Old/New Testament
1 The Song of (A)Songs, which is Solomon's.
The Bride Confesses Her Love
She[a]
2 Let 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
5 I am very dark, but (J)lovely,
O (K)daughters of Jerusalem,
like (L)the tents of (M)Kedar,
like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do 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!
7 Tell 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
8 If 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.
9 I 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
11 We will make for you[b] ornaments of gold,
studded with silver.
She
12 While (Z)the king was on his couch,
my (AA)nard gave forth its fragrance.
13 My beloved is to me a sachet of (AB)myrrh
that lies between my breasts.
14 My 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
16 Behold, 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.
He
2 As a lily among brambles,
so is (AN)my love among the young women.
She
3 As 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.
4 He (AR)brought me to the banqueting house,[d]
and his (AS)banner over me was love.
5 Sustain me with (AT)raisins;
refresh me with apples,
(AU)for I am sick with love.
6 His (AV)left hand is under my head,
and his right hand (AW)embraces me!
7 I (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
8 The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he comes,
leaping (BA)over the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9 My 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.
10 My beloved speaks and says to me:
(BC)“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away,
11 for 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.
14 O 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.
15 Catch (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.
17 Until (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.
2 I 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?”
4 Scarcely 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?
7 Behold, it is the litter[j] of Solomon!
Around it are (CK)sixty (CL)mighty men,
some of the mighty men of Israel,
8 all of them wearing swords
and expert in war,
each with his (CM)sword at his thigh,
against (CN)terror by night.
9 King Solomon made himself a carriage[k]
from the wood of Lebanon.
10 He 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.
11 Go 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.
Paul Accepted by the Apostles
2 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those (A)who seemed influential) the gospel that (B)I proclaim among the Gentiles, (C)in order to make sure I was not running or had not (D)run in vain. 3 But even Titus, who was with me, (E)was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 (F)Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who (G)slipped in to spy out (H)our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, (I)so that they might bring us into slavery— 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that (J)the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 6 And from those (K)who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; (L)God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential (M)added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been (N)entrusted with (O)the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 and when James and Cephas and John, (P)who seemed to be (Q)pillars, perceived the (R)grace that was given to me, they (S)gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, (T)the very thing I was eager to do.
Paul Opposes Peter
11 But (U)when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him (V)to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, (W)he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing (X)the circumcision party.[a] 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their (Y)conduct was not in step with (Z)the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas (AA)before them all, “If you, though a Jew, (AB)live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
Justified by Faith
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not (AC)Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that (AD)a person is not justified[b] by works of the law (AE)but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, (AF)because by works of the law no one will be justified.
17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found (AG)to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I (AH)died to the law, so that I might (AI)live to God. 20 I have been (AJ)crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives (AK)in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, (AL)who loved me and (AM)gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for (AN)if righteousness[c] were through the law, (AO)then Christ died for no purpose.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.