DAY ONE HUNDRED-SIXTY SEVEN
____
June 16
Devotional
Help, Lord, for no faithful one remains; the loyal have disappeared from the human race. Psalm 12:1 CSB
Have you noticed how your perspective changes based on where you build your foundation? If you start your day with a serving of current events, a few comments from social media, and a look at the stock market, your day may be off to a rough start. It might be easy to get a sense that the words of today’s verse are the only reality. The alternative is to start your day with some Scripture, a moment of quiet, and a conversation with God. The way you start is going to make a difference in how your day is going to go. There isn’t a shortage of ways you can choose to start your day. Choose well how you start and pay attention to how the rest of your day goes.
Song of Songs 5 CSB
Man5 I have come to my garden—my sister, my bride.
I gather my myrrh with my spices.
I eat my honeycomb with my honey.
I drink my wine with my milk.
Narrator
Eat, friends!
Drink, be intoxicated with caresses!
Woman
2 I was sleeping, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My love was knocking!
Man
Open to me, my sister, my darling,
my dove, my perfect one.
For my head is drenched with dew,
my hair with droplets of the night.
Woman
3 I have taken off my clothing.
How can I put it back on?
I have washed my feet.
How can I get them dirty?
4 My love thrust his hand through the opening,
and my feelings were stirred for him.
5 I rose to open for my love.
My hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with flowing myrrh
on the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened to my love,
but my love had turned and gone away.
My heart sank because he had left.
I sought him, but did not find him.
I called him, but he did not answer.
7 The guards who go about the city found me.
They beat and wounded me;
they took my cloak from me—
the guardians of the walls.
8 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you,
if you find my love,
tell him that I am lovesick.
Young Women
9 What makes the one you love better than another,
most beautiful of women?
What makes him better than another,
that you would give us this charge?
Woman
10 My love is fit and strong,
notable among ten thousand.
11 His head is purest gold.
His hair is wavy
and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves
beside flowing streams,
washed in milk
and set like jewels.
13 His cheeks are like beds of spice,
mounds of perfume.
His lips are lilies,
dripping with flowing myrrh.
14 His arms are rods of gold
set with beryl.
His body is an ivory panel
covered with lapis lazuli.
15 His legs are alabaster pillars
set on pedestals of pure gold.
His presence is like Lebanon,
as majestic as the cedars.
16 His mouth is sweetness.
He is absolutely desirable.
This is my love, and this is my friend,
young women of Jerusalem.
Song of Songs 6 CSB
Young Women6 Where has your love gone,
most beautiful of women?
Which way has he turned?
We will seek him with you.
Woman
2 My love has gone down to his garden,
to beds of spice,
to feed in the gardens
and gather lilies.
3 I am my love’s and my love is mine;
he feeds among the lilies.
Man
4 You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,
lovely as Jerusalem,
awe-inspiring as an army with banners.
5 Turn your eyes away from me,
for they captivate me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down from Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
coming up from washing,
each one having a twin,
and not one missing.
7 Behind your veil,
your brow is like a slice of pomegranate.
8 There are sixty queens
and eighty concubines
and young women without number.
9 But my dove, my virtuous one, is unique;
she is the favorite of her mother,
perfect to the one who gave her birth.
Women see her and declare her fortunate;
queens and concubines also, and they sing her praises:
10 Who is this who shines like the dawn,
as beautiful as the moon,
bright as the sun,
awe-inspiring as an army with banners?
Woman
11 I came down to the walnut grove
to see the blossoms of the valley,
to see if the vines were budding
and the pomegranates blooming.
12 I didn’t know what was happening to me.
I felt like I was
in a chariot with a nobleman.
Young Women
13 Come back, come back, Shulammite!
Come back, come back, that we may look at you!
Man
How you gaze at the Shulammite,
as you look at the dance of the two camps!
Song of Songs 7 CSB
7 How beautiful are your sandaled feet, princess!The curves of your thighs are like jewelry,
the handiwork of a master.
2 Your navel is a rounded bowl;
it never lacks mixed wine.
Your belly is a mound of wheat
surrounded by lilies.
3 Your breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
4 Your neck is like a tower of ivory,
your eyes like pools in Heshbon
by Bath-rabbim’s gate.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon
looking toward Damascus.
5 Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel,
the hair of your head like purple cloth—
a king could be held captive in your tresses.
6 How beautiful you are and how pleasant,
my love, with such delights!
7 Your stature is like a palm tree;
your breasts are clusters of fruit.
8 I said, “I will climb the palm tree
and take hold of its fruit.”
May your breasts be like clusters of grapes,
and the fragrance of your breath like apricots.
9 Your mouth is like fine wine—
Woman
flowing smoothly for my love,
gliding past my lips and teeth!
10 I am my love’s,
and his desire is for me.
11 Come, my love,
let’s go to the field;
let’s spend the night among the henna blossoms.
12 Let’s go early to the vineyards;
let’s see if the vine has budded,
if the blossom has opened,
if the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my caresses.
13 The mandrakes give off a fragrance,
and at our doors is every delicacy,
both new and old.
I have treasured them up for you, my love.
Song of Songs 8 CSB
8 If only I could treat you like my brother,one who nursed at my mother’s breasts,
I would find you in public and kiss you,
and no one would scorn me.
2 I would lead you, I would take you,
to the house of my mother who taught me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink
from the juice of my pomegranate.
3 May his left hand be under my head,
and his right arm embrace me.
4 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you,
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.
Young Women
5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on the one she loves?
Woman
I awakened you under the apricot tree.
There your mother conceived you;
there she conceived and gave you birth.
6 Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm.
For love is as strong as death;
jealousy is as unrelenting as Sheol.
Love’s flames are fiery flames—
an almighty flame!
7 A huge torrent cannot extinguish love;
rivers cannot sweep it away.
If a man were to give all his wealth for love,
it would be utterly scorned.
Brothers
8 Our sister is young;
she has no breasts.
What will we do for our sister
on the day she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build a silver barricade on her.
If she is a door,
we will enclose her with cedar planks.
Woman
10 I am a wall
and my breasts like towers.
So to him I have become
like one who finds peace.
11 Solomon owned a vineyard in Baal-hamon.
He leased the vineyard to tenants.
Each was to bring for his fruit
one thousand pieces of silver.
12 I have my own vineyard.
The one thousand are for you, Solomon,
but two hundred for those who take care of its fruits.
Man
13 You who dwell in the gardens,
companions are listening for your voice;
let me hear you!
Woman
14 Run away with me, my love,
and be like a gazelle
or a young stag
on the mountains of spices.
Psalm 12 CSB
Oppression by the WickedFor the choir director: according to Sheminith. A psalm of David.
1 Help, Lord, for no faithful one remains;
the loyal have disappeared from the human race.
2 They lie to one another;
they speak with flattering lips and deceptive hearts.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips
and the tongue that speaks boastfully.
4 They say, “Through our tongues we have power;
our lips are our own—who can be our master?”
5 “Because of the devastation of the needy
and the groaning of the poor,
I will now rise up,” says the Lord.
“I will provide safety for the one who longs for it.”
6 The words of the Lord are pure words,
like silver refined in an earthen furnace,
purified seven times.
7 You, Lord, will guard us;
you will protect us from this generation forever.
8 The wicked prowl all around,
and what is worthless is exalted by the human race.
Song of Songs 5 CSB
Man5 I have come to my garden—my sister, my bride.
I gather my myrrh with my spices.
I eat my honeycomb with my honey.
I drink my wine with my milk.
Narrator
Eat, friends!
Drink, be intoxicated with caresses!
Woman
2 I was sleeping, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My love was knocking!
Man
Open to me, my sister, my darling,
my dove, my perfect one.
For my head is drenched with dew,
my hair with droplets of the night.
Woman
3 I have taken off my clothing.
How can I put it back on?
I have washed my feet.
How can I get them dirty?
4 My love thrust his hand through the opening,
and my feelings were stirred for him.
5 I rose to open for my love.
My hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with flowing myrrh
on the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened to my love,
but my love had turned and gone away.
My heart sank because he had left.
I sought him, but did not find him.
I called him, but he did not answer.
7 The guards who go about the city found me.
They beat and wounded me;
they took my cloak from me—
the guardians of the walls.
8 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you,
if you find my love,
tell him that I am lovesick.
Young Women
9 What makes the one you love better than another,
most beautiful of women?
What makes him better than another,
that you would give us this charge?
Woman
10 My love is fit and strong,
notable among ten thousand.
11 His head is purest gold.
His hair is wavy
and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves
beside flowing streams,
washed in milk
and set like jewels.
13 His cheeks are like beds of spice,
mounds of perfume.
His lips are lilies,
dripping with flowing myrrh.
14 His arms are rods of gold
set with beryl.
His body is an ivory panel
covered with lapis lazuli.
15 His legs are alabaster pillars
set on pedestals of pure gold.
His presence is like Lebanon,
as majestic as the cedars.
16 His mouth is sweetness.
He is absolutely desirable.
This is my love, and this is my friend,
young women of Jerusalem.
----
Song of Songs 6 CSB
Young Women6 Where has your love gone,
most beautiful of women?
Which way has he turned?
We will seek him with you.
Woman
2 My love has gone down to his garden,
to beds of spice,
to feed in the gardens
and gather lilies.
3 I am my love’s and my love is mine;
he feeds among the lilies.
Man
4 You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,
lovely as Jerusalem,
awe-inspiring as an army with banners.
5 Turn your eyes away from me,
for they captivate me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down from Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
coming up from washing,
each one having a twin,
and not one missing.
7 Behind your veil,
your brow is like a slice of pomegranate.
8 There are sixty queens
and eighty concubines
and young women without number.
9 But my dove, my virtuous one, is unique;
she is the favorite of her mother,
perfect to the one who gave her birth.
Women see her and declare her fortunate;
queens and concubines also, and they sing her praises:
10 Who is this who shines like the dawn,
as beautiful as the moon,
bright as the sun,
awe-inspiring as an army with banners?
Woman
11 I came down to the walnut grove
to see the blossoms of the valley,
to see if the vines were budding
and the pomegranates blooming.
12 I didn’t know what was happening to me.
I felt like I was
in a chariot with a nobleman.
Young Women
13 Come back, come back, Shulammite!
Come back, come back, that we may look at you!
Man
How you gaze at the Shulammite,
as you look at the dance of the two camps!
----
Song of Songs 7 CSB
7 How beautiful are your sandaled feet, princess!The curves of your thighs are like jewelry,
the handiwork of a master.
2 Your navel is a rounded bowl;
it never lacks mixed wine.
Your belly is a mound of wheat
surrounded by lilies.
3 Your breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
4 Your neck is like a tower of ivory,
your eyes like pools in Heshbon
by Bath-rabbim’s gate.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon
looking toward Damascus.
5 Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel,
the hair of your head like purple cloth—
a king could be held captive in your tresses.
6 How beautiful you are and how pleasant,
my love, with such delights!
7 Your stature is like a palm tree;
your breasts are clusters of fruit.
8 I said, “I will climb the palm tree
and take hold of its fruit.”
May your breasts be like clusters of grapes,
and the fragrance of your breath like apricots.
9 Your mouth is like fine wine—
Woman
flowing smoothly for my love,
gliding past my lips and teeth!
10 I am my love’s,
and his desire is for me.
11 Come, my love,
let’s go to the field;
let’s spend the night among the henna blossoms.
12 Let’s go early to the vineyards;
let’s see if the vine has budded,
if the blossom has opened,
if the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my caresses.
13 The mandrakes give off a fragrance,
and at our doors is every delicacy,
both new and old.
I have treasured them up for you, my love.
----
Song of Songs 8 CSB
8 If only I could treat you like my brother,one who nursed at my mother’s breasts,
I would find you in public and kiss you,
and no one would scorn me.
2 I would lead you, I would take you,
to the house of my mother who taught me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink
from the juice of my pomegranate.
3 May his left hand be under my head,
and his right arm embrace me.
4 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you,
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.
Young Women
5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on the one she loves?
Woman
I awakened you under the apricot tree.
There your mother conceived you;
there she conceived and gave you birth.
6 Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm.
For love is as strong as death;
jealousy is as unrelenting as Sheol.
Love’s flames are fiery flames—
an almighty flame!
7 A huge torrent cannot extinguish love;
rivers cannot sweep it away.
If a man were to give all his wealth for love,
it would be utterly scorned.
Brothers
8 Our sister is young;
she has no breasts.
What will we do for our sister
on the day she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build a silver barricade on her.
If she is a door,
we will enclose her with cedar planks.
Woman
10 I am a wall
and my breasts like towers.
So to him I have become
like one who finds peace.
11 Solomon owned a vineyard in Baal-hamon.
He leased the vineyard to tenants.
Each was to bring for his fruit
one thousand pieces of silver.
12 I have my own vineyard.
The one thousand are for you, Solomon,
but two hundred for those who take care of its fruits.
Man
13 You who dwell in the gardens,
companions are listening for your voice;
let me hear you!
Woman
14 Run away with me, my love,
and be like a gazelle
or a young stag
on the mountains of spices.
----
Psalm 12 CSB
Oppression by the WickedFor the choir director: according to Sheminith. A psalm of David.
1 Help, Lord, for no faithful one remains;
the loyal have disappeared from the human race.
2 They lie to one another;
they speak with flattering lips and deceptive hearts.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips
and the tongue that speaks boastfully.
4 They say, “Through our tongues we have power;
our lips are our own—who can be our master?”
5 “Because of the devastation of the needy
and the groaning of the poor,
I will now rise up,” says the Lord.
“I will provide safety for the one who longs for it.”
6 The words of the Lord are pure words,
like silver refined in an earthen furnace,
purified seven times.
7 You, Lord, will guard us;
you will protect us from this generation forever.
8 The wicked prowl all around,
and what is worthless is exalted by the human race.
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