Song of Solomon 2

⁵I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.

¹⁵For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.

¹The wilderness and the dry land will be glad; the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.

²It will bloom profusely and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God.

¹³His cheeks are like beds of spice, towers of perfume. His lips are like lilies, dripping with flowing myrrh.

³I belong to my beloved and he belongs to me; he pastures his flock among the lilies.

¹⁶My beloved is mine and I am his; he pastures his flock among the lilies.

¹²Conduct yourselves with such honor among the Gentiles that, though they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.

¹³Instead of the thornbush, the cypress will grow, and instead of the brier, the myrtle will spring up; this will make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign, never to be destroyed.”

¹⁵so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world

¹⁶as you hold forth the word of life, in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.

²⁸And why do you worry about clothes? Consider how the lilies of the field grow: They do not labor or spin.

²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these.

¹⁶Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

⁵Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? I roused you under the apple tree; there your mother conceived you; there she travailed and brought you forth.

²Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a dry land, like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land.

⁴For You have been a refuge for the poor, a stronghold for the needy in distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like rain against a wall,

¹On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets.

²But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.

²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

¹⁴The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵John testified concerning Him. He cried out, saying, “This is He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’”

²⁸And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.

²⁹For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.

⁹As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love.

¹⁰If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.

⁸But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹Therefore, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him!

⁴Take me away with you—let us hurry! May the king bring me to his chambers. We will rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. It is only right that they adore you.

²⁰Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me.

¹⁰For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

⁸O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you, if you find my beloved, tell him I am sick with love.

¹Then the Lord said to me, “Go show love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love to offer raisin cakes to idols.”

¹⁹Then he distributed to every man and woman among the multitude of Israel a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake. And all the people departed, each to his own home.

¹For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God.

²My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and appear in God’s presence?

³²They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

¹After some time, David’s son Amnon fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of David’s son Absalom.

²Amnon was sick with frustration over his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed implausible for him to do anything to her.

⁵For your husband is your Maker—the Lord of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.

⁶For the Lord has called you back, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, like the rejected wife of one’s youth,” says your God.

¹⁷The Lord your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.”

⁴¹Yes, I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.

³His left hand is under my head, and his right arm embraces me.

⁴O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.

²⁹The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.

²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her

²⁶to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,

⁵O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.

⁴O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.

⁵I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.

⁸O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you, if you find my beloved, tell him I am sick with love.

⁹How is your beloved better than others, O most beautiful among women? How is your beloved better than another, that you charge us so?

¹⁹A loving doe, a graceful fawn—may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever.

²²Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

²³For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior.

²⁷My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.

⁷How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

¹⁷Before the day breaks and shadows flee, turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.

²⁹The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.

²⁰Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me.

⁴When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.

⁵But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will flee from him because they do not recognize his voice.”

¹⁴Come away, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.

¹⁷Before the day breaks and shadows flee, turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.

¹⁴For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility

¹⁵by abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and decrees. He did this to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace

¹⁷These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Christ.

¹For the law is only a shadow of the good things to come, not the realities themselves. It can never, by the same sacrifices offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.

³⁹You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me,

¹³The fig tree ripens its figs; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come away, my darling; come away with me, my beautiful one.”

⁷You are altogether beautiful, my darling; in you there is no flaw.

⁸Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon! Descend from the peak of Amana, from the summits of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of the lions, from the mountains of the leopards.

¹⁷The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let the one who hears say, “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires the water of life drink freely.

¹⁰Listen, O daughter! Consider and incline your ear: Forget your people and your father’s house,

¹¹and the king will desire your beauty; bow to him, for he is your lord.

²I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

¹⁷“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

¹⁸And: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

¹Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

²For behold, darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you, and His glory will appear over you.

¹¹He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done from beginning to end.

⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,

⁶For the Lord has called you back, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, like the rejected wife of one’s youth,” says your God.

⁷“For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will bring you back.

¹⁴The second woe has passed. Behold, the third woe is coming shortly.

¹⁵Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”

⁴a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

¹²You will indeed go out with joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

¹⁵Blessed are those who know the joyful sound, who walk, O Lord, in the light of Your presence.

⁷Praise the Lord from the earth, all great sea creatures and ocean depths,

⁸lightning and hail, snow and clouds, powerful wind fulfilling His word,

⁷Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons. The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush keep their time of migration, but My people do not know the requirements of the Lord.

¹⁶Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

¹¹I went down to the walnut grove to see the blossoms of the valley, to see if the vines were budding or the pomegranates were in bloom.

¹⁰My beloved calls to me, “Arise, my darling. Come away with me, my beautiful one.

¹⁰For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return without watering the earth, making it bud and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat,

¹¹so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it.

¹¹For as the earth brings forth its growth, and as a garden enables seed to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

⁶Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He went to look for fruit on it but did not find any.

⁷So he said to the keeper of the vineyard, ‘Look, for the past three years I have come to search for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Therefore cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

¹As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.

²For He says: “In the time of favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation!

¹¹Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside; let us spend the night among the wildflowers.

¹²Let us go early to the vineyards to see if the vine has budded, if the blossom has opened, if the pomegranates are in bloom—there I will give you my love.

⁵At the evening offering, I got up from my humiliation with my tunic and cloak torn, and I fell on my knees, spread out my hands to the Lord my God,

⁶and said: “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached the heavens.

⁵I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.

²I sleep, but my heart is awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.”

⁶Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

¹³You who dwell in the gardens, my companions are listening for your voice. Let me hear it!

²²and when My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.

²³Then I will take My hand away, and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen.”

³²But Jesus replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘Look, I will keep driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach My goal.’

¹Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.

²Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed.

¹²Let us go early to the vineyards to see if the vine has budded, if the blossom has opened, if the pomegranates are in bloom—there I will give you my love.

¹³The boar from the forest ravages it, and the creatures of the field feed upon it.

⁴Your prophets, O Israel, are like foxes among the ruins.

⁵You did not go up to the gaps or restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it would stand in the battle on the Day of the Lord.

²I know your deeds, your labor, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate those who are evil, and you have tested and exposed as liars those who falsely claim to be apostles.

³I belong to my beloved and he belongs to me; he pastures his flock among the lilies.

¹⁰I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me.

¹A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.

¹⁴For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even till death.

³³“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.

¹³The mandrakes send forth a fragrance, and at our door is every delicacy, new as well as old, that I have treasured up for you, my beloved.

⁶Before the day breaks and the shadows flee, I will make my way to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense.

¹⁹We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

¹²The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

⁷⁸because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the Dawn will visit us from on high,

¹For the law is only a shadow of the good things to come, not the realities themselves. It can never, by the same sacrifices offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.

⁵The place where they serve is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”