Psalm 128

English Standard Version

Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears the Lord

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.

128 ^(B)Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
who ^(C)walks in his ways!
²You ^(D)shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.

³Your wife will be like ^(E)a fruitful vine
    within your house;
your children will be like ^(F)olive shoots
    around your table.
⁴Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
    who fears the Lord.

⁵^(G)The Lord bless you ^(H)from Zion!
    May you see ^(I)the prosperity of Jerusalem
    all the days of your life!
⁶May you see your ^(J)children's children!
    ^(K)Peace be upon Israel!

Song of Solomon 1

English Standard Version

1 The Song of ^(A)Songs, which is Solomon's.

The Bride Confesses Her Love

She^[a]

²Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your ^(B)love is better than wine;
³    your ^(C)anointing oils are fragrant;
your ^(D)name is oil poured out;
    therefore virgins love you.
⁴^(E)Draw me after you; ^(F)let us run.
    ^(G)The king has brought me into his chambers.

Others

We will ^(H)exult and rejoice in you;
we will extol ^(I)your love more than wine;
rightly do they love you.

She

⁵I am very dark, but ^(J)lovely,
    O ^(K)daughters of Jerusalem,
like ^(L)the tents of ^(M)Kedar,
    like the curtains of Solomon.
⁶Do not gaze at me because I am dark,
    because the sun has looked upon me.
My ^(N)mother's sons were angry with me;
    they made me ^(O)keeper of ^(P)the vineyards,
    but ^(Q)my own vineyard I have not kept!
⁷Tell me, you ^(R)whom my soul loves,
    where you ^(S)pasture your flock,
    where you make it ^(T)lie down at noon;
for why should I be like one who veils herself
    beside the flocks of your ^(U)companions?

Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other

He

⁸If you do not know,
    O ^(V)most beautiful among women,
follow in the tracks of the flock,
    and pasture your young goats
    beside the shepherds' tents.

⁹I compare you, ^(W)my love,
to ^(X)a mare among Pharaoh's chariots.
¹⁰^(Y)Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
your neck with strings of jewels.

Others

¹¹We will make for you^[b] ornaments of gold,
studded with silver.

She

¹²While ^(Z)the king was on his couch,
    my ^(AA)nard gave forth its fragrance.
¹³My beloved is to me a sachet of ^(AB)myrrh
    that lies between my breasts.
¹⁴My beloved is to me a cluster of ^(AC)henna blossoms
    in the vineyards of ^(AD)Engedi.

He

¹⁵^(AE)Behold, ^(AF)you are beautiful, ^(AG)my love;
behold, you are beautiful;
your ^(AH)eyes are doves.

She

¹⁶Behold, you are beautiful, ^(AI)my beloved, truly ^(AJ)delightful.
Our couch is green;
¹⁷ the beams of our house are ^(AK)cedar;
our rafters are ^(AL)pine.

Footnotes

Song of Solomon 1:2 The translators have added speaker identifications based on the gender and number of the Hebrew words
Song of Solomon 1:11 The Hebrew for you is feminine singular

Ecclesiastes 9:7-10

English Standard Version

Enjoy Life with the One You Love

⁷Go, ^(A)eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.

⁸^(B)Let your garments be always white. Let not ^(C)oil be lacking on your head.

⁹Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your ^(D)vain^[a] life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your ^(E)portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. ¹⁰Whatever your hand finds to do, ^(F)do it with your might,^[b] ^(G)for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.

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Footnotes

Ecclesiastes 9:9 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2)
Ecclesiastes 9:10 Or finds to do with your might, do it

Matthew 6:25-33

English Standard Version

Do Not Be Anxious

²⁵^(A)“Therefore I tell you, ^(B)do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶^(C)Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. ^(D)Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his ^(E)span of life?^[a] ²⁸And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹yet I tell you, ^(F)even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, ^(G)O you of little faith? ³¹Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³²For ^(H)the Gentiles seek after all these things, and ^(I)your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³But ^(J)seek first ^(K)the kingdom of God and his righteousness, ^(L)and all these things will be added to you.

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Footnotes

Matthew 6:27 Or a single cubit to his stature; a cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

English Standard Version

Flee Sexual Immorality

¹²^(A)“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. ¹³^(B)“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one ^(C)and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but ^(D)for the Lord, and ^(E)the Lord for the body. ¹⁴And ^(F)God raised the Lord and ^(G)will also raise us up ^(H)by his power. ¹⁵Do you not know that ^(I)your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶Or do you not know that he who is joined^[a] to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, ^(J)“The two will become one flesh.” ¹⁷But he who is joined to the Lord ^(K)becomes one spirit with him. ¹⁸^(L)Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin^[b] a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person ^(M)sins against his own body. ¹⁹Or ^(N)do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? ^(O)You are not your own, ²⁰^(P)for you were bought with a price. ^(Q)So glorify God in your body.