Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

16 ·Protect [Guard] me, God,
    because I ·trust [take refuge] in you.
² I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord.
    ·Every good thing I have comes from you [I have no good apart from you].”
³ As for the ·godly people [holy ones; saints] in the ·world [or land],
    they are the ·wonderful [noble] ones I ·enjoy [take pleasure in].
⁴ But those who ·turn to [run/hurry after] ·idols [other gods]
    ·will have much [multiply] pain.
I will not ·offer [pour out offerings of] blood to those idols
    or even ·speak [^Ltake on my lips] their names.

⁸ I hear ·my lover’s voice [the sound of my lover].
    Here he comes ·jumping [leaping] across the mountains,
    ·skipping [bounding] over the hills [^Che moves with agile grace and speed].
⁹ My lover is like a gazelle or a young ·deer [stag].
    Look, he stands behind our wall
·peeking [staring] through the windows,
    looking through the ·blinds [lattice].
¹⁰ My lover spoke and said to me,
    “·Get [Rise] up, my darling;
    let’s go away, my beautiful one.
¹¹ Look, the winter is past;
    the rains are over and gone [^Cspring has arrived, the time of love].
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 [^Lripening on] the fig trees,
    and the blossoms on the vines ·smell sweet [^Lspread their fragrance].
·Get [Rise] up, my darling;
    let’s go away, my beautiful one.”

¹⁴ My beloved is like a dove hiding in the ·cracks [crevices] of the rock,
    in the ·secret [hiding] places of the cliff.
·Show me [Let me see] your ·face [^Lform],
    and let me hear your voice.
Your voice is ·sweet [agreeable],
    and your ·face [form] is ·lovely [pleasant].
¹⁵ ·Catch [Grab] the foxes for us—
    the little foxes that ruin the vineyards
while they are in blossom [^Cthreats to the relationship].