Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

To the Overcomer: upon Shoshannim lilies, for the sons of Korah, Maschil, A Song of loves.

¹ ¶ My heart is overflowing with a good word; I speak of the things which I have done concerning the king; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

² Thou art fairer than the sons of men, grace is poured into thy lips; therefore God has blessed thee for ever.

⁶ ¶ Thy throne, O God, is eternal and for ever, the rod of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

⁷ Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness; therefore God, thy God, has anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

⁸ All thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made thee glad.

⁹ Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women; the queen stands at thy right hand with a crown of gold from Ophir.

2 ¶ I am the lily of the field {Heb. Sharon} and the rose of the valleys.

² As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the virgins.

³ ¶ As the apple tree among the trees of the wild, so is my beloved among the sons. I desired to sit under his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

⁴ He brought me to the wine chamber and placed his banner of love over me.

⁵ Sustain me with flagons of wine, strengthen me with apples; for I am sick with love.

⁶ His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.

⁷ I charge you, O ye virgins of Jerusalem, by the roes and by the hinds of the field that ye not awake nor stir up love, until he pleases.

⁹ Let the brother of low degree rejoice in his high status;

¹⁰ and he who is rich, in his low status, because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

¹¹ For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withers the grass, and its flower falls, and the beautiful appearance of it perishes: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

¹² Blessed is the man that patiently endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those that love him.

¹³ ¶ Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither does he tempt anyone:

¹⁴ But each one is tempted, when they are drawn away of their own lust and enticed.

¹⁵ Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.

¹⁶ Do not err, my beloved brethren.