Song of Solomon 4-6

New American Standard Bible

Solomon’s Love Expressed

4 “^[a]How beautiful ^(A)you are, my darling,
^[b]How beautiful you are!
Your ^(B)eyes are like doves ^(C)behind your veil;
Your ^(D)hair is like a flock of goats
That have descended from Mount ^(E)Gilead.
²Your ^(F)teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep
Which have come up from their watering place,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has lost her young.
³Your lips are like a ^(G)scarlet thread,
And your ^(H)mouth is beautiful.
Your ^(I)temples are like a slice of a pomegranate
Behind your veil.
⁴Your ^(J)neck is like the tower of David,
Built with layers of stones
On which are ^(K)hung a thousand shields,
All the round ^(L)shields of the warriors.
⁵Your ^(M)two breasts are like two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle
That ^(N)graze among the lilies.
⁶^(O)Until ^[c]the cool of the day
When the shadows flee,
I will go my way to the mountain of ^(P)myrrh
And to the hill of ^(Q)frankincense.

⁷“^(R)You are altogether beautiful, my darling,
And there is no blemish on you.
⁸Come with me from ^(S)Lebanon, my ^(T)bride,
You shall come with me from Lebanon.
You shall ^[d]come down from the summit of ^(U)Amana,
From the summit of ^(V)Senir and Hermon,
From the dens of lions,
From the mountains of leopards.
⁹You have ^[e]enchanted my heart, ^(W)my sister, my bride;
You have ^[f]enchanted my heart with a single glance of your eyes,
With a single strand of your ^(X)necklace.
¹⁰^(Y)How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much ^[g]^(Z)sweeter is your love than wine,
And the ^(AA)fragrance of your oils
Than that of all kinds of balsam oils!
¹¹Your lips ^(AB)drip ^(AC)honey, my bride;
Honey and milk are under your tongue,
And the fragrance of your garments is like the ^(AD)fragrance of Lebanon.
¹²A locked garden is my sister, my bride,
A locked spring, a ^(AE)sealed ^(AF)fountain.
¹³Your branches are an ^[h]^(AG)orchard of ^(AH)pomegranates
With ^(AI)delicious fruits, ^(AJ)henna with nard plants,
¹⁴^(AK)Nard and saffron, spice reed and ^(AL)cinnamon,
With all the trees of ^(AM)frankincense,
^(AN)Myrrh, and aloes, along with all the finest balsam oils.
¹⁵You are a garden spring,
A well of ^[i]^(AO)fresh water,
And flowing streams from Lebanon.”

The Bride

¹⁶“Awake, north wind,
And come, wind of the south;
^[j]Make my ^(AP)garden breathe out fragrance,
May its balsam oils flow.
May ^(AQ)my beloved come into his garden
And eat its ^(AR)delicious fruits!”

The Torment of Separation

The Groom

5 “I have ^(AS)come into my garden, ^(AT)my sister, my bride;
I have gathered my ^(AU)myrrh along with my balsam.
I have eaten my honeycomb with my ^(AV)honey;
I have ^(AW)drunk my wine with my milk.
Eat, ^(AX)friends;
Drink and ^[k]drink deeply, lovers.”

The Bride

²“I was asleep but my heart was awake.
A voice! My beloved was knocking:
‘Open to me, ^(AY)my sister, my darling,
^(AZ)My dove, my perfect one!
For my head is ^[l]drenched with dew,
My ^(BA)locks with the dew drops of the night.’
³I have ^(BB)taken off my dress,
How can I put it on again?
I have ^(BC)washed my feet,
How can I dirty them again?
⁴My beloved extended his hand through the opening,
And my ^(BD)feelings were stirred for him.
⁵I arose to open to my beloved;
And my hands ^(BE)dripped with myrrh,
And my fingers with drops of myrrh,
On the handles of the bolt.
⁶I opened to my beloved,
But my beloved had ^(BF)turned away and had gone!
My ^[m]heart went out to him as he ^(BG)spoke.
I ^(BH)searched for him but I did not find him;
I ^(BI)called him but he did not answer me.
⁷The ^(BJ)watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me,
They struck me and wounded me;
The guards of the walls took my shawl away from me.
⁸^(BK)Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem,
If you find my beloved,
As to what you will tell him:
For ^(BL)I am lovesick.”

The Chorus

⁹“^[n]What kind of beloved is your beloved,
O ^(BM)most beautiful among women?
^[o]What kind of beloved is your beloved,
That you make us swear in this way?”

Admiration by the Bride

The Bride

¹⁰“My beloved is dazzling and ^[p]^(BN)reddish,
^(BO)Outstanding among ten thousand.
¹¹His head is like gold, pure gold;
His ^(BP)locks are like clusters of dates
And black as a raven.
¹²His ^(BQ)eyes are like doves
Beside streams of water,
Bathed in milk,
And perched in their ^(BR)setting.
¹³His cheeks are like a ^(BS)bed of balsam,
^[q]Banks of herbal spices;
His lips are ^(BT)lilies
^(BU)Dripping with drops of myrrh.
¹⁴His hands are rods of gold
Set with ^(BV)topaz;
His abdomen is panels of ivory
Covered with ^[r]^(BW)sapphires.
¹⁵His thighs are pillars of alabaster
Set on pedestals of pure gold;
His appearance is like ^(BX)Lebanon,
Choice as the ^(BY)cedars.
¹⁶His ^[s]^(BZ)mouth is full of sweetness.
And he is wholly ^(CA)desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
You daughters of Jerusalem.”

Mutual Delight in Each Other

The Chorus

6 “^(CB)Where has your beloved gone,
O ^(CC)most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
That we may seek him with you?”

The Bride

²“My beloved has gone down to his ^(CD)garden,
To the ^(CE)beds of balsam,
To ^(CF)pasture his flock in the gardens
And gather ^(CG)lilies.
³^(CH)I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,
He who ^(CI)pastures his flock among the lilies.”

The Groom

⁴“^(CJ)You are as beautiful as ^(CK)Tirzah, my darling,
As ^(CL)lovely as ^(CM)Jerusalem,
As ^(CN)awesome as an army with banners.
⁵Turn your eyes away from me,
For they have confused me;
^(CO)Your hair is like a flock of goats
That have descended from Gilead.
⁶^(CP)Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
That have come up from their watering place,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has lost her young.
⁷^(CQ)Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate
Behind your veil.
⁸There are sixty ^(CR)queens and eighty concubines,
And ^[t]^(CS)young women without number;
⁹But ^(CT)my dove, my perfect one, is ^[u]unique:
She is her mother’s ^[v]only daughter;
She is the pure child of the one who gave birth to her.
The ^[w]^(CU)young women saw her and called her ^[x]blessed,
The ^(CV)queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,

¹⁰‘Who is this who looks down like the dawn,
As beautiful as the full ^(CW)moon,
As pure ^(CX)as the sun,
As ^(CY)awesome as an army with banners?’
¹¹I went down to the orchard of nut trees
To see the plants of the valley,
To see whether ^(CZ)the vine had grown
Or the ^(DA)pomegranates had bloomed.
¹²^[y]Before I was aware, my soul set me
Over the chariots of ^[z]my noble people.”

The Chorus

¹³“^[aa]Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
Come back, come back, so that we may look at you!”

The Groom

“Why should you look at the Shulammite,
As at the ^(DB)dance of ^[ab]^(DC)the two armies?

Footnotes

Song of Solomon 4:1 Lit Behold
Song of Solomon 4:1 Lit Behold
Song of Solomon 4:6 Lit the day blows
Song of Solomon 4:8 Or look
Song of Solomon 4:9 Or stolen
Song of Solomon 4:9 Or stolen
Song of Solomon 4:10 Lit better
Song of Solomon 4:13 Or park; or garden
Song of Solomon 4:15 Lit living; i.e., running
Song of Solomon 4:16 Or Drift through my
Song of Solomon 5:1 Or become drunk
Song of Solomon 5:2 Lit filled
Song of Solomon 5:6 Lit soul
Song of Solomon 5:9 Or What is your beloved more than another beloved
Song of Solomon 5:9 Or What is your beloved more than another beloved
Song of Solomon 5:10 I.e., of reddish hair or skin
Song of Solomon 5:13 Lit Towers
Song of Solomon 5:14 Lit lapis lazuli
Song of Solomon 5:16 Lit palate
Song of Solomon 6:8 Or virgins
Song of Solomon 6:9 Lit one
Song of Solomon 6:9 Lit one
Song of Solomon 6:9 Lit daughters
Song of Solomon 6:9 Or happy
Song of Solomon 6:12 Lit I was not aware, my soul
Song of Solomon 6:12 Or Ammi-nadib
Song of Solomon 6:13 Ch 7:1 in Heb
Song of Solomon 6:13 Or Mahanaim

2 Thessalonians 1

New American Standard Bible

Giving Thanks for Faith and Perseverance

1 ^(A)Paul, ^(B)Silvanus, and ^(C)Timothy,

To the ^(D)church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: ²^(E)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³We ought always ^(F)to give thanks to God for you, ^(G)brothers and sisters, as is only fitting, because your faith is increasing abundantly, and the ^(H)love of each and every one of you toward one another grows ever greater. ⁴As a result, we ourselves ^(I)speak proudly of you among ^(J)the churches of God for your ^[a]perseverance and faith ^[b]^(K)in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. ⁵This is ^[c]a ^(L)plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be ^(M)considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you indeed are suffering. ⁶^[d]For after all ^(N)it is only right ^[e]for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, ⁷and to give relief to you who are afflicted, along with us, ^[f]^(O)when the Lord Jesus will be revealed ^(P)from heaven ^(Q)with ^[g]His mighty angels ⁸^(R)in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who ^(S)do not know God, and to those who ^(T)do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹These people will pay the penalty of ^(U)eternal destruction, ^(V)away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, ¹⁰when He comes to be ^(W)glorified among His ^[h]saints on that ^(X)day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—because our ^(Y)testimony to you was believed. ¹¹To this end also we ^(Z)pray for you always, that our God will ^(AA)consider you worthy of your ^(AB)calling, and fulfill every desire for ^(AC)goodness and the ^(AD)work of faith with power, ¹²so that the ^(AE)name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, in accordance with the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.