Psalm 116

English Standard Version

I Love the Lord

116 I ^(A)love the Lord, because he has ^(B)heard
    my voice and my pleas for mercy.
²Because he ^(C)inclined his ear to me,
    therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
³^(D)The snares of death encompassed me;
    the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
    I suffered distress and anguish.
⁴Then ^(E)I called on the name of the Lord:
    “O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”

⁵^(F)Gracious is the Lord, and ^(G)righteous;
    our God is ^(H)merciful.
⁶The Lord preserves ^(I)the simple;
    when ^(J)I was brought low, he saved me.
⁷Return, O my soul, to your ^(K)rest;
    for the Lord has ^(L)dealt bountifully with you.

⁸For ^(M)you have delivered my soul from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling;
⁹I will walk before the Lord
    ^(N)in the land of the living.

¹⁰^(O)I believed, ^(P)even when^[a] I spoke:
“I am greatly afflicted”;
¹¹^(Q)I said in my alarm,
^(R)“All mankind are liars.”

¹²What shall I ^(S)render to the Lord
    for all his benefits to me?
¹³I will lift up ^(T)the cup of salvation
    and ^(U)call on the name of the Lord,
¹⁴I will ^(V)pay my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people.

¹⁵^(W)Precious in the sight of the Lord
    is the death of his ^(X)saints.
¹⁶O Lord, I am your ^(Y)servant;
    I am your servant, ^(Z)the son of your maidservant.
    You have ^(AA)loosed my bonds.
¹⁷I will ^(AB)offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
    and ^(AC)call on the name of the Lord.
¹⁸I will ^(AD)pay my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people,
¹⁹in ^(AE)the courts of the house of the Lord,
    in your midst, O Jerusalem.
^(AF)Praise the Lord!

Footnotes

Psalm 116:10 Or believed, indeed; Septuagint believed, therefore

Song of Solomon 5

English Standard Version

He

5 I ^(A)came to my garden, my ^(B)sister, my bride,
    I gathered my ^(C)myrrh with my spice,
    I ate my ^(D)honeycomb with my honey,
    I ^(E)drank my wine with my milk.

Others

Eat, ^(F)friends, drink,
and be drunk with love!

The Bride Searches for Her Beloved

She

²I slept, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My beloved is ^(G)knocking.
“Open to me, my ^(H)sister, my ^(I)love,
    my ^(J)dove, my ^(K)perfect one,
for my head is wet with dew,
    my ^(L)locks with the drops of the night.”
³^(M)I had put off my garment;
    how could I put it on?
I had ^(N)bathed my feet;
    how could I soil them?
⁴My beloved put his hand to the latch,
    and my heart was thrilled within me.
⁵I arose to open to my beloved,
    and my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with ^(O)liquid myrrh,
    on the handles of the bolt.
⁶I opened to my beloved,
    but my beloved had turned and gone.
My soul failed me when he ^(P)spoke.
^(Q)I sought him, but found him not;
    ^(R)I called him, but he gave no answer.
⁷^(S)The watchmen found me
    as they went about in the city;
they beat me, they bruised me,
    they took away my veil,
    those watchmen of the walls.
⁸I ^(T)adjure you, O ^(U)daughters of Jerusalem,
    if you find my beloved,
that you tell him
    ^(V)I am sick with love.

Others

⁹What is your beloved more than another beloved,
O ^(W)most beautiful among women?
What is your beloved more than another beloved,
that you thus ^(X)adjure us?

The Bride Praises Her Beloved

She

¹⁰My beloved is radiant and ^(Y)ruddy,
    ^(Z)distinguished among ten thousand.
¹¹His head is the finest gold;
    ^(AA)his locks are wavy,
    black as a raven.
¹²His ^(AB)eyes are like doves
    beside streams of water,
bathed in milk,
    sitting beside a full pool.^[a]
¹³His ^(AC)cheeks are like ^(AD)beds of spices,
    mounds of sweet-smelling herbs.
His lips are ^(AE)lilies,
    dripping ^(AF)liquid myrrh.
¹⁴His arms are rods of gold,
    set with ^(AG)jewels.
His body is polished ivory,^[b]
    bedecked with ^(AH)sapphires.^[c]
¹⁵His legs are alabaster columns,
    set on bases of gold.
His appearance is like ^(AI)Lebanon,
    choice as the cedars.
¹⁶His ^(AJ)mouth^[d] is most sweet,
    and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
    O ^(AK)daughters of Jerusalem.