Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
To the Director: An instruction[a] by the Sons of Korah. A love song to the tune of[b] “Lilies”.
A Royal Wedding Song
45 My heart is overflowing with good news;
I speak what I have composed to the king;
my tongue is like the pen of an articulate scribe.
2 You are the most handsome of Adam’s descendants;
grace has anointed your lips;
therefore God has blessed you forever.
6 Your throne, God, exists forever and ever,
and the scepter of your kingdom is a righteous scepter.
7 You love justice and hate wickedness.
That is why God, even your God, has anointed you
rather than your companions with the oil of gladness.
8 All your clothes are scented with[a] myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
From ivory palaces stringed instruments have made you glad.
9 The king’s daughters are among your honorable women;
the queen, dressed in gold from Ophir, has taken her place at your right hand.”
2 I’m a flower[a] from Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.
The Lover
2 Like a lily among thorns,
so is my darling among the young women.
The Loved One
3 Like an apple[b] tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my beloved among the young men.
In his shade I take delight and sit down,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.[c]
4 He has brought me to the banquet hall,
and his banner over me is love.
5 Sustain me with raisin cakes,
refresh me with apples,[d]
for I’m weak with love.
6 I wish that his left hand were under my head,
and that his right hand were embracing me!
7 Swear to me, young women of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or by the does of the field,
that you won’t awaken or arouse love
before its proper time![e]
9 A brother of humble means should rejoice in his having been exalted, 10 and a rich person in his having been humbled, because he will fade away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun comes up with its scorching heat and dries up the grass. The flower in it drops off, and its beauty is gone. That is how the rich person will fade away in his pursuits.
Trial and Temptation
12 How blessed is the man who endures temptation! When he has passed the test, he will receive the victor’s crown of life that God[a] has promised to those who keep on loving him. 13 When someone is tempted, he should not say, “I am being tempted by God,” because God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. 14 Instead, each person is tempted by his own desire, being lured and trapped by it. 15 When that desire becomes pregnant, it gives birth to sin; and when that sin grows up, it gives birth to death.
Practical Christian Living
16 Do not be[b] deceived, my dear brothers.
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