Through My Bible Yr 2 – November 24

⁶ Who is this coming up from the desert
like a column of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and incense
made from all the spices of the merchant?

⁷ Look! It is Solomon’s carriage,
escorted by sixty warriors,
the noblest of Israel,

⁸ all of them wearing the sword,
all experienced in battle,
each with his sword at his side,
prepared for the terrors of the night.

⁹ King Solomon made for himself the carriage;
he made it of wood from Lebanon.

¹⁰ Its posts he made of silver,
its base of gold.
Its seat was upholstered with purple,
its interior lovingly inlaid
by ^[a]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,
the day his heart rejoiced.

Song of Solomon 4

Lover

¹ How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil are doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from Mount Gilead.

² Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn,
coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin;
not one of them is alone.

³ Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
your mouth is lovely.
Your temples behind your veil
are like the halves of a pomegranate.

⁴ Your neck is like the tower of David,
built with elegance ^[b] ;
on it hang a thousand shields,
all of them shields of warriors.

⁵ Your two breasts are like two fawns,
like twin fawns of a gazelle
that browse among the lilies.

⁶ Until the day breaks
and the shadows flee,
I will go to the mountain of myrrh
and to the hill of incense.

⁷ All beautiful you are, my darling;
there is no flaw in you.

⁸ Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,
come with me from Lebanon.
Descend from the crest of Amana,
from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon,
from the lions’ dens
and the mountain haunts of the leopards.

⁹ You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have stolen my heart
with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.

¹⁰ How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much more pleasing is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice!

¹¹ Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride;
milk and honey are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments is like that of Lebanon.

¹² You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride;
you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.

¹³ Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates
with choice fruits,
with henna and nard,

¹⁴ nard and saffron,
calamus and cinnamon,
with every kind of incense tree,
with myrrh and aloes
and all the finest spices.

¹⁵ You are ^[c] a garden fountain,
a well of flowing water
streaming down from Lebanon.

Beloved

¹⁶ Awake, north wind,
and come, south wind!
Blow on my garden,
that its fragrance may spread abroad.
Let my lover come into his garden
and taste its choice fruits.

Song of Solomon 5

Lover

¹ I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;
I have drunk my wine and my milk.

Friends

Eat, O friends, and drink;
drink your fill, O lovers.

Footnotes:

1. Song of Solomon 3:10 Or its inlaid interior a gift of love / from
2. Song of Solomon 4:4 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
3. Song of Solomon 4:15 Or I am (spoken by the Beloved )

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.