The Berean Pursuit
How beautiful are your sandaled feet,
O daughter of the prince!
The curves of your thighs are like jewels,
the handiwork of a master.
Your navel is a rounded goblet;
it never lacks blended wine.
Your waist is a mound of wheat
encircled by the lilies.
Your breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
Your neck is like a tower
made of ivory;
your eyes are like the pools of Heshbon
by the gate of Bath-rabbim;
your nose is like the tower of Lebanon,
facing toward Damascus.
Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel,
the hair of your head like purple threads;
the king is captured in your tresses.
How fair and pleasant you are,
O love, with your delights!
Your stature is like a palm tree;
your breasts are clusters of fruit.
I said, "I will climb the palm tree;
I will take hold of its fruit."
May your breasts be like clusters of the vine,
the fragrance of your breath like apples,
and your mouth like the finest wine. May it flow smoothly to my beloved,
gliding gently over lips and teeth.
I belong to my beloved,
and his desire is for me.
Come, my beloved,
let us go to the countryside;
let us spend the night among the wildflowers.
Let us go early to the vineyards
to see if the vine has budded,
if the blossom has opened,
if the pomegranates are in bloom-
there I will give you my love.
The mandrakes send forth a fragrance,
and at our door is every delicacy,
new as well as old,
that I have treasured up for you, my beloved.
O that you were to me like a brother
who nursed at my mother's breasts!
If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you,
and no one would despise me.
I would lead you and bring you
to the house of my mother who taught me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
the nectar of my pomegranates.
His left hand is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me.
O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until the time is right.
Who is this coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on her beloved? I roused you under the apple tree;
there your mother conceived you;
there she travailed and brought you forth.
Set me as a seal over your heart,
as a seal upon your arm.
For love is as strong as death,
its jealousy as unrelenting as Sheol.
Its sparks are fiery flames,
the fiercest blaze of all.
Mighty waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot sweep it away.
If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love,
his offer would be utterly scorned.
We have a little sister,
and her breasts are not yet grown.
What shall we do for our sister
on the day she is spoken for?
If she is a wall,
we will build a tower of silver upon her.
If she is a door,
we will enclose her with panels of cedar.
I am a wall,
and my breasts are like towers.
So I have become in his eyes
like one who brings peace.
Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon.
He leased it to the tenants.
For its fruit, each was to bring
a thousand shekels of silver.
But my own vineyard is mine to give;
the thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon,
and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit.
You who dwell in the gardens,
my companions are listening for your voice.
Let me hear it!
Come away, my beloved,
and be like a gazelle
or a young stag
on the mountains of spices.
A song of ascents. Of Solomon.
Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain;
unless the LORD protects the city,
its watchmen stand guard in vain.
In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for bread to eat-
for He gives sleep to His beloved.
Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD,
and the fruit of the womb is His reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
so are children born in one's youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
He will not be put to shame
when he confronts the enemies at the gate.
Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him, we ask you, brothers, not to be easily disconcerted or alarmed by any spirit or message or letter seeming to be from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has already come. Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness-the son of destruction-is revealed. He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
Do you not remember that I told you these things while I was still with you? And you know what is now restraining him, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one who now restrains it will continue until he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival.
The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder, and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them. For this reason God will send them a powerful delusion so that they believe the lie, in order that judgment may come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness.
But we should always thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by faith in the truth. To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brothers, stand firm and cling to the traditions we taught you, whether by speech or by letter.
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who by grace has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good word and deed.