Through My Bible Yr 2 – November 22

Song of Solomon 1

¹ Solomon’s Song of Songs.

Beloved ^[a]

² Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
for your love is more delightful than wine.

³ Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;
your name is like perfume poured out.
No wonder the maidens love you!

⁴ Take me away with you—let us hurry!
Let the king bring me into his chambers.

Friends

We rejoice and delight in you ^[b] ;
we will praise your love more than wine.

Beloved

How right they are to adore you!

⁵ Dark am I, yet lovely,
O daughters of Jerusalem,
dark like the tents of Kedar,
like the tent curtains of Solomon. ^[c]

⁶ 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;
my own vineyard I have neglected.

⁷ Tell me, you whom I love, where you graze your flock
and where you rest your sheep at midday.
Why should I be like a veiled woman
beside the flocks of your friends?

Friends

⁸ If you do not know, most beautiful of women,
follow the tracks of the sheep
and graze your young goats
by the tents of the shepherds.

Lover

⁹ I liken you, my darling, to a mare
harnessed to one of the chariots of Pharaoh.

¹⁰ Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings,
your neck with strings of jewels.

¹¹ We will make you earrings of gold,
studded with silver.

Beloved

¹² While the king was at his table,
my perfume spread its fragrance.

¹³ My lover is to me a sachet of myrrh
resting between my breasts.

¹⁴ My lover is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
from the vineyards of En Gedi.

Lover

¹⁵ How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful!
Your eyes are doves.

Beloved

¹⁶ How handsome you are, my lover!
Oh, how charming!
And our bed is verdant.

Lover

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

Song of Solomon 2

Beloved ^[d]

¹ I am a rose ^[e] of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.

Lover

² Like a lily among thorns
is my darling among the maidens.

Beloved

³ Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest
is my lover among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

⁴ He has taken me to the banquet hall,
and his banner over me is love.

⁵ Strengthen me with raisins,
refresh me with apples,
for I am faint with love.

⁶ His left arm is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me.

⁷ Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.

Footnotes:

1. Song of Solomon 1:1 Primarily on the basis of the gender of the Hebrew pronouns used, male and female speakers are indicated in the margins by the captions Lover and Beloved respectively. The words of others are marked Friends . In some instances the divisions and their captions are debatable.
2. Song of Solomon 1:4 The Hebrew is masculine singular.
3. Song of Solomon 1:5 Or Salma
4. Song of Solomon 2:1 Or Lover
5. Song of Solomon 2:1 Possibly a member of the crocus family

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.