Song of Songs 7-8
Christian Standard Bible
7 How beautiful are your sandaled feet, princess![a](A)
The curves of your thighs are like jewelry,
the handiwork of a master.
2 Your navel is a rounded bowl;
it never lacks mixed wine.
Your belly is a mound of wheat
surrounded by lilies.
3 Your breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.(B)
4 Your neck is like a tower of ivory,(C)
your eyes like pools in Heshbon
by Bath-rabbim’s gate.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon
looking toward Damascus.
5 Your head crowns you[b] like Mount Carmel,
the hair of your head like purple cloth—
a king could be held captive(D) in your tresses.
6 How beautiful you are and how pleasant,(E)
my love, with such delights!
7 Your stature is like a palm tree;
your breasts are clusters of fruit.
8 I said, “I will climb the palm tree
and take hold of its fruit.”(F)
May your breasts be like clusters of grapes,
and the fragrance of your breath like apricots.(G)
9 Your mouth[c] is like fine wine(H)—
Woman
flowing smoothly for my love,
gliding past my lips and teeth![d]
10 I am my love’s,
and his desire(I) is for me.(J)
11 Come, my love,
let’s go to the field;
let’s spend the night among the henna blossoms.[e]
12 Let’s go early to the vineyards;
let’s see if the vine has budded,
if the blossom has opened,
if the pomegranates are in bloom.(K)
There I will give you my caresses.
13 The mandrakes(L) give off a fragrance,
and at our doors is every delicacy,
both new and old.
I have treasured them up for you, my love.
8 If only I could treat you like my brother,[f]
one who nursed at my mother’s breasts,
I would find you in public and kiss you,
and no one would scorn me.
2 I would lead you, I would take you,
to the house of my mother(M) who taught me.[g]
I would give you spiced wine to drink
from the juice of my pomegranate.
3 May his left hand be under my head,
and his right arm embrace me.(N)
4 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you,
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.(O)
Young Women
5 Who is this(P) coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on the one she loves?
Woman
I awakened you under the apricot tree.(Q)
There your mother conceived you;
there she conceived and gave you birth.
6 Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm.(R)
For love is as strong as death;(S)
jealousy is as unrelenting as Sheol.
Love’s flames are fiery flames(T)—
an almighty flame![h]
7 A huge torrent cannot extinguish love;
rivers cannot sweep it away.
If a man were to give all his wealth[i] for love,(U)
it would be utterly scorned.
Brothers
8 Our sister is young;
she has no breasts.(V)
What will we do for our sister
on the day she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build a silver barricade on her.
If she is a door,
we will enclose her with cedar planks.(W)
Woman
11 Solomon owned a vineyard in Baal-hamon.(X)
He leased the vineyard to tenants.(Y)
Each was to bring for his fruit
one thousand pieces of silver.(Z)
12 I have my own vineyard.[m](AA)
The one thousand are for you, Solomon,
but two hundred for those who take care of its fruits.
Man
Woman
Footnotes
- 7:1 Lit daughter of a nobleman, or prince
- 7:5 Lit head upon you is
- 7:9 Lit palate
- 7:9 LXX, Syr, Vg; MT reads past lips of sleepers
- 7:11 Or the villages
- 8:1 Lit Would that you were like a brother to me
- 8:2 LXX adds and into the chamber of the one who bore me
- 8:6 Or the blaze of the Lord
- 8:7 Lit all the wealth of his house
- 8:10 Or was
- 8:10 Or brings
- 8:10 In Hb, the word for peace sounds similar to Solomon and Shulammite.
- 8:12 Lit My vineyard, which is mine, is before me; Sg 1:6
- 8:13 In Hb, the word for You is feminine.
- 8:14 Lit Flee
Psalm 127
Christian Standard Bible
Psalm 127
The Blessing of the Lord
A song of ascents. Of Solomon.
1 Unless the Lord builds a house,
its builders labor over it in vain;(A)
unless the Lord watches over a city,
the watchman stays alert in vain.(B)
2 In vain you get up early and stay up late,
working hard to have enough food—
yes, he gives sleep to the one he loves.[a](C)
3 Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord,
offspring, a reward.(D)
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the sons born in one’s youth.(E)
5 Happy is the man who has filled his quiver with them.(F)
They will never be put to shame
when they speak with their enemies at the city gate.(G)
Footnotes
- 127:2 Or yes, he gives such things to his loved ones while they sleep
2 Thessalonians 2
Christian Standard Bible
The Man of Lawlessness
2 Now concerning the coming(A) of our Lord(B) Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him: We ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to be easily upset or troubled, either by a prophecy[a](C) or by a message or by a letter supposedly from us, alleging that the day of the Lord[b](D) has come.(E) 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the apostasy[c] comes first and the man of lawlessness[d] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god(F) or object of worship,(G) so that he sits[e] in God’s temple, proclaiming that he himself is God.
5 Don’t you remember that when I was still with you I used to tell you about this? 6 And you know what currently restrains him, so that he will be revealed in his time.(H) 7 For the mystery of lawlessness(I) is already at work, but the one now restraining will do so until he is out of the way, 8 and then the lawless one will be revealed. The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of his mouth(J) and will bring him to nothing at the appearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is based on Satan’s working, with every kind of miracle, both signs and wonders serving the lie,(K) 10 and with every wicked deception among those who are perishing. They perish because they did not accept the love of the truth and so be saved.(L) 11 For this reason God sends them a strong delusion so that they will believe the lie, 12 so that all will be condemned(M)—those who did not believe(N) the truth but delighted in unrighteousness.
Stand Firm
13 But we ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because from the beginning[f] God has chosen(O) you for salvation through sanctification(P) by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this through our gospel, so that you might obtain the glory(Q) of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm(R) and hold to the traditions you were taught,(S) whether by what we said or what we wrote.
16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved(T) us and given us eternal encouragement and good hope by grace, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good work and word.
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