Song of Songs 1-3
Christian Standard Bible
1 The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.(A)
Woman
2 Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your caresses[a] are more delightful than wine.(B)
3 The fragrance of your perfume is intoxicating;(C)
your name is perfume poured out.(D)
No wonder young women[b] adore you.
4 Take me with you(E)—let’s hurry.
Oh, that the king would bring[c] me to his chambers.
Young Women
We will rejoice and be glad in you;
we will celebrate your caresses more than wine.
Woman
It is only right that they adore you.
5 Daughters of Jerusalem,(F)
I am dark like the tents of Kedar,(G)
yet lovely(H) like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not stare at me because I am dark,
for the sun has gazed on me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;(I)
they made me take care of the vineyards.(J)
I have not taken care of my own vineyard.
7 Tell me, you whom I love:(K)
Where do you pasture your sheep?(L)
Where do you let them rest at noon?(M)
Why should I be like one who veils herself[d]
beside the flocks of your companions?(N)
Man
8 [e]If you do not know,
most beautiful of women,(O)
follow[f] the tracks of the flock,
and pasture your young goats
near the shepherds’ tents.
9 I compare you, my darling,(P)
to a[g] mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.(Q)
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with jewelry,(R)
your neck with its necklace.
11 We will make gold jewelry for you,
accented with silver.
Woman
12 While the king is on his couch,[h]
my perfume[i] releases its fragrance.(S)
13 The one I love is a sachet of myrrh to me,(T)
spending the night between my breasts.
14 The one I love is a cluster of henna blossoms to me,(U)
in the vineyards of En-gedi.(V)
Man
15 How beautiful you are, my darling.
How very beautiful!
Your eyes are doves.(W)
Woman
16 How handsome you are, my love.(X)
How delightful!
Our bed is verdant;
17 the beams of our house are cedars,
and our rafters are cypresses.[j]
2 I am a wildflower[k] of Sharon,
a lily[l] of the valleys.(Y)
Man
2 Like a lily among thorns,
so is my darling among the young women.
Woman
3 Like an apricot[m] tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my love among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
4 He brought me to the banquet hall,[n](Z)
and he looked on me with love.[o](AA)
5 Sustain me with raisins;
refresh me with apricots,[p]
for I am lovesick.(AB)
6 May his left hand be under my head,
and his right arm embrace me.(AC)
7 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field,
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.[q](AD)
8 Listen! My love is approaching.
Look! Here he comes,
leaping over the mountains,(AE)
bounding over the hills.
9 My love is like a gazelle
or a young stag.(AF)
See, he is standing behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.
10 My love calls to me:
Man
Arise,(AG) my darling.
Come away, my beautiful one.
11 For now the winter is past;
the rain has ended and gone away.
12 The blossoms appear in the countryside.
The time of singing[r] has come,
and the turtledove’s cooing is heard in our land.(AH)
13 The fig tree ripens its figs;(AI)
the blossoming vines give off their fragrance.(AJ)
Arise, my darling.
Come away, my beautiful one.
14 My dove,(AK) in the clefts of the rock,(AL)
in the crevices of the cliff,
let me see your face,[s]
let me hear your voice;(AM)
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.(AN)
Woman
15 [t]Catch the foxes for us(AO)—
the little foxes that ruin the vineyards—
for our vineyards are in bloom.(AP)
Woman
16 My love is mine and I am his;(AQ)
he feeds among the lilies.
17 Until the day breaks[u]
and the shadows flee,
turn around, my love, and be like a gazelle
or a young stag(AR) on the divided mountains.[v](AS)
3 In my bed at night[w]
I sought the one I love;(AT)
I sought him, but did not find him.[x](AU)
2 I will arise now and go about the city,
through the streets and the plazas.(AV)
I will seek the one I love.
I sought him, but did not find him.
3 The guards who go about the city found me.(AW)
I asked them, “Have you seen the one I love?”
4 I had just passed them
when I found the one I love.
I held on to him and would not let him go
until I brought him to my mother’s house(AX)—
to the chamber of the one who conceived me.
5 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field,
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.[y](AY)
Narrator
6 Who is this(AZ) coming up from the wilderness
like columns of smoke,
scented with myrrh and frankincense(BA)
from every fragrant powder of the merchant?
7 Look! Solomon’s bed
surrounded by sixty warriors
from the mighty men of Israel.
8 All of them are skilled with swords
and trained in warfare.
Each has his sword at his side(BB)
to guard against the terror of the night.(BC)
9 King Solomon made a carriage for himself
with wood from Lebanon.
10 He made its posts of silver,
its back[z] of gold,
and its seat of purple.
Its interior is inlaid with love[aa]
by the young women of Jerusalem.(BD)
11 Go out, young women of Zion,(BE)
and gaze at King Solomon,
wearing the crown his mother placed on him
on the day of his wedding(BF)—
the day of his heart’s rejoicing.
Footnotes
- 1:2 Or acts of love
- 1:3 Or wonder virgins
- 1:4 Or The king has brought
- 1:7 Or who wanders
- 1:8 Some understand the young women to be the speakers in this verse.
- 1:8 Lit go out for yourself into
- 1:9 Lit my
- 1:12 Or is at his table
- 1:12 Lit nard
- 1:17 Or firs, or pines
- 2:1 Traditionally rose
- 2:1 Or lotus
- 2:3 Or apple
- 2:4 Lit the house of wine
- 2:4 Or and his banner over me is love
- 2:5 Or apples
- 2:7 Lit until it pleases
- 2:12 Or pruning
- 2:14 Or form
- 2:15 The speaker could be the woman, the man, or both.
- 2:17 Lit breathes
- 2:17 Or the Bether mountains, or the mountains of spices; Hb obscure
- 3:1 Or bed night after night
- 3:1 LXX adds I called him, but he did not answer me
- 3:5 Lit until it pleases
- 3:10 Or base, or canopy
- 3:10 Or leather
Psalm 72
Christian Standard Bible
Psalm 72
A Prayer for the King
Of Solomon.(A)
1 God, give your justice to the king
and your righteousness to the king’s son.(B)
2 He will judge your people with righteousness
and your afflicted ones with justice.(C)
3 May the mountains bring well-being[a] to the people
and the hills, righteousness.(D)
4 May he vindicate the afflicted among the people,
help the poor,
and crush the oppressor.(E)
5 May they fear you[b] while the sun endures
and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.(F)
6 May the king be like rain that falls on the cut grass,
like spring showers that water the earth.(G)
7 May the righteous[c] flourish in his days
and well-being abound
until the moon is no more.(H)
8 May he rule from sea to sea
and from the Euphrates
to the ends of the earth.(I)
9 May desert tribes kneel before him
and his enemies lick the dust.(J)
10 May the kings of Tarshish
and the coasts and islands bring tribute,
the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.(K)
11 Let all kings bow in homage to him,
all nations serve him.(L)
12 For he will rescue the poor who cry out
and the afflicted who have no helper.(M)
13 He will have pity on the poor and helpless
and save the lives of the poor.(N)
14 He will redeem them from oppression and violence,
for their lives are[d] precious[e] in his sight.(O)
15 May he live long!
May gold from Sheba be given to him.
May prayer be offered for him continually,
and may he be blessed all day long.(P)
16 May there be plenty of grain in the land;
may it wave on the tops of the mountains.
May its crops be like Lebanon.
May people flourish in the cities
like the grass of the field.(Q)
17 May his name endure forever;
as long as the sun shines,
may his fame increase.
May all nations be blessed by him
and call him blessed.(R)
1 Thessalonians 5
Christian Standard Bible
The Day of the Lord
5 About the times and the seasons:(A) Brothers and sisters, you do not need anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord(B) will come just like a thief(C) in the night. 3 When they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction(D) will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the dark, for this day to surprise you like a thief.(E) 5 For you are all children of light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness.(F) 6 So then, let us not sleep, like the rest, but let us stay awake and be self-controlled. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled(G) and put on the armor(H) of faith and love, and a helmet(I) of the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord(J) Jesus Christ,(K) 10 who died for us,(L) so that whether we are awake or asleep,(M) we may live together with him.(N) 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.
Exhortations and Blessings
12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to give recognition(O) to those who labor among you and lead you[a] in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to regard them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace(P) among yourselves. 14 And we exhort you, brothers and sisters:(Q) warn those who are idle,[b] comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient(R) with everyone. 15 See to it that no one repays evil for evil(S) to anyone,(T) but always pursue what is good for one another and for all.(U) 16 Rejoice(V) always, 17 pray constantly, 18 give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will(W) for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Don’t stifle the Spirit. 20 Don’t despise prophecies, 21 but test all things.(X) Hold on to what is good. 22 Stay away(Y) from every kind of evil.
23 Now may the God of peace(Z) himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit,(AA) soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming(AB) of our Lord(AC) Jesus Christ.(AD) 24 He who calls(AE) you(AF) is faithful; he will do it. 25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us also. 26 Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. 27 I charge you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the brothers and sisters.(AG) 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
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