Pentecost
The word ‘Pentecost’ comes from the Greek meaning simply ‘fiftieth.’ Pentecost Sunday ends the season of Easter and symbolizes a new beginning. It celebrates the unleashing of the Holy Spirit on the world and the empowering of the church to reach the world with the gospel. In remembering Pentecost and living in light of this powerful turning point the church expresses gratitude to Christ for sending “another counselor” (John 14:16), celebrates the work of the Spirit in the renewal of all creation, and professes its confidence and security in knowing the Spirit’s power is available for its mission.
- Calling -
O Lord, open our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim Your praise.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen. Alleluia!
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God:
O come, let us adore him.
- Constitution -
Read/Listen, Meditate, Pray, and Contemplate on God’s Word, remembering that God is with you and ready to speak to you because he loves you.
Song of Solomon 1
[1] The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.
SHE
[2] Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is better than wine;
[3] your anointing oils are fragrant;
your name is oil poured out;
therefore virgins love you.
[4] Draw me after you; let us run.
The king has brought me into his chambers.
OTHERS
We will exult and rejoice in you;
we will extol your love more than wine;
rightly do they love you.
SHE
[5] I am very dark, but lovely,
O daughters of Jerusalem,
like the tents of Kedar,
like the curtains of Solomon.
[6] Do not gaze at me because I am dark,
because the sun has looked upon me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
they made me keeper of the vineyards,
but my own vineyard I have not kept!
[7] Tell me, you whom my soul loves,
where you pasture your flock,
where you make it lie down at noon;
for why should I be like one who veils herself
beside the flocks of your companions?
HE
[8] If you do not know,
O most beautiful among women,
follow in the tracks of the flock,
and pasture your young goats
beside the shepherds’ tents.
[9] I compare you, my love,
to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
[10] Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
your neck with strings of jewels.
OTHERS
[11] We will make for you ornaments of gold,
studded with silver.
SHE
[12] While the king was on his couch,
my nard gave forth its fragrance.
[13] My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh
that lies between my breasts.
[14] My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
in the vineyards of Engedi.
HE
[15] Behold, you are beautiful, my love;
behold, you are beautiful;
your eyes are doves.
SHE
[16] Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightful.
Our couch is green;
[17] the beams of our house are cedar;
our rafters are pine.
Song of Solomon 2
[1] I am a rose of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.
HE
[2] As a lily among brambles,
so is my love among the young women.
SHE
[3] As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my beloved among the 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 banner over me was love.
[5] Sustain me with raisins;
refresh me with apples,
for I am sick with love.
[6] His left hand is under my head,
and his right hand embraces me!
[7] I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.
[8] The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he comes,
leaping over the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
[9] My beloved is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
Behold, there he stands
behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
looking through the lattice.
[10] My beloved speaks and says to me:
“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away,
[11] for behold, the winter is past;
the rain is over and gone.
[12] The flowers appear on the earth,
the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtledove
is heard in our land.
[13] The fig tree ripens its figs,
and the vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away.
[14] O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the crannies of the cliff,
let me see your face,
let me hear your voice,
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.
[15] Catch the foxes for us,
the little foxes
that spoil the vineyards,
for our vineyards are in blossom.”
[16] My beloved is mine, and I am his;
he grazes among the lilies.
[17] Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle
or a young stag on cleft mountains.
Song of Solomon 3
[1] On my bed by night
I sought him whom my soul loves;
I sought him, but found him not.
[2] I will rise now and go about the city,
in the streets and in the squares;
I will seek him whom my soul loves.
I sought him, but found him not.
[3] The watchmen found me
as they went about in the city.
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
[4] Scarcely had I passed them
when I found him whom my soul loves.
I held him, and would not let him go
until I had brought him into my mother’s house,
and into the chamber of her who conceived me.
[5] I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.
[6] What is that coming up from the wilderness
like columns of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?
[7] Behold, it is the litter of Solomon!
Around it are sixty mighty men,
some of the mighty men of Israel,
[8] all of them wearing swords
and expert in war,
each with his sword at his thigh,
against terror by night.
[9] King Solomon made himself a carriage
from the wood of Lebanon.
[10] He made its posts of silver,
its back of gold, its seat of purple;
its interior was inlaid with love
by the daughters of Jerusalem.
[11] Go out, O daughters of Zion,
and look upon King Solomon,
with the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
on the day of the gladness of his heart.
Song of Solomon 4
HE
[1] Behold, you are beautiful, my love,
behold, you are beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
[2] Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
and not one among them has lost its young.
[3] Your lips are like a scarlet thread,
and your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
behind your veil.
[4] Your neck is like the tower of David,
built in rows of stone;
on it hang a thousand shields,
all of them shields of warriors.
[5] Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle,
that graze among the lilies.
[6] Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
I will go away to the mountain of myrrh
and the hill of frankincense.
[7] You are altogether beautiful, my love;
there is no flaw in you.
[8] Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;
come with me from Lebanon.
Depart from the peak of Amana,
from the peak of Senir and Hermon,
from the dens of lions,
from the mountains of leopards.
[9] You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
[10] How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
[11] Your lips drip nectar, my bride;
honey and milk are under your tongue;
the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
[12] A garden locked is my sister, my bride,
a spring locked, a fountain sealed.
[13] Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates
with all choicest fruits,
henna with nard,
[14] nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
with all trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes,
with all choice spices—
[15] a garden fountain, a well of living water,
and flowing streams from Lebanon.
[16] Awake, O north wind,
and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden,
let its spices flow.
SHE
Let my beloved come to his garden,
and eat its choicest fruits.
Song of Solomon 5:1
HE
[1] I came to my garden, my sister, my bride,
I gathered my myrrh with my spice,
I ate my honeycomb with my honey,
I drank my wine with my milk.
OTHERS
Eat, friends, drink,
and be drunk with love!
Proverbs 14
[1] The wisest of women builds her house,
but folly with her own hands tears it down.
[2] Whoever walks in uprightness fears the LORD,
but he who is devious in his ways despises him.
[3] By the mouth of a fool comes a rod for his back,
but the lips of the wise will preserve them.
[4] Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,
but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.
[5] A faithful witness does not lie,
but a false witness breathes out lies.
[6] A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain,
but knowledge is easy for a man of understanding.
[7] Leave the presence of a fool,
for there you do not meet words of knowledge.
[8] The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way,
but the folly of fools is deceiving.
[9] Fools mock at the guilt offering,
but the upright enjoy acceptance.
[10] The heart knows its own bitterness,
and no stranger shares its joy.
[11] The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
but the tent of the upright will flourish.
[12] There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.
[13] Even in laughter the heart may ache,
and the end of joy may be grief.
[14] The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways,
and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways.
[15] The simple believes everything,
but the prudent gives thought to his steps.
[16] One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil,
but a fool is reckless and careless.
[17] A man of quick temper acts foolishly,
and a man of evil devices is hated.
[18] The simple inherit folly,
but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.
[19] The evil bow down before the good,
the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
[20] The poor is disliked even by his neighbor,
but the rich has many friends.
[21] Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner,
but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.
[22] Do they not go astray who devise evil?
Those who devise good meet steadfast love and faithfulness.
[23] In all toil there is profit,
but mere talk tends only to poverty.
[24] The crown of the wise is their wealth,
but the folly of fools brings folly.
[25] A truthful witness saves lives,
but one who breathes out lies is deceitful.
[26] In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence,
and his children will have a refuge.
[27] The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,
that one may turn away from the snares of death.
[28] In a multitude of people is the glory of a king,
but without people a prince is ruined.
[29] Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding,
but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.
[30] A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh,
but envy makes the bones rot.
[31] Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker,
but he who is generous to the needy honors him.
[32] The wicked is overthrown through his evildoing,
but the righteous finds refuge in his death.
[33] Wisdom rests in the heart of a man of understanding,
but it makes itself known even in the midst of fools.
[34] Righteousness exalts a nation,
but sin is a reproach to any people.
[35] A servant who deals wisely has the king’s favor,
but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.
- Communion -
Pray for yourself, others, our church, our neighbors, and the world.
Pray the Lord’s Prayer & the collect of the week:
Our Father who art in heaven...
Almighty and merciful God, in your goodness keep us, we pray, from all things that may hurt us, that we, being ready both in mind and body, may accomplish with free hearts those things which belong to your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
- Commission -
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14)
Let us go forth in the name of Christ.