The Daily Audio Bible
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1 The song of songs[a] of Solomon
A Bride Sings of Her Lover
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is better than wine.
3 Your ointments have a pleasing fragrance.
Your name is poured out like perfume.
No wonder maidens love you!
4 Draw me after you, let us run!
The king has brought me into his chambers.
Chorus: Daughters of Zion
Let us rejoice and be glad in you;
let us extol your love more than wine.
Rightly do they love you!
The Bride
5 I am black, but beautiful,
O daughters of Jerusalem,
like the tents of Kedar,
like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not gaze at me because I am dark,
because the sun has looked on me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me
and made me keeper of the vineyards;
my very own vineyard I have not kept.
7 Tell me, the one my soul loves,
where you graze your flock,
where you make it lie down at noon?
Why should I be as one veiled
beside the flocks of your companions?
The Lover and Bride Express Affection
8 If you yourself do not know,
O most beautiful among women,
go out yourself in the footsteps of the flock
and graze your kids by the shepherds’ tents.
9 I compare you, my darling,
to my mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
10 Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
your neck with strings of beads.
11 Ornaments of gold we will make for you
with spangles of silver.
12 While the king is on his couch,
my nard spreads its fragrance.[b]
13 My lover is my pouch of myrrh,
passing the night between my breasts.
14 My love is to me a spray of henna blooms
in the vineyards of En-gedi.
15 How lovely you are, my darling, how lovely!
Your eyes are doves.
16 How handsome you are, my lover!
Oh, so delightful!
Yes, our couch is luxuriant.
17 The beams of our houses are cedar trees,
our panels are cypress trees.
2 I am a rose of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.
2 Like a lily among thorns,
so is my darling among the daughters.
3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my lover among the sons.
In his shadow I delighted to sit,
and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4 He has brought me to the banquet house
and his banner over me is love.
5 Sustain me with raisin cakes,
refresh me with apples—
for I am weak with love.
6 His left hand is under my head
and his right hand embraces me.
7 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you,
by the gazelles and does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love until it delights.
8 The voice of my lover!
Behold, he is coming—
leaping over the mountains,
springing over the hills!
9 My lover is like a gazelle
or a young buck among the stags.
Look! He is standing behind our wall—
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.
10 In response my lover said to me:
“Get yourself up, my darling,
my pretty one, and come, come![c]
11 For behold, the winter has past,
the rain is over, it has gone.
12 Blossoms appear in the land,
the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtle-dove
is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree ripens its early figs.
The blossoming vines give off their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling,
my pretty one, and come, come!
14 My dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in a secret place along the steep path,
let me see your form,
let me hear your voice.
For your voice is sweet
and your form is lovely.”
15 Catch the foxes for us—
the little foxes that ruin the vineyards,
for our vineyards are in blossom.
The Bride’s Revelry
16 My lover is mine, and I am his!
He grazes his flocks among the lilies.
17 Until the day cools
and the shadows flee away,
turn about, my lover,
like a gazelle or like a stag
upon the mountains of spices.
3 On my bed in the night
I longed for the one my soul loves.
I looked for him but did not find him.
2 I will get up and go about the city,
into the streets and into the squares.
I must seek the one my soul loves.
I looked for him but did not find him.
3 The guards patrolling the city found me.
“Have you seen the one my soul loves?”
4 Hardly had I passed beyond them
when I found the one my soul loves.
I held him, and I would not let him go,
until I brought him to my mother’s house,
to the chamber of her who conceived me.
5 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you,
by the gazelles and does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it delights.
The King on his Wedding Day
6 Who is this—she who is coming up from the wilderness
like columns of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
with every powder of the merchant?
7 Behold, it is Solomon’s traveling couch—
around it are sixty warriors
from the warriors of Israel.
8 All of them wield a sword,
experts in war.
Each man with his sword on his thigh
against terrors of the night.
9 King Solomon has made for himself
a carriage from the trees of Lebanon.
10 He made its posts of silver, its back of gold,
its seat of purple cloth,
its interior fitted out with love
by the daughters of Jerusalem.
11 Go out, daughters of Zion,
and gaze upon King Solomon,
with a wreath his mother placed on him
on the day of his marriage—
on the day of his heart’s joy.
The King Delights in His Bride
4 How lovely you are, my darling, how lovely!
Your eyes are doves behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of ewe goats
descending down from Mount Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
coming up from washing.
Each of them has a twin,
and none among them is missing.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread
and your speech is lovely.
Your temple is like a slice of pomegranate
behind your veil.
4 Like the tower of David is your neck,
built for weapons.
A thousand shields are hung on it
—all shields of warriors.
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
like twin gazelles
grazing among the lilies.
6 Until the day cools
and the shadows flee away,
I will go to the mountain of myrrh
and to the hill of frankincense.
7 You are altogether lovely, my darling,
and no blemish is in you.[d]
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,
come with me from Lebanon.
Watch from the top of Amana,
from the top of Senir, even Hermon,
from lions’ dens,
from mountains of leopards.
9 You have captivated my heart,
my sister, my bride—
you captivated me
with one of your eyes,
with one jewel from your necklace.
10 How delightful is your love,
my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your oils
better than all spices!
11 Your lips, my bride,
drip honey from the honeycomb.
Honey and milk
are under your tongue.
The scent of your garments
is like the aroma of Lebanon.
12 A locked garden is my sister, my bride,
an enclosed spring, a sealed fountain.
13 Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates
with choice fruit,
henna with nard
14 —nard and saffron,
calamus and cinnamon—
with all the trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes,
along with all the finest spices—
15 a garden spring,
a well of living water[e]
and flowing streams from Lebanon.
16 Awake, north wind,
and come, south wind!
Blow on my garden,
Let its fragrance spread out.
Let my lover come into his garden
and eat its choicest fruit.
An Offering by Special Delivery
16 But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same devotion for you. 17 For indeed he not only accepted our appeal, but went to you with eagerness and on his own initiative. 18 We are sending along with him the brother whose fame in connection with the Good News has spread throughout all of Messiah’s communities. 19 Not only that, but he has also been appointed by the communities as our travel companion with this gracious gift, which is administered by us for the glory of the Lord Himself and to show our eagerness to help. 20 We are taking this precaution, so that no one will blame us in regard to the way we administer this generous gift. 21 We have regard for what is honorable—not only before the Lord, but also before people. 22 Also with them we are sending our brother whom we have tested many times and found to be diligent in many things, but now even more diligent because of his great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; as for our brothers, they are the emissaries of the communities, a glory to Messiah. 24 Therefore, before Messiah’s communities show them the proof of your love and of our boasting about you.
A Sacrifice of Thanks
Psalm 50
1 A psalm of Asaph.
God, Elohim Adonai has spoken and summoned the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.
3 Our God comes, and does not keep silent.
A fire is devouring before Him,
and it storms around Him mightily.
4 He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth, to judge His people:
5 “Gather My kedoshim to Me,
who cut a covenant with Me with a sacrifice.”
6 The heavens declare His righteousness,
for God Himself is Judge. Selah
7 “Hear, My people, and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify against you:
I am God, your God.
8 I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices,
for your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
9 I have no need of a bull from your house
nor goats from your pens.
10 For every beast of the forest is Mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird of the mountains.
Everything moving in the field is Mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you—
for the world is Mine and all it contains!
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer God a sacrifice of thank offerings,
then fulfill your vows to Elyon.
15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble.
When I rescue you, you will honor Me.”
16 But to the wicked, God says:
“What are you doing, reciting My laws
and taking My covenant in your mouth?
17 For you hate discipline,
and you cast My words behind you.
18 When you see a thief, you are pleased with him,
and your portion is with adulterers.
19 You have unleashed your mouth for evil
and harnessed your tongue for deceit.
20 You sit, speaking against your brother,
slandering your own mother’s son.
21 These things you have done—Should I keep silent?
You thought I was just like you—but I reprove you,
and set the case before your eyes.
22 Now consider this, you who forget God.
Or else I will tear you in pieces with no one to rescue you.
23 A sacrifice of praise honors Me,
and to the one who orders his way,
I will show the salvation of God.”
22 Do not rob a poor person because he is poor,
nor crush the needy at the gate,
23 for Adonai will plead their case,
and rob life from those who plunder them.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.