Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
14 The Lord gives me strength and protects me;[a]
he has become my deliverer.”[b]
15 They celebrate deliverance in the tents of the godly.[c]
The Lord’s right hand conquers.[d]
16 The Lord’s right hand gives victory;[e]
the Lord’s right hand conquers.
17 I will not die, but live,
and I will proclaim what the Lord has done.[f]
18 The Lord severely[g] punished me,
but he did not hand me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of the just king’s temple.[h]
I will enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the Lord’s gate—
the godly enter through it.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me,
and have become my deliverer.
22 The stone that the builders discarded[i]
has become the cornerstone.[j]
23 This is the Lord’s work.
We consider it amazing![k]
24 This is the day the Lord has brought about.[l]
We will be happy and rejoice in it.
The Lost Lover is Found
The Beloved about Her Lover:
3 All night long[a] on my bed[b]
I longed for[c] my lover.[d]
I longed for[e] him but he never appeared.[f]
2 “I will arise[g] and look all around[h] throughout the town,
and throughout the streets[i] and squares;
I will search for my beloved.”
I searched for him but I did not find him.[j]
3 The night watchmen found me—the ones who guard the city walls.[k]
“Have you seen my beloved?”[l]
4 Scarcely[m] had I passed them by
when I found my beloved!
I held onto him[n] tightly and would not let him go[o]
until I brought him to my mother’s house,[p]
to the bedroom chamber[q] of the one who conceived me.
The Adjuration Refrain
The Beloved to the Maidens:
5 [r] I admonish you, O maidens of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles and by the young does of the open fields:
“Do not awaken or arouse love until it pleases!”
The Royal Wedding Procession
The Speaker:[s]
6 Who is this coming up from the wilderness
like a column of smoke,
like[t] a fragrant billow[u] of myrrh and frankincense,[v]
every kind of fragrant powder[w] of the traveling merchants?[x]
7 Look! It is Solomon’s portable couch![y]
It is surrounded by sixty warriors,
some of Israel’s mightiest warriors.
8 All of them are skilled with a sword,[z]
well trained in the art of warfare.[aa]
Each has his sword at his side,
to guard against the terrors of the night.
9 King Solomon made a sedan chair[ab] for himself
of wood imported from Lebanon.[ac]
10 Its posts were made[ad] of silver;[ae]
its back[af] was made of gold.
Its seat was upholstered with purple wool;[ag]
its interior was inlaid[ah] with leather[ai] by the maidens[aj] of Jerusalem.
11 Come out, O maidens of Zion,
and gaze upon King Solomon!
He is wearing the crown with which his mother crowned him
on his wedding day,
on the most joyous day of his life![ak]
The Resurrection
16 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought aromatic spices[a] so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, at sunrise, they went to the tomb. 3 They had been asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 4 But[b] when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled back. 5 Then[c] as they went into the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe[d] sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified.[e] He has been raised![f] He is not here. Look, there is the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples, even Peter, that he is going ahead of you into Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you.” 8 Then[g] they went out and ran from the tomb, for terror and bewilderment had seized them.[h] And they said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
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