh,[b] you are beautiful, my darling![c]
Oh, you are beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil are like doves.[d]
Your hair is like a flock of female goats
descending[e] from Mount Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep
coming up from the washing place;[f]
each of them has a twin,
and not one of them is missing.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread;[g]
your mouth is lovely.
Your forehead[h] behind your veil
is like a slice of pomegranate.
4 Your neck is like the tower[i] of David
built with courses of stones;[j]
one thousand shields are hung on it—
all shields of valiant warriors.[k]
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of the gazelle
grazing among the lilies.
6 Until the dawn arrives[l]
and the shadows flee,
I will go up to the mountain of myrrh,
and to the hill of frankincense.
7 You are altogether beautiful, my darling!
There is no blemish in you!
The Wedding Night: Beautiful as Lebanon
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,
come with me from Lebanon.
Descend from the crest of Amana,
from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon,
from the lions’ dens
and the mountain haunts of the leopards.
9 You have stolen my heart,[m] my sister,[n] my bride!
You have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes,[o]
with one jewel of your necklace.
10 How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine;
the fragrance of your perfume is better than any spice!
11 Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride,
honey and milk are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
The Wedding Night: The Delightful Garden
The Lover to His Beloved:
12 You are a locked garden,[p] my sister, my bride;
you are an enclosed spring, a sealed-up fountain.
13 Your shoots are a royal garden[q] full of pomegranates
with choice fruits:
henna with nard,
14 nard and saffron,
calamus and cinnamon with every kind of spice,
myrrh and aloes with all the finest spices.[r]
15 You are a garden spring,[s]
a well[t] of fresh water[u] flowing down from Lebanon.
The Beloved to Her Lover:
16 Awake, O north wind; come, O south wind!
Blow on my garden so that its fragrant spices may send out their sweet smell.[v]
May my beloved come into his garden
and eat its delightful fruit!
The Lover to His Beloved:
5 I have entered my garden, O my sister, my bride;
I have gathered my myrrh with my balsam spice.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;
I have drunk my wine and my milk!
The Poet to the Couple:[w]
Eat, friends, and drink![x]
Drink freely, O lovers!
The Trials of Love: The Beloved’s Dream of Losing Her Lover
The Beloved about Her Lover:
2 I was asleep, but my mind[y] was dreaming.[z]
Listen![aa] My lover[ab] is knocking[ac] at the door![ad]
The Lover to His Beloved:
“Open[ae] for me, my sister, my darling,
my dove, my flawless one!
My head is drenched with dew,
my hair with the dampness of the night.”
The Beloved to Her Lover:
3 “I have already taken off my robe—must I put it on again?
I have already washed my feet—must I soil them again?”
4 My lover thrust his hand[af] through[ag] the hole,[ah]
and my feelings[ai] were stirred[aj] for him.
5 I arose to open for my beloved;
my hands dripped with myrrh—
my fingers flowed with myrrh
on the handles of the lock.
6 I opened for my beloved,
but my lover had already turned[ak] and gone away.[al]
I fell into despair[am] when he departed.[an]
I looked for him but did not find him;
I called him but he did not answer me.
7 The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city.
They beat me, they bruised me;
they took away my cloak, those watchmen on the walls!
The Triumph of Love: The Beloved Praises Her Lover
The Beloved to the Maidens:
8 I admonish you, O maidens of Jerusalem—
If you find my beloved, what will you tell him?
Tell him that I am lovesick![ao]
The Maidens to The Beloved:
9 Why is your beloved better than others,[ap]
O most beautiful of women?
Why is your beloved better than others,
that you would admonish us in this manner?
The Beloved to the Maidens:
10 My beloved[aq] is dazzling[ar] and ruddy;[as]
he stands out[at] in comparison to[au] all other men.[av]
11 His head is like the purest gold.[aw]
His hair is curly[ax]—black like a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves by streams of water,
washed in milk, mounted like jewels.
13 His cheeks are like garden beds full of balsam trees[ay] yielding[az] perfume.
His lips are like lilies dripping with drops of myrrh.
14 His arms are like rods of gold set with chrysolite.
His abdomen[ba] is like polished ivory inlaid with sapphires.
15 His legs are like pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars.
16 His mouth is very sweet;[bb]
he is totally desirable.[bc]
This is my beloved!
This is my companion, O maidens of Jerusalem!
Justification by Law or by Faith?
3 You[a] foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell[b] on you? Before your eyes Jesus Christ was vividly portrayed[c] as crucified! 2 The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law[d] or by believing what you heard?[e] 3 Are you so foolish? Although you began[f] with[g] the Spirit, are you now trying to finish[h] by human effort?[i] 4 Have you suffered so many things for nothing?—if indeed it was for nothing. 5 Does God then give[j] you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law[k] or by your believing what you heard?[l]
6 Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,[m] 7 so then, understand[n] that those who believe are the sons of Abraham.[o] 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the gospel to Abraham ahead of time,[p] saying, “All the nations[q] will be blessed in you.”[r] 9 So then those who believe[s] are blessed along with Abraham the believer. 10 For all who[t] rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law.”[u] 11 Now it is clear no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous one will live by faith.[v] 12 But the law is not based on faith,[w] but the one who does the works of the law[x] will live by them.[y] 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming[z] a curse for us (because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)[aa] 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles,[ab] so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith.
Inheritance Comes from Promises and not Law
15 Brothers and sisters,[ac] I offer an example from everyday life:[ad] When a covenant[ae] has been ratified,[af] even though it is only a human contract, no one can set it aside or add anything to it. 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant.[ag] Scripture[ah] does not say, “and to the descendants,”[ai] referring to many, but “and to your descendant,”[aj] referring to one, who is Christ. 17 What I am saying is this: The law that came 430 years later does not cancel a covenant previously ratified by God,[ak] so as to invalidate the promise. 18 For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on the promise, but God graciously gave[al] it to Abraham through the promise.
19 Why then was the law given?[am] It was added[an] because of transgressions,[ao] until the arrival of the descendant[ap] to whom the promise had been made. It was administered[aq] through angels by an intermediary.[ar] 20 Now an intermediary is not for one party alone, but God is one.[as] 21 Is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God?[at] Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.[au] 22 But the scripture imprisoned[av] everything under sin so that the promise could be given—because of the faithfulness[aw] of Jesus Christ—to those who believe.
Sons of God Are Heirs of Promise
23 Now before faith[ax] came we were held in custody under the law, being kept as prisoners[ay] until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 Thus the law had become our guardian[az] until Christ, so that we could be declared righteous[ba] by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.[bb] 26 For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith.[bc] 27 For all of you who[bd] were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave[be] nor free, there is neither male nor female[bf]—for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants,[bg] heirs according to the promise.
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