Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Song for the King’s Wedding
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” A maskil. A love song of the sons of Korah.
45 Beautiful words fill my mind.
I am speaking of royal things.
My tongue is like the pen of a skilled writer.
2 You are more handsome than anyone.
You are a very good speaker.
God has blessed you forever.
6 God, your throne will last forever and ever.
You will rule your kingdom with fairness.
7 You love right and hate evil.
So God has chosen you to rule those with you.
Your God has given you much joy.
8 Your clothes smell like myrrh, aloes and cassia.
From palaces of ivory
music comes to make you happy.
9 Kings’ daughters are among your honored women.
Your bride stands at your right side
wearing gold from Ophir.
A Love Song
1 Solomon’s Song of Songs.
The Woman Speaks to the Man She Loves
2 Kiss me with the kisses of your mouth!
Your love is better than wine.
3 The smell of your perfume is pleasant.
Your name is pleasant like expensive perfume!
That’s why the young women love you.
4 Take me with you; let’s run.
The king takes me into his rooms.
Friends Speak to the Man
We will rejoice and be happy with you.
We praise your love more than wine.
The Woman Speaks
With good reason, the young women love you, my lover.
5 I’m dark but lovely,
women of Jerusalem.
I’m dark like the tents of Kedar,
like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Don’t look at how dark I am,
at how dark the sun has made me.
My brothers were angry with me.
They made me tend the vineyards.
So I haven’t tended my own vineyard!
7 Tell me, you whom I love,
where do you feed your sheep?
Where do you make them rest at noon?
Why should I look for you near your friend’s sheep?
Am I like a woman who wears a veil?[a]
The Man Speaks to the Woman
8 You are the most beautiful of women.
Surely you know to follow the sheep.
Feed your young goats
near the shepherds’ tents.
9 My darling, you are like a mare
that pulls the king’s chariots.
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments.
Your neck is beautiful with jewels.
11 We will make for you gold earrings
with silver hooks.
The Woman Speaks
12 The smell of my perfume spreads out
to the king on his couch.
13 My lover is like a bag of myrrh
that lies all night between my breasts.
14 My lover is like a bunch of flowers
from the vineyards at En Gedi.
The Man Speaks
15 My darling, you are beautiful!
Oh, you are beautiful!
Your eyes are like doves!
The Woman Answers the Man
16 You are so handsome, my lover.
You are so pleasant!
Our bed is the grass.
17 The boards of our house are cedar trees.
And the wood of our ceiling is juniper trees.
Faith and Wisdom
1 From James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. To all of God’s people who are scattered everywhere in the world:
Greetings.
2 My brothers, you will have many kinds of troubles. But when these things happen, you should be very happy. 3 You know that these things are testing your faith. And this will give you patience. 4 Let your patience show itself perfectly in what you do. Then you will be perfect and complete. You will have everything you need. 5 But if any of you needs wisdom, you should ask God for it. God is generous. He enjoys giving to all people, so God will give you wisdom. 6 But when you ask God, you must believe. Do not doubt God. Anyone who doubts is like a wave in the sea. The wind blows the wave up and down. 7-8 He who doubts is thinking two different things at the same time. He cannot decide about anything he does. A person like that should not think that he will receive anything from the Lord.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.