The Song of Songs 1
The Bride
1 The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.†
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, For your love is better than wine,†
3 And the smell of your ointments is better than all spices. Your name is ointment poured forth; Therefore, the young maidens love you.†
Companions
4 They draw you. We will run after you For the smell of your ointments. The king brought me into his chamber. Let us be extremely joyful and glad in you. We will love your breasts more than wine; Uprightness loves you.†
The Bride
5 I am black and beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem, As the tents of Kedar, As the curtains of Solomon.†
6 Do not look at me because I am black, For the sun gave me a tan. The sons of my mother fought with me And made me keeper in the vineyards. But I have not kept my own vineyard.†
7 Tell me, you whom my soul loves, Where you shepherd your flock, Where you rest them at noonday; Lest I become as one Who encompasses herself With the herds of your companions.†
The Groom
8 If you do not know yourself, Fairest among women, Go forth on the heels of the flocks, And tend your young goats by the shepherds’ tents.†
9 I have likened you, my beloved, To my horses in the chariots of Pharaoh.
10 Your cheeks are as beautiful as turtledoves, Your neck as a small necklace.†
Companions
11 We will make for you figures of gold With studs of silver.
The Bride
12 While the king was at the table, My spikenard gave forth its smell.†
13 My beloved is to me a bundle of myrrh; He shall take rest in between my breasts.†
14 To me, my beloved is a cluster of grapes from Cyprus In the vineyards of En Gedi.†
The Groom
15 Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved; Behold, you are beautiful; Your eyes are doves.†
The Bride
16 Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, And indeed lovely; Our bed is shaded.†
17 The beams of our houses are cedars; Our ceilings are cypress wood.†
Psalms 134
1 Alleluia. †Praise the name of the Lord, O you servants; praise the Lord,
2 You who stand in the house of the Lord, In the courts of the house of our God.
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; Sing to His name, for it is good;
4 For the Lord chose Jacob for Himself, Israel for His special treasure.
5 For I know the Lord is great, And our Lord is above all the gods.
6 All things whatsoever the Lord willed, He did, In heaven and on the earth, In the seas and in all deep places,
7 Bringing clouds from the furthest part of the earth; He made lightning for the rain, Bringing winds from His storehouses.
8 He struck the firstborn of Egypt, From man to cattle;
9 He sent forth signs and wonders in your midst, O Egypt, Among Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He struck many nations And destroyed mighty kings,
11 Sihon king of the Amorites, And Og king of Bashan, And all the kingdoms of Canaan;
12 And He gave their land as an inheritance, An inheritance for Israel His people.
Proverbs 28
26 He who casts off his father or mother and thinks he does not sin, He is the accomplice of an ungodly man.
27 A greedy man judges rashly, But he who trusts in the Lord shall be careful.
28 He who trusts in an arrogant heart, such a man is without discernment, But he who walks in wisdom, such a man shall be saved.†
29 He who gives to the poor shall not be in want, But he who turns away his eye from them shall be in much distress.
30 The righteous lament in the places of the ungodly, But in their destruction the righteous shall be increased.†
John 20
The Tomb Is Empty
1 Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.†
2 Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”†
3 Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb.†
4 So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first.
5 And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in.
6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there,
7 and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.†
8 Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed.
9 For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.†
10 Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb.†
12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”†
14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.†
15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).†
17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ”†
18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.†
Jesus Appears to Ten Disciples
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”†
22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.†
25 The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!”
27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The Purpose of John’s Gospel
30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book;†
31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.