Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is the entire Song
of Solomon, also known in some translations as
the Song of Songs, chapters 1 through 8. The
Song of Solomon is a poem. It's a conversation
between three, the bride, her companions, and
the bridegroom. And throughout the reading, different
sections will be identified by who is speaking.
Chapter 1 The Song of Songs, Witches Solomons
The Bride Let him kiss me with the kisses of
his mouth, for your love is better than wine.
Because of the fragrance of your good ointments,
your name is ointment poured forth. Therefore
the virgins love you. Draw me away. The Companions
We will run after you. The Bride The King has
brought me into his chambers. The Companions
We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will remember
your love more than wine. The bride? By the flocks
of your companions. The bridegroom. If you do
not know, O fairest among women, follow in the
footsteps of the flock, and feed your little
goats beside the shepherd's tents. I have compared
you, my love, to my filly among Pharaoh's chariots.
Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck
with chains of gold. The companions. We will
make you ornaments of gold with studs of silver.
The bride. While the king is at his table. My
spikenard sends forth its fragrance. A bundle
of myrrh is my beloved to me that lies all night
between my breasts. My beloved is to me a cluster
of henna blooms in the vineyards of Ein Gedi.
The bridegroom. Behold, you are fair, my love.
Behold, you are fair. You have dove's eyes. The
bride. Behold, you are handsome, my beloved.
Yes, pleasant. Also, our bed is green. The beams
of our houses are cedar and our rafters are fir.
Chapter 2 I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily
of the valleys. The bridegroom? Like a lily among
thorns, so is my love among the daughters. The
bride? Like an apple tree among the trees of
the woods, so is my beloved among the suns. I
sat down in his shade with great delight, and
his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me
to the banqueting house, and his banner over
me was love. Sustain me with cakes of raisins,
refresh me with apples. for I am lovesick. His
left hand is under my head, and his right hand
embraces me. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or by the doors of the field.
Do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases.
The voice of my beloved, behold, he comes, leaping
upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Behold, he stands behind our wall. He is looking
through the windows, gazing through the lattice.
My beloved spoke and said to me, rise up my love
my fair one and come away for lo the winter is
past the rain is over and gone the flowers appear
on the earth the time of singing has come and
the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our
land the fig tree puts forth her green figs and
the vines with the tender grapes give a good
smell rise up my love my fair one and come away
o my dove in the clefts of the rock in the secret
places of the cliff let me see your face Let
me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet and
your face is lovely. The Companions Catch up
the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines,
for our vines have tender grapes. The Bride My
beloved is mine and I am his. He feeds his flock
among the lilies. Until the day breaks and the
shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be a
gazelle or a young stag upon the mountains of
Bethar. Chapter 3 The Bride By night, on my bed,
I sought the one I love. I sought him, but I
did not find him. I will rise now, I said, and
go about the city. In the streets and in the
squares, I will seek the one I love. I sought
him, but I did not find him. The watchmen who
go about the city found me. I said, Have you
seen the one I love? Scarcely had I passed by
them when I found the one I love. I held him
and would not let him go until I had brought
him to the house of my mother and into the chamber
of her who conceived me. I charge you, O daughters
of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and by the does
of the field, do not stir up nor awaken love
until it pleases. Who is this coming out of the
wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with
myrrh and frankincense, with all the merchants'
fragrant powders? Behold, it is Solomon's couch,
with sixty valiant men around it, of the valiant
of Israel. They all hold swords, being expert
in war. Every man has his sword on his thigh.
because of fear in the night. Of the wood of
Lebanon, Solomon the king made himself a palanquin.
He made its pillars of silver, its support of
gold, its seat of purple, its interior paved
with love. By the daughters of Jerusalem, go
forth, O daughters of Zion, and see King Solomon
with the crown, with which his mother crowned
him, on the day of his wedding, the day of the
gladness of his heart. Chapter 4 The Bridegroom
Behold, you are fair, my love, behold, you are
fair. You have dove's eyes behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats going down
from Mount Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock
of shorn sheep which have come up from the washing,
every one of which bears twins, and none is barren
among them. Your lips are like a strand of scarlet,
and your mouth is lovely. Your temples behind
your veil are like a piece of pomegranate. Your
neck is like the Tower of David. built for an
armory, on which hang a thousand bucklers, all
shields of mighty men. Your two breasts are like
two fawns, twins of a gazelle, which feed among
the lilies. Until the day breaks and the shadows
flee away, I will go my way to the mountain of
Myrrh and to the hill of frankincense. You are
all fair, my love, and there is no spot in you.
Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me
from Lebanon. Look from the top of Amarna, from
the top of Senir and Hermon. from the lion's
dens, from the mountains of the leopards. You
have ravaged my heart, my sister, my spouse.
You have ravaged my heart with one look of your
eyes, with one link of your necklace. How fair
is your love, my sister, my spouse. How much
better than wine is your love and the scent of
your perfumes than all spices. Your lips, oh
my spouse, drip as the honeycomb. Honey and milk
are under your tongue and the fragrance of your
garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. The
bride. Blow upon my garden, that its spices may
flow out. Let my beloved come to his garden,
and eat its pleasant fruits. Chapter 5 The Bridegroom
I have come to my garden, my sister, my spouse.
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have
eaten my honeycomb with my honey. I have drunk
my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends, drink,
yes, drink deeply, O beloved ones. The Bride
I sleep, but my heart is awake. It is the voice
of my beloved. He knocks, saying, Open for me,
my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one,
for my head is covered with dew, my locks with
the drops of the night. I have taken off my robe.
How can I put it on again? I have washed my feet.
How can I defile them? My beloved put his hand
by the latch of the door, and my heart yearned
for him. I arose to open for my beloved, and
my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with
liquid myrrh on the handles of the lock. I opened
for my beloved, but my beloved had turned away
and was gone. My heart leaped up when he spoke.
I sought him, but I could not find him. I called
him, but he gave me no answer. The watchmen who
went about the city found me. They struck me,
they wounded me. The keepers of the walls took
my veil away from me. I charge you, O daughters
of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you
tell him I am lovesick. The companions, what
is your beloved? More than another beloved or
fairest among women. What is your beloved more
than another beloved that you so charge us? The
bride. My beloved is white and ruddy, chief among
ten thousand. His head is like the finest gold.
His locks are wavy and black as a raven. His
eyes are like doves by the rivers of waters,
washed with milk and fitly set. His cheeks are
like a bed of spices, banks of scented herbs.
His lips are lilies, dripping liquid myrrh. His
hands are rods of gold, set with beryl. His body
is carved ivory, inlaid with sapphires. His legs
are pillars of marble, set on basis of fine gold.
His countenance is like Lebanon, excellent as
the cedars. His mouth is most sweet. Yes, he
is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and
this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
Chapter 6 The Companions Where has your beloved
gone, O fairest among women? Where has your beloved
turned aside, that we may seek him with you?
The Bride My beloved has gone to his garden,
to the beds of spices, to feed his flock in the
gardens, and to gather lilies. I am my beloved's,
and my beloved is mine. He feeds his flock among
the lilies. The Bridegroom O my love, you are
as beautiful as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem,
awesome as an army with banners. Turn your eyes
away from me, for they have overcome me. Your
hair is like a flock of goats going down from
Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
which have come up from the washing. Everyone
bears twins, and none is barren among them. Like
a piece of pomegranate are your temples behind
your veil. There are sixty queens and eighty
concubines and virgins without number. My dove,
my perfect one, is the only one, the only one
of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore
her. The daughters saw her and called her blessed.
The queens and the concubines, and they praised
her. Who is she who looks forth as the morning,
fair as the moon, clear as the sun, awesome as
an army with banners? The bride. I went down
to the garden of nuts, to see the verger of the
valley, to see whether the vine had budded, and
the pomegranates had bloomed, before I was even
aware my soul had made me as the chariots of
my noble people. The bridegroom and his companions.
Return, return, O Shulamite. Return, return,
that we may look upon you. The bride. What would
you see in the Shulamite, as it were the dance
of the two camps? Chapter 7. The Bridegroom.
How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O Prince's
daughter! The curves of your thighs are like
jewels, the work of the hands of a skillful workman.
Your navel is a rounded goblet. It lacks no blended
beverage. Your waist is a heap of wheat, set
about with lilies. Your two breasts are like
two fawns, twins of a gazelle. Your neck is like
an ivory tower. Your eyes like the pools in Hezbon,
by the gate of Bad Rabim. Your nose is like the
Tower of Lebanon, which looks toward Damascus.
Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel, and the
hair of your head is like purple. A king is held
captive by your tresses. How fair and how pleasant
you are, O love with your delights! This stature
of yours is like a palm tree, and your breasts
like its clusters. I said I will go up to the
palm tree, I will take hold of its branches.
Let now your breasts be like clusters of the
vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples,
and the roof of your mouth like the best wine.
The Bride The wine goes down smoothly from my
beloved, moving gently the lips of sleepers.
I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me.
Come, my beloved, let us go forth to the field,
let us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early
to the vineyards, let us see if the vine has
budded, whether the grape blossoms are open and
the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give
you my love. The mandrakes give off a fragrance,
and at our gates are pleasant fruits, all manner,
new and old, which I have laid up for you, my
beloved. Chapter 8 O that you were like my brother,
who nursed at my mother's breasts! If I should
find you outside, I would kiss you. I would not
be despised. I would lead you and bring you into
the house of my mother, she who used to instruct
me. I would cause you to drink of spiced wine,
of the juice of my pomegranate. His left hand
is under my head, and his right hand embraces
me. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, do
not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases.
The Companions Who is this coming up from the
wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I awakened
you under the apple tree. There your mother brought
you forth. There she who bore you brought you
forth. The Bride and she has no breasts. What
should we do for our sister in the day when she
is spoken for? If she is a wall, we will build
upon her a battlement of silver. And if she is
a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar.
I am a wall, and my breasts like towers. Then
I became in his eyes as one who found peace.
Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon. He leased
the vineyard to keepers. Everyone was to bring
for its fruit a thousand silver coins. My own
vineyard is before me. You, O Solomon, may have
a thousand, and those who tend its fruit, two
hundred. The bridegroom. You who dwell in the
gardens, the companions, listen for your voice.
Let me hear it. The bride. Make haste, my beloved,
and be like a gazelle, or a young stag on the
mountains of spices. I hope you enjoyed today's
reading as much as I did. And I look forward
to seeing you again tomorrow to continue on our
journey. God bless you and have a great day.