Wednesday, 25 September

1.   THE DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM Where has your beloved gone, O fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned aside, That we may seek him with you? 2.   THE SHULAMITE My beloved has gone 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. 4.   THE BELOVED O my love, you are as beautiful as Tirzah, Lovely as Jerusalem, Awesome as an army with banners! 5.   Turn your eyes away from me, For they have overcome me. Your hair is like a flock of goats Going down from Gilead. 6.   Your teeth are like a flock of sheep Which have come up from the washing; Every one bears twins, And none is barren among them. 7.   Like a piece of pomegranate Are your temples behind your veil. 8.   There are sixty queens And eighty concubines, And virgins without number. 9.   My dove, my perfect one, Is the only one, The only one of her mother, The favorite of the one who bore her. The daughters saw her And called her blessed, The queens and the concubines, And they praised her. 10.   Who is she who looks forth as the morning, Fair as the moon, Clear as the sun, Awesome as an army with banners? 11.   THE SHULAMITE I went down to the garden of nuts To see the verdure of the valley, To see whether the vine had budded And the pomegranates had bloomed. 12.   Before I was even aware, My soul had made me As the chariots of my noble people. 13.   THE BELOVED AND HIS FRIENDS Return, return, O Shulamite; Return, return, that we may look upon you! THE SHULAMITE What would you see in the Shulamite––As it were, the dance of the two camps?

1.   THE BELOVED How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O prince’s daughter! The curves of your thighs are like jewels, The work of the hands of a skillful workman. 2.   Your navel is a rounded goblet; It lacks no blended beverage. Your waist is a heap of wheat Set about with lilies. 3.   Your two breasts are like two fawns, Twins of a gazelle. 4.   Your neck is like an ivory tower, Your eyes like the pools in Heshbon By the gate of Bath Rabbim. Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon Which looks toward Damascus. 5.   Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel, And the hair of your head is like purple; A king is held captive by your tresses. 6.   How fair and how pleasant you are, O love, with your delights! 7.   This stature of yours is like a palm tree, And your breasts like its clusters. 8.   I said, "I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of its branches." Let now your breasts be like clusters of the vine, The fragrance of your breath like apples, 9.   And the roof of your mouth like the best wine. THE SHULAMITE The wine goes down smoothly for my beloved, Moving gently the lips of sleepers. 10.   I am my beloved’s, And his desire is toward me. 11.   Come, my beloved, Let us go forth to the field; Let us lodge in the villages. 12.   Let us get up early to the vineyards; Let us see if the vine has budded, Whether the grape blossoms are open, And the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love. 13.   The mandrakes give off a fragrance, And at our gates are pleasant fruits , All manner, new and old, Which I have laid up for you, my beloved.

1.   Oh, that you were like my brother, Who nursed at my mother’s breasts! If I should find you outside, I would kiss you; I would not be despised. 2.   I would lead you and bring you Into the house of my mother, She who used to instruct me. I would cause you to drink of spiced wine, Of the juice of my pomegranate. 3.   (TO THE DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM) His left hand is under my head, And his right hand embraces me. 4.   I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, Do not stir up nor awaken love Until it pleases. 5.   A RELATIVE Who is this coming up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved? I awakened you under the apple tree. There your mother brought you forth; There she who bore you brought you forth. 6.   THE SHULAMITE TO HER BELOVED Set me as a seal upon your heart, As a seal upon your arm; For love is as strong as death, Jealousy as cruel as the grave; Its flames are flames of fire, A most vehement flame. 7.   Many waters cannot quench love, Nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love All the wealth of his house, It would be utterly despised. 8.   THE SHULAMITE’S BROTHERS We have a little sister, And she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister In the day when she is spoken for? 9.   If she is a wall, We will build upon her A battlement of silver; And if she is a door, We will enclose her With boards of cedar. 10.   THE SHULAMITE I am a wall, And my breasts like towers; Then I became in his eyes As one who found peace. 11.   Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon; He leased the vineyard to keepers; Everyone was to bring for its fruit A thousand silver coins. 12.   (TO SOLOMON) My own vineyard is before me. You, O Solomon, may have a thousand, And those who tend its fruit two hundred. 13.   THE BELOVED You who dwell in the gardens, The companions listen for your voice––Let me hear it! 14.   THE SHULAMITE Make haste, my beloved, And be like a gazelle Or a young stag On the mountains of spices.

1.   Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, 2.   in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, 3.   but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior; 4.   To Titus, a true son in our common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. 5.   For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you–– 6.   if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination. 7.   For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self–willed, not quick–tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, 8.   but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober–minded, just, holy, self–controlled, 9.   holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict. 10.   For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11.   whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain. 12.   One of them, a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." 13.   This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14.   not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth. 15.   To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. 16.   They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.