the rose of sharon

¹Bride: I am a flower of the open field and a lily of the steep valleys.

¹The desolate and impassable land will rejoice, and the place of solitude will exult, and it will flourish like the lily.

²It will spring up and blossom, and it will exult with rejoicing and praising. The glory of Lebanon has been given to it, with the beauty of Carmel and Sharon. These will see the glory of the Lord and the beauty of our God.

²⁹Now over the herds that were pastured in Sharon, Shitrai, a Sharonite, was in the first place; and over the oxen in the valleys, there was Shaphat, the son of Adlai.

¹⁶And they lived in Gilead, and in Bashan and its towns, and in all the suburbs of Sharon, as far as the borders.

¹Bride: I am a flower of the open field and a lily of the steep valleys. ²Groom: Like a lily among the thorns, so is my loved one among the daughters.

¹The desolate and impassable land will rejoice, and the place of solitude will exult, and it will flourish like the lily. ²It will spring up and blossom, and it will exult with rejoicing and praising. The glory of Lebanon has been given to it, with the beauty of Carmel and Sharon. These will see the glory of the Lord and the beauty of our God.

⁹The earth has mourned and languished. Lebanon has been confounded and desecrated. And Sharon has become like a desert. And Bashan and Carmel have been struck together.

³⁵And all who were living in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they were converted to the Lord.

¹⁶For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that all who believe in him may not perish, but may have eternal life.

⁵I will heal their contrition; I will love them spontaneously. For my wrath has been turned away from them.

¹Bride: May he kiss me with the kiss of his mouth.. Groom to Bride: So much better than wine are your breasts, ²fragranced with the finest perfumes. Bride to Groom: Your name is oil that has been poured out; therefore, the maidens have loved you. ³Draw me forward. Chorus to Bride: We will run after you in the odor of your perfumes. Bride to Chorus: The king has led me into his storerooms. Chorus to Bride: We will exult and rejoice in you, remembering your breasts above wine. Groom to Bride: The righteous love you. ⁴Bride to Chorus: O daughters of Jerusalem: I am black, but shapely, like the tabernacles of Kedar, like the tents of Solomon. ⁵Do not be concerned that I am dark, for the sun has changed my color. The sons of my mother have fought against me. They have made me the keeper of the vineyards. My own vineyard I have not kept. ⁶Bride to Groom: Reveal to me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture, where you recline at midday, lest I begin to wander after the flocks of your companions.

¹⁰And the open plains will become sheepfolds for the flocks, and the valley of Achor will become a domicile for the herds, for my people who have sought me.

⁶Jesus said to him: “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.

²Groom: Like a lily among the thorns, so is my loved one among the daughters.

⁵For there is one God, and one mediator of God and of men, the man Christ Jesus,

¹¹I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd gives his life for his sheep.

¹Therefore, set aside all malice and all deceitfulness, as well as falseness and envy and every detraction. ²Like newborn infants, desire the milk of reasonableness without guile, so that by this you may increase unto salvation, ³if it is true that you have tasted that the Lord is sweet. ⁴And approaching him as if he were a living stone, rejected by men, certainly, but elect and honored by God, ⁵be also yourselves like living stones, built upon him, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, so as to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶Because of this, Scripture asserts: “Behold, I am setting in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious. And whoever will have believed in him will not be confounded.”

²⁸And as for clothing, why are you anxious? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither work nor weave.