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The most beautiful of songs, by Solomon.
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Your lips cover me with kisses; your love is better than wine.
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There is a fragrance about you; the sound of your name recalls it. No woman could keep from loving you.
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Take me with you, and we'll run away; be my king and take me to your room. We will be happy together, drink deep, and lose ourselves in love. No wonder all women love you!
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Women of Jerusalem, I am dark but beautiful, dark as the desert tents of Kedar, but beautiful as the draperies in Solomon's palace.
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Don't look down on me because of my color, because the sun has tanned me. My brothers were angry with me and made me work in the vineyard. I had no time to care for myself.
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Tell me, my love, Where will you lead your flock to graze? Where will they rest from the noonday sun? Why should I need to look for you among the flocks of the other shepherds?
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Don't you know the place, loveliest of women? Go and follow the flock; find pasture for your goats near the tents of the shepherds.
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You, my love, excite men as a mare excites the stallions of Pharaoh's chariots.
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Your hair is beautiful upon your cheeks and falls along your neck like jewels.
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But we will make for you a chain of gold with ornaments of silver.
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My king was lying on his couch, and my perfume filled the air with fragrance.
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My lover has the scent of myrrh as he lies upon my breasts.
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My lover is like the wild flowers that bloom in the vineyards at Engedi.
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How beautiful you are, my love; how your eyes shine with love!
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How handsome you are, my dearest; how you delight me! The green grass will be our bed;
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the cedars will be the beams of our house, and the cypress trees the ceiling.
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I am only a wild flower in Sharon, a lily in a mountain valley.
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Like a lily among thorns is my darling among women.
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Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my dearest compared to other men. I love to sit in its shadow, and its fruit is sweet to my taste.
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He brought me to his banquet hall and raised the banner of love over me.
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Restore my strength with raisins and refresh me with apples! I am weak from passion.
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His left hand is under my head, and his right hand caresses me.
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Promise me, women of Jerusalem; swear by the swift deer and the gazelles that you will not interrupt our love.
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I hear my lover's voice. He comes running over the mountains, racing across the hills to me.
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My lover is like a gazelle, like a young stag. There he stands beside the wall. He looks in through the window and glances through the lattice.
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My lover speaks to me. Come then, my love; my darling, come with me.
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The winter is over; the rains have stopped;
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in the countryside the flowers are in bloom. This is the time for singing; the song of doves is heard in the fields.
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Figs are beginning to ripen; the air is fragrant with blossoming vines. Come then, my love; my darling, come with me.
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You are like a dove that hides in the crevice of a rock. Let me see your lovely face and hear your enchanting voice.
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Catch the foxes, the little foxes, before they ruin our vineyard in bloom.
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My lover is mine, and I am his. He feeds his flock among the lilies
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until the morning breezes blow and the darkness disappears. Return, my darling, like a gazelle, like a stag on the mountains of Bether.
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Asleep on my bed, night after night I dreamed of the one I love; I was looking for him, but couldn't find him.
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I went wandering through the city, through its streets and alleys. I looked for the one I love. I looked, but couldn't find him.
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The sentries patrolling the city saw me. I asked them, "Have you found my lover?"
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As soon as I left them, I found him. I held him and wouldn't let him go until I took him to my mother's house, to the room where I was born.
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Promise me, women of Jerusalem; swear by the swift deer and the gazelles that you will not interrupt our love.
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What is this coming from the desert like a column of smoke, fragrant with incense and myrrh, the incense sold by the traders?
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Solomon is coming, carried on his throne; sixty soldiers form the bodyguard, the finest soldiers in Israel.
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All of them are skillful with the sword; they are battle-hardened veterans. Each of them is armed with a sword, on guard against a night attack.
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King Solomon is carried on a throne made of the finest wood.
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Its posts are covered with silver; over it is cloth embroidered with gold. Its cushions are covered with purple cloth, lovingly woven by the women of Jerusalem.
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Women of Zion, come and see King Solomon. He is wearing the crown that his mother placed on his head on his wedding day, on the day of his gladness and joy.
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How beautiful you are, my love! How your eyes shine with love behind your veil. Your hair dances like a flock of goats bounding down the hills of Gilead.
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Your teeth are as white as sheep that have just been shorn and washed. Not one of them is missing; they are all perfectly matched.
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Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon; how lovely they are when you speak. Your cheeks glow behind your veil.
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Your neck is like the tower of David, round and smooth, with a necklace like a thousand shields hung around it.
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Your breasts are like gazelles, twin deer feeding among lilies.
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I will stay on the hill of myrrh, the hill of incense, until the morning breezes blow and the darkness disappears.
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How beautiful you are, my love; how perfect you are!
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Come with me from the Lebanon Mountains, my bride; come with me from Lebanon. Come down from the top of Mount Amana, from Mount Senir and Mount Hermon, where the lions and leopards live.
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The look in your eyes, my sweetheart and bride, and the necklace you are wearing have stolen my heart.
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Your love delights me, my sweetheart and bride. Your love is better than wine; your perfume more fragrant than any spice.
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The taste of honey is on your lips, my darling; your tongue is milk and honey for me. Your clothing has all the fragrance of Lebanon.
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My sweetheart, my bride, is a secret garden, a walled garden, a private spring;
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there the plants flourish. They grow like an orchard of pomegranate trees and bear the finest fruits. There is no lack of henna and nard,
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of saffron, calamus, and cinnamon, or incense of every kind. Myrrh and aloes grow there with all the most fragrant perfumes.
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Fountains water the garden, streams of flowing water, brooks gushing down from the Lebanon Mountains.
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Wake up, North Wind. South Wind, blow on my garden; fill the air with fragrance. Let my lover come to his garden and eat the best of its fruits.
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Children, it is your Christian duty to obey your parents, for this is the right thing to do.
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"Respect your father and mother" is the first commandment that has a promise added:
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"so that all may go well with you, and you may live a long time in the land."
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Parents, do not treat your children in such a way as to make them angry. Instead, raise them with Christian discipline and instruction.
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Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling; and do it with a sincere heart, as though you were serving Christ.
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Do this not only when they are watching you, because you want to gain their approval; but with all your heart do what God wants, as slaves of Christ.
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Do your work as slaves cheerfully, as though you served the Lord, and not merely human beings.
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Remember that the Lord will reward each of us, whether slave or free, for the good work we do.
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Masters, behave in the same way toward your slaves and stop using threats. Remember that you and your slaves belong to the same Master in heaven, who judges everyone by the same standard.
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Finally, build up your strength in union with the Lord and by means of his mighty power.
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Put on all the armor that God gives you, so that you will be able to stand up against the Devil's evil tricks.
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For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age.
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So put on God's armor now! Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist the enemy's attacks; and after fighting to the end, you will still hold your ground.
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So stand ready, with truth as a belt tight around your waist, with righteousness as your breastplate,
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and as your shoes the readiness to announce the Good News of peace.
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At all times carry faith as a shield; for with it you will be able to put out all the burning arrows shot by the Evil One.
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And accept salvation as a helmet, and the word of God as the sword which the Spirit gives you.
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Do all this in prayer, asking for God's help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God's people.
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And pray also for me, that God will give me a message when I am ready to speak, so that I may speak boldly and make known the gospel's secret.
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For the sake of this gospel I am an ambassador, though now I am in prison. Pray that I may be bold in speaking about the gospel as I should.
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Tychicus, our dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord's work, will give you all the news about me, so that you may know how I am getting along.
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That is why I am sending him to you---to tell you how all of us are getting along and to encourage you.
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May God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give to all Christians peace and love with faith.
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May God's grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with undying love.
