Song of Solomon 3

New King James Version

A Troubled Night

The Shulamite

3 By ^(A)night on my bed I sought the one I love;
I sought him, but I did not find him.
²“I will rise now,” I said,
“And go about the city;
In the streets and in the squares
I will seek the one I love.”
I sought him, but I did not find him.
³^(B)The watchmen who go about the city found me;
I said,
“Have you seen the one I love?”

⁴Scarcely had I passed by them,
When I found the one I love.
I held him and would not let him go,
Until I had brought him to the ^(C)house of my mother,
And into the ^[a]chamber of her who conceived me.

⁵^(D)I ^[b]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 Coming of Solomon

The Shulamite

⁶^(E)Who is this coming out of the wilderness
Like pillars of smoke,
Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
With all the merchant’s fragrant powders?
⁷Behold, it is Solomon’s couch,
With sixty valiant men around it,
Of the valiant of Israel.
⁸They all hold swords,
Being expert in war.
Every man has his sword on his thigh
Because of fear in the night.

⁹Of the wood of Lebanon
Solomon the King
Made himself a ^[c]palanquin:
¹⁰He made its pillars of silver,
Its support of gold,
Its seat of purple,
Its interior paved with love
By the daughters of Jerusalem.
¹¹Go forth, O daughters of Zion,
And see King Solomon with the crown
With which his mother crowned him
On the day of his wedding,
The day of the gladness of his heart.

Footnotes

Song of Solomon 3:4 room
Song of Solomon 3:5 adjure
Song of Solomon 3:9 A portable enclosed chair

Song of Solomon 4

New King James Version

The Bridegroom Praises the Bride

The Beloved

4 Behold, ^(A)you are fair, my love!
Behold, you are fair!
You have dove’s eyes behind your veil.
Your hair is like a ^(B)flock of goats,
Going down from Mount Gilead.
²^(C)Your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep
Which have come up from the washing,
Every one of which bears twins,
And none is ^[a]barren among them.
³Your lips are like a strand of scarlet,
And your mouth is lovely.
^(D)Your temples behind your veil
Are like a piece of pomegranate.
⁴^(E)Your neck is like the tower of David,
Built ^(F)for an armory,
On which hang a thousand ^[b]bucklers,
All shields of mighty men.
⁵^(G)Your two breasts are like two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle,
Which feed among the lilies.

⁶^(H)Until the day breaks
And the shadows flee away,
I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh
And to the hill of frankincense.

⁷^(I)You are all fair, my love,
And there is no spot in you.
⁸Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse,
With me from Lebanon.
Look from the top of Amana,
From the top of Senir ^(J)and Hermon,
From the lions’ dens,
From the mountains of the leopards.

⁹You have ravished my heart,
My sister, my spouse;
You have ravished my heart
With one look of your eyes,
With one link of your necklace.
¹⁰How fair is your love,
My sister, my spouse!
^(K)How much better than wine is your love,
And the ^[c]scent of your perfumes
Than all spices!
¹¹Your lips, O my spouse,
Drip as the honeycomb;
^(L)Honey and milk are under your tongue;
And the fragrance of your garments
Is ^(M)like the fragrance of Lebanon.

¹²A garden ^[d]enclosed
Is my sister, my spouse,
A spring shut up,
A fountain sealed.
¹³Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates
With pleasant fruits,
Fragrant henna with spikenard,
¹⁴Spikenard and saffron,
Calamus and cinnamon,
With all trees of frankincense,
Myrrh and aloes,
With all the chief spices—
¹⁵A fountain of gardens,
A well of ^(N)living waters,
And streams from Lebanon.

The Shulamite

¹⁶Awake, O north wind,
And come, O south!
Blow upon my garden,
That its spices may flow out.
^(O)Let my beloved come to his garden
And eat its pleasant ^(P)fruits.

Footnotes

Song of Solomon 4:2 bereaved
Song of Solomon 4:4 Small shields
Song of Solomon 4:10 fragrance
Song of Solomon 4:12 locked or barred

1 Timothy 3

New King James Version

Qualifications of Overseers

3 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a ^[a]bishop, he desires a good work. ²A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; ³not ^[b]given to wine, not violent, ^[c]not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not ^[d]covetous; ⁴one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence ⁵(for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); ⁶not a ^[e]novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. ⁷Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the ^(A)snare of the devil.

Qualifications of Deacons

⁸Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, ^(B)not given to much wine, not greedy for money, ⁹holding the ^[f]mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. ¹⁰But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. ¹¹Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not ^[g]slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. ¹²Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. ¹³For those who have served well as deacons ^(C)obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

The Great Mystery

¹⁴These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly; ¹⁵but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ^[h]ground of the truth. ¹⁶And without controversy great is the ^[i]mystery of godliness:

^(D)God^[j] was manifested in the flesh,
^(E)Justified in the Spirit,
^(F)Seen by angels,
^(G)Preached among the Gentiles,
^(H)Believed on in the world,
^(I)Received up in glory.