Solomon Admires His Bride’s Beauty
He
1 Behold, myou are beautiful, my love,
behold, you are beautiful!
nYour eyes are doves
obehind your veil.
pYour hair is like a flock of goats
leaping down qthe slopes of Gilead.
2 Your rteeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
and not one among them has lost its young.
3 Your lips are like sa scarlet thread,
and your mouth is tlovely.
Your ucheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
obehind your veil.
4 Your vneck is like the tower of David,
on it xhang a thousand shields,
all of ythem shields of warriors.
5 Your ztwo breasts are like two afawns,
twins of a gazelle,
that bgraze among the lilies.
6 cUntil the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
I will go away to the mountain of dmyrrh
and the hill of dfrankincense.
7 eYou are altogether beautiful, my love;
there is no fflaw in you.
8 gCome with me from hLebanon, my ibride;
come with me from hLebanon.
Depart2 from the peak of Amana,
from the peak of jSenir and kHermon,
from the dens of lions,
from the mountains of leopards.
9 You have captivated my heart, my lsister, my bride;
you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,
with one mjewel of your necklace.
10 How beautiful is your love, my lsister, my bride!
How much nbetter is your love than wine,
and othe fragrance of your oils than any spice!
11 Your plips drip nectar, my bride;
qhoney and milk are under your tongue;
the fragrance of your garments is rlike the fragrance of hLebanon.
12 A garden locked is my lsister, my bride,
a spring locked, sa fountain tsealed.
13 Your shoots are uan orchard of pomegranates
with all vchoicest fruits,
14 nard and saffron, ycalamus and ycinnamon,
with all trees of zfrankincense,
with all ychoice spices—
15 a garden fountain, a well of cliving water,
and flowing streams from hLebanon.
16 Awake, O north wind,
and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my dgarden,
let its spices flow.
Together in the Garden of Love
She
eLet my beloved come to his fgarden,
and eat its vchoicest fruits.
He
1 I gcame to my garden, my hsister, my bride,
I gathered my imyrrh with my spice,
I ate my jhoneycomb with my honey,
I kdrank my wine with my milk.
Others
Eat, lfriends, drink,
and be drunk with love!
The Bride Searches for Her Beloved
She
2 I slept, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My beloved is mknocking.
“Open to me, my nsister, my olove,
for my head is wet with dew,
my rlocks with the drops of the night.”
3 sI had put off my garment;
how could I put it on?
I had tbathed my feet;
how could I soil them?
4 My beloved put his hand to the latch,
and my heart was thrilled within me.
5 I arose to open to my beloved,
and my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with uliquid myrrh,
on the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened to my beloved,
but my beloved had turned and gone.
My soul failed me when he vspoke.
wI sought him, but found him not;
xI called him, but he gave no answer.
7 yThe watchmen found me
as they went about in the city;
they beat me, they bruised me,
they took away my veil,
those watchmen of the walls.
8 I zadjure you, O adaughters of Jerusalem,
if you find my beloved,
that you tell him
bI am sick with love.
Others
9 What is your beloved more than another beloved,
O cmost beautiful among women?
What is your beloved more than another beloved,
that you thus zadjure us?
The Bride Praises Her Beloved
She
10 My beloved is radiant and druddy,
edistinguished among ten thousand.
11 His head is the finest gold;
fhis locks are wavy,
black as a raven.
12 His geyes are like doves
beside streams of water,
bathed in milk,
sitting beside a full pool.3
13 His icheeks are like jbeds of spices,
mounds of sweet-smelling herbs.
His lips are klilies,
dripping uliquid myrrh.
14 His arms are rods of gold,
set with ljewels.
His body is polished ivory,4
15 His legs are alabaster columns,
set on bases of gold.
His appearance is like oLebanon,
choice as the cedars.
and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
O adaughters of Jerusalem.
Stephen’s Speech
1 And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 And Stephen said:
j“Brothers and fathers, hear me. kThe God lof glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, mbefore he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, n‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ 4 mThen he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And oafter his father died, pGod removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. 5 Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised qto give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, rthough he had no child. 6 And God spoke to this effect—that shis offspring would tbe sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them ufour hundred years. 7 ‘But vI will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out wand worship me in this place.’ 8 And xhe gave him the covenant of circumcision. And yso Abraham became the father of Isaac, and zcircumcised him on the eighth day, and aIsaac became the father of Jacob, and bJacob of the twelve patriarchs.
9 “And the patriarchs, cjealous of Joseph, dsold him into Egypt; but eGod was with him 10 and rescued him out of all his afflictions and fgave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, gwho made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11 Now hthere came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. 12 iBut when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. 13 And jon the second visit kJoseph made himself known to his brothers, and lJoseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 And mJoseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, nseventy-five persons in all. 15 And oJacob went down into Egypt, and phe died, he qand our fathers, 16 and rthey were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that sAbraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
17 “But tas the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, uthe people increased and multiplied in Egypt 18 until there arose over Egypt another king vwho did not know Joseph. 19 wHe dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, xso that they would not be kept alive. 20 yAt this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house, 21 and zwhen he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son.
