Others

Where has your beloved gone,
    O (A)most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
    that we may seek him with you?

Together in the Garden of Love

She

My beloved has gone down to his (B)garden
    to (C)the beds of spices,
to (D)graze[a] in the gardens
    and to gather (E)lilies.
(F)I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine;
    he grazes among the lilies.

Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other

He

You are beautiful as (G)Tirzah, (H)my love,
    (I)lovely as (J)Jerusalem,
    (K)awesome as an army with banners.
Turn away your eyes from me,
    for they overwhelm me—
(L)Your hair is like a flock of goats
    leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
(M)Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
    that have come up from the washing;
all of them bear twins;
    not one among them has lost its young.
(N)Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
    behind your veil.
There are (O)sixty (P)queens and eighty (Q)concubines,
    and (R)virgins without number.
My (S)dove, my (T)perfect one, is the only one,
    the only one of her mother,
    pure to (U)her who bore her.
(V)The young women saw her and called her blessed;
    (W)the queens and (X)concubines also, and they praised her.

10 (Y)“Who is this who looks down like the dawn,
    beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,
    (Z)awesome as an army with banners?”

She

11 I went down to the nut orchard
    to look at (AA)the blossoms of the valley,
(AB)to see whether the vines had budded,
    whether the pomegranates were in bloom.
12 (AC)Before I was aware, my desire set me
    among (AD)the chariots of my kinsman, a prince.[b]

Others

13 [c] Return, return, O (AE)Shulammite,
    return, return, that we may look upon you.

He

Why should you look upon (AF)the Shulammite,
    as upon (AG)a dance before (AH)two armies?[d]

How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
    O (AI)noble daughter!
Your rounded thighs are like (AJ)jewels,
    the work of (AK)a master hand.
Your navel is a rounded bowl
    that never lacks mixed wine.
Your belly is a heap of wheat,
    encircled with (AL)lilies.
(AM)Your two breasts are like two fawns,
    twins of a gazelle.
Your (AN)neck is like an ivory tower.
Your (AO)eyes are pools in (AP)Heshbon,
    by the gate of Bath-rabbim.
Your nose is like a tower of (AQ)Lebanon,
    which looks toward (AR)Damascus.
Your head crowns you like (AS)Carmel,
    and your (AT)flowing locks are like purple;
    a king is held captive in the tresses.

(AU)How beautiful and (AV)pleasant you are,
    O loved one, with all your delights![e]
Your stature is like a palm tree,
    and your breasts are like its clusters.
I say I will climb the palm tree
    and lay hold of its fruit.
Oh may your breasts be like (AW)clusters of the vine,
    and the scent of your breath like apples,
and your (AX)mouth[f] like the best wine.

She

It goes down smoothly for my beloved,
    gliding over lips and teeth.[g]

10 (AY)I am my beloved's,
    (AZ)and his desire is for me.

The Bride Gives Her Love

11 (BA)Come, my beloved,
    let us go out into the fields
    and lodge in the villages;[h]
12 let us go out early to the vineyards
    (BB)and see whether the vines have budded,
whether (BC)the grape blossoms have opened
    and the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my love.
13 (BD)The mandrakes give forth fragrance,
    and beside our doors are all choice fruits,
(BE)new as well as old,
    which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.

Longing for Her Beloved

Oh that you were like a brother to me
    who nursed at my mother's breasts!
If I found you outside, I would kiss you,
    and none would despise me.
I would lead you and (BF)bring you
    into the house of my mother—
    she who used to teach me.
I would give you (BG)spiced wine to drink,
    the juice of my pomegranate.
(BH)His left hand is under my head,
    and his right hand embraces me!
I (BI)adjure you, O (BJ)daughters of Jerusalem,
    (BK)that you not stir up or awaken love
    until it pleases.

(BL)Who is that coming up from the wilderness,
    leaning on her beloved?

Under the apple tree I awakened you.
There your mother was in labor with you;
    there she who bore you was in labor.

Set me as a seal upon your heart,
    as (BM)a seal upon your arm,
for (BN)love is strong as death,
    (BO)jealousy[i] is fierce as the grave.[j]
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
    the very (BP)flame of the Lord.
Many waters cannot quench love,
    neither can floods drown it.
If a man offered for love
    all the wealth of his (BQ)house,
    he[k] would be utterly despised.

Final Advice

Others

We have a little sister,
    and she (BR)has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister
    on the day when she is spoken for?
If she is a wall,
    we will build on her a battlement of silver,
but if she is a door,
    we will enclose her with (BS)boards of cedar.

She

10 (BT)I was a wall,
    and my (BU)breasts were like towers;
then I was in his eyes
    as one who finds[l] peace.

11 Solomon had (BV)a vineyard at Baal-hamon;
    he (BW)let out the vineyard to (BX)keepers;
    each one was to bring for its fruit (BY)a thousand pieces of silver.
12 My vineyard, my very own, is before me;
    you, O Solomon, may have the thousand,
    and (BZ)the keepers of the fruit two hundred.

He

13 (CA)O you who dwell in the gardens,
    with (CB)companions listening for your voice;
    (CC)let me hear it.

She

14 (CD)Make haste, my beloved,
    and be (CE)like a gazelle
or a young stag
    on (CF)the mountains of spices.

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 6:2 Or to pasture his flock; also verse 3
  2. Song of Solomon 6:12 Or chariots of Ammi-Nadib
  3. Song of Solomon 6:13 Ch 7:1 in Hebrew
  4. Song of Solomon 6:13 Or dance of Mahanaim
  5. Song of Solomon 7:6 Or among delights
  6. Song of Solomon 7:9 Hebrew palate
  7. Song of Solomon 7:9 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew causing the lips of sleepers to speak, or gliding over the lips of those who sleep
  8. Song of Solomon 7:11 Or among the henna plants
  9. Song of Solomon 8:6 Or ardor
  10. Song of Solomon 8:6 Hebrew as Sheol
  11. Song of Solomon 8:7 Or it
  12. Song of Solomon 8:10 Or brings out

Friends

Where has your beloved(A) gone,
    most beautiful of women?(B)
Which way did your beloved turn,
    that we may look for him with you?

She

My beloved has gone(C) down to his garden,(D)
    to the beds of spices,(E)
to browse in the gardens
    and to gather lilies.
I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;(F)
    he browses among the lilies.(G)

He

You are as beautiful as Tirzah,(H) my darling,
    as lovely as Jerusalem,(I)
    as majestic as troops with banners.(J)
Turn your eyes from me;
    they overwhelm me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
    descending from Gilead.(K)
Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
    coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin,
    not one of them is missing.(L)
Your temples behind your veil(M)
    are like the halves of a pomegranate.(N)
Sixty queens(O) there may be,
    and eighty concubines,(P)
    and virgins beyond number;
but my dove,(Q) my perfect one,(R) is unique,
    the only daughter of her mother,
    the favorite of the one who bore her.(S)
The young women saw her and called her blessed;
    the queens and concubines praised her.

Friends

10 Who is this that appears like the dawn,
    fair as the moon, bright as the sun,
    majestic as the stars in procession?

He

11 I went down to the grove of nut trees
    to look at the new growth in the valley,
to see if the vines had budded
    or the pomegranates were in bloom.(T)
12 Before I realized it,
    my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people.[a]

Friends

13 Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
    come back, come back, that we may gaze on you!

He

Why would you gaze on the Shulammite
    as on the dance(U) of Mahanaim?[b]

[c]How beautiful your sandaled feet,
    O prince’s(V) daughter!
Your graceful legs are like jewels,
    the work of an artist’s hands.
Your navel is a rounded goblet
    that never lacks blended wine.
Your waist is a mound of wheat
    encircled by lilies.
Your breasts(W) are like two fawns,
    like twin fawns of a gazelle.
Your neck is like an ivory tower.(X)
Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon(Y)
    by the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon(Z)
    looking toward Damascus.
Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel.(AA)
    Your hair is like royal tapestry;
    the king is held captive by its tresses.
How beautiful(AB) you are and how pleasing,
    my love, with your delights!(AC)
Your stature is like that of the palm,
    and your breasts(AD) like clusters of fruit.
I said, “I will climb the palm tree;
    I will take hold of its fruit.”
May your breasts be like clusters of grapes on the vine,
    the fragrance of your breath like apples,(AE)
    and your mouth like the best wine.

She

May the wine go straight to my beloved,(AF)
    flowing gently over lips and teeth.[d]
10 I belong to my beloved,
    and his desire(AG) is for me.(AH)
11 Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside,
    let us spend the night in the villages.[e]
12 Let us go early to the vineyards(AI)
    to see if the vines have budded,(AJ)
if their blossoms(AK) have opened,
    and if the pomegranates(AL) are in bloom(AM)
    there I will give you my love.
13 The mandrakes(AN) send out their fragrance,
    and at our door is every delicacy,
both new and old,
    that I have stored up for you, my beloved.(AO)

If only you were to me like a brother,
    who was nursed at my mother’s breasts!
Then, if I found you outside,
    I would kiss you,
    and no one would despise me.
I would lead you
    and bring you to my mother’s house(AP)
    she who has taught me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
    the nectar of my pomegranates.
His left arm is under my head
    and his right arm embraces me.(AQ)
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you:
    Do not arouse or awaken love
    until it so desires.(AR)

Friends

Who is this coming up from the wilderness(AS)
    leaning on her beloved?

She

Under the apple tree I roused you;
    there your mother conceived(AT) you,
    there she who was in labor gave you birth.
Place me like a seal over your heart,
    like a seal on your arm;
for love(AU) is as strong as death,
    its jealousy[f](AV) unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
    like a mighty flame.[g]
Many waters cannot quench love;
    rivers cannot sweep it away.
If one were to give
    all the wealth of one’s house for love,
    it[h] would be utterly scorned.(AW)

Friends

We have a little sister,
    and her breasts are not yet grown.
What shall we do for our sister
    on the day she is spoken for?
If she is a wall,
    we will build towers of silver on her.
If she is a door,
    we will enclose her with panels of cedar.

She

10 I am a wall,
    and my breasts are like towers.
Thus I have become in his eyes
    like one bringing contentment.
11 Solomon had a vineyard(AX) in Baal Hamon;
    he let out his vineyard to tenants.
Each was to bring for its fruit
    a thousand shekels[i](AY) of silver.
12 But my own vineyard(AZ) is mine to give;
    the thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,
    and two hundred[j] are for those who tend its fruit.

He

13 You who dwell in the gardens
    with friends in attendance,
    let me hear your voice!

She

14 Come away, my beloved,
    and be like a gazelle(BA)
or like a young stag(BB)
    on the spice-laden mountains.(BC)

Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 6:12 Or among the chariots of Amminadab; or among the chariots of the people of the prince
  2. Song of Songs 6:13 In Hebrew texts this verse (6:13) is numbered 7:1.
  3. Song of Songs 7:1 In Hebrew texts 7:1-13 is numbered 7:2-14.
  4. Song of Songs 7:9 Septuagint, Aquila, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew lips of sleepers
  5. Song of Songs 7:11 Or the henna bushes
  6. Song of Songs 8:6 Or ardor
  7. Song of Songs 8:6 Or fire, / like the very flame of the Lord
  8. Song of Songs 8:7 Or he
  9. Song of Songs 8:11 That is, about 25 pounds or about 12 kilograms; also in verse 12
  10. Song of Songs 8:12 That is, about 5 pounds or about 2.3 kilograms

Greeting

Paul, an (A)apostle—(B)not from men nor through man, but (C)through Jesus Christ and God the Father, (D)who raised him from the dead— and all (E)the brothers[a] who are with me,

To (F)the churches of Galatia:

(G)Grace to you and peace (H)from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, (I)who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present (J)evil age, according to the will of (K)our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

No Other Gospel

I am astonished that you are (L)so quickly deserting (M)him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to (N)a different gospel— (O)not that there is another one, but (P)there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or (Q)an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, (R)let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, (S)let him be accursed.

10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying (T)to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a (U)servant[b] of Christ.

Paul Called by God

11 For (V)I would have you know, brothers, that (W)the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel.[c] 12 (X)For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it (Y)through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of (Z)my former life in Judaism, how (AA)I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely (AB)zealous was I for (AC)the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when he (AD)who had set me apart (AE)before I was born,[d] and who (AF)called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to[e] me, in order (AG)that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;[f] 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

18 Then (AH)after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James (AI)the Lord's brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, (AJ)before God, I do not lie!) 21 (AK)Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was still unknown in person to (AL)the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.

Footnotes

  1. Galatians 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 verse 11
  2. Galatians 1:10 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface
  3. Galatians 1:11 Greek not according to man
  4. Galatians 1:15 Greek set me apart from my mother's womb
  5. Galatians 1:16 Greek in
  6. Galatians 1:16 Greek with flesh and blood

Paul, an apostle(A)—sent not from men nor by a man,(B) but by Jesus Christ(C) and God the Father,(D) who raised him from the dead(E) and all the brothers and sisters[a] with me,(F)

To the churches in Galatia:(G)

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,(H) who gave himself for our sins(I) to rescue us from the present evil age,(J) according to the will of our God and Father,(K) to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.(L)

No Other Gospel

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called(M) you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel(N) which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion(O) and are trying to pervert(P) the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you,(Q) let them be under God’s curse!(R) As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted,(S) let them be under God’s curse!

10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people?(T) If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Paul Called by God

11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters,(U) that the gospel I preached(V) is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man,(W) nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation(X) from Jesus Christ.(Y)

13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism,(Z) how intensely I persecuted the church of God(AA) and tried to destroy it.(AB) 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous(AC) for the traditions of my fathers.(AD) 15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb(AE) and called me(AF) by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles,(AG) my immediate response was not to consult any human being.(AH) 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.(AI)

18 Then after three years,(AJ) I went up to Jerusalem(AK) to get acquainted with Cephas[b] and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles—only James,(AL) the Lord’s brother. 20 I assure you before God(AM) that what I am writing you is no lie.(AN)

21 Then I went to Syria(AO) and Cilicia.(AP) 22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea(AQ) that are in Christ.(AR) 23 They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith(AS) he once tried to destroy.”(AT) 24 And they praised God(AU) because of me.

Footnotes

  1. Galatians 1:2 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verse 11; and in 3:15; 4:12, 28, 31; 5:11, 13; 6:1, 18.
  2. Galatians 1:18 That is, Peter