The Daily Audio Bible
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Title
1 The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.
Anticipation—Take Me Away
The Woman
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.
Experiencing your love is better than wine.
3 Your perfumes are fragrant.
Your name is perfume poured out.[a]
That is why the virgins love you!
4 Carry me away with you—let us run.
Let the king bring me into his chambers.
Best Wishes to the Man
The Friends
We rejoice and are happy because of you.
We celebrate your expressions of love
more than we celebrate wine.
How right the virgins[b] are to love you!
My Own Vineyard
The Woman
5 Dark am I, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem,
dark like the tents of Kedar,
like the tent curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not stare at me because I am dark
because the sun gazed at me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me.
They made me take care of the vineyards.
I could not take care of my own vineyard.
Escape to the Country
The Woman
7 You whom my soul loves, tell me
where you pasture your flock,
where you rest your sheep at noon.
Why should I be like a veiled woman
beside the flocks of your companions?
A Reply to the Woman
8 If you do not know, most beautiful of women,
go out and follow the tracks of the flock
and graze your young goats
by the dwellings of the shepherds.
Most Beautiful of Women
The Man
9 My darling, I compare you
to a mare among the chariots of Pharaoh.
10 Your cheeks are adorned with earrings,
your neck with strings of jewels.
11 We will make for you gold earrings decorated with silver.
The Woman
12 While the king was at his couch,
my nard[c] gave off its fragrance.
13 My lover is to me a sachet of myrrh,
spending the night between my breasts.
14 My lover is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
from the vineyards of En Gedi.
Our House
The Man
15 How beautiful you are, my darling!
How beautiful! Your eyes are doves.
The Woman
16 How beautiful you are, my lover.
How delightful!
Yes, our bed is fresh.
17 The beams of our house are cedar.
Our rafters are fir.
The Woman
The Man
2 Like a lily among thorns,
so is my darling among the girls.
He Embraces Me
The Woman
3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my lover among the boys.
I desire to sit in his shade.
His fruit is sweet to my taste.
4 He has brought me to the reception hall,[f]
and his banner over me is love.[g]
5 Strengthen me with raisin cakes.
Refresh me with apples,
for I am weak from love.
6 His left arm is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me.
7 Daughters of Jerusalem,
you must swear to me by the gazelles,
or by the does of the field,
that you will not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.
Let Us Go to the Country
The Woman
8 Listen! It’s my lover!
Look! Here he comes,
leaping on the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9 My lover is like a gazelle,
or like a young buck.
Look! There he is, standing behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peeking through the lattice.
10 My lover responded and said to me,
“Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
and come.”
The Man
11 Look! Winter is over.
The rainy season has come to an end.
12 Flowers appear in the land.
The season of singing has arrived.
The cooing of the turtledove is heard in our land.
13 The fruit of the fig tree is beginning to ripen.
The grapevines are in blossom.
They spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling.
My beautiful one, come.
Let Me See You!
The Man
14 My dove is in the clefts of the rock,
in the hiding places on the mountainside.
Let me see how you look.
Let me hear your voice,
because your voice is pleasant,
and you are lovely to look at.
Foxes in Our Vineyard
To the Workers
15 Catch the foxes for us,
the little foxes that ruin the vineyards,
our vineyards that are in blossom.
My Lover Is Mine
The Woman
16 My lover is mine and I am his.
He browses among the lilies.
17 Until the day breathes and the shadows flee,
turn, my lover, and be like a gazelle,
or like a young buck on the divided mountains.[h]
At Night
The Woman
3 All night long on my bed
I sought the one my soul loves.
I sought him, but I did not find him.
2 I will get up now and go around the city.
I will go through its markets and squares.
I will seek the one my soul loves.
I sought him, but I did not find him.
3 The watchmen who patrol the city found me.
“Have you seen the one my soul loves?”
4 I had hardly passed them,
when I found the one my soul loves.
I held him and would not let him go,
until I had brought him to my mother’s house,
to the room of the one who conceived me.
5 Daughters of Jerusalem,
you must swear to me by the gazelles,
and by the does of the field,
that you will not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.
Who Is This?
The Friends and Other Bystanders
6 Who is this woman coming up from the wilderness
like columns of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and with incense,
made from all the fragrant powders of the merchant?
7 Look! It’s Solomon’s own carriage.[i]
Sixty warriors surround it,
the most heroic of Israel,
8 all of them wearing a sword,
all trained for battle,
each man with his sword at his side,
ready for the terrors of the night.
9 This palanquin[j] King Solomon made for himself
out of wood from Lebanon.
10 Its posts he made of silver.
Its base he made of gold.
Its seat was upholstered with purple.
Its interior was inlaid with love[k]
by the daughters of Jerusalem.
11 Come out, you daughters of Zion,
and look at King Solomon wearing the crown,
the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
on the day his heart rejoiced.
Beautiful From Top to Bottom
The Man
4 Look at you. You are beautiful, my darling!
Look at you. You are beautiful!
Your eyes are doves behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
which flows down from Mount Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock,
ready to be sheared,
which comes up from the washing.
Each is a twin. Not one of them is left by itself.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon.
Your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks behind your veil
are like the halves of a pomegranate.
4 Like the tower of David,
your neck is adorned with rows of stones.[l]
A thousand shields hang on it,
all of them the equipment of warriors.
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle, that browse among the lilies.
6 Until the day breathes and the shadows flee,
I will go to the mountain of myrrh,
and to the hill of incense.
7 You are altogether beautiful, my darling.
There is no flaw in you.
Spices and Wine, Milk and Honey
The Man
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride.
With me from Lebanon, come.
Descend from the top of Amana,
from the top of Senir and Hermon,
from the lions’ dens,
and from the mountains of the leopards.
9 You have stirred my heart, my sister, my bride.
You have stirred my heart
with one, just one of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
10 How delightful it is to experience your love,
my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice!
11 Your lips drip like a honeycomb, my bride.
Honey and milk are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments
is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 You are an enclosed garden, my sister, my bride.
You are an enclosed spring,[m] a sealed fountain.
13 Your plants are an orchard,
pomegranates with other choice fruits,
henna with nard,
14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
with every kind of incense tree,
myrrh and aloes, with all the finest spices.
15 You are a garden fountain,
a well of water flowing and streaming down from Lebanon.
Come Into Your Garden
The Woman
16 Arise, north wind! Come, south wind!
Blow on my garden, so that its spices spread abroad.
Let my lover come into his garden,
and eat its choice fruits.
16 Thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you, 17 because he accepted our encouragement and went to you eagerly, of his own free will. 18 We sent along with him the brother who is recognized by all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. 19 Not only that—but also he was elected[a] by the churches to be our traveling companion, as we administer this gracious gift to the glory of the Lord and to show our eagerness to help. 20 We are trying to avoid any criticism of the way we are administering this lavish gift. 21 To be sure, we are taking into consideration what is proper, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of other people.
22 We sent along with them our brother who has often proved to us in many tests that he is eager, and now is even more eager, because of the great confidence he has in you.
23 As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. Our brothers, messengers sent by the churches, are the glory of Christ. 24 So then, show the evidence of your love in the sight of the churches, and demonstrate why we boasted to them about you.
Psalm 50
The Folly of Formalistic Worship
Heading
A psalm by Asaph.[a]
The Summons
1 God, God the Lord, has spoken.
He calls to the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 From Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shined.
3 Our God comes and he will not be silent.
Fire devours in front of him.
Around him a storm rages.
4 He calls to the heavens above and to the earth
to judge his people.
5 “Gather to me my favored ones,
who make a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
6 So the heavens proclaim his righteousness,
because God himself is judge. Interlude
The Lord’s Charges Against Them
7 Listen, my people, and let me speak, O Israel.
Then I will testify against you:
I am God, your God.
Hypocritical Sacrifices Are Useless
8 It is not because of your sacrifices that I rebuke you
or because of your burnt offerings that are always in front of me.
9 I do not need to take a bull from your barn
or goats from your pens,
10 because every animal in the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand mountains.
11 I know every bird in the mountains,
and everything that moves in the field is with me.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
because the world is mine, and all that fills it.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls,
or do I drink the blood of goats?
Sincere Sacrifices Bring Blessing
14 Sacrifice a thank offering to God,
and fulfill your vows to the Most High.
15 Call on me in the day of distress.
I will deliver you, and you will honor me.
Treacherous Deeds Bring Destruction
16 But to the wicked, God says:
What right do you have to recite my statutes
or to take up my covenant with your mouth?
17 As for you—you hate discipline,
and you throw my words behind your back.
18 If you see a thief, you approve of him,
and you cast your lot with adulterers.
19 You devote your mouth to evil,
and your tongue weaves deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother.
You slander your own mother’s son.
The Verdict
21 These things you have done, and I kept silent.
You thought I was just like you.
I will indict you and accuse you to your face.
22 Now consider this, you who forget God,
or I will tear you to pieces,
and there will be no one to rescue you.
The Way to Escape
23 The one who sacrifices a thank offering honors me,
and he sets up the way by which I will show him the salvation of God.
22 Do not rob a poor person because he is poor,
and do not crush an oppressed person in court,[a]
23 because the Lord will defend their cause,
and he will rob those who rob them of their lives.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.