Song of Solomon 1-4

English Standard Version

1 The Song of ^(A)Songs, which is Solomon's.

The Bride Confesses Her Love

She^[a]

²Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your ^(B)love is better than wine;
³    your ^(C)anointing oils are fragrant;
your ^(D)name is oil poured out;
    therefore virgins love you.
⁴^(E)Draw me after you; ^(F)let us run.
    ^(G)The king has brought me into his chambers.

Others

We will ^(H)exult and rejoice in you;
we will extol ^(I)your love more than wine;
rightly do they love you.

She

⁵I am very dark, but ^(J)lovely,
    O ^(K)daughters of Jerusalem,
like ^(L)the tents of ^(M)Kedar,
    like the curtains of Solomon.
⁶Do not gaze at me because I am dark,
    because the sun has looked upon me.
My ^(N)mother's sons were angry with me;
    they made me ^(O)keeper of ^(P)the vineyards,
    but ^(Q)my own vineyard I have not kept!
⁷Tell me, you ^(R)whom my soul loves,
    where you ^(S)pasture your flock,
    where you make it ^(T)lie down at noon;
for why should I be like one who veils herself
    beside the flocks of your ^(U)companions?

Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other

He

⁸If you do not know,
    O ^(V)most beautiful among women,
follow in the tracks of the flock,
    and pasture your young goats
    beside the shepherds' tents.

⁹I compare you, ^(W)my love,
to ^(X)a mare among Pharaoh's chariots.
¹⁰^(Y)Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
your neck with strings of jewels.

Others

¹¹We will make for you^[b] ornaments of gold,
studded with silver.

She

¹²While ^(Z)the king was on his couch,
    my ^(AA)nard gave forth its fragrance.
¹³My beloved is to me a sachet of ^(AB)myrrh
    that lies between my breasts.
¹⁴My beloved is to me a cluster of ^(AC)henna blossoms
    in the vineyards of ^(AD)Engedi.

He

¹⁵^(AE)Behold, ^(AF)you are beautiful, ^(AG)my love;
behold, you are beautiful;
your ^(AH)eyes are doves.

She

¹⁶Behold, you are beautiful, ^(AI)my beloved, truly ^(AJ)delightful.
Our couch is green;
¹⁷ the beams of our house are ^(AK)cedar;
our rafters are ^(AL)pine.

2 I am a rose^[c] of Sharon,
^(AM)a lily of the valleys.

He

²As a lily among brambles,
so is ^(AN)my love among the young women.

She

³As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
    so is my ^(AO)beloved among the young men.
With great delight I sat ^(AP)in his shadow,
    and his ^(AQ)fruit was sweet to my taste.
⁴He ^(AR)brought me to the banqueting house,^[d]
    and his ^(AS)banner over me was love.
⁵Sustain me with ^(AT)raisins;
    refresh me with apples,
    ^(AU)for I am sick with love.
⁶His ^(AV)left hand is under my head,
    and his right hand ^(AW)embraces me!
⁷I ^(AX)adjure you,^[e] O ^(AY)daughters of Jerusalem,
    by ^(AZ)the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
    until it pleases.

The Bride Adores Her Beloved

⁸The voice of my beloved!
    Behold, he comes,
leaping ^(BA)over the mountains,
    bounding over the hills.
⁹My beloved is like ^(BB)a gazelle
    or a young stag.
Behold, there he stands
    behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
    looking through the lattice.
¹⁰My beloved speaks and says to me:
^(BC)“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
    and come away,
¹¹for behold, the winter is past;
    ^(BD)the rain is over and gone.
¹²^(BE)The flowers appear on the earth,
    the time of singing^[f] has come,
and the voice of ^(BF)the turtledove
    is heard in our land.
¹³^(BG)The fig tree ripens its figs,
    and ^(BH)the vines are in blossom;
    they give forth fragrance.
^(BI)Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
    and come away.
¹⁴O my ^(BJ)dove, in the ^(BK)clefts of the rock,
    in the crannies of the cliff,
let me see your face,
    let me ^(BL)hear your voice,
for your voice is sweet,
    and your face is ^(BM)lovely.
¹⁵Catch ^(BN)the foxes^[g] for us,
    the little foxes
that spoil the vineyards,
    ^(BO)for our vineyards are in blossom.”

¹⁶^(BP)My beloved is mine, and I am his;
    he ^(BQ)grazes^[h] among the lilies.
¹⁷Until ^(BR)the day breathes
    and ^(BS)the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved, be like ^(BT)a gazelle
    or a young stag on cleft mountains.^[i]

The Bride's Dream

3 On my bed ^(BU)by night
I sought ^(BV)him whom my soul loves;
    ^(BW)I sought him, but found him not.
²I will rise now and go about the city,
    in ^(BX)the streets and in the squares;
I will seek ^(BY)him whom my soul loves.
    I sought him, but found him not.
³^(BZ)The watchmen found me
    as they went about in the city.
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
⁴Scarcely had I passed them
    when I found ^(CA)him whom my soul loves.
I ^(CB)held him, and would not let him go
    until I had ^(CC)brought him into my mother's house,
    and into the chamber of ^(CD)her who conceived me.
⁵^(CE)I adjure you, ^(CF)O daughters of Jerusalem,
    ^(CG)by the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
    until it pleases.

Solomon Arrives for the Wedding

⁶^(CH)What is that coming up from the wilderness
    like ^(CI)columns of smoke,
perfumed with ^(CJ)myrrh and frankincense,
    with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?
⁷Behold, it is the litter^[j] of Solomon!
Around it are ^(CK)sixty ^(CL)mighty men,
    some of the mighty men of Israel,
⁸all of them wearing swords
    and expert in war,
each with his ^(CM)sword at his thigh,
    against ^(CN)terror by night.
⁹King Solomon made himself a carriage^[k]
    from the wood of Lebanon.
¹⁰He made its posts of silver,
    its back of gold, its seat of purple;
its interior was inlaid with love
    by ^(CO)the daughters of Jerusalem.
¹¹Go out, O ^(CP)daughters of Zion,
    and look upon King Solomon,
with the crown with which his mother crowned him
    on ^(CQ)the day of his wedding,
    on the day of the gladness of his heart.

Solomon Admires His Bride's Beauty

He

4 Behold, ^(CR)you are beautiful, my love,
    behold, you are beautiful!
^(CS)Your eyes are doves
    ^(CT)behind your veil.
^(CU)Your hair is like a flock of goats
    leaping down ^(CV)the slopes of Gilead.
²Your ^(CW)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 ^(CX)a scarlet thread,
    and your mouth is ^(CY)lovely.
Your ^(CZ)cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
    ^(DA)behind your veil.
⁴Your ^(DB)neck is like the tower of David,
    built in ^(DC)rows of stone;^[l]
on it ^(DD)hang a thousand shields,
    all of ^(DE)them shields of warriors.
⁵Your ^(DF)two breasts are like two ^(DG)fawns,
    twins of a gazelle,
    that ^(DH)graze among the lilies.
⁶^(DI)Until the day breathes
    and the shadows flee,
I will go away to the mountain of ^(DJ)myrrh
    and the hill of ^(DK)frankincense.
⁷^(DL)You are altogether beautiful, my love;
    there is no ^(DM)flaw in you.
⁸^(DN)Come with me from ^(DO)Lebanon, my ^(DP)bride;
    come with me from ^(DQ)Lebanon.
Depart^[m] from the peak of Amana,
    from the peak of ^(DR)Senir and ^(DS)Hermon,
from the dens of lions,
    from the mountains of leopards.

⁹You have captivated my heart, my ^(DT)sister, my bride;
    you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,
    with one ^(DU)jewel of your necklace.
¹⁰How beautiful is your love, my ^(DV)sister, my bride!
    How much ^(DW)better is your love than wine,
    and ^(DX)the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
¹¹Your ^(DY)lips drip nectar, my bride;
    ^(DZ)honey and milk are under your tongue;
    the fragrance of your garments is ^(EA)like the fragrance of ^(EB)Lebanon.
¹²A garden locked is my ^(EC)sister, my bride,
    a spring locked, ^(ED)a fountain ^(EE)sealed.
¹³Your shoots are ^(EF)an orchard of pomegranates
    with all ^(EG)choicest fruits,
    ^(EH)henna with ^(EI)nard,
¹⁴nard and saffron, ^(EJ)calamus and ^(EK)cinnamon,
    with all trees of ^(EL)frankincense,
^(EM)myrrh and ^(EN)aloes,
    with all ^(EO)choice spices—
¹⁵a garden fountain, a well of ^(EP)living water,
    and flowing streams from ^(EQ)Lebanon.

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

Together in the Garden of Love

She

^(ES)Let my beloved come to his ^(ET)garden,
and eat its ^(EU)choicest fruits.

Footnotes

Song of Solomon 1:2 The translators have added speaker identifications based on the gender and number of the Hebrew words
Song of Solomon 1:11 The Hebrew for you is feminine singular
Song of Solomon 2:1 Probably a bulb, such as a crocus, asphodel, or narcissus
Song of Solomon 2:4 Hebrew the house of wine
Song of Solomon 2:7 That is, I put you on oath; so throughout the Song
Song of Solomon 2:12 Or pruning
Song of Solomon 2:15 Or jackals
Song of Solomon 2:16 Or he pastures his flock
Song of Solomon 2:17 Or mountains of Bether
Song of Solomon 3:7 That is, the couch on which servants carry a king
Song of Solomon 3:9 Or sedan chair
Song of Solomon 4:4 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
Song of Solomon 4:8 Or Look

Ephesians 6

English Standard Version

Children and Parents

6 ^(A)Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ²^(B)“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), ³“that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” ⁴Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, ^(C)but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Bondservants and Masters

⁵^(D)Bondservants,^[a] obey your earthly masters^[b] with fear and trembling, ^(E)with a sincere heart, ^(F)as you would Christ, ⁶not by the way of eye-service, as ^(G)people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, ⁷rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, ⁸^(H)knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, ^(I)whether he is a bondservant or is free. ⁹Masters, do the same to them, ^(J)and stop your threatening, knowing that ^(K)he who is both their Master^[c] and yours is in heaven, and that ^(L)there is no partiality with him.

The Whole Armor of God

¹⁰Finally, ^(M)be strong in the Lord and in ^(N)the strength of his might. ¹¹^(O)Put on ^(P)the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against ^(Q)the schemes of the devil. ¹²For ^(R)we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against ^(S)the rulers, against the authorities, against ^(T)the cosmic powers over ^(U)this present darkness, against ^(V)the spiritual forces of evil ^(W)in the heavenly places. ¹³Therefore ^(X)take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in ^(Y)the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. ¹⁴Stand therefore, ^(Z)having fastened on the belt of truth, and ^(AA)having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵and, ^(AB)as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In all circumstances take up ^(AC)the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all ^(AD)the flaming darts of ^(AE)the evil one; ¹⁷and take ^(AF)the helmet of salvation, and ^(AG)the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, ¹⁸praying ^(AH)at all times ^(AI)in the Spirit, ^(AJ)with all prayer and supplication. To that end, ^(AK)keep alert with all perseverance, making ^(AL)supplication for all the saints, ¹⁹and ^(AM)also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth ^(AN)boldly to proclaim ^(AO)the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰for which I ^(AP)am an ambassador ^(AQ)in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

Final Greetings

²¹^(AR)So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, ^(AS)Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything. ²²I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may ^(AT)encourage your hearts.

²³^(AU)Peace be to the brothers,^[d] and ^(AV)love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴Grace be with all who ^(AW)love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.

Footnotes

Ephesians 6:5 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface; also verse 6; likewise for bondservant in verse 8
Ephesians 6:5 Or your masters according to the flesh
Ephesians 6:9 Greek Lord
Ephesians 6:23 Or brothers and sisters