Solomon’s Song of Songs.(A)

She[a]

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
    for your love(B) is more delightful than wine.(C)
Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;(D)
    your name(E) is like perfume poured out.
    No wonder the young women(F) love you!
Take me away with you—let us hurry!
    Let the king bring me into his chambers.(G)

Friends

We rejoice and delight(H) in you[b];
    we will praise your love(I) more than wine.

She

How right they are to adore you!

Dark am I, yet lovely,(J)
    daughters of Jerusalem,(K)
dark like the tents of Kedar,(L)
    like the tent curtains of Solomon.[c]
Do not stare at me because I am dark,
    because I am darkened by the sun.
My mother’s sons were angry with me
    and made me take care of the vineyards;(M)
    my own vineyard I had to neglect.
Tell me, you whom I love,
    where you graze your flock
    and where you rest your sheep(N) at midday.
Why should I be like a veiled(O) woman
    beside the flocks of your friends?

Friends

If you do not know, most beautiful of women,(P)
    follow the tracks of the sheep
and graze your young goats
    by the tents of the shepherds.

He

I liken you, my darling, to a mare
    among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.(Q)
10 Your cheeks(R) are beautiful with earrings,
    your neck with strings of jewels.(S)
11 We will make you earrings of gold,
    studded with silver.

She

12 While the king was at his table,
    my perfume spread its fragrance.(T)
13 My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh(U)
    resting between my breasts.
14 My beloved(V) is to me a cluster of henna(W) blossoms
    from the vineyards of En Gedi.(X)

He

15 How beautiful(Y) you are, my darling!
    Oh, how beautiful!
    Your eyes are doves.(Z)

She

16 How handsome you are, my beloved!(AA)
    Oh, how charming!
    And our bed is verdant.

He

17 The beams of our house are cedars;(AB)
    our rafters are firs.

She[d]

I am a rose[e](AC) of Sharon,(AD)
    a lily(AE) of the valleys.

He

Like a lily among thorns
    is my darling among the young women.

She

Like an apple[f] tree among the trees of the forest
    is my beloved(AF) among the young men.
I delight(AG) to sit in his shade,
    and his fruit is sweet to my taste.(AH)
Let him lead me to the banquet hall,(AI)
    and let his banner(AJ) over me be love.
Strengthen me with raisins,
    refresh me with apples,(AK)
    for I am faint with love.(AL)
His left arm is under my head,
    and his right arm embraces me.(AM)
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you(AN)
    by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
    until it so desires.(AO)

Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 1:2 The main male and female speakers (identified primarily on the basis of the gender of the relevant Hebrew forms) are indicated by the captions He and She respectively. The words of others are marked Friends. In some instances the divisions and their captions are debatable.
  2. Song of Songs 1:4 The Hebrew is masculine singular.
  3. Song of Songs 1:5 Or Salma
  4. Song of Songs 2:1 Or He
  5. Song of Songs 2:1 Probably a member of the crocus family
  6. Song of Songs 2:3 Or possibly apricot; here and elsewhere in Song of Songs

Psalm 105(A)

Give praise to the Lord,(B) proclaim his name;(C)
    make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him,(D) sing praise to him;(E)
    tell of all his wonderful acts.(F)
Glory in his holy name;(G)
    let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and his strength;
    seek his face(H) always.

Remember the wonders(I) he has done,
    his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,(J)
you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,(K)
    his chosen(L) ones, the children of Jacob.
He is the Lord our God;
    his judgments are in all the earth.

He remembers his covenant(M) forever,
    the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,(N)
    the oath he swore to Isaac.
10 He confirmed it(O) to Jacob as a decree,
    to Israel as an everlasting covenant:(P)
11 “To you I will give the land of Canaan(Q)
    as the portion you will inherit.”(R)

12 When they were but few in number,(S)
    few indeed, and strangers in it,(T)
13 they wandered from nation to nation,(U)
    from one kingdom to another.
14 He allowed no one to oppress(V) them;
    for their sake he rebuked kings:(W)
15 “Do not touch(X) my anointed ones;
    do my prophets(Y) no harm.”

16 He called down famine(Z) on the land
    and destroyed all their supplies of food;
17 and he sent a man before them—
    Joseph, sold as a slave.(AA)
18 They bruised his feet with shackles,(AB)
    his neck was put in irons,
19 till what he foretold(AC) came to pass,
    till the word(AD) of the Lord proved him true.
20 The king sent and released him,
    the ruler of peoples set him free.(AE)
21 He made him master of his household,
    ruler over all he possessed,
22 to instruct his princes(AF) as he pleased
    and teach his elders wisdom.(AG)

23 Then Israel entered Egypt;(AH)
    Jacob resided(AI) as a foreigner in the land of Ham.(AJ)
24 The Lord made his people very fruitful;
    he made them too numerous(AK) for their foes,
25 whose hearts he turned(AL) to hate his people,
    to conspire(AM) against his servants.
26 He sent Moses(AN) his servant,
    and Aaron,(AO) whom he had chosen.(AP)
27 They performed(AQ) his signs(AR) among them,
    his wonders(AS) in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness(AT) and made the land dark—
    for had they not rebelled against(AU) his words?
29 He turned their waters into blood,(AV)
    causing their fish to die.(AW)
30 Their land teemed with frogs,(AX)
    which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.
31 He spoke,(AY) and there came swarms of flies,(AZ)
    and gnats(BA) throughout their country.
32 He turned their rain into hail,(BB)
    with lightning throughout their land;
33 he struck down their vines(BC) and fig trees(BD)
    and shattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke,(BE) and the locusts came,(BF)
    grasshoppers(BG) without number;(BH)
35 they ate up every green thing in their land,
    ate up the produce of their soil.
36 Then he struck down all the firstborn(BI) in their land,
    the firstfruits of all their manhood.
37 He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold,(BJ)
    and from among their tribes no one faltered.
38 Egypt was glad when they left,
    because dread of Israel(BK) had fallen on them.

39 He spread out a cloud(BL) as a covering,
    and a fire to give light at night.(BM)
40 They asked,(BN) and he brought them quail;(BO)
    he fed them well with the bread of heaven.(BP)
41 He opened the rock,(BQ) and water gushed out;
    it flowed like a river in the desert.

42 For he remembered his holy promise(BR)
    given to his servant Abraham.
43 He brought out his people with rejoicing,(BS)
    his chosen ones with shouts of joy;
44 he gave them the lands of the nations,(BT)
    and they fell heir to what others had toiled(BU) for—
45 that they might keep his precepts
    and observe his laws.(BV)

Praise the Lord.[a](BW)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 105:45 Hebrew Hallelu Yah

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