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First Reading: Song of Songs Chapter 4 and 5 and 6Song of Songs 4
1 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; Thine eyes are `as' doves behind thy veil. Thy hair is as a flock of goats, That lie along the side of mount Gilead.
2 Thy teeth are like a flock `of ewes' that are `newly' shorn, Which are come up from the washing, Whereof every one hath twins, And none is bereaved among them.
3 Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, And thy mouth is comely. Thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate Behind thy veil.
4 Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armory, Whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, All the shields of the mighty men.
5 Thy two breasts are like two fawns That are twins of a roe, Which feed among the lilies.
6 Until the day be cool, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, And to the hill of frankincense.
7 Thou art all fair, my love; And there is no spot in thee.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, `my' bride, With me from Lebanon: Look from the top of Amana, From the top of Senir and Hermon, From the lions' dens, From the mountains of the leopards.
9 Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, `my' bride; Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, With one chain of thy neck.
10 How fair is thy love, my sister, `my' bride! How much better is thy love than wine! And the fragrance of thine oils than all manner of spices!
11 Thy lips, O `my' bride, drop `as' the honeycomb: Honey and milk are under thy tongue; And the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.
12 A garden shut up is my sister, `my' bride; A spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
13 Thy shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits; Henna with spikenard plants,
14 Spikenard and saffron, Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; Myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices.
15 `Thou art' a fountain of gardens, A well of living waters, And flowing streams from Lebanon.
16 Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; Blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, And eat his precious fruits.
Song of Songs 5
1 I am come into my garden, my sister, `my' bride: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends; Drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.
2 I was asleep, but my heart waked: It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, `saying', Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled; For my head is filled with dew, My locks with the drops of the night.
3 I have put off my garment; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole `of the door', And my heart was moved for him.
5 I rose up to open to my beloved; And my hands droppeth with myrrh, And my fingers with liquid myrrh, Upon the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened to my beloved; But my beloved had withdrawn himself, `and' was gone. My soul had failed me when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
7 The watchmen that go about the city found me, They smote me, they wounded me; The keepers of the walls took away my mantle from me.
8 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, If ye find my beloved, That ye tell him, that I am sick from love.
9 What is thy beloved more than `another' beloved, O thou fairest among women? What is thy beloved more than `another' beloved, That thou dost so adjure us?
10 My beloved is white and ruddy, The chiefest among ten thousand.
11 His head is `as' the most fine gold; His locks are bushy, `and' black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves beside the water-brooks, Washed with milk, `and' fitly set.
13 His cheeks are as a bed of spices, `As' banks of sweet herbs: His lips are `as' lilies, dropping liquid myrrh.
14 His hands are `as' rings of gold set with beryl: His body is `as' ivory work overlaid `with' sapphires.
15 His legs are `as' pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: His aspect is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.
16 His mouth is most sweet; Yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
Song of Songs 6
1 Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? Whither hath thy beloved turned him, That we may seek him with thee?
2 My beloved is gone down to his garden, To the beds of spices, To feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
3 I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine; He feedeth `his flock' among the lilies,
4 Thou art fair, O my love, as Tirzah, Comely as Jerusalem, Terrible as an army with banners.
5 Turn away thine eyes from me, For they have overcome me. Thy hair is as a flock of goats, That lie along the side of Gilead.
6 Thy teeth are like a flock of ewes, Which are come up from the washing; Whereof every one hath twins, And none is bereaved among them.
7 Thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate Behind thy veil.
8 There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, And virgins without number.
9 My dove, my undefiled, is `but' one; She is the only one of her mother; She is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and called her blessed; `Yea', the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.
10 Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, Fair as the moon, Clear as the sun, Terrible as an army with banners?
11 I went down into the garden of nuts, To see the green plants of the valley, To see whether the vine budded, `And' the pomegranates were in flower.
12 Before I was aware, my soul set me `Among' the chariots of my princely people.
13 Return, return, O Shulammite; Return, return, that we may look upon thee. Why will ye look upon the Shulammite, As upon the dance of Mahanaim?
Second Reading: Galatians Chapter 5
Galatians 5
1 For freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage.
2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that, if ye receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing.
3 Yea, I testify again to every man that receiveth circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
4 Ye are severed from Christ, ye would be justified by the law; ye are fallen away from grace.
5 For we through the Spirit by faith wait for the hope of righteousness.
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through love.
7 Ye were running well; who hindered you that ye should not obey the truth?
8 This persuasion `came' not of him that calleth you.
9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
10 I have confidence to you-ward in the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.
11 But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? then hath the stumbling-block of the cross been done away.
12 I would that they that unsettle you would even go beyond circumcision.
13 For ye, brethren, were called for freedom; only `use' not your freedom for an occasion to the flesh, but through love be servants one to another.
14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, `even' in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other; that ye may not do the things that ye would.
18 But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are `these': fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties,
21 envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 meekness, self-control; against such there is no law.
24 And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof.
25 If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk.
26 Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another.
WHO IS GOD?
Part 8 of 11
The anger of the LORD is recorded many times in the Bible. It may be difficult to consider the anger of God when we believe that he is a loving God. However, anger has it's place. God's anger comes from the faithlessness and disobedience of his people. God's anger is a righteous anger. He hates sin and faithlessness because he knows it ends in pain and destruction. He is patient and slow to anger but evil and sin cannot continue:
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