Solomon’s Love for a Shulamite Girl

The (A)song of songs, which is Solomon’s.

The Banquet

The [a]Shulamite

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
(B)For [b]your love is better than wine.
Because of the fragrance of your good ointments,
Your name is ointment poured forth;
Therefore the virgins love you.
(C)Draw me away!

The Daughters of Jerusalem

(D)We will run after [c]you.

The Shulamite

The king (E)has brought me into his chambers.

The Daughters of Jerusalem

We will be glad and rejoice in [d]you.

We will remember your love more than wine.

The Shulamite

Rightly do they love you.

I am dark, but lovely,
O daughters of Jerusalem,
Like the tents of Kedar,
Like the curtains of Solomon.
Do not look upon me, because I am dark,
Because the sun has [e]tanned me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
They made me the keeper of the vineyards,
But my own (F)vineyard I have not kept.

(To Her Beloved)

Tell me, O you whom I love,
Where you feed your flock,
Where you make it rest at noon.
For why should I be as one who [f]veils herself
By the flocks of your companions?

The Beloved

If you do not know, (G)O fairest among women,
[g]Follow in the footsteps of the flock,
And feed your little goats
Beside the shepherds’ tents.
I have compared you, (H)my love,
(I)To my filly among Pharaoh’s chariots.
10 (J)Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
Your neck with chains of gold.

The Daughters of Jerusalem

11 We will make [h]you ornaments of gold
With studs of silver.

The Shulamite

12 While the king is at his table,
My [i]spikenard sends forth its fragrance.
13 A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me,
That lies all night between my breasts.
14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blooms
In the vineyards of En Gedi.

The Beloved

15 (K)Behold, you are fair, [j]my love!
Behold, you are fair!
You have dove’s eyes.

The Shulamite

16 Behold, you are (L)handsome, my beloved!
Yes, pleasant!
Also our [k]bed is green.
17 The beams of our houses are cedar,
And our rafters of fir.

A Country Girl in a Palace

I am the rose of Sharon,
And the lily of the valleys.

The Beloved

Like a lily among thorns,
So is my love among the daughters.

The Shulamite

Like an apple tree among the trees of the woods,
So is my beloved among the sons.
I sat down in his shade with great delight,
And (M)his fruit was sweet to my taste.

The Shulamite to the Daughters of Jerusalem

He brought me to the [l]banqueting house,
And his banner over me was love.
Sustain me with cakes of raisins,
Refresh me with apples,
For I am lovesick.

(N)His left hand is under my head,
And his right hand embraces me.
(O)I [m]charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
By the gazelles or by the does of the field,
Do not stir up nor awaken love
Until it pleases.

The Beloved’s Request

The Shulamite

The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he comes
Leaping upon the mountains,
Skipping upon the hills.
(P)My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Behold, he stands behind our wall;
He is looking through the windows,
Gazing through the lattice.

10 My beloved spoke, and said to me:
“Rise up, my love, my fair one,
And come away.
11 For lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
12 The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove
Is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree puts forth her green figs,
And the vines with the tender grapes
Give a good smell.
Rise up, my love, my fair one,
And come away!

14 “O my (Q)dove, in the clefts of the rock,
In the secret places of the cliff,
Let me see your [n]face,
(R)Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is sweet,
And your face is lovely.”

Her Brothers

15 Catch us (S)the foxes,
The little foxes that spoil the vines,
For our vines have tender grapes.

The Shulamite

16 (T)My beloved is mine, and I am his.
He feeds his flock among the lilies.

(To Her Beloved)

17 (U)Until the day breaks
And the shadows flee away,
Turn, my beloved,
And be (V)like a gazelle
Or a young stag
Upon the mountains of [o]Bether.

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 1:2 A young woman from the town of Shulam or Shunem, Song 6:13. The speaker and audience are identified according to the number, gender, and person of the Hebrew words. Occasionally the identity is not certain.
  2. Song of Solomon 1:2 Masc. sing.: the Beloved
  3. Song of Solomon 1:4 Masc. sing.: the Beloved
  4. Song of Solomon 1:4 Fem. sing.: the Shulamite
  5. Song of Solomon 1:6 Lit. looked upon me
  6. Song of Solomon 1:7 LXX, Syr., Vg. wanders
  7. Song of Solomon 1:8 Lit. Go out
  8. Song of Solomon 1:11 Fem. sing.: the Shulamite
  9. Song of Solomon 1:12 perfume
  10. Song of Solomon 1:15 my companion, friend
  11. Song of Solomon 1:16 couch
  12. Song of Solomon 2:4 Lit. house of wine
  13. Song of Solomon 2:7 adjure
  14. Song of Solomon 2:14 Lit. appearance
  15. Song of Solomon 2:17 Lit. Separation

Praise to the Sovereign Lord for His Creation and Providence(A)

104 Bless (B)the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord my God, You are very great:
You are clothed with honor and majesty,
Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment,
Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.

(C)He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters,
Who makes the clouds His chariot,
Who walks on the wings of the wind,
Who makes His angels spirits,
His [a]ministers a flame of fire.

You who [b]laid the foundations of the earth,
So that it should not be moved forever,
You (D)covered it with the deep as with a garment;
The waters stood above the mountains.
At Your rebuke they fled;
At the voice of Your thunder they hastened away.
[c]They went up over the mountains;
They went down into the valleys,
To the place which You founded for them.
You have (E)set a boundary that they may not pass over,
(F)That they may not return to cover the earth.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 104:4 servants
  2. Psalm 104:5 Lit. founded the earth upon her bases
  3. Psalm 104:8 Or The mountains rose up; The valleys sank down

15 Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous;
Do not plunder his resting place;
16 (A)For a righteous man may fall seven times
And rise again,
(B)But the wicked shall fall by calamity.

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Conduct at the Lord’s Supper

17 Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For first of all, when you come together as a church, (A)I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 For (B)there must also be factions among you, (C)that those who are approved may be [a]recognized among you. 20 Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. 21 For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and (D)another is drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise (E)the church of God and (F)shame [b]those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.

Institution of the Lord’s Supper(G)

23 For (H)I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: (I)that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, [c]“Take, eat; this is My body which is [d]broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death (J)till He comes.

Examine Yourself

27 Therefore whoever eats (K)this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and [e]blood of the Lord. 28 But (L)let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks [f]in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the [g]Lord’s body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many [h]sleep. 31 For (M)if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, (N)we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

33 Therefore, my brethren, when you (O)come together to eat, wait for one another. 34 But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 11:19 Lit. manifest, evident
  2. 1 Corinthians 11:22 The poor
  3. 1 Corinthians 11:24 NU omits Take, eat
  4. 1 Corinthians 11:24 NU omits broken
  5. 1 Corinthians 11:27 NU, M the blood
  6. 1 Corinthians 11:29 NU omits in an unworthy manner
  7. 1 Corinthians 11:29 NU omits Lord’s
  8. 1 Corinthians 11:30 Are dead

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