Five-year Bible reading plan for 17 September 2019

King James Version (en)

Solomon, Chapter 1, verses 2-17

¹ The Church's love unto Christ, ⁵ She confesseth her deformity, ⁷ and prayeth to be directed to his flock, ⁸ Christ directeth her to the shepherds' tents, ⁹ and, showing his love to her, ¹¹ giveth her gracious promises, ¹² The Church and Christ congratulate one another

²Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.

³Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.

⁴Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.

⁵I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.

⁶Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.

⁷Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?

⁸If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents.

⁹I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots.

¹⁰Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold.

¹¹We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.

¹²While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.

¹³A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.

¹⁴My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of En-gedi.

¹⁵Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes.

¹⁶Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green.

¹⁷The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.

Solomon, Chapter 2

¹ The mutual love of Christ and his Church, ⁸ The hope, ¹⁰ and calling of the Church, ¹⁴ Christ's care of the Church, ¹⁶ The profession of the Church, her faith and hope

¹I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

²As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

³As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

⁴He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

⁵Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.

⁶His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.

⁷I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

⁸The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.

⁹My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.

¹⁰My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

¹¹For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

¹²The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

¹³The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

¹⁴O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.

¹⁵Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

¹⁶My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.

¹⁷Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.

NOTES

In both Jewish and Christian tradition, the Song of Songs is most often interpreted as an allegorical poem about the love between God and His people—Israel or the Church. It is sometimes said to be a song of love between God and the human soul. Although the literal...

The commentators of the Bible for already several centuries discuss about how to understand the Song of Solomon: literally or in an allegorical way. On one hand, we have in front of us an exceptional hymn of love, a high and pure love. But others object, the Bible is a spiritual book, and therefore is there place inside for lyric love, even if it is really about...

Many of those who read the Book of Solomon wondered of the fact, that such a work was included in the biblical canon: because it is obviously about love lyrics, absolutely high and pure, but apparently having no relation with the religious and spiritual life. As regards to the religious life, one could probably agree with such an opinion. If to talk about the spiritual life, the situation is far from being unambiguous. Of course there is nothing in the book about religion; it is about lovers, looking for each other, dreaming about each other, admiring the one another. It is commonly thought that the Bible does not make reference to such love, that it is there about the brotherly love, about the love of the neighbor, about the love of man in general. And in Decalogue however there is a special commandment dedicated to the not brotherly, but conjugal love, the violation of which is for the spiritual life as destructive, as the violation of any other commandment. But if that was the case, then we can consider as well the love between man and woman, the conjugal love as an element of the spiritual life, not less important, as any other love. In fact: can we divide love into parts?

And if the answer is no, then it can turn out that certain types of love - "spiritual" is raised, and the other - "carnal" are low? That one love is from God, and another, as thought and think many, - from the devil? Perhaps, if the devil was capable of loving or of being creative, such a question would have been possible. But he is in reality capable neither of one, nor the other; he can only spoil or corrupt what he did not create. And sometimes, if we allow him to damage the love which was given to us by God, he can do it. And all the same there is no love not coming from God. Of course, it is different, connecting people differently, revealing them one of another differently.

But if everything takes place in the idea and the will of God, love will never become either "vulgar", or "carnal". Any love has a physical measure, more or less obvious: we are not angels, but people, and the natural life is also appropriate for us, as the spiritual life. The problem is only in the fact that, what is going to prevail in these relations, what connect us with the loving and the loved: the spirit or the nature. The predominance of the nature will distort any love, whether it is the love between husband and wife, parents and children, brothers and sisters. And the predominance of the spirit over the nature will make any love blessed: because God is love, and it is in particular this love that is necessary to consider as God's real blessing.

${currentDateString}


	After registering, you can subscribe to any Bible reading plan. Personalized settings and other services for registered users are planned, so we recommend registering now. Registration is free.