SONG OF SOLOMON 5

« Song of Solomon 4 | Song of Solomon 5 | Song of Solomon 6 »

The Torment of Separation5:1 “I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;

I have gathered my myrrh along with my balsam.

I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;

I have drunk my wine and my milk.

Eat, friends;

Drink and imbibe deeply, O lovers.”

2 “I was asleep but my heart was awake.

A voice! My beloved was knocking:

‘Open to me, my sister, my darling,

My dove, my perfect one!

For my head is drenched with dew,

My locks with the damp of the night.’

3 “I have taken off my dress,

How can I put it on again?

I have washed my feet,

How can I dirty them again?

4 “My beloved extended his hand through the opening,

And my feelings were aroused for him.

5 “I arose to open to my beloved;

And my hands dripped with myrrh,

And my fingers with liquid myrrh,

On the handles of the bolt.

6 “I opened to my beloved,

But my beloved had turned away and had gone!

My heart went out to him as he spoke.

I searched for him but I did not find him;

I called him but he did not answer me.

7 “The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me,

They struck me and wounded me;

The guardsmen of the walls took away my shawl from me.

8 “I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

If you find my beloved,

As to what you will tell him:

For I am lovesick.”

9 “What kind of beloved is your beloved,

O most beautiful among women?

What kind of beloved is your beloved,

That thus you adjure us?”

Admiration by the Bride10 “My beloved is dazzling and ruddy,

Outstanding among ten thousand.

11 “His head is like gold, pure gold;

His locks are like clusters of dates

And black as a raven.

12 “His eyes are like doves

Beside streams of water,

Bathed in milk,

And reposed in their setting.

13 “His cheeks are like a bed of balsam,

Banks of sweet-scented herbs;

His lips are lilies

Dripping with liquid myrrh.

14 “His hands are rods of gold

Set with beryl;

His abdomen is carved ivory

Inlaid with sapphires.

15 “His legs are pillars of alabaster

Set on pedestals of pure gold;

His appearance is like Lebanon

Choice as the cedars.

16 “His mouth is full of sweetness.

And he is wholly desirable.

This is my beloved and this is my friend,

O daughters of Jerusalem.”

SONG OF SOLOMON 6

« Song of Solomon 5 | Song of Solomon 6 | Song of Solomon 7 »

Mutual Delight in Each Other6:1 “Where has your beloved gone,

O most beautiful among women?

Where has your beloved turned,

That we may seek him with you?”

2 “My beloved has gone down to his garden,

To the beds of balsam,

To pasture his flock in the gardens

And gather lilies.

3 “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,

He who pastures his flock among the lilies.”

4 “You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,

As lovely as Jerusalem,

As awesome as an army with banners.

5 “Turn your eyes away from me,

For they have confused me;

Your hair is like a flock of goats

That have descended from Gilead.

6 “Your teeth are like a flock of ewes

Which have come up from their washing,

All of which bear twins,

And not one among them has lost her young.

7 “Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate

Behind your veil.

8 “There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,

And maidens without number;

9 But my dove, my perfect one, is unique:

She is her mother’s only daughter;

She is the pure child of the one who bore her.

The maidens saw her and called her blessed,

The queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,

10 ‘Who is this that grows like the dawn,

As beautiful as the full moon,

As pure as the sun,

As awesome as an army with banners?’

11 “I went down to the orchard of nut trees

To see the blossoms of the valley,

To see whether the vine had budded

Or the pomegranates had bloomed.

12 “Before I was aware, my soul set me

Over the chariots of my noble people.”

13 “Come back, come back, O Shulammite;

Come back, come back, that we may gaze at you!”

“Why should you gaze at the Shulammite,

As at the dance of the two companies?

PSALM 53

« Psalm 52 | Psalm 53 | Psalm 54 »

Folly and Wickedness of Men.For the choir director; according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David.
53:1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,”

They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice;

There is no one who does good.

2 God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men

To see if there is anyone who understands,

Who seeks after God.

3 Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt;

There is no one who does good, not even one.

4 Have the workers of wickedness no knowledge,

Who eat up My people as though they ate bread

And have not called upon God?

5 There they were in great fear where no fear had been;

For God scattered the bones of him who encamped against you;

You put them to shame, because God had rejected them.

6 Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!

When God restores His captive people,

Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

PSALM 54

« Psalm 53 | Psalm 54 | Psalm 55 »

Prayer for Defense against Enemies.For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is not David hiding himself among us?”
54:1 Save me, O God, by Your name,

And vindicate me by Your power.

2 Hear my prayer, O God;

Give ear to the words of my mouth.

3 For strangers have risen against me

And violent men have sought my life;

They have not set God before them. Selah.

4 Behold, God is my helper;

The Lord is the sustainer of my soul.

5 He will recompense the evil to my foes;

Destroy them in Your faithfulness.

6 Willingly I will sacrifice to You;

I will give thanks to Your name, O LORD, for it is good.

7 For He has delivered me from all trouble,

And my eye has looked with satisfaction upon my enemies.

PROVERBS 7

« Proverbs 6 | Proverbs 7 | Proverbs 8 »

The Wiles of the Harlot7:1 My son, keep my words

And treasure my commandments within you.

2 Keep my commandments and live,

And my teaching as the apple of your eye.

3 Bind them on your fingers;

Write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”

And call understanding your intimate friend;

5 That they may keep you from an adulteress,

From the foreigner who flatters with her words.

6 For at the window of my house

I looked out through my lattice,

7 And I saw among the naive,

And discerned among the youths

A young man lacking sense,

8 Passing through the street near her corner;

And he takes the way to her house,

9 In the twilight, in the evening,

In the middle of the night and in the darkness.

10 And behold, a woman comes to meet him,

Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart.

11 She is boisterous and rebellious,

Her feet do not remain at home;

12 She is now in the streets, now in the squares,

And lurks by every corner.

13 So she seizes him and kisses him

And with a brazen face she says to him:

14 “I was due to offer peace offerings;

Today I have paid my vows.

15 “Therefore I have come out to meet you,

To seek your presence earnestly, and I have found you.

16 “I have spread my couch with coverings,

With colored linens of Egypt.

17 “I have sprinkled my bed

With myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.

18 “Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning;

Let us delight ourselves with caresses.

19 “For my husband is not at home,

He has gone on a long journey;

20 He has taken a bag of money with him,

At the full moon he will come home.”

21 With her many persuasions she entices him;

With her flattering lips she seduces him.

22 Suddenly he follows her

As an ox goes to the slaughter,

Or as one in fetters to the discipline of a fool,

23 Until an arrow pierces through his liver;

As a bird hastens to the snare,

So he does not know that it will cost him his life.

24 Now therefore, my sons, listen to me,

And pay attention to the words of my mouth.

25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,

Do not stray into her paths.

26 For many are the victims she has cast down,

And numerous are all her slain.

27 Her house is the way to Sheol,

Descending to the chambers of death.