Lamentations 5

English Standard Version

Restore Us to Yourself, O Lord

5 ^(A)Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us;
    look, and see ^(B)our disgrace!
²^(C)Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
    our homes to foreigners.
³We have become orphans, fatherless;
    our mothers are like widows.
⁴We must pay for the water we drink;
    the wood we get must be bought.
⁵^(D)Our pursuers are at our necks;
    we are weary; we are given no rest.
⁶We have given the hand to ^(E)Egypt, and to ^(F)Assyria,
    to get bread enough.
⁷Our fathers sinned, and are no more;
    ^(G)and we bear their iniquities.
⁸^(H)Slaves rule over us;
    there is none to deliver us from their hand.
⁹^(I)We get our bread at the peril of our lives,
    because of the sword in the wilderness.
¹⁰^(J)Our skin is hot as an oven
    with ^(K)the burning heat of famine.
¹¹Women are raped in Zion,
    young women in the towns of Judah.
¹²^(L)Princes are hung up by their hands;
    ^(M)no respect is shown to the elders.
¹³Young men are compelled to ^(N)grind at the mill,
    and boys stagger ^(O)under loads of wood.
¹⁴^(P)The old men have left the city gate,
    the young men ^(Q)their music.
¹⁵^(R)The joy of our hearts has ceased;
    ^(S)our dancing has been turned to mourning.
¹⁶^(T)The crown has fallen from our head;
    woe to us, for we have sinned!
¹⁷For this ^(U)our heart has become sick,
    for these things ^(V)our eyes have grown dim,
¹⁸for Mount Zion which lies desolate;
    ^(W)jackals prowl over it.
¹⁹^(X)But you, O Lord, reign forever;
    your throne endures to all generations.
²⁰^(Y)Why do you forget us forever,
    why do you forsake us for so many days?
²¹^(Z)Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored!
    Renew our days as of old—
²²^(AA)unless you have utterly rejected us,
    and you remain exceedingly angry with us.

Song of Solomon 4

English Standard Version

Solomon Admires His Bride's Beauty

He

4 Behold, ^(A)you are beautiful, my love,
    behold, you are beautiful!
^(B)Your eyes are doves
    ^(C)behind your veil.
^(D)Your hair is like a flock of goats
    leaping down ^(E)the slopes of Gilead.
²Your ^(F)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.
³Your lips are like ^(G)a scarlet thread,
    and your mouth is ^(H)lovely.
Your ^(I)cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
    ^(J)behind your veil.
⁴Your ^(K)neck is like the tower of David,
    built in ^(L)rows of stone;^[a]
on it ^(M)hang a thousand shields,
    all of ^(N)them shields of warriors.
⁵Your ^(O)two breasts are like two ^(P)fawns,
    twins of a gazelle,
    that ^(Q)graze among the lilies.
⁶^(R)Until the day breathes
    and the shadows flee,
I will go away to the mountain of ^(S)myrrh
    and the hill of ^(T)frankincense.
⁷^(U)You are altogether beautiful, my love;
    there is no ^(V)flaw in you.
⁸^(W)Come with me from ^(X)Lebanon, my ^(Y)bride;
    come with me from ^(Z)Lebanon.
Depart^[b] from the peak of Amana,
    from the peak of ^(AA)Senir and ^(AB)Hermon,
from the dens of lions,
    from the mountains of leopards.

⁹You have captivated my heart, my ^(AC)sister, my bride;
    you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,
    with one ^(AD)jewel of your necklace.
¹⁰How beautiful is your love, my ^(AE)sister, my bride!
    How much ^(AF)better is your love than wine,
    and ^(AG)the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
¹¹Your ^(AH)lips drip nectar, my bride;
    ^(AI)honey and milk are under your tongue;
    the fragrance of your garments is ^(AJ)like the fragrance of ^(AK)Lebanon.
¹²A garden locked is my ^(AL)sister, my bride,
    a spring locked, ^(AM)a fountain ^(AN)sealed.
¹³Your shoots are ^(AO)an orchard of pomegranates
    with all ^(AP)choicest fruits,
    ^(AQ)henna with ^(AR)nard,
¹⁴nard and saffron, ^(AS)calamus and ^(AT)cinnamon,
    with all trees of ^(AU)frankincense,
^(AV)myrrh and ^(AW)aloes,
    with all ^(AX)choice spices—
¹⁵a garden fountain, a well of ^(AY)living water,
    and flowing streams from ^(AZ)Lebanon.

¹⁶Awake, O north wind,
and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my ^(BA)garden,
let its spices flow.

Together in the Garden of Love

She

^(BB)Let my beloved come to his ^(BC)garden,
and eat its ^(BD)choicest fruits.

Footnotes

Song of Solomon 4:4 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
Song of Solomon 4:8 Or Look

James 1

English Standard Version

Greeting

1 ^(A)James, a servant^[a] of God and ^(B)of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To ^(C)the twelve tribes in ^(D)the Dispersion:

Greetings.

Testing of Your Faith

²^(E)Count it all joy, my brothers,^[b] when you meet trials ^(F)of various kinds, ³for you know that ^(G)the testing of your faith ^(H)produces steadfastness. ⁴And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be ^(I)perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

⁵^(J)If any of you lacks wisdom, ^(K)let him ask God, ^(L)who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. ⁶But ^(M)let him ask in faith, ^(N)with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like ^(O)a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸^(P)he is a double-minded man, ^(Q)unstable in all his ways.

⁹Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, ¹⁰and ^(R)the rich in his humiliation, because ^(S)like a flower of the grass^[c] he will pass away. ¹¹For the sun rises with its scorching heat and ^(T)withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

¹²^(U)Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive ^(V)the crown of life, ^(W)which God has promised to those who love him. ¹³Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵Then desire ^(X)when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and ^(Y)sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. ¹⁷^(Z)Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from ^(AA)the Father of lights, ^(AB)with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.^[d] ¹⁸^(AC)Of his own will he ^(AD)brought us forth by the word of truth, ^(AE)that we should be a kind of ^(AF)firstfruits of his creatures.

Hearing and Doing the Word

¹⁹^(AG)Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person ^(AH)be quick to hear, ^(AI)slow to speak, ^(AJ)slow to anger; ²⁰for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. ²¹Therefore ^(AK)put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with ^(AL)meekness the implanted word, ^(AM)which is able to save your souls.

²²But be ^(AN)doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. ²⁴For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. ²⁵But the one who looks into the perfect law, ^(AO)the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, ^(AP)he will be blessed in his doing.

²⁶If anyone thinks he is religious ^(AQ)and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's ^(AR)religion is worthless. ²⁷Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: ^(AS)to visit ^(AT)orphans and widows in their affliction, and ^(AU)to keep oneself ^(AV)unstained from the world.

Footnotes

James 1:1 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface
James 1:2 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verses 16, 19
James 1:10 Or a wild flower
James 1:17 Some manuscripts variation due to a shadow of turning