Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
9 I will sing a new song unto You, O God,
on a harp and an instrument of ten strings I will sing praises unto You;
10 it is He who gives victory to kings,
who delivers David His servant from the cruel sword.
11 Rescue me and deliver me
from the hand of foreigners,
whose mouths speak lies
and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
12 May our sons in their youth
be like plants full grown,
and our daughters like cornerstones,
cut in the similitude of a palace,
13 that our granaries may be full,
providing all manner of produce,
that our sheep may bring forth
thousands and ten thousands in our fields,
14 and may our cattle be strong in labor.
May there be no breaking in
or going out,
and no wailing in our streets.
15 Blessed are the people who have such things;
indeed, blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.
The Woman
2 I slept, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My beloved is knocking. “Open to me, my sister, and my love,
my dove, my perfect one;
for my head is wet with dew,
my locks with the drops of the night.”
3 I had taken off my garment;
how could I put it on again?
I had bathed my feet;
how could I soil them?
4 My beloved put his hand by the latch,
and my heart yearned for him.
5 I rose up to open to my beloved,
and my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with liquid myrrh
on the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened to my beloved,
but my beloved had turned and was gone.
My soul failed me when he spoke.
I sought him, but found him not;
I called him, but he gave no answer.
7 The watchmen found me
as they went about the city;
they struck me, they wounded me;
they took away my mantle,
those watchmen of the walls.
8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
if you find my beloved,
that you tell him I am faint with love.
Friends of the Woman
9 What is your beloved more than another beloved,
O fairest among women?
What is your beloved more than another beloved,
that you so charge us?
The Woman
10 My beloved is white and ruddy,
distinguished among ten thousand.
11 His head is the finest gold;
his locks are wavy,
black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves
beside rivers of water,
bathed in milk,
fitly set.
13 His cheeks are like beds of spices,
mounds of scented herbs.
His lips are lilies,
dripping liquid myrrh.
14 His arms are rods of gold,
set with jewels.
His body is bright ivory,
inlaid with sapphires.
15 His legs are alabaster columns,
set on bases of gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
choice as the cedars.
16 His mouth is most sweet,
and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.
Friends of the Woman
6 Where has your beloved gone,
O fairest among women?
Where has your beloved turned aside,
that we may seek him with you?
The Woman
2 My beloved has gone down to his garden,
to the beds of spices,
to feed his flock in the gardens,
and to gather lilies.
3 I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;
he feeds his flock among the lilies.
19 For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God a person endures grief, suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if when you are being beaten for your sins you patiently endure? But if when doing good and suffering for it, you patiently endure, this is favorable before God. 21 For to this you were called, because Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:
22 “He committed no sin,
nor was deceit found in His mouth.”[a]
23 When He was reviled, He did not revile back; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but He entrusted Himself to Him who judges righteously. 24 He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness. “By His wounds you were healed.”[b] 25 For you were as sheep going astray, but now have been returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.