Old Testament:
Song of Solomon 5–8
Song of Solomon 5–8 (Listen)
He
5I came to my garden, my sister, my bride,
I gathered my myrrh with my spice,
I ate my honeycomb with my honey,
I drank my wine with my milk.
Others
Eat, 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 knocking.
“Open to me, my sister, my love,
my dove, my perfect one,
for my head is wet with dew,
my locks with the drops of the night.”
3I had put off my garment;
how could I put it on?
I had 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 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 spoke.
I sought him, but found him not;
I called him, but he gave no answer.
7The 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 adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
if you find my beloved,
that you tell him
I am sick with love.
Others
9What is your beloved more than another beloved,
O most beautiful among women?
What is your beloved more than another beloved,
that you thus adjure us?
The Bride Praises Her Beloved
She
10My beloved is radiant and ruddy,
distinguished among ten thousand.
11His head is the finest gold;
his locks are wavy,
black as a raven.
12His eyes are like doves
beside streams of water,
bathed in milk,
sitting beside a full pool.The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain“>1
13His cheeks are like beds of spices,
mounds of sweet-smelling herbs.
His lips are lilies,
dripping liquid myrrh.
14His arms are rods of gold,
set with jewels.
His body is polished ivory,The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain“>2
bedecked with sapphires.Hebrew lapis lazuli“>3
15His legs are alabaster columns,
set on bases of gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
choice as the cedars.
16His mouthHebrew palate“>4 is most sweet,
and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.
Others
6Where has your beloved gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
that we may seek him with you?
Together in the Garden of Love
She
2My beloved has gone down to his garden
to the beds of spices,
to grazeOr to pasture his flock; also verse 3“>5 in the gardens
and to gather lilies.
3I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;
he grazes among the lilies.
Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other
He
4You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love,
lovely as Jerusalem,
awesome as an army with banners.
5Turn away your eyes from me,
for they overwhelm me—
Your hair is like a flock of goats
leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
6Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
that have come up from the washing;
all of them bear twins;
not one among them has lost its young.
7Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
behind your veil.
8There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,
and virgins without number.
9My dove, my perfect one, is the only one,
the only one of her mother,
pure to her who bore her.
The young women saw her and called her blessed;
the queens and concubines also, and they praised her.
10“Who is this who looks down like the dawn,
beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,
awesome as an army with banners?”
She
11I went down to the nut orchard
to look at the blossoms of the valley,
to see whether the vines had budded,
whether the pomegranates were in bloom.
12Before I was aware, my desire set me
among the chariots of my kinsman, a prince.Or chariots of Ammi-Nadib“>6
Others
13Ch 7:1 in Hebrew“>7 Return, return, O Shulammite,
return, return, that we may look upon you.
He
Why should you look upon the Shulammite,
as upon a dance before two armies?Or dance of Mahanaim“>8
7How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
O noble daughter!
Your rounded thighs are like jewels,
the work of a master hand.
2Your navel is a rounded bowl
that never lacks mixed wine.
Your belly is a heap of wheat,
encircled with lilies.
3Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
4Your neck is like an ivory tower.
Your eyes are pools in Heshbon,
by the gate of Bath-rabbim.
Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon,
which looks toward Damascus.
5Your head crowns you like Carmel,
and your flowing locks are like purple;
a king is held captive in the tresses.
6How beautiful and pleasant you are,
O loved one, with all your delights!Or among delights“>9
7Your stature is like a palm tree,
and your breasts are like its clusters.
8I say I will climb the palm tree
and lay hold of its fruit.
Oh may your breasts be like clusters of the vine,
and the scent of your breath like apples,
9and your mouthHebrew palate“>10 like the best wine.
She
It goes down smoothly for my beloved,
gliding over lips and teeth.Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew causing the lips of sleepers to speak, or gliding over the lips of those who sleep“>11
10I am my beloved’s,
and his desire is for me.
The Bride Gives Her Love
11Come, my beloved,
let us go out into the fields
and lodge in the villages;Or among the henna plants“>12
12let us go out early to the vineyards
and see whether the vines have budded,
whether the grape blossoms have opened
and the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my love.
13The mandrakes give forth fragrance,
and beside our doors are all choice fruits,
new as well as old,
which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.
Longing for Her Beloved
8Oh that you were like a brother to me
who nursed at my mother’s breasts!
If I found you outside, I would kiss you,
and none would despise me.
2I would lead you and bring you
into the house of my mother—
she who used to teach me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
the juice of my pomegranate.
3His left hand is under my head,
and his right hand embraces me!
4I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.
5Who is that coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on her beloved?
Under the apple tree I awakened you.
There your mother was in labor with you;
there she who bore you was in labor.
6Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm,
for love is strong as death,
jealousyOr ardor“>13 is fierce as the grave.Hebrew as Sheol“>14
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
the very flame of the LORD.
7Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If a man offered for love
all the wealth of his house,
heOr it“>15 would be utterly despised.
Final Advice
Others
8We have a little sister,
and she has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister
on the day when she is spoken for?
9If she is a wall,
we will build on her a battlement of silver,
but if she is a door,
we will enclose her with boards of cedar.
She
10I was a wall,
and my breasts were like towers;
then I was in his eyes
as one who findsOr brings out“>16 peace.
11Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon;
he let out the vineyard to keepers;
each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver.
12My vineyard, my very own, is before me;
you, O Solomon, may have the thousand,
and the keepers of the fruit two hundred.
He
13O you who dwell in the gardens,
with companions listening for your voice;
let me hear it.
She
14Make haste, my beloved,
and be like a gazelle
or a young stag
on the mountains of spices.
Footnotes
[1] 5:12
[2] 5:14
[3] 5:14
[4] 5:16
[5] 6:2
[6] 6:12
[7] 6:13
[8] 6:13
[9] 7:6
[10] 7:9
[11] 7:9
[12] 7:11
[13] 8:6
[14] 8:6
[15] 8:7
[16] 8:10
(ESV)
Psalm:
Psalm 80
Psalm 80 (Listen)
Restore Us, O God
To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Testimony. Of Asaph, a Psalm.
80Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.
2Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
stir up your might
and come to save us!
3Restore us,Or Turn us again; also verses 7, 19“>1 O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!
4O LORD God of hosts,
how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
5You have fed them with the bread of tears
and given them tears to drink in full measure.
6You make us an object of contention for our neighbors,
and our enemies laugh among themselves.
7Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!
8You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
9You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
10The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
11It sent out its branches to the sea
and its shoots to the River.That is, the Euphrates“>2
12Why then have you broken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
13The boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.
14Turn again, O God of hosts!
Look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
15the stock that your right hand planted,
and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.
16They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down;
may they perish at the rebuke of your face!
17But let your hand be on the man of your right hand,
the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!
18Then we shall not turn back from you;
give us life, and we will call upon your name!
19Restore us, O LORD God of hosts!
Let your face shine, that we may be saved!
(ESV)
New Testament:
Acts 3
Acts 3 (Listen)
The Lame Beggar Healed
3Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.That is, 3 p.m.“>1 2And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. 3Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. 4And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9And all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
Peter Speaks in Solomon’s Portico
11While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s. 12And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 13The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servantOr child; also verse 26“>2 Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 14But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through JesusGreek him“>3 has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
17“And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 22Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 23And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ 24And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 25You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
(ESV)
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