Old/New Testament
The King Delights in His Bride
4 How lovely you are, my darling, how lovely!
Your eyes are doves behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of ewe goats
descending down from Mount Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
coming up from washing.
Each of them has a twin,
and none among them is missing.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread
and your speech is lovely.
Your temple is like a slice of pomegranate
behind your veil.
4 Like the tower of David is your neck,
built for weapons.
A thousand shields are hung on it
—all shields of warriors.
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
like twin gazelles
grazing among the lilies.
6 Until the day cools
and the shadows flee away,
I will go to the mountain of myrrh
and to the hill of frankincense.
7 You are altogether lovely, my darling,
and no blemish is in you.[a]
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,
come with me from Lebanon.
Watch from the top of Amana,
from the top of Senir, even Hermon,
from lions’ dens,
from mountains of leopards.
9 You have captivated my heart,
my sister, my bride—
you captivated me
with one of your eyes,
with one jewel from your necklace.
10 How delightful is your love,
my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your oils
better than all spices!
11 Your lips, my bride,
drip honey from the honeycomb.
Honey and milk
are under your tongue.
The scent of your garments
is like the aroma of Lebanon.
12 A locked garden is my sister, my bride,
an enclosed spring, a sealed fountain.
13 Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates
with choice fruit,
henna with nard
14 —nard and saffron,
calamus and cinnamon—
with all the trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes,
along with all the finest spices—
15 a garden spring,
a well of living water[b]
and flowing streams from Lebanon.
16 Awake, north wind,
and come, south wind!
Blow on my garden,
Let its fragrance spread out.
Let my lover come into his garden
and eat its choicest fruit.
Awake and Waiting
5 I have come into my garden,
my sister, my bride.
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.
I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey.
I have drunk my wine with my milk.
Eat, O friends,
Drink, yes, drink your fill, O lovers!
2 I sleep, but my heart is awake.
A voice! My lover is knocking!
“Open to me, my sister, my darling,
my dove, my perfect one!
For my head is drenched with dew,
my locks with dewdrops of night.”
3 I have stripped off my coat.
How can I put it on again?
I have washed my feet.
How can I soil them?
4 My lover extended his hand through the opening
—my heart yearned for him.
5 I rose to open for my lover.
My hands dripped with myrrh,
yes, my fingers with flowing myrrh,
on the handles of the lock.
6 I opened to my lover—
but my lover had departed,
he was gone!
My soul went out to him when he spoke.
I searched for him, but did not find him.
I called him, but he did not answer me.
7 The guards making rounds in the city found me.
They beat me, bruised me.
The guards on the walls took my veil from me.
8 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you,
if you should find my lover,
what will you tell him?
That I am sick from love!
9 How is your lover different from other lovers,
O most beautiful among women?
How is your lover different from other lovers
that you charge us so?
10 My lover is dazzling and ruddy,
standing out among ten thousand.
11 His head is purest gold,
his hair is wavy,
black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves
beside streams of water,
washed with milk,
mounted in their settings.
13 His cheeks are like a bed of spice,
towers of sweet-scented perfume.
His lips are lilies,
dripping with liquid myrrh.
14 His hands are rods of gold set with jasper.
His abdomen is carved ivory
inlaid with sapphires.
15 His legs are pillars of alabaster
set on bases of pure gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon—
excellent like the cedars.
16 His mouth is sweetness.
Yes, he is totally desirable.
This is my lover! Yes, this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.
By Deeds or by Faith?
3 O foolish Galatians, who cast a spell on you? Before your eyes Yeshua the Messiah was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I want to find out just one thing from you: did you receive the Ruach by deeds based on Torah, or by hearing based on trust? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Ruach, will you now reach the goal in the flesh? 4 Did you endure so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? 5 So then, the One who gives you the Ruach and works miracles among you—does He do it because of your deeds based on Torah or your hearing based on trust and faithfulness?
6 Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” [a] 7 know then that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 The Scriptures, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the Good News to Abraham in advance, saying, “All the nations shall be blessed through you.” [b] 9 So then, the faithful are blessed along with Abraham, the faithful one.
10 For all who rely on the deeds of Torah are under a curse—for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not keep doing everything written in the scroll of the Torah.” [c] 11 It is clear that no one is set right before God by Torah, for “the righteous shall live by emunah.” [d] 12 However, Torah is not based on trust and faithfulness; on the contrary, “the one who does these things shall live by them.” [e] 13 Messiah liberated us from Torah’s curse, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”[f])— 14 in order that through Messiah Yeshua the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so we might receive the promise of the Ruach through trusting faith.
Slaves or Sons?
15 Brothers and sisters, I speak in human terms: even with a man’s covenant, once it has been confirmed, no one cancels it or adds to it. 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. It doesn’t say, “and to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “and to your seed,” who is the Messiah. 17 What I am saying is this: Torah, which came 430 years later, does not cancel the covenant previously confirmed by God, so as to make the promise ineffective. 18 For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise. But God has graciously given it to Abraham by means of a promise.
19 Then why the Torah? It was added because of wrongdoings until the Seed would come—to whom the promise had been made. It was arranged through angels by the hand of an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary is not for one party alone—but God is one. 21 Then is the Torah against the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given that could impart life, certainly righteousness would have been based on law. 22 But the Scripture has locked up the whole world under sin, so that the promise based on trust in Messiah Yeshua[g] might be given to those who trust.
23 Now before faith came, we were being guarded under Torah—bound together until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 Therefore the Torah became our guardian to lead us to Messiah, so that we might be made right based on trusting. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. 26 For you are all sons of God through trusting in Messiah Yeshua. 27 For all of you who were immersed in Messiah have clothed yourselves with Messiah. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female—for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua. 29 And if you belong to Messiah, then you are Abraham’s seed—heirs according to the promise.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.