Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

16 Protect me, God,
    because I trust in you.
² I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord.
    Every good thing I have comes from you.”
³ As for the godly people in the world,
    they are the wonderful ones I enjoy.
⁴ But those who turn to idols
    will have much pain.
I will not offer blood to those idols
    or even speak their names.

⁸ I hear my lover’s voice.
    Here he comes jumping across the mountains,
    skipping over the hills.
⁹ My lover is like a gazelle or a young deer.
    Look, he stands behind our wall
peeking through the windows,
    looking through the blinds.
¹⁰ My lover spoke and said to me,
    “Get up, my darling;
    let’s go away, my beautiful one.
¹¹ Look, the winter is past;
    the rains are over and gone.
¹² Blossoms appear through all the land.
    The time has come to sing;
    the cooing of doves is heard in our land.
¹³ There are young figs on the fig trees,
    and the blossoms on the vines smell sweet.
Get up, my darling;
    let’s go away, my beautiful one.”

¹⁴ My beloved is like a dove hiding in the cracks of the rock,
    in the secret places of the cliff.
Show me your face,
    and let me hear your voice.
Your voice is sweet,
    and your face is lovely.
¹⁵ Catch the foxes for us—
    the little foxes that ruin the vineyards
    while they are in blossom.