The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the NLT. Switch to the NLT to read along with the audio.
Title
Maiden’s Soliloquy
2 May[c] you kiss me[d] passionately with your lips,[e]
for your love is better than wine.[f]
3 As fragrance, your perfumes[g] are delightful;[h]
your name is poured out perfume;[i]
therefore young women love you.
4 Draw me after you, let us run!
May the king bring me into his chambers![j]
Let us be joyful and let us rejoice in you;
let us extol your love more than wine.
Rightly do they love you!
Maiden’s Self-Description
5 I am black but beautiful,[k] O maidens of Jerusalem,[l]
like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not gaze at me because I am black, [m]
because the sun has stared at me.
The sons of my mother were angry with me;
they made me keeper of the vineyards,
but my own “vineyard”[n] I did not keep.
Dialogue between Shepherdess and Shepherd
7 Tell me, you whom my heart[o] loves,
where do you pasture your flock,
where do your sheep lie down at the noon?
For why should I be like[p] one who is veiled[q]
beside the flocks of your companions?
8 If you do not know, O fairest among women,
follow the tracks[r] of the flock,
and pasture your little lambs[s] beside the tents of the shepherds.
Man’s Poetic Praise of His Beloved
9 To a mare[t] among the chariots[u] of Pharaoh,
I compare you, my beloved.
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments,
your neck with strings of jewels.
11 We will make ornaments of gold for you
with studs[v] of silver.
Maiden’s Poetic Praise of Her Beloved
12 While the king was on his couch,
my nard gave its fragrance.
13 My beloved is to me a pouch[w] of myrrh,
he spends the night[x] between my breasts.
14 My beloved is to me a cluster of blossoms of henna
in the vineyards of En Gedi.
Mutual Admiration
15 Look! You are beautiful, my beloved.
Look! You are beautiful;
your eyes are doves.
16 Look! You are beautiful, my beloved,
truly pleasant.
Truly our couch is verdant;[y]
17 the beams of our house are cedar;
our rafter is cypress.
Dialogue between Maiden and Her Beloved
2 I am a rose[z] of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.
2 Like a lily among the thorns,[aa]
so is my love among the maidens.
3 As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my beloved among the young men.
In his shade I sat down with delight,[ab]
and his fruit was sweet to my palate.
Banquet Hall of Love
4 He brought me to the house of the wine,
and his intention was love toward me.
5 Sustain me with the raisins,
refresh me with the apples,
for I am lovesick.[ac]
Double Refrain: Embrace and Adjuration
6 His left hand is under my head,
and his right hand embraces[ad] me.
7 I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem,[ae]
by the gazelles or by the does of the field,
do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases![af]
Rendezvous in the Countryside
8 The voice of my beloved!
Look! Here he[ag] comes leaping upon the mountains,
bounding over the hills!
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.[ah]
Look! He is[ai] standing behind our wall,
gazing through[aj] the window,
looking through[ak] the lattice.
10 My beloved answered and said to me,
“Arise,[al] my beloved! Come, my beauty![am]
11 For look! The winter is over;
the rainy season[an] has turned and gone away.[ao]
12 The blossoms appear[ap] in the land;[aq]
the time of singing[ar] has arrived;[as]
the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree puts forth her figs,
and the vines are in blossom; they give fragrance.
Arise,[at] my beloved! Come, my beauty!”[au]
14 My dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the secluded place[av][aw] in the mountain,[ax][ay]
Let me see your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely.
15 Catch for us the foxes,
the little foxes destroying vineyards,
for[az] our vineyards are in blossom!
Poetic Refrain(s)
16 My beloved belongs to me and I belong to him;[ba]
he pastures his flock among the lilies.
17 Until the day breathes and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved!
Be like[bb] a gazelle[bc] or young stag[bd] on the cleft mountains.[be]
Maiden’s Dream (?): Seeking and Finding
3 On my bed in the night,
I sought[bf] him whom my heart[bg] loves.
I sought him, but I did not find him.
2 Now I will arise, and I will go about in the city,
in the streets and in the squares;
I will seek him whom my heart[bh] loves.
I sought him, but I did not find him.
3 The sentinels who go about in the city found me.
“Have you seen the one whom my heart[bi] loves?”
4 Scarcely had I passed[bj] by them
when I found him whom my heart[bk] loves.
I held him and I would not let him go
until I brought him to the house of my mother,
into the bedroom chamber of she who conceived me.
Adjuration Refrain
5 I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem,[bl]
by the gazelles or by the does of the field,
do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases![bm]
Royal Wedding Procession
6 What is this coming up from the desert
like a column of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and frankincense
from all the fragrant powders of the merchant?
7 Look! It is Solomon’s portable couch![bn]
Sixty mighty men surround it,[bo]
the mighty men of Israel.
8 All of them wield swords;[bp]
they are trained in warfare,[bq]
each with his sword at his thigh
to guard against terror[br] in the night.
9 King Solomon[bs] made for himself a sedan chair
from the wood of Lebanon.
10 He made its column of silver, its back[bt] of gold, its seat of purple;
its interior is inlaid with leather[bu] by the maidens of Jerusalem.[bv]
11 Come out and look, O maidens of Zion,[bw] at King Solomon,[bx]
at the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
on the day of the joy of his heart!
Groom’s Praise of His Bride
4 Oh my![by] You are beautiful, my beloved!
Oh my![bz] You are beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
from behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
that move down from the mountains of Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
that came up from the washing,
all of them bearing twins,
and there is none bereaved among them.
3 Your lips are like a thread of crimson,
and your mouth is lovely.
Your temple is like pomegranate
from behind your veil.
4 Your neck is like the tower of David,
built in courses;
a thousand ornaments[ca] are hung on it,
all the shields of the warriors.
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle that feed among the lilies.
6 Until the day breathes and the shadows flee,
I will go to the mountain of the myrrh,
to the hill of the frankincense.
7 You are completely beautiful, my beloved!
You are flawless![cb]
The Mountains and Fragrance of Lebanon
8 Come[cc] with me from Lebanon, my bride!
Come with me[cd] from Lebanon!
Look from the top of Amana,
from the top of Senir and Hermon,
from the dwelling places of the lions,
from the mountains of leopard.
9 You have stolen (my) heart, my sister bride!
You have stolen my heart with one glance from your eyes,
with one ornament from your necklaces.
10 How beautiful is your love, my sister bride!
How 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 lips;
the scent of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon.
The Locked Garden of Delights Is Unlocked
12 A garden locked is my sister bride,
a spring enclosed,[ce] a fountain sealed.
13 Your shoots[cf] are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruit,[cg]
henna with nard;
14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon spice with all trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes with all chief spices.
15 A garden fountain, a well of living water,
flowing (streams) from Lebanon.
16 Awake, O north wind! Come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden! Let its fragrances[ch] waft forth![ci]
Let my beloved come to his garden,
let him eat his choice fruit!
Arrangements for Administering the Corinthians’ Gift
16 But thanks be to God, who has put in the heart of Titus the same devotion on your behalf[a], 17 because he not only welcomed our request, but being very earnest, by his own choice he went out[b] to you. 18 And we have sent at the same time with him the brother whose praise in the gospel has become known throughout all the churches. 19 And not only this, but he was also chosen by the churches as our traveling companion together with this gift that is being administered by us to the glory of the Lord himself and to show our readiness to help. 20 We are trying to avoid this, lest anyone should find fault with us in this abundant gift that is being administered by us. 21 For we are taking into consideration what is honorable not only before the Lord, but also before people. 22 And we are sending with them our brother whom we have tested many times in many things that he is diligent, but now much more diligent because of his great confidence in you. 23 If there is a question concerning Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for you. If there is a question concerning our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. 24 Therefore show to them the proof of your love and our boasting about you openly before[c] the churches.
An Oracle Concerning Sacrifices
A psalm of Asaph.[a]
50 The Supreme God, God, Yahweh, has spoken
and summoned the earth,
from the rising of the sun
to its setting.
2 From Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.
3 Our God comes and he is not silent.
Before him fire devours,
and around him it is very tempestuous.
4 He summons the heavens above
and the earth that he might judge his people:
5 “Gather to me my loyal ones,
those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
6 And the heavens declare his righteousness,
because God himself is judge. Selah
7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
8 It is not concerning a lack of your sacrifices that I rebuke you,
and your burnt offerings are before me continually.
9 I will not take from your house a bull
or from your stalls a he-goat,
10 because every animal of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird of the mountains,
and every moving creature in the field is mine.
12 If I were hungry I would not tell you,
because the world and its fullness are mine.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a thank offering
and pay your vows to the Most High.
15 And call me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.”
16 But to the wicked God says,
“What right have you to recite my statutes
and mention my covenant with your mouth,[b]
17 while you yourself hate discipline,
and cast my words behind you?
18 When you see a thief, then you are pleased with him,
and your association is with adulterers.
19 You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and you harness your tongue to deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your mother’s son.
21 These things you have done, and I have been silent;
You imagined that I was just like you.
I will rebuke you and present an argument before your eyes.
22 Now consider this, you who forget God,
lest I tear you apart, and there will be none to deliver.
23 He who sacrifices a thank offering honors me,
and he who orders his way;
I will show him the salvation of God.”
22 Do not rob the poor because he is poor,
and do not crush the afflicted at the gate;
23 For Yahweh will plead their case
and despoil those who despoil them of life.[a]
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software