SONG OF SOLOMON 1

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  1:1 The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s. The Bride Confesses Her LoveShe2

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!

For your love is better than wine; 3

your anointing oils are fragrant;

your name is oil poured out;

therefore virgins love you.
4

Draw me after you; let us run.

The king has brought me into his chambers.Others

We will exult and rejoice in you;

we will extol your love more than wine;

rightly do they love you. She5

I am very dark, but lovely,

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 upon me.

My mother’s sons were angry with me;

they made me keeper of the vineyards,

but my own vineyard I have not kept! 7

Tell me, you whom my soul loves,

where you pasture your flock,

where you make it lie down at noon;

for why should I be like one who veils herself

beside the flocks of your companions? Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each OtherHe8

If you do not know,

O most beautiful among women,

follow in the tracks of the flock,

and pasture your young goats

beside the shepherds’ tents.
9

I compare you, my love,

to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots. 10

Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,

your neck with strings of jewels. Others11

We will make for you ornaments of gold,

studded with silver. She12

While the king was on his couch,

my nard gave forth its fragrance. 13

My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh

that lies between my breasts. 14

My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms

in the vineyards of Engedi. He15

Behold, you are beautiful, my love;

behold, you are beautiful;

your eyes are doves. She16

Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightful.

Our couch is green; 17

the beams of our house are cedar;

our rafters are pine.

SONG OF SOLOMON 2

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2:1

I am a rose of Sharon,

a lily of the valleys. He2

As a lily among brambles,

so is my love among the young women. She3

As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,

so is my beloved among the young men.

With great delight I sat in his shadow,

and his fruit was sweet to my taste. 4

He brought me to the banqueting house,

and his banner over me was love. 5

Sustain me with raisins;

refresh me with apples,

for I am sick with love. 6

His left hand is under my head,

and his right hand embraces me! 7

I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

by the gazelles or the does of the field,

that you not stir up or awaken love

until it pleases. The Bride Adores Her Beloved8

The voice of my beloved!

Behold, he comes,

leaping over the mountains,

bounding over the hills. 9

My beloved is like a gazelle

or a young stag.

Behold, there he stands

behind our wall,

gazing through the windows,

looking through the lattice. 10

My beloved speaks and says to me:

“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,

and come away, 11

for behold, the winter is past;

the rain is over and gone. 12

The flowers appear on the earth,

the time of singing has come,

and the voice of the turtledove

is heard in our land. 13

The fig tree ripens its figs,

and the vines are in blossom;

they give forth fragrance.

Arise, my love, my beautiful one,

and come away. 14

O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,

in the crannies of the cliff,

let me see your face,

let me hear your voice,

for your voice is sweet,

and your face is lovely. 15

Catch the foxes for us,

the little foxes

that spoil the vineyards,

for our vineyards are in blossom.”
16

My beloved is mine, and I am his;

he grazes among the lilies. 17

Until the day breathes

and the shadows flee,

turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle

or a young stag on cleft mountains.

PROVERBS 1

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The Beginning of Knowledge  1:1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
2

To know wisdom and instruction,

to understand words of insight, 3

to receive instruction in wise dealing,

in righteousness, justice, and equity; 4

to give prudence to the simple,

knowledge and discretion to the youth— 5

Let the wise hear and increase in learning,

and the one who understands obtain guidance, 6

to understand a proverb and a saying,

the words of the wise and their riddles.
7

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and instruction. The Enticement of Sinners8

Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,

and forsake not your mother’s teaching, 9

for they are a graceful garland for your head

and pendants for your neck. 10

My son, if sinners entice you,

do not consent. 11

If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;

let us ambush the innocent without reason; 12

like Sheol let us swallow them alive,

and whole, like those who go down to the pit; 13

we shall find all precious goods,

we shall fill our houses with plunder; 14

throw in your lot among us;

we will all have one purse”— 15

my son, do not walk in the way with them;

hold back your foot from their paths, 16

for their feet run to evil,

and they make haste to shed blood. 17

For in vain is a net spread

in the sight of any bird, 18

but these men lie in wait for their own blood;

they set an ambush for their own lives. 19

Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;

it takes away the life of its possessors. The Call of Wisdom20

Wisdom cries aloud in the street,

in the markets she raises her voice; 21

at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;

at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: 22

“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?

How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing

and fools hate knowledge? 23

If you turn at my reproof,

behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;

I will make my words known to you. 24

Because I have called and you refused to listen,

have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, 25

because you have ignored all my counsel

and would have none of my reproof, 26

I also will laugh at your calamity;

I will mock when terror strikes you, 27

when terror strikes you like a storm

and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,

when distress and anguish come upon you. 28

Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;

they will seek me diligently but will not find me. 29

Because they hated knowledge

and did not choose the fear of the Lord, 30

would have none of my counsel

and despised all my reproof, 31

therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,

and have their fill of their own devices. 32

For the simple are killed by their turning away,

and the complacency of fools destroys them; 33

but whoever listens to me will dwell secure

and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

PSALM 101

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I Will Walk with IntegrityA Psalm of David.
101:1

I will sing of steadfast love and justice;

to you, O Lord, I will make music. 2

I will ponder the way that is blameless.

Oh when will you come to me?

I will walk with integrity of heart

within my house; 3

I will not set before my eyes

anything that is worthless.

I hate the work of those who fall away;

it shall not cling to me. 4

A perverse heart shall be far from me;

I will know nothing of evil.
5

Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly

I will destroy.

Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart

I will not endure.
6

I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,

that they may dwell with me;

he who walks in the way that is blameless

shall minister to me.
7

No one who practices deceit

shall dwell in my house;

no one who utters lies

shall continue before my eyes.
8

Morning by morning I will destroy

all the wicked in the land,

cutting off all the evildoers

from the city of the Lord.

PSALM 102

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Do Not Hide Your Face from MeA Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord.
102:1

Hear my prayer, O Lord;

let my cry come to you! 2

Do not hide your face from me

in the day of my distress!

Incline your ear to me;

answer me speedily in the day when I call!
3

For my days pass away like smoke,

and my bones burn like a furnace. 4

My heart is struck down like grass and has withered;

I forget to eat my bread. 5

Because of my loud groaning

my bones cling to my flesh. 6

I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,

like an owl of the waste places; 7

I lie awake;

I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop. 8

All the day my enemies taunt me;

those who deride me use my name for a curse. 9

For I eat ashes like bread

and mingle tears with my drink, 10

because of your indignation and anger;

for you have taken me up and thrown me down. 11

My days are like an evening shadow;

I wither away like grass.
12

But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever;

you are remembered throughout all generations. 13

You will arise and have pity on Zion;

it is the time to favor her;

the appointed time has come. 14

For your servants hold her stones dear

and have pity on her dust. 15

Nations will fear the name of the Lord,

and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory. 16

For the Lord builds up Zion;

he appears in his glory; 17

he regards the prayer of the destitute

and does not despise their prayer.
18

Let this be recorded for a generation to come,

so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord: 19

that he looked down from his holy height;

from heaven the Lord looked at the earth, 20

to hear the groans of the prisoners,

to set free those who were doomed to die, 21

that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord,

and in Jerusalem his praise, 22

when peoples gather together,

and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.
23

He has broken my strength in midcourse;

he has shortened my days. 24

“O my God,” I say, “take me not away

in the midst of my days—

you whose years endure

throughout all generations!”
25

Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,

and the heavens are the work of your hands. 26

They will perish, but you will remain;

they will all wear out like a garment.

You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, 27

but you are the same, and your years have no end. 28

The children of your servants shall dwell secure;

their offspring shall be established before you.