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Psalm 45

1  My heart is astir with gracious words; ♦︎
   as I make my song for the king,
      my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
2  You are the fairest of men; ♦︎
   full of grace are your lips,
      for God has blest you for ever.
6  Your throne is God’s throne, for ever; ♦︎
   the sceptre of your kingdom is the sceptre of righteousness.
7  You love righteousness and hate iniquity; ♦︎
   therefore God, your God, has anointed you
      with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
8  All your garments are fragrant with myrrh, aloes and cassia; ♦︎
   from ivory palaces the music of strings makes you glad.
9  Kings’ daughters are among your honourable women; ♦︎
   at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

2I am a rose^* of Sharon,
   a lily of the valleys.

² As a lily among brambles,
   so is my love among maidens.

³ As an apple tree among the trees of the wood,
   so is my beloved among young men.
With great delight I sat in his shadow,
   and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
⁴ He brought me to the banqueting house,
   and his intention towards me was love.
⁵ Sustain me with raisins,
   refresh me with apples;
   for I am faint with love.
⁶ O that his left hand were under my head,
   and that his right hand embraced me!
⁷ I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
   by the gazelles or the wild does:
do not stir up or awaken love
   until it is ready!

Poverty and Riches

9 Let the believer^* who is lowly boast in being raised up, ¹⁰and the rich in being brought low, because the rich will disappear like a flower in the field. ¹¹For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the field; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. It is the same with the rich; in the midst of a busy life, they will wither away.

Trial and Temptation

12 Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord^* has promised to those who love him. ¹³No one, when tempted, should say, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; ¹⁵then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death. ¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved.^*