The Young Shulammite Bride and Jerusalem’s Daughters

The [a]Song of (A)Songs, which is Solomon’s.

[b]May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your (B)love is better than wine.
“Your (C)oils have a pleasing fragrance,
Your (D)name is like [c]purified oil;
Therefore the [d](E)maidens love you.
“Draw me after you and let us run together!
The (F)king has brought me into his chambers.”

[e]We will rejoice in you and be glad;
We will [f]extol your (G)love more than wine.
Rightly do they love you.”

[g]I am black but (H)lovely,
O (I)daughters of Jerusalem,
Like the (J)tents of (K)Kedar,
Like the curtains of Solomon.
“Do not stare at me because I am [h]swarthy,
For the sun has burned me.
My (L)mother’s sons were angry with me;
They made me (M)caretaker of the vineyards,
But I have not taken care of my own vineyard.
“Tell me, O you (N)whom my soul loves,
Where do you (O)pasture your flock,
Where do you make it (P)lie down at noon?
For why should I be like one who [i]veils herself
Beside the flocks of your (Q)companions?”

Solomon, the Lover, Speaks

[j]If you yourself do not know,
(R)Most beautiful among women,
Go forth on the trail of the flock
And pasture your young goats
By the tents of the shepherds.

[k]To me, (S)my darling, you are like
My (T)mare among the chariots of Pharaoh.
10 “Your (U)cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
Your neck with strings of (V)beads.”

11 [l]We will make for you ornaments of gold
With beads of silver.”

12 [m]While the king was at his [n]table,
My [o](W)perfume gave forth its fragrance.
13 “My beloved is to me a pouch of (X)myrrh
Which lies all night between my breasts.
14 “My beloved is to me a cluster of (Y)henna blossoms
In the vineyards of (Z)Engedi.”

15 [p][q](AA)How beautiful you are, my darling,
[r]How beautiful you are!
Your (AB)eyes are like doves.”

16 [s][t]How handsome you are, (AC)my beloved,
And so pleasant!
Indeed, our couch is luxuriant!
17 “The beams of our houses are (AD)cedars,
Our rafters, [u](AE)cypresses.

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 1:1 Or Best of the Songs
  2. Song of Solomon 1:2 BRIDE
  3. Song of Solomon 1:3 Lit oil which is emptied (from one vessel to another)
  4. Song of Solomon 1:3 Or virgins
  5. Song of Solomon 1:4 CHORUS
  6. Song of Solomon 1:4 Lit mention with praise
  7. Song of Solomon 1:5 BRIDE
  8. Song of Solomon 1:6 Or black
  9. Song of Solomon 1:7 Some versions read wanders
  10. Song of Solomon 1:8 BRIDEGROOM
  11. Song of Solomon 1:9 Lit I have compared you to
  12. Song of Solomon 1:11 CHORUS
  13. Song of Solomon 1:12 BRIDE
  14. Song of Solomon 1:12 Or couch
  15. Song of Solomon 1:12 Lit nard
  16. Song of Solomon 1:15 BRIDEGROOM
  17. Song of Solomon 1:15 Lit Behold
  18. Song of Solomon 1:15 Lit Behold
  19. Song of Solomon 1:16 BRIDE
  20. Song of Solomon 1:16 Lit Behold
  21. Song of Solomon 1:17 Or junipers

Prayer for Deliverance and Guidance.

A Psalm of David.

143 Hear my prayer, O Lord,
(A)Give ear to my supplications!
Answer me in Your (B)faithfulness, in Your (C)righteousness!
And (D)do not enter into judgment with Your servant,
For in Your sight (E)no man living is righteous.
For the enemy has persecuted my soul;
He has crushed my life (F)to the ground;
He (G)has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have long been dead.
Therefore (H)my spirit [a]is overwhelmed within me;
My heart is [b](I)appalled within me.

I (J)remember the days of old;
I (K)meditate on all Your doings;
I (L)muse on the work of Your hands.
I (M)stretch out my hands to You;
My (N)soul longs for You, as a [c]parched land. [d]Selah.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 143:4 Lit faints
  2. Psalm 143:4 Or desolate
  3. Psalm 143:6 Lit weary
  4. Psalm 143:6 Selah may mean: Pause, Crescendo or Musical interlude

The Fifth Trumpet—the Bottomless Pit

Then the (A)fifth angel sounded, and I saw a (B)star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the (C)key of the [a](D)bottomless pit was given to him. He opened the [b]bottomless pit, and (E)smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and (F)the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke came (G)locusts [c]upon the earth, and power was given them, as the (H)scorpions of the earth have power. They were told not to (I)hurt the (J)grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the (K)seal of God on their foreheads. And [d]they were not permitted to kill [e]anyone, but to torment for (L)five months; and their torment was like the torment of a (M)scorpion when it [f]stings a man. And in those days (N)men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them.

The [g](O)appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like the hair of women, and their (P)teeth were like the teeth of lions. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the (Q)sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to battle. 10 They have tails like (R)scorpions, and stings; and in their (S)tails is their power to hurt men for (T)five months. 11 They have as king over them, the angel of the (U)abyss; his name in (V)Hebrew is [h](W)Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name [i]Apollyon.

12 (X)The first woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming after these things.

The Sixth Trumpet—Army from the East

13 Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard [j]a voice from the [k]four (Y)horns of the (Z)golden altar which is before God, 14 one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the (AA)four angels who are bound at the (AB)great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were (AC)released, so that they would kill a (AD)third of [l]mankind. 16 The number of the armies of the horsemen was (AE)two hundred million; (AF)I heard the number of them. 17 And [m]this is how I saw (AG)in the vision the horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of [n](AH)brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and (AI)out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and [o](AJ)brimstone. 18 A (AK)third of [p]mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the (AL)fire and the smoke and the [q]brimstone which proceeded out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and with them they do harm.

20 The rest of [r]mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, (AM)did not repent of (AN)the works of their hands, so as not to (AO)worship demons, and (AP)the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; 21 and they (AQ)did not repent of their murders nor of their (AR)sorceries nor of their (AS)immorality nor of their thefts.

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 9:1 Lit shaft of the abyss
  2. Revelation 9:2 V 1, note 1
  3. Revelation 9:3 Lit into
  4. Revelation 9:5 Lit it was given to them
  5. Revelation 9:5 Lit them
  6. Revelation 9:5 Lit strikes
  7. Revelation 9:7 Lit likenesses
  8. Revelation 9:11 I.e. destruction
  9. Revelation 9:11 I.e. destroyer
  10. Revelation 9:13 Lit one voice
  11. Revelation 9:13 Two early mss do not contain four
  12. Revelation 9:15 Gr anthropoi
  13. Revelation 9:17 Lit thus I saw
  14. Revelation 9:17 I.e. burning sulphur
  15. Revelation 9:17 I.e. burning sulphur
  16. Revelation 9:18 Gr anthropoi
  17. Revelation 9:18 I.e. burning sulphur
  18. Revelation 9:20 Gr anthropoi