Song of Songs 1

The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.
Woman

2 Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your caresses are more delightful than wine.
3 The fragrance of your perfume is intoxicating;
your name is perfume poured out.
No wonder young women adore you.
4 Take me with you ​— ​let’s hurry.
Oh, that the king would bring me to his chambers.
Young Women

We will rejoice and be glad in you;
we will celebrate your caresses more than wine.
Woman

It is only right that they adore you.
5 Daughters of Jerusalem,
I am dark like the tents of Kedar,
yet lovely like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not stare at me because I am dark,
for the sun has gazed on me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
they made me take care of the vineyards.
I have not taken care of my own vineyard.
7 Tell me, you whom I love:
Where do you pasture your sheep?
Where do you let them rest at noon?
Why should I be like one who veils herself
beside the flocks of your companions?
Man

8 If you do not know,
most beautiful of women,
follow the tracks of the flock,
and pasture your young goats
near the shepherds’ tents.
9 I compare you, my darling,
to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with jewelry,
your neck with its necklace.
11 We will make gold jewelry for you,
accented with silver.
Woman

12 While the king is on his couch,
my perfume releases its fragrance.
13 The one I love is a sachet of myrrh to me,
spending the night between my breasts.
14 The one I love is a cluster of henna blossoms to me,
in the vineyards of En-gedi.
Man

15 How beautiful you are, my darling.
How very beautiful!
Your eyes are doves.
Woman

16 How handsome you are, my love.
How delightful!
Our bed is verdant;
17 the beams of our house are cedars,
and our rafters are cypresses.

Song of Songs 2

I am a wildflower of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.
Man

2 Like a lily among thorns,
so is my darling among the young women.
Woman

3 Like an apricot tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my love among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
4 He brought me to the banquet hall,
and he looked on me with love.
5 Sustain me with raisins;
refresh me with apricots,
for I am lovesick.
6 May his left hand be under my head,
and his right arm embrace me.
7 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field,
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.
8 Listen! My love is approaching.
Look! Here he comes,
leaping over the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9 My love is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
See, he is standing behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.
10 My love calls to me:
Man

Arise, my darling.
Come away, my beautiful one.
11 For now the winter is past;
the rain has ended and gone away.
12 The blossoms appear in the countryside.
The time of singing has come,
and the turtledove’s cooing is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree ripens its figs;
the blossoming vines give off their fragrance.
Arise, my darling.
Come away, my beautiful one.
14 My dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the crevices of the cliff,
let me see your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.
Woman

15 Catch the foxes for us —
the little foxes that ruin the vineyards —
for our vineyards are in bloom.
Woman

16 My love is mine and I am his;
he feeds among the lilies.
17 Until the day breaks
and the shadows flee,
turn around, my love, and be like a gazelle
or a young stag on the divided mountains.

Song of Songs 3

In my bed at night
I sought the one I love;
I sought him, but did not find him.
2 I will arise now and go about the city,
through the streets and the plazas.
I will seek the one I love.
I sought him, but did not find him.
3 The guards who go about the city found me.
I asked them, “Have you seen the one I love? ”
4 I had just passed them
when I found the one I love.
I held on to him and would not let him go
until I brought him to my mother’s house —
to the chamber of the one who conceived me.
5 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field,
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.
Narrator

6 Who is this coming up from the wilderness
like columns of smoke,
scented with myrrh and frankincense
from every fragrant powder of the merchant?
7 Look! Solomon’s bed
surrounded by sixty warriors
from the mighty men of Israel.
8 All of them are skilled with swords
and trained in warfare.
Each has his sword at his side
to guard against the terror of the night.
9 King Solomon made a carriage for himself
with wood from Lebanon.
10 He made its posts of silver,
its back of gold,
and its seat of purple.
Its interior is inlaid with love
by the young women of Jerusalem.
11 Go out, young women of Zion,
and gaze at King Solomon,
wearing the crown his mother placed on him
on the day of his wedding —
the day of his heart’s rejoicing. — Song of Songs 3:1-11 (CSB)

2 Corinthians 12

SUFFICIENT GRACE
Boasting is necessary. It is not profitable, but I will move on to visions and revelations of the Lord.
2 I know a man in Christ who was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether he was in the body or out of the body, I don’t know; God knows. 3 I know that this man ​— ​whether in the body or out of the body I don’t know; God knows ​— ​4 was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a human being is not allowed to speak. 5 I will boast about this person, but not about myself, except of my weaknesses.

6 For if I want to boast, I wouldn’t be a fool, because I would be telling the truth. But I will spare you, so that no one can credit me with something beyond what he sees in me or hears from me, 7 especially because of the extraordinary revelations. Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so that I would not exalt myself. 8 Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it would leave me. 9 But he said to me,“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.”

Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. 10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

SIGNS OF AN APOSTLE
11 I have been a fool; you forced it on me. You ought to have commended me, since I am not in any way inferior to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing. 12 The signs of an apostle were performed with unfailing endurance among you, including signs and wonders and miracles. 13 So in what way are you worse off than the other churches, except that I personally did not burden you? Forgive me for this wrong!

PAUL’S CONCERN FOR THE CORINTHIANS
14 Look, I am ready to come to you this third time. I will not burden you, since I am not seeking what is yours, but you. For children ought not save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 I will most gladly spend and be spent for you. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? 16 Now granted, I did not burden you; yet sly as I am, I took you in by deceit! 17 Did I take advantage of you by any of those I sent you? 18 I urged Titus to go, and I sent the brother with him. Titus didn’t take advantage of you, did he? Didn’t we walk in the same spirit and in the same footsteps?

19 Have you been thinking all along that we were defending ourselves to you? No, in the sight of God we are speaking in Christ, and everything, dear friends, is for building you up. 20 For I fear that perhaps when I come I will not find you to be what I want, and you may not find me to be what you want. Perhaps there will be quarreling, jealousy, angry outbursts, selfish ambitions, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder. 21 I fear that when I come my God will again humiliate me in your presence, and I will grieve for many who sinned before and have not repented of the moral impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality they practiced.

— 2 Corinthians 12:1-21 (CSB)