Old/New Testament
Chapter 1
1 The Song of Songs,[a] which is Solomon’s.
The Woman Speaks of Her Lover
2 W[b](A) Let him kiss me with kisses of his mouth,
for your love is better than wine,[c]
3 better than the fragrance of your perfumes.[d]
Your name is a flowing perfume—
therefore young women love you.
4 (B)Draw me after you! Let us run![e]
The king has brought me to his bed chambers.
Let us exult and rejoice in you;
let us celebrate your love: it is beyond wine!
Rightly do they love you!
Love’s Boast
5 W I am black and beautiful,
Daughters of Jerusalem[f]—
Like the tents of Qedar,
like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not stare at me because I am so black,[g]
because the sun has burned me.
The sons of my mother were angry with me;
they charged me with the care of the vineyards:
my own vineyard I did not take care of.
Love’s Inquiry
7 W Tell me, you whom my soul loves,
where you shepherd,[h] where you give rest at midday.
Why should I be like one wandering
after the flocks of your companions?
8 M If you do not know,
most beautiful among women,
Follow the tracks of the flock
and pasture your lambs[i]
near the shepherds’ tents.
Love’s Vision
9 M To a mare among Pharaoh’s chariotry[j]
I compare you, my friend:
10 Your cheeks lovely in pendants,
your neck in jewels.
11 We will make pendants of gold for you,
and ornaments of silver.
How Near Is Love!
12 W While the king was upon his couch,
my spikenard[k] gave forth its fragrance.
13 My lover[l] is to me a sachet of myrrh;
between my breasts he lies.
14 My lover is to me a cluster of henna[m]
from the vineyards of En-gedi.
15 M(C) How beautiful you are, my friend,
how beautiful! your eyes are doves![n]
16 W How beautiful you are, my lover—
handsome indeed!
Verdant indeed is our couch;[o]
17 the beams of our house are cedars,
our rafters, cypresses.
Chapter 2
1 W I am a flower of Sharon,[p]
a lily of the valleys.
2 M Like a lily among thorns,
so is my friend among women.
3 W Like an apple tree among the trees of the woods,
so is my lover among men.
In his shadow[q] I delight to sit,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
4 (D)He brought me to the banquet hall[r]
and his glance at me signaled love.
5 (E)Strengthen me with raisin cakes,[s]
refresh me with apples,
for I am sick with love.
6 (F)His left hand is under my head
and his right arm embraces me.
7 (G)I adjure you, Daughters of Jerusalem,[t]
by the gazelles and the does of the field,
Do not awaken, or stir up love
until it is ready.
Her Lover’s Visit Remembered
8 W The sound of my lover! here he comes[u]
springing across the mountains,
leaping across the hills.
9 My lover is like a gazelle[v]
or a young stag.
See! He is standing behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattices.
10 My lover speaks and says to me,
M “Arise, my friend, my beautiful one,
and come!
11 For see, the winter is past,
the rains are over and gone.
12 The flowers appear on the earth,
the time of pruning the vines has come,
and the song of the turtledove is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree puts forth its figs,
and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance.
Arise, my friend, my beautiful one,
and come!
14 My dove in the clefts of the rock,[w]
in the secret recesses of the cliff,
Let me see your face,
let me hear your voice,
For your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.”
15 W Catch us the foxes,[x] the little foxes
that damage the vineyards; for our vineyards are in bloom!
16 (H)My lover belongs to me and I to him;
he feeds among the lilies.
17 (I)Until the day grows cool[y] and the shadows flee,
roam, my lover,
Like a gazelle or a young stag
upon the rugged mountains.
Chapter 3
Loss and Discovery
1 W(J) On my bed at night I sought him[z]
whom my soul loves—
I sought him but I did not find him.
2 “Let me rise then and go about the city,[aa]
through the streets and squares;
Let me seek him whom my soul loves.”
I sought him but I did not find him.
3 The watchmen found me,
as they made their rounds in the city:
“Him whom my soul loves—have you seen him?”
4 (K)Hardly had I left them
when I found him whom my soul loves.[ab]
I held him and would not let him go
until I had brought him to my mother’s house,
to the chamber of her who conceived me.
5 (L)I adjure you, Daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles and the does of the field,
Do not awaken or stir up love
until it is ready.
Solomon’s Wedding Procession
6 D(M) Who is this coming up from the desert,[ac]
like columns of smoke
Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
with all kinds of exotic powders?
7 See! it is the litter of Solomon;
sixty valiant men surround it,
of the valiant men of Israel:
8 All of them expert with the sword,
skilled in battle,
Each with his sword at his side
against the terrors[ad] of the night.
9 King Solomon made himself an enclosed litter
of wood from Lebanon.
10 He made its columns of silver,
its roof of gold,
Its seat of purple cloth,
its interior lovingly fitted.[ae]
Daughters of Jerusalem, 11 go out
and look upon King Solomon
In the crown with which his mother has crowned him
on the day of his marriage,
on the day of the joy of his heart.
Chapter 2
The Council of Jerusalem.[a] 1 Then after fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas,[b] taking Titus along also.(A) 2 I went up in accord with a revelation,[c] and I presented to them the gospel that I preach to the Gentiles—but privately to those of repute—so that I might not be running, or have run, in vain.(B) 3 Moreover, not even[d] Titus, who was with me, although he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised,(C) 4 but because of the false brothers[e] secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy on our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus,(D) that they might enslave us— 5 to them we did not submit even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel[f] might remain intact for you.(E) 6 But from those who were reputed to be important (what they once were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those of repute made me add nothing.(F) 7 [g]On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter to the circumcised,(G) 8 for the one who worked in Peter for an apostolate to the circumcised worked also in me for the Gentiles, 9 and when they recognized the grace bestowed upon me, James and Cephas and John,[h] who were reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas their right hands in partnership, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.(H) 10 Only, we were to be mindful of the poor,[i] which is the very thing I was eager to do.(I)
Peter’s Inconsistency at Antioch.[j] 11 (J)And when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong.[k] 12 For, until some people came from James,[l] he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to draw back and separated himself, because he was afraid of the circumcised.(K) 13 And the rest of the Jews[m] [also] acted hypocritically along with him, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.(L) 14 But when I saw that they were not on the right road in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of all,(M) “If you, though a Jew, are living like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”[n]
Faith and Works.[o] 15 We, who are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles, 16 (N)[yet] who know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.[p] 17 But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves are found to be sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin?[q] Of course not! 18 But if I am building up again those things that I tore down, then I show myself to be a transgressor.[r] 19 For through the law I died to the law,[s] that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ;(O) 20 yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me.(P) 21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.(Q)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.