SONG OF SONGS 5:1-8:14
2 CORINTHIANS 9:1-15
PSALM 51:1-19
PROVERBS 22:24-25
SONG OF SONGS 5:1-8:14
Young Man: " I am here in my garden, my treasure, my bride! I gather my myrrh with my spices and eat my honeycomb with my honey. I drink my wine with my milk." Young Women of Jerusalem: " Oh, lover and beloved, eat and drink! Yes, drink deeply of this love!" Young Woman: 2 " One night as I was sleeping, my heart awakened in a dream. I heard the voice of my lover. He was knocking at my bedroom door. ` Open to me, my darling, my treasure, my lovely dove,' he said, ` for I have been out in the night. My head is soaked with dew, my hair with the wetness of the night.' 3 " But I said, ` I have taken off my robe. Should I get dressed again? I have washed my feet. Should I get them soiled?' 4 " My lover tried to unlatch the door, and my heart thrilled within me. 5 I jumped up to open it. My hands dripped with perfume, my fingers with lovely myrrh, as I pulled back the bolt. 6 I opened to my lover, but he was gone. I yearned for even his voice! I searched for him, but I couldn't find him anywhere. I called to him, but there was no reply. 7 The watchmen found me as they were making their rounds; they struck and wounded me. The watchman on the wall tore off my veil. 8 " Make this promise to me, O women of Jerusalem! If you find my beloved one, tell him that I am sick with love." Young Women of Jerusalem: 9 " O woman of rare beauty, what is it about your loved one that brings you to tell us this?" Young Woman: 10 " My lover is dark and dazzling, better than ten thousand others! 11 His head is the finest gold, and his hair is wavy and black. 12 His eyes are like doves beside brooks of water; they are set like jewels. 13 His cheeks are like sweetly scented beds of spices. His lips are like perfumed lilies. His breath is like myrrh. 14 His arms are like round bars of gold, set with chrysolite. His body is like bright ivory, aglow with sapphires. 15 His legs are like pillars of marble set in sockets of the finest gold, strong as the cedars of Lebanon. None can rival him. 16 His mouth is altogether sweet; he is lovely in every way. Such, O women of Jerusalem, is my lover, my friend." 6:1 YOUNG Women of Jerusalem: " O rarest of beautiful women, where has your lover gone? We will help you find him." Young Woman: 2 " He has gone down to his garden, to his spice beds, to graze and to gather the lilies. 3 I am my lover's, and my lover is mine. He grazes among the lilies!" Young Man: 4 " O my beloved, you are as beautiful as the lovely town of Tirzah. Yes, as beautiful as Jerusalem! You are as majestic as an army with banners! 5 Look away, for your eyes overcome me! Your hair falls in waves, like a flock of goats frisking down the slopes of Gilead. 6 Your teeth are as white as newly washed sheep. They are perfectly matched; not one is missing. 7 Your cheeks behind your veil are like pomegranate halves--lovely and delicious. 8 There may be sixty wives, all queens, and eighty concubines and unnumbered virgins available to me. 9 But I would still choose my dove, my perfect one, the only beloved daughter of her mother! The young women are delighted when they see her; even queens and concubines sing her praises! 10 ` Who is this,' they ask, ` arising like the dawn, as fair as the moon, as bright as the sun, as majestic as an army with banners?' 11 " I went down into the grove of nut trees and out to the valley to see the new growth brought on by spring. I wanted to see whether the grapevines were budding yet, or whether the pomegranates were blossoming. 12 Before I realized it, I found myself in my princely bed with my beloved one." Young Women of Jerusalem: 13 " Return, return to us, O maid of Shulam. Come back, come back, that we may see you once again." Young Man: " Why do you gaze so intently at this young woman of Shulam, as she moves so gracefully between two lines of dancers?" 7:1 YOUNG Man: " How beautiful are your sandaled feet, O queenly maiden. Your rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of a skilled craftsman. 2 Your navel is as delicious as a goblet filled with wine. Your belly is lovely, like a heap of wheat set about with lilies. 3 Your breasts are like twin fawns of a gazelle. 4 Your neck is as stately as an ivory tower. Your eyes are like the sparkling pools in Heshbon by the gate of Bath-rabbim. Your nose is as fine as the tower of Lebanon overlooking Damascus. 5 Your head is as majestic as Mount Carmel, and the sheen of your hair radiates royalty. A king is held captive in your queenly tresses. 6 " Oh, how delightful you are, my beloved; how pleasant for utter delight! 7 You are tall and slim like a palm tree, and your breasts are like its clusters of dates. 8 I said, ` I will climb up into the palm tree and take hold of its branches.' Now may your breasts be like grape clusters, and the scent of your breath like apples. 9 May your kisses be as exciting as the best wine, smooth and sweet, flowing gently over lips and teeth." Young Woman: 10 " I am my lover's, the one he desires. 11 Come, my love, let us go out into the fields and spend the night among the wildflowers. 12 Let us get up early and go out to the vineyards. Let us see whether the vines have budded, whether the blossoms have opened, and whether the pomegranates are in flower. And there I will give you my love. 13 There the mandrakes give forth their fragrance, and the rarest fruits are at our doors, the new as well as old, for I have stored them up for you, my lover." 8:1 YOUNG Woman: " Oh, if only you were my brother, who nursed at my mother's breast. Then I could kiss you no matter who was watching, and no one would criticize me. 2 I would bring you to my childhood home, and there you would teach me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, my sweet pomegranate wine. 3 Your left hand would be under my head and your right hand would embrace me. 4 " I want you to promise, O women of Jerusalem, not to awaken love until the time is right." Young Women of Jerusalem: 5 " Who is this coming up from the desert, leaning on her lover?" Young Woman: " I aroused you under the apple tree, where your mother gave you birth, where in great pain she delivered you. 6 Place me like a seal over your heart, or like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, and its jealousy is as enduring as the grave. Love flashes like fire, the brightest kind of flame. 7 Many waters cannot quench love; neither can rivers drown it. If a man tried to buy love with everything he owned, his offer would be utterly despised." The Young Woman's Brothers: 8 " We have a little sister too young for breasts. What will we do if someone asks to marry her? 9 If she is chaste, we will strengthen and encourage her. But if she is promiscuous, we will shut her off from men." Young Woman: 10 " I am chaste, and I am now full breasted. And my lover is content with me. 11 " Solomon has a vineyard at Baal-hamon, which he rents to some farmers there. Each of them pays one thousand pieces of silver for its use. 12 But as for my own vineyard, O Solomon, you can take my thousand pieces of silver. And I will give two hundred pieces of silver to those who care for its vines." Young Man: 13 " O my beloved, lingering in the gardens, how wonderful that your companions can listen to your voice. Let me hear it, too!" Young Woman: 14 " Come quickly, my love! Move like a swift gazelle or a young deer on the mountains of spices."
2 CORINTHIANS 9:1-15
I [Paul] really don't need to write to you [Corinthians] about this gift for the Christians in Jerusalem. 2 For I know how eager you are to help, and I have been boasting to our friends in Macedonia that you Christians in Greece were ready to send an offering a year ago. In fact, it was your enthusiasm that stirred up many of them to begin helping. 3 But I am sending these brothers just to be sure that you really are ready, as I told them you would be, with your money all collected. I don't want it to turn out that I was wrong in my boasting about you. 4 I would be humiliated--and so would you--if some Macedonian Christians came with me, only to find that you still weren't ready after all I had told them! 5 So I thought I should send these brothers ahead of me to make sure the gift you promised is ready. But I want it to be a willing gift, not one given under pressure. 6 Remember this--a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7 You must each make up your own mind as to how much you should give. Don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves the person who gives cheerfully. 8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. 9 As the Scriptures say, " Godly people give generously to the poor.
Their good deeds will never be forgotten."
10 For God is the one who gives seed to the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will give you many opportunities to do good, and he will produce a great harvest of generosity in you. 11 Yes, you will be enriched so that you can give even more generously. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will break out in thanksgiving to God. 12 So two good things will happen--the needs of the Christians in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanksgiving to God. 13 You will be glorifying God through your generous gifts. For your generosity to them will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. 14 And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the wonderful grace of God shown through you. 15 Thank God for his Son--a gift too wonderful for words!
PSALM 51:1-19
For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Nathan the prophet came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
2 Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
3 For I recognize my shameful deeds--
they haunt me day and night.
4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.
5 For I was born a sinner--
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But you desire honesty from the heart,
so you can teach me to be wise in my inmost being.
7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me--
now let me rejoice.
9 Don't keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a right spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence,
and don't take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me again the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.
13 Then I will teach your ways to sinners,
and they will return to you.
14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
15 Unseal my lips, O Lord,
that I may praise you.
16 You would not be pleased with sacrifices,
or I would bring them.
If I brought you a burnt offering,
you would not accept it.
17 The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit.
A broken and repentant heart, O God,
you will not despise.
18 Look with favor on Zion and help her;
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will be pleased with worthy sacrifices
and with our whole burnt offerings;
and bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.
PROVERBS 22:24-25
Keep away from angry, short-tempered people, or you will learn to be like them and endanger your soul.
