Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

45 My heart stirs with good words. I will speak of my works concerning the King. My tongue is as the pen of a swift writer.

² You are more beautiful than the children of men. Grace is poured in Your lips because God has blessed You forever.

⁶ Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of Your Kingdom is a scepter of righteousness.

⁷ You love righteousness and hate wickedness, because God, even Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your fellows.

⁸ All Your garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia, of the ivory palaces where they have made You glad.

⁹ King’s daughters were among Your honorable women. Upon Your right hand stood the queen in a vesture of gold of Ophir.

2 “I am the rose of the field, the lily of the valleys.”

² “Like a lily among the thorns, so is my love among the daughters.”

³ “Like the apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my well-beloved among the sons of men. Under his shadow I had delight and sat down. And his fruit was sweet to my mouth.”

⁴ “He brought me into the wine cellar. And love was his banner over me.

⁵ “Sustain me with raisins, and comfort me with apples. For I am lovesick.

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

⁷ “I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and by the does of the field, that you neither stir up nor awaken my love until she pleases.”

⁹ Let the brother of low degree rejoice, in that he is exalted;

¹⁰ likewise the one who is rich, in that he is made low. For as the flower of the grass, he shall vanish away.

¹¹ For when the Sun rises with heat, the grass withers, its flower falls away and its good shape perishes. So, also, shall the rich man wither away in all his ways.

¹² Blessed is the man who endures trials. For when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God.” For God cannot be tempted with evil, nor does He tempt anyone.

¹⁴ But everyone is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and is enticed.

¹⁵ Then, when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin. And sin, when it is completed, brings forth death.

¹⁶ Make no mistake, my dear brothers.