”Pest” Control
If you’re a Christian or just want to learn about Christianity, c’mon and join us. Just to let you know what I usually do, I post a Bible chapter every day at any time between 5 and 11 A.M. U.S. central time, but we don’t have to stop there. We can make animations together, share Christian songs, parodies, comedy, sermons, and whatever else you want.
Now, just because I’m a little more light-hearted than some Christians doesn’t mean that this is all going to be fun and games. As a Christian, I have a responsibility to call out the things that God disapproves of. Some of the conversations we have might get a little hairy, and that’s okay, as long as we abide by the site’s community guidelines. 😊 You may ask, “If your goal is to draw people into God’s kingdom, why are you calling out things that He disapproves of? Wouldn’t that, for one, push people away from God and, for another, get you into fights that you don’t want to be in?” I will answer the first question with these verses:
James 5:20
“Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him”
Titus 2:15
“Let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins”
1 Timothy 5:20
“As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear”
2 Timothy 4:2
“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction”
Psalm 141:5
“Let a righteous man strike me — it is a kindness; let him rebuke me — it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it”
Proverbs 9:8
“Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you”.
And for the second question, Christianity is a sacrifice. I will take on challenges as a Christian that I wouldn’t as a lukewarm Christian, an atheist, a Buddhist, a Muslim, a Jew, etc. And when I encounter those challenges, I have to put my faith in Yahweh above my feelings and desires. I’m not supposed to store up treasures here on Earth, but in the heavenly kingdom. In order to do that, I have to be inconvenienced and mocked, and I’m fine with that. I’ve chosen to give up everything I want for my God.
If I post anything on here that has anything to do with my opinion or interpretation of a situation, 9 times out of 10, it’s because that is my interpretation of the Bible. I believe that that everything in the Bible is objectively true, there’s just debates on how to INTERPRET said truth. I try my hardest not to let my worldview effect my biblical view, though, it may seep through.
If you’re curious about the name, I had to think of something, so I came up with “Pest” Control (as atheists seem to think that the way we communicate our religion to them is annoying, so they could see us as pests, and we are all in one group so that we can contain the Christian stuff mostly inside the group for “control”).
Before I edited the description of this group, it said: “We can brainstorm to find out more ways to win atheists over to Christ.” Since I typed that, my beliefs have changed slightly. I believe that, yes it is great to have atheists have a change of heart, that’s one of our biggest goals is to have more people up in heaven, but we shouldn’t be intentionally TRYING to change their religion (both because it pushes people away from the religion, and it’s just not what any human needs to do to another human). We need to be ourselves around them, have them see how we are as a person, how Christianity (even if they can’t identify it as that) affects us, and if they want to, change. And we should never, ever, push them to change; the Bible even tells us this. I have made this mistake for years, and to all of the atheists and people with other religious beliefs that I have hurt by doing this, I’m so unbelievably sorry.
Thank you for your time. Have a blessed and wonderful day!
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Isaiah 4:1-6 MSG
[1] That will be the day when seven women will gang up on one man, saying, “We’ll take care of ourselves, get our own food and clothes. Just give us a child. Make us pregnant so we’ll have something to live for!” [2-4] And that’s when God’s Branch will sprout green and lush. The produce of the country will give Israel’s survivors something to be proud of again. Oh, they’ll hold their heads high! Everyone left behind in Zion, all the discards and rejects in Jerusalem, will be reclassified as “holy”—alive and therefore precious. God will give Zion’s women a good bath. He’ll scrub the bloodstained city of its violence and brutality, purge the place with a firestorm of judgment. [5-6] Then God will bring back the ancient pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night and mark Mount Zion and everyone in it with his glorious presence, his immense, protective presence, shade from the burning sun and shelter from the driving rain. -
Isaiah 3:1-26 MSG
[1-7] The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, is emptying Jerusalem and Judah Of all the basic necessities, plain bread and water to begin with. He’s withdrawing police and protection, judges and courts, pastors and teachers, captains and generals, doctors and nurses, and, yes, even the repairmen and jacks-of-all-trades. He says, “I’ll put little kids in charge of the city. Schoolboys and schoolgirls will order everyone around. People will be at each other’s throats, stabbing one another in the back: Neighbor against neighbor, young against old, the no-account against the well-respected. One brother will grab another and say, ‘You look like you’ve got a head on your shoulders. Do something! Get us out of this mess.’ And he’ll say, ‘Me? Not me! I don’t have a clue. Don’t put me in charge of anything.’ [8-9] “Jerusalem’s on its last legs. Judah is soon down for the count. Everything people say and do is at cross-purposes with God, a slap in my face. Brazen in their depravity, they flaunt their sins like degenerate Sodom. Doom to their eternal souls! They’ve made their bed; now they’ll sleep in it. [10-11] “Reassure the righteous that their good living will pay off. But doom to the wicked! Disaster! Everything they did will be done to them. [12] “Skinny kids terrorize my people. Silly girls bully them around. My dear people! Your leaders are taking you down a blind alley. They’re sending you off on a wild-goose chase.” [13-15] God enters the courtroom. He takes his place at the bench to judge his people. God calls for order in the court, hauls the leaders of his people into the dock: “You’ve played havoc with this country. Your houses are stuffed with what you’ve stolen from the poor. What is this anyway? Stomping on my people, grinding the faces of the poor into the dirt?” That’s what the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, says. [16-17] God says, “Zion women are stuck-up, prancing around in their high heels, Making eyes at all the men in the street, swinging their hips, Tossing their hair, gaudy and garish in cheap jewelry.” The Master will fix it so those Zion women will all turn bald— Scabby, bald-headed women. The Master will do it. [18-23] The time is coming when the Master will strip them of their fancy baubles—the dangling earrings, anklets and bracelets, combs and mirrors and silk scarves, diamond brooches and pearl necklaces, the rings on their fingers and the rings on their toes, the latest fashions in hats, exotic perfumes and aphrodisiacs, gowns and capes, all the world’s finest in fabrics and design. [24] Instead of wearing seductive scents, these women are going to smell like rotting cabbages; Instead of modeling flowing gowns, they’ll be sporting rags; Instead of their stylish hairdos, scruffy heads; Instead of beauty marks, scabs and scars. [25-26] Your finest fighting men will be killed, your soldiers left dead on the battlefield. The entrance gate to Zion will be clotted with people mourning their dead— A city stooped under the weight of her loss, brought to her knees by her sorrows. * * * -
Isaiah 2:1-22 MSG
[1-5] The Message Isaiah got regarding Judah and Jerusalem: There’s a day coming when the mountain of God’s House Will be The Mountain— solid, towering over all mountains. All nations will river toward it, people from all over set out for it. They’ll say, “Come, let’s climb God’s Mountain, go to the House of the God of Jacob. He’ll show us the way he works so we can live the way we’re made.” Zion’s the source of the revelation. God’s Message comes from Jerusalem. He’ll settle things fairly between nations. He’ll make things right between many peoples. They’ll turn their swords into shovels, their spears into hoes. No more will nation fight nation; they won’t play war anymore. Come, family of Jacob, let’s live in the light of God. [6-9] God, you’ve walked out on your family Jacob because their world is full of hokey religion, Philistine witchcraft, and pagan hocus-pocus, a world rolling in wealth, Stuffed with things, no end to its machines and gadgets, And gods—gods of all sorts and sizes. These people make their own gods and worship what they make. A degenerate race, facedown in the gutter. Don’t bother with them! They’re not worth forgiving! [10] Head for the hills, hide in the caves From the terror of God, from his dazzling presence. [11-17] People with a big head are headed for a fall, pretentious egos brought down a peg. It’s God alone at front-and-center on the Day we’re talking about, The Day that God-of-the-Angel-Armies is matched against all big-talking rivals, against all swaggering big names; Against all giant sequoias hugely towering, and against the expansive chestnut; Against Kilimanjaro and Annapurna, against the ranges of Alps and Andes; Against every soaring skyscraper, against all proud obelisks and statues; Against ocean-going luxury liners, against elegant three-masted schooners. The swelled big heads will be punctured bladders, the pretentious egos brought down to earth, Leaving God alone at front-and-center on the Day we’re talking about. [18] And all those sticks and stones dressed up to look like gods will be gone for good. [19] Clamber into caves in the cliffs, duck into any hole you can find. Hide from the terror of God, from his dazzling presence, When he assumes his full stature on earth, towering and terrifying. [20-21] On that Day men and women will take the sticks and stones They’ve decked out in gold and silver to look like gods and then worshiped, And they will dump them in any ditch or gully, Then run for rock caves and cliff hideouts To hide from the terror of God, from his dazzling presence, When he assumes his full stature on earth, towering and terrifying. [22] Quit scraping and fawning over mere humans, so full of themselves, so full of hot air! Can’t you see there’s nothing to them? -
This is the first chapter of Isaiah, the first book of the prophets.
Isaiah 1:1-31 MSG
[1] The vision that Isaiah son of Amoz saw regarding Judah and Jerusalem during the times of the kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. [2-4] Heaven and earth, you’re the jury. Listen to God’s case: “I had children and raised them well, and they turned on me. The ox knows who’s boss, the mule knows the hand that feeds him, But not Israel. My people don’t know up from down. Shame! Misguided God-dropouts, staggering under their guilt-baggage, Villainous gang, band of vandals— My people have walked out on me, their God, turned their backs on The Holy of Israel, walked off and never looked back. [5-9] “Why bother even trying to do anything with you when you just keep to your bullheaded ways? You keep beating your heads against brick walls. Everything within you protests against you. From the bottom of your feet to the top of your head, nothing’s working right. Wounds and bruises and running sores— untended, unwashed, unbandaged. Your country is laid waste, your cities burned down. Your land is destroyed by outsiders while you watch, reduced to rubble by barbarians. Daughter Zion is deserted— like a tumbledown shack on a dead-end street, Like a tarpaper shanty on the wrong side of the tracks, like a sinking ship abandoned by the rats. If God-of-the-Angel-Armies hadn’t left us a few survivors, we’d be as desolate as Sodom, doomed just like Gomorrah. [10] “Listen to my Message, you Sodom-schooled leaders. Receive God’s revelation, you Gomorrah-schooled people. [11-12] “Why this frenzy of sacrifices?” God ’s asking. “Don’t you think I’ve had my fill of burnt sacrifices, rams and plump grain-fed calves? Don’t you think I’ve had my fill of blood from bulls, lambs, and goats? When you come before me, whoever gave you the idea of acting like this, Running here and there, doing this and that— all this sheer commotion in the place provided for worship? [13-17] “Quit your worship charades. I can’t stand your trivial religious games: Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings— meetings, meetings, meetings—I can’t stand one more! Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them! You’ve worn me out! I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. When you put on your next prayer-performance, I’ll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I’ll not be listening. And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody. Go home and wash up. Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings so I don’t have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless. [18-20] “Come. Sit down. Let’s argue this out.” This is God’s Message: “If your sins are blood-red, they’ll be snow-white. If they’re red like crimson, they’ll be like wool. If you’ll willingly obey, you’ll feast like kings. But if you’re willful and stubborn, you’ll die like dogs.” That’s right. God says so. [21-23] Oh! Can you believe it? The chaste city has become a whore! She was once all justice, everyone living as good neighbors, And now they’re all at one another’s throats. Your coins are all counterfeits. Your wine is watered down. Your leaders are turncoats who keep company with crooks. They sell themselves to the highest bidder and grab anything not nailed down. They never stand up for the homeless, never stick up for the defenseless. [24-31] This Decree, therefore, of the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the Strong One of Israel: “This is it! I’ll get my oppressors off my back. I’ll get back at my enemies. I’ll give you the back of my hand, purge the junk from your life, clean you up. I’ll set honest judges and wise counselors among you just like it was back in the beginning. Then you’ll be renamed City-That-Treats-People-Right, the True-Blue City.” God’s right ways will put Zion right again. God’s right actions will restore her prodigals. But it’s curtains for rebels and God-traitors, a dead end for those who walk out on God. “Your dalliances in those oak grove shrines will leave you looking mighty foolish, All that fooling around in god and goddess gardens that you thought was the latest thing. You’ll end up like an oak tree with all its leaves falling off, Like an unwatered garden, withered and brown. ‘The Strong Man’ will turn out to be dead bark and twigs, and his ‘work,’ the spark that starts the fire That exposes man and work both as nothing but cinders and smoke.” -
This is the final chapter of Song of Solomon. In the next post, we’ll start on Isaiah. Songs of Songs is a beautiful book, but it’s very difficult to understand and very difficult to follow which people are talking at what times. It’s clear that certain parts of this book are allegorical for God’s love for us, but again, conversations are harder to follow than your crush while you’re hiding in the bushes (👀). The book is very sexual, which, of course, sex is a beautiful gift from God, but with how we view sex today, it’s hard to keep our focus on the Word of God and the meaning of it all while reading about “breasts” and “virgins”. Overall, this is beautiful, but I, along with a lot of other people who read this, need a whole lot of sources of teaching outside of the Bible to understand everything.
Song of Songs 8:1-14 MSG
[1-2] I wish you’d been my twin brother, sharing with me the breasts of my mother, Playing outside in the street, kissing in plain view of everyone, and no one thinking anything of it. I’d take you by the hand and bring you home where I was raised by my mother. You’d drink my wine and kiss my cheeks. [3-4] Imagine! His left hand cradling my head, his right arm around my waist! Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem: Don’t excite love, don’t stir it up, until the time is ripe—and you’re ready. [5] Who is this I see coming up from the country, arm in arm with her lover? I found you under the apricot tree, and woke you up to love. Your mother went into labor under that tree, and under that very tree she bore you. [6-8a] Hang my locket around your neck, wear my ring on your finger. Love is invincible facing danger and death. Passion laughs at the terrors of hell. The fire of love stops at nothing— it sweeps everything before it. Flood waters can’t drown love, torrents of rain can’t put it out. Love can’t be bought, love can’t be sold— it’s not to be found in the marketplace. My brothers used to worry about me: [8b-9] “Our little sister has no breasts. What shall we do with our little sister when men come asking for her? She’s a virgin and vulnerable, and we’ll protect her. If they think she’s a wall, we’ll top it with barbed wire. If they think she’s a door, we’ll barricade it.” [10] Dear brothers, I’m a walled-in virgin still, but my breasts are full— And when my lover sees me, he knows he’ll soon be satisfied. [11-12] King Solomon may have vast vineyards in lush, fertile country, Where he hires others to work the ground. People pay anything to get in on that bounty. But my vineyard is all mine, and I’m keeping it to myself. You can have your vast vineyards, Solomon, you and your greedy guests! [13] Oh, lady of the gardens, my friends are with me listening. Let me hear your voice! [14] Run to me, dear lover. Come like a gazelle. Leap like a wild stag on the spice mountains.-
Song of Solomon 8:1-14 AMPC
[1] [LOOKING FORWARD to the shepherd’s arrival, the eager girl pictures their meeting and says] Oh, that you were like my brother, who nursed from the breasts of my mother! If I should find you without, I would kiss you, yes, and none would despise me [for it]. [Ps. 143:6.] [2] I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother, who would instruct me. I would cause you to drink spiced wine and of the juice of my pomegranates. [3] [Then musingly she added] Oh, that his left hand were under my head and that his right hand embraced me! [Exod. 19:4; Deut. 33:27.] [4] I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you never [again attempt to] stir up or awaken love until it pleases. [5] Who is this who comes up from the wilderness leaning upon her beloved? [And as they sighted the home of her childhood, the bride said] Under the apple tree I awakened you; there your mother gave you birth, there she was in travail and bore you. [6] Set me like a seal upon your heart, like a seal upon your arm; for love is as strong as death, jealousy is as hard and cruel as Sheol (the place of the dead). Its flashes are flashes of fire, a most vehement flame [the very flame of the Lord]! [Deut. 4:24; Isa. 49:16; I Cor. 10:22.] [7] Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man would offer all the goods of his house for love, he would be utterly scorned and despised. [8] [Gathered with her family and the wedding guests in her mother’s cottage, the bride said to her stepbrothers, When I was a little girl, you said] We have a little sister and she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister on the day when she is spoken for in marriage? [9] If she is a wall [discreet and womanly], we will build upon her a turret [a dowry] of silver; but if she is a door [bold and flirtatious], we will enclose her with boards of cedar. [10] [Well] I am a wall [with battlements], and my breasts are like the towers of it. Then was I in [the king’s] eyes as one [to be respected and to be allowed] to find peace. [11] Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard to keepers; everyone was to bring him a thousand pieces of silver for its fruit. [12] You, O Solomon, can have your thousand [pieces of silver], and those who tend the fruit of it two hundred; but my vineyard, which is mine [with all its radiant joy], is before me! [13] O you who dwell in the gardens, your companions have been listening to your voice–now cause me to hear it. [14] [Joyfully the radiant bride turned to him, the one altogether lovely, the chief among ten thousand to her soul, and with unconcealed eagerness to begin her life of sweet companionship with him, she answered] Make haste, my beloved, and come quickly, like a gazelle or a young hart [and take me to our waiting home] upon the mountains of spices!2024-01-19 12:04:26 UTC
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Song of Songs 7:1-13 MSG
[1-9a] Shapely and graceful your sandaled feet, and queenly your movement— Your limbs are lithe and elegant, the work of a master artist. Your body is a chalice, wine-filled. Your skin is silken and tawny like a field of wheat touched by the breeze. Your breasts are like fawns, twins of a gazelle. Your neck is carved ivory, curved and slender. Your eyes are wells of light, deep with mystery. Quintessentially feminine! Your profile turns all heads, commanding attention. The feelings I get when I see the high mountain ranges —stirrings of desire, longings for the heights— Remind me of you, and I’m spoiled for anyone else! Your beauty, within and without, is absolute, dear lover, close companion. You are tall and supple, like the palm tree, and your full breasts are like sweet clusters of dates. I say, “I’m going to climb that palm tree! I’m going to caress its fruit!” Oh yes! Your breasts will be clusters of sweet fruit to me, Your breath clean and cool like fresh mint, your tongue and lips like the best wine. [9b-12] Yes, and yours are, too—my love’s kisses flow from his lips to mine. I am my lover’s. I’m all he wants. I’m all the world to him! Come, dear lover— let’s tramp through the countryside. Let’s sleep at some wayside inn, then rise early and listen to bird-song. Let’s look for wildflowers in bloom, blackberry bushes blossoming white, Fruit trees adorned with cascading flowers. And there I’ll give myself to you, my love to your love! [13] Love-apples drench us with fragrance, fertility surrounds, suffuses us, Fruits fresh and preserved that I’ve kept and saved just for you, my love.-
Song of Solomon 7:1-13 AMPC
[1] [THEN HER companions began noticing and commenting on the attractiveness of her person] How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O queenly maiden! Your rounded limbs are like jeweled chains, the work of a master hand. [2] Your body is like a round goblet in which no mixed wine is wanting. Your abdomen is like a heap of wheat set about with lilies. [3] Your two breasts are like two fawns, the twins of a gazelle. [4] Your neck is like a tower of ivory, your eyes like the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath-rabbim. Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon which looks toward Damascus. [5] Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel, and the hair of your head like purple. [Then seeing the king watching the girl in absorbed admiration, the speaker added] The king is held captive by its tresses. [6] [The king came forward, saying] How fair and how pleasant you are, O love, with your delights! [7] Your stature is like that of a palm tree, and your bosom like its clusters [of dates, declared the king]. [8] I resolve that I will climb the palm tree; I will grasp its branches. Let your breasts be like clusters of the grapevine, and the scent of your breath like apples, [9] And your kisses like the best wine–[then the Shulammite interrupted] that goes down smoothly and sweetly for my beloved [shepherd, kisses] gliding over his lips while he sleeps! [10] [She proudly said] I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me! [John 10:28.] [11] [She said] Come, my beloved! Let us go forth into the field, let us lodge in the villages. [Luke 14:33.] [12] Let us go out early to the vineyards and see whether the vines have budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened, and whether the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love. [13] The mandrakes give forth fragrance, and over our doors are all manner of choice fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for you, O my beloved!2024-01-18 12:48:35 UTC
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Song of Songs 6:1-13 MSG
[1] So where has this love of yours gone, fair one? Where on earth can he be? Can we help you look for him? [2-3] Never mind. My lover is already on his way to his garden, to browse among the flowers, touching the colors and forms. I am my lover’s and my lover is mine. He caresses the sweet-smelling flowers. [4-7] Dear, dear friend and lover, you’re as beautiful as Tirzah, city of delights, Lovely as Jerusalem, city of dreams, the ravishing visions of my ecstasy. Your beauty is too much for me—I’m in over my head. I’m not used to this! I can’t take it in. Your hair flows and shimmers like a flock of goats in the distance streaming down a hillside in the sunshine. Your smile is generous and full— expressive and strong and clean. Your veiled cheeks are soft and radiant. [8-9] There’s no one like her on earth, never has been, never will be. She’s a woman beyond compare. My dove is perfection, Pure and innocent as the day she was born, and cradled in joy by her mother. Everyone who came by to see her exclaimed and admired her— All the fathers and mothers, the neighbors and friends, blessed and praised her: [10] “Has anyone ever seen anything like this— dawn-fresh, moon-lovely, sun-radiant, ravishing as the night sky with its galaxies of stars?” [11-12] One day I went strolling through the orchard, looking for signs of spring, Looking for buds about to burst into flower, anticipating readiness, ripeness. Before I knew it my heart was raptured, carried away by lofty thoughts! [13] Dance, dance, dear Shulammite, Angel-Princess! Dance, and we’ll feast our eyes on your grace! Everyone wants to see the Shulammite dance her victory dances of love and peace.-
Song of Solomon 6:1-13 AMPC
[1] WHERE HAS your beloved gone, O you fairest among women? [Again the ladies showed their interest in the remarkable person whom the Shulammite had championed with such unstinted praise; they too wanted to know him, they insisted.] Where is your beloved hiding himself? For we would seek him with you. [2] [She replied] My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens and to gather lilies. [3] I am my beloved’s [garden] and my beloved is mine! He feeds among the lilies [which grow there]. [4] [He said] You are as beautiful as Tirzah [capital of the northern kingdom’s first king], my love, and as comely as Jerusalem, [but you are] as terrible as a bannered host! [5] Turn away your [flashing] eyes from me, for they have overcome me! Your hair is like a flock of goats trailing down from Mount Gilead. [6] Your teeth are like a flock of ewes coming from their washing, of which all are in pairs, and not one of them is missing. [7] Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil. [8] There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and virgins without number; [9] But my dove, my undefiled and perfect one, stands alone [above them all]; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her who bore her. The daughters saw her and called her blessed and happy, yes, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her. [Col. 2:8, 9.] [10] [The ladies asked] Who is this that looks forth like the dawn, fair as the moon, clear and pure as the sun, and terrible as a bannered host? [11] [The Shulammite replied] I went down into the nut orchard [one day] to look at the green plants of the valley, to see whether the grapevine had budded and the pomegranates were in flower. [12] Before I was aware [of what was happening], my desire [to roam about] had brought me into the area of the princes of my people [the king’s retinue]. [13] [I began to flee, but they called to me] Return, return, O Shulammite; return, return, that we may look upon you! [I replied] What is there for you to see in the [poor little] Shulammite? [And they answered] As upon a dance before two armies or a dance of Mahanaim.2024-01-18 12:44:42 UTC
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Song of Songs 5:1-16 MSG
[1] I went to my garden, dear friend, best lover! breathed the sweet fragrance. I ate the fruit and honey, I drank the nectar and wine. Celebrate with me, friends! Raise your glasses—“To life! To love!” [2] I was sound asleep, but in my dreams I was wide awake. Oh, listen! It’s the sound of my lover knocking, calling! “Let me in, dear companion, dearest friend, my dove, consummate lover! I’m soaked with the dampness of the night, drenched with dew, shivering and cold.” [3] “But I’m in my nightgown—do you expect me to get dressed? I’m bathed and in bed—do you want me to get dirty?” [4-7] But my lover wouldn’t take no for an answer, and the longer he knocked, the more excited I became. I got up to open the door to my lover, sweetly ready to receive him, Desiring and expectant as I turned the door handle. But when I opened the door he was gone. My loved one had tired of waiting and left. And I died inside—oh, I felt so bad! I ran out looking for him But he was nowhere to be found. I called into the darkness—but no answer. The night watchmen found me as they patrolled the streets of the city. They slapped and beat and bruised me, ripping off my clothes, These watchmen, who were supposed to be guarding the city. [8] I beg you, sisters in Jerusalem— if you find my lover, Please tell him I want him, that I’m heartsick with love for him. [9] What’s so great about your lover, fair lady? What’s so special about him that you beg for our help? [10-16] My dear lover glows with health— red-blooded, radiant! He’s one in a million. There’s no one quite like him! My golden one, pure and untarnished, with raven black curls tumbling across his shoulders. His eyes are like doves, soft and bright, but deep-set, brimming with meaning, like wells of water. His face is rugged, his beard smells like sage, His voice, his words, warm and reassuring. Fine muscles ripple beneath his skin, quiet and beautiful. His torso is the work of a sculptor, hard and smooth as ivory. He stands tall, like a cedar, strong and deep-rooted, A rugged mountain of a man, aromatic with wood and stone. His words are kisses, his kisses words. Everything about him delights me, thrills me through and through! That’s my lover, that’s my man, dear Jerusalem sisters.-
Song of Solomon 5:1-16 AMPC
[1] I HAVE come into my garden, my sister, my [promised] bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my balsam and spice [from your sweet words I have gathered the richest perfumes and spices]. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends [feast on, O revelers of the palace; you can never make my lover disloyal to me]! Drink, yes, drink abundantly of love, O precious one [for now I know you are mine, irrevocably mine! With his confident words still thrilling her heart, through the lattice she saw her shepherd turn away and disappear into the night]. [John 16:33.] [2] I went to sleep, but my heart stayed awake. [I dreamed that I heard] the voice of my beloved as he knocked [at the door of my mother’s cottage]. Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my spotless one [he said], for I am wet with the [heavy] night dew; my hair is covered with it. [Job 11:13-15.] [3] [But weary from a day in the vineyards, I had already sought my rest] I had put off my garment–how could I [again] put it on? I had washed my feet–how could I [again] soil them? [Isa. 32:9; Heb. 3:15.] [4] My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my heart was moved for him. [5] I rose up to open for my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, and my fingers with liquid [sweet-scented] myrrh, [which he had left] upon the handles of the bolt. [6] I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had turned away and withdrawn himself, and was gone! My soul went forth [to him] when he spoke, but it failed me [and now he was gone]! I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer. [7] The watchmen who go about the city found me. They struck me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took my veil and my mantle from me. [8] I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him that I am sick from love [simply sick to be with him]. [Ps. 63:1.] [9] What is your beloved more than another beloved, O you fairest among women [taunted the ladies]? What is your beloved more than another beloved, that you should give us such a charge? [John 10:26.] [10] [She said] My beloved is fair and ruddy, the chief among ten thousand! [Ps. 45:2; John 1:14.] [11] His head is [as precious as] the finest gold; his locks are curly and bushy and black as a raven. [12] His eyes are like doves beside the water brooks, bathed in milk and fitly set. [13] His cheeks are like a bed of spices or balsam, like banks of sweet herbs yielding fragrance. His lips are like bloodred anemones or lilies distilling liquid [sweet-scented] myrrh. [14] His hands are like rods of gold set with [nails of] beryl or topaz. His body is a figure of bright ivory overlaid with [veins of] sapphires. [15] His legs are like strong and steady pillars of marble set upon bases of fine gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, excellent, stately, and majestic as the cedars. [16] His voice and speech are exceedingly sweet; yes, he is altogether lovely [the whole of him delights and is precious]. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem! [Ps. 92:15; Col. 1:15.]2024-01-18 12:39:39 UTC
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Song of Songs 4:1-16 MSG
[1-5] You’re so beautiful, my darling, so beautiful, and your dove eyes are veiled By your hair as it flows and shimmers, like a flock of goats in the distance streaming down a hillside in the sunshine. Your smile is generous and full— expressive and strong and clean. Your lips are jewel red, your mouth elegant and inviting, your veiled cheeks soft and radiant. The smooth, lithe lines of your neck command notice—all heads turn in awe and admiration! Your breasts are like fawns, twins of a gazelle, grazing among the first spring flowers. [6-7] The sweet, fragrant curves of your body, the soft, spiced contours of your flesh Invite me, and I come. I stay until dawn breathes its light and night slips away. You’re beautiful from head to toe, my dear love, beautiful beyond compare, absolutely flawless. [8-15] Come with me from Lebanon, my bride. Leave Lebanon behind, and come. Leave your high mountain hideaway. Abandon your wilderness seclusion, Where you keep company with lions and panthers guard your safety. You’ve captured my heart, dear friend. You looked at me, and I fell in love. One look my way and I was hopelessly in love! How beautiful your love, dear, dear friend— far more pleasing than a fine, rare wine, your fragrance more exotic than select spices. The kisses of your lips are honey, my love, every syllable you speak a delicacy to savor. Your clothes smell like the wild outdoors, the fresh scent of high mountains. Dear lover and friend, you’re a secret garden, a private and pure fountain. Body and soul, you are paradise, a whole orchard of succulent fruits— Ripe apricots and peaches, oranges and pears; Nut trees and cinnamon, and all scented woods; Mint and lavender, and all herbs aromatic; A garden fountain, sparkling and splashing, fed by spring waters from the Lebanon mountains. [16] Wake up, North Wind, get moving, South Wind! Breathe on my garden, fill the air with spice fragrance. Oh, let my lover enter his garden! Yes, let him eat the fine, ripe fruits.-
Song of Solomon 4:1-16 AMPC
[1] HOW FAIR you are, my love [he said], how very fair! Your eyes behind your veil [remind me] of those of a dove; your hair [makes me think of the black, wavy fleece] of a flock of [the Arabian] goats which one sees trailing down Mount Gilead [beyond the Jordan on the frontiers of the desert]. [2] Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes which have come up from the washing, of which all are in pairs, and none is missing among them. [3] Your lips are like a thread of scarlet, and your mouth is lovely. Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil. [4] Your neck is like the tower of David, built for an arsenal, whereon hang a thousand bucklers, all of them shields of warriors. [5] Your two breasts are like two fawns, like twins of a gazelle that feed among the lilies. [6] Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, [in my thoughts] I will get to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense [to him whom my soul adores]. [7] [He exclaimed] O my love, how beautiful you are! There is no flaw in you! [John 14:18; Eph. 5:27.] [8] Come away with me from Lebanon, my [promised] bride, come with me from Lebanon. Depart from the top of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards. [II Cor. 11:2, 3.] [9] You have ravished my heart and given me courage, my sister, my [promised] bride; you have ravished my heart and given me courage with one look from your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. [10] How beautiful is your love, my sister, my [promised] bride! How much better is your love than wine! And the fragrance of your ointments than all spices! [John 15:9; Rom. 8:35.] [11] Your lips, O my [promised] bride, drop honey as the honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue. And the odor of your garments is like the odor of Lebanon. [12] A garden enclosed and barred is my sister, my [promised] bride–a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. [13] Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates or a paradise with precious fruits, henna with spikenard plants, [John 15:5; Eph. 5:9.] [14] Spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes, with all the chief spices. [15] You are a fountain [springing up] in a garden, a well of living waters, and flowing streams from Lebanon. [John 4:10; 7:37, 38.] [16] [You have called me a garden, she said] Oh, I pray that the [cold] north wind and the [soft] south wind may blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out [in abundance for you in whom my soul delights]. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat its choicest fruits.2024-01-17 14:03:15 UTC
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Song of Songs 3:1-11 MSG
[1-4] Restless in bed and sleepless through the night, I longed for my lover. I wanted him desperately. His absence was painful. So I got up, went out and roved the city, hunting through streets and down alleys. I wanted my lover in the worst way! I looked high and low, and didn’t find him. And then the night watchmen found me as they patrolled the darkened city. “Have you seen my dear lost love?” I asked. No sooner had I left them than I found him, found my dear lost love. I threw my arms around him and held him tight, wouldn’t let him go until I had him home again, safe at home beside the fire. [5] Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem, by the gazelles, yes, by all the wild deer: Don’t excite love, don’t stir it up, until the time is ripe—and you’re ready. [6-10] What’s this I see, approaching from the desert, raising clouds of dust, Filling the air with sweet smells and pungent aromatics? Look! It’s Solomon’s carriage, carried and guarded by sixty soldiers, sixty of Israel’s finest, All of them armed to the teeth, trained for battle, ready for anything, anytime. King Solomon once had a carriage built from fine-grained Lebanon cedar. He had it framed with silver and roofed with gold. The cushions were covered with a purple fabric, the interior lined with tooled leather. [11] Come and look, sisters in Jerusalem. Oh, sisters of Zion, don’t miss this! My King-Lover, dressed and garlanded for his wedding, his heart full, bursting with joy!-
Song of Solomon 3:1-11 AMPC
[1] IN THE night I dreamed that I sought the one whom I love. [She said] I looked for him but could not find him. [Isa. 26:9.] [2] So I decided to go out into the city, into the streets and broad ways [which are so confusing to a country girl], and seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but I could not find him. [3] The watchmen who go about the city found me, to whom I said, Have you seen him whom my soul loves? [4] I had gone but a little way past them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her who conceived me. [Rom. 8:35; I Pet. 2:25.] [5] I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the hinds of the field that you stir not up nor awaken love until it pleases. [6] Who or what is this [she asked] that comes gliding out of the wilderness like stately pillars of smoke perfumed with myrrh, frankincense, and all the fragrant powders of the merchant? [7] [Someone answered] Behold, it is the traveling litter (the bridal car) of Solomon. Sixty mighty men are around it, of the mighty men of Israel. [8] They all handle the sword and are expert in war; every man has his sword upon his thigh, that fear be not excited in the night. [9] King Solomon made himself a car or a palanquin from the [cedar] wood of Lebanon. [10] He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple, the inside of it lovingly and intricately wrought in needlework by the daughters of Jerusalem. [11] Go forth, O you daughters of Zion, and gaze upon King Solomon wearing the crown with which his mother [Bathsheba] crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of his gladness of heart.2024-01-17 13:58:35 UTC
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Song of Songs 2:1-17 MSG
[1] I’m just a wildflower picked from the plains of Sharon, a lotus blossom from the valley pools. [2] A lotus blossoming in a swamp of weeds— that’s my dear friend among the girls in the village. [3-4] As an apricot tree stands out in the forest, my lover stands above the young men in town. All I want is to sit in his shade, to taste and savor his delicious love. He took me home with him for a festive meal, but his eyes feasted on me! [5-6] Oh! Give me something refreshing to eat—and quickly! Apricots, raisins—anything. I’m about to faint with love! His left hand cradles my head, and his right arm encircles my waist! [7] Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem, by the gazelles, yes, by all the wild deer: Don’t excite love, don’t stir it up, until the time is ripe—and you’re ready. [8-10a] Look! Listen! There’s my lover! Do you see him coming? Vaulting the mountains, leaping the hills. My lover is like a gazelle, graceful; like a young stag, virile. Look at him there, on tiptoe at the gate, all ears, all eyes—ready! My lover has arrived and he’s speaking to me! [10b-14] Get up, my dear friend, fair and beautiful lover—come to me! Look around you: Winter is over; the winter rains are over, gone! Spring flowers are in blossom all over. The whole world’s a choir—and singing! Spring warblers are filling the forest with sweet strains. Lilacs are exuberantly purple and perfumed, and cherry trees fragrant with blossoms. Oh, get up, dear friend, my fair and beautiful lover—come to me! Come, my shy and modest dove— leave your seclusion, come out in the open. Let me see your face, let me hear your voice. For your voice is soothing and your face is ravishing. [15] Then you must protect me from the foxes, foxes on the prowl, Foxes who would like nothing better than to get into our flowering garden. [16-17] My lover is mine, and I am his. Nightly he strolls in our garden, Delighting in the flowers until dawn breathes its light and night slips away. Turn to me, dear lover. Come like a gazelle. Leap like a wild stag on delectable mountains!-
Song of Solomon 2:1-17 AMPC
[1] [SHE SAID] I am only a little rose or autumn crocus of the plain of Sharon, or a [humble] lily of the valleys [that grows in deep and difficult places]. [2] But Solomon replied, Like the lily among thorns, so are you, my love, among the daughters. [3] Like an apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved [shepherd] among the sons [cried the girl]! Under his shadow I delighted to sit, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. [4] He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love [for love waved as a protecting and comforting banner over my head when I was near him]. [5] Sustain me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am sick with love. [6] [I can feel] his left hand under my head and his right hand embraces me! [Deut. 33:27; Matt. 28:20.] [7] [He said] I charge you, O you daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the hinds of the field [which are free to follow their own instincts] that you not try to stir up or awaken [my] love until it pleases. [8] [Vividly she pictured it] The voice of my beloved [shepherd]! Behold, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. [John 10:27.] [9] My beloved is like a gazelle or a young hart. Behold, he stands behind the wall of our house, he looks in through the windows, he glances through the lattice. [10] My beloved speaks and says to me, Rise up, my love, my fair 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 the singing [of birds] has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. [13] The fig tree puts forth and ripens her green figs, and the vines are in blossom and give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. [14] [So I went with him, and when we were climbing the rocky steps up the hillside, my beloved shepherd said to me] O my dove, [while you are here] in the seclusion of the clefts in the solid rock, in the sheltered and secret place of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely. [15] [My heart was touched and I fervently sang to him my desire] Take for us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards [of our love], for our vineyards are in blossom. [16] [She said distinctly] My beloved is mine and I am his! He pastures his flocks among the lilies. [Matt. 10:32; Acts 4:12.] [17] [Then, longingly addressing her absent shepherd, she cried] Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, return hastily, O my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young hart as you cover the mountains [which separate us].2024-01-17 13:56:08 UTC
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Song of Songs 2:1-17 MSG
[1] I’m just a wildflower picked from the plains of Sharon, a lotus blossom from the valley pools. [2] A lotus blossoming in a swamp of weeds— that’s my dear friend among the girls in the village. [3-4] As an apricot tree stands out in the forest, my lover stands above the young men in town. All I want is to sit in his shade, to taste and savor his delicious love. He took me home with him for a festive meal, but his eyes feasted on me! [5-6] Oh! Give me something refreshing to eat—and quickly! Apricots, raisins—anything. I’m about to faint with love! His left hand cradles my head, and his right arm encircles my waist! [7] Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem, by the gazelles, yes, by all the wild deer: Don’t excite love, don’t stir it up, until the time is ripe—and you’re ready. [8-10a] Look! Listen! There’s my lover! Do you see him coming? Vaulting the mountains, leaping the hills. My lover is like a gazelle, graceful; like a young stag, virile. Look at him there, on tiptoe at the gate, all ears, all eyes—ready! My lover has arrived and he’s speaking to me! [10b-14] Get up, my dear friend, fair and beautiful lover—come to me! Look around you: Winter is over; the winter rains are over, gone! Spring flowers are in blossom all over. The whole world’s a choir—and singing! Spring warblers are filling the forest with sweet strains. Lilacs are exuberantly purple and perfumed, and cherry trees fragrant with blossoms. Oh, get up, dear friend, my fair and beautiful lover—come to me! Come, my shy and modest dove— leave your seclusion, come out in the open. Let me see your face, let me hear your voice. For your voice is soothing and your face is ravishing. [15] Then you must protect me from the foxes, foxes on the prowl, Foxes who would like nothing better than to get into our flowering garden. [16-17] My lover is mine, and I am his. Nightly he strolls in our garden, Delighting in the flowers until dawn breathes its light and night slips away. Turn to me, dear lover. Come like a gazelle. Leap like a wild stag on delectable mountains!-
Song of Solomon 2:1-17 AMPC
[1] [SHE SAID] I am only a little rose or autumn crocus of the plain of Sharon, or a [humble] lily of the valleys [that grows in deep and difficult places]. [2] But Solomon replied, Like the lily among thorns, so are you, my love, among the daughters. [3] Like an apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved [shepherd] among the sons [cried the girl]! Under his shadow I delighted to sit, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. [4] He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love [for love waved as a protecting and comforting banner over my head when I was near him]. [5] Sustain me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am sick with love. [6] [I can feel] his left hand under my head and his right hand embraces me! [Deut. 33:27; Matt. 28:20.] [7] [He said] I charge you, O you daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the hinds of the field [which are free to follow their own instincts] that you not try to stir up or awaken [my] love until it pleases. [8] [Vividly she pictured it] The voice of my beloved [shepherd]! Behold, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. [John 10:27.] [9] My beloved is like a gazelle or a young hart. Behold, he stands behind the wall of our house, he looks in through the windows, he glances through the lattice. [10] My beloved speaks and says to me, Rise up, my love, my fair 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 the singing [of birds] has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. [13] The fig tree puts forth and ripens her green figs, and the vines are in blossom and give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. [14] [So I went with him, and when we were climbing the rocky steps up the hillside, my beloved shepherd said to me] O my dove, [while you are here] in the seclusion of the clefts in the solid rock, in the sheltered and secret place of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely. [15] [My heart was touched and I fervently sang to him my desire] Take for us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards [of our love], for our vineyards are in blossom. [16] [She said distinctly] My beloved is mine and I am his! He pastures his flocks among the lilies. [Matt. 10:32; Acts 4:12.] [17] [Then, longingly addressing her absent shepherd, she cried] Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, return hastily, O my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young hart as you cover the mountains [which separate us].2024-01-16 14:39:03 UTC
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Now, we start Song of Songs, A.K.A. Song of Solomon.
Song of Songs 1:1-17 MSG
[1] The Song—best of all songs—Solomon’s song! [2-3] Kiss me—full on the mouth! Yes! For your love is better than wine, headier than your aromatic oils. The syllables of your name murmur like a meadow brook. No wonder everyone loves to say your name! [4] Take me away with you! Let’s run off together! An elopement with my King-Lover! We’ll celebrate, we’ll sing, we’ll make great music. Yes! For your love is better than vintage wine. Everyone loves you—of course! And why not? [5-6] I am weathered but still elegant, oh, dear sisters in Jerusalem, Weather-darkened like Kedar desert tents, time-softened like Solomon’s Temple hangings. Don’t look down on me because I’m dark, darkened by the sun’s harsh rays. My brothers ridiculed me and sent me to work in the fields. They made me care for the face of the earth, but I had no time to care for my own face. [7] Tell me where you’re working —I love you so much— Tell me where you’re tending your flocks, where you let them rest at noontime. Why should I be the one left out, outside the orbit of your tender care? [8] If you can’t find me, loveliest of all women, it’s all right. Stay with your flocks. Lead your lambs to good pasture. Stay with your shepherd neighbors. [9-11] You remind me of Pharaoh’s well-groomed and satiny mares. Pendant earrings line the elegance of your cheeks; strands of jewels illumine the curve of your throat. I’m making jewelry for you, gold and silver jewelry that will mark and accent your beauty. [12-14] When my King-Lover lay down beside me, my fragrance filled the room. His head resting between my breasts— the head of my lover was a sachet of sweet myrrh. My beloved is a bouquet of wildflowers picked just for me from the fields of En Gedi. [15] Oh, my dear friend! You’re so beautiful! And your eyes so beautiful—like doves! [16-17] And you, my dear lover—you’re so handsome! And the bed we share is like a forest glen. We enjoy a canopy of cedars enclosed by cypresses, fragrant and green.-
The Amplified Classic is easier to understand here.
Song of Solomon 1:1-17 AMPC
[1] THE SONG of songs [the most excellent of them all] which is Solomon’s. [I Kings 4:32.] [2] Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! [she cries. Then, realizing that Solomon has arrived and has heard her speech, she turns to him and adds] For your love is better than wine! [3] [And she continues] The odor of your ointments is fragrant; your name is like perfume poured out. Therefore do the maidens love you. [4] Draw me! We will run after you! The king brings me into his apartments! We will be glad and rejoice in you! We will recall [when we were favored with] your love, more fragrant than wine. The upright [are not offended at your choice, but sincerely] love you. [5] I am so black; but [you are] lovely and pleasant [the ladies assured her]. O you daughters of Jerusalem, [I am as dark] as the tents of [the Bedouin tribe] Kedar, like the [beautiful] curtains of Solomon! [6] [Please] do not look at me, [she said, for] I am swarthy. [I have worked out] in the sun and it has left its mark upon me. My stepbrothers were angry with me, and they made me keeper of the vineyards; but my own vineyard [my complexion] I have not kept. [7] [Addressing her shepherd, she said] Tell me, O you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon. For why should I [as I think of you] be as a veiled one straying beside the flocks of your companions? [Ps. 23:1, 2.] [8] If you do not know [where your lover is], O you fairest among women, run along, follow the tracks of the flock, and [amuse yourself by] pasturing your kids beside the shepherds’ tents. [9] O my love [he said as he saw her], you remind me of my [favorite] mare in the chariot spans of Pharaoh. [10] Your cheeks are comely with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels. [11] We will make for you chains and ornaments of gold, studded with silver. [12] While the king sits at his table [she said], my spikenard [my absent lover] sends forth [his] fragrance [over me]. [13] My beloved [shepherd] is to me like a [scent] bag of myrrh that lies in my bosom. [14] My beloved [shepherd] is to me a cluster of henna flowers in the vineyards of En-gedi [famed for its fragrant shrubs]. [15] Behold, you are beautiful, my love! Behold, you are beautiful! You have doves’ eyes. [16] [She cried] Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved [shepherd], yes, delightful! Our arbor and couch are green and leafy. [17] The beams of our house are cedars, and our rafters and panels are cypresses or pines.2024-01-16 14:31:39 UTC
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This is the last chapter of Ecclesiastes. We’ll start on Song of Songs in a minute.
Ecclesiastes 12:1-14 MSG
[1-2] Honor and enjoy your Creator while you’re still young, Before the years take their toll and your vigor wanes, Before your vision dims and the world blurs And the winter years keep you close to the fire. [3-5] In old age, your body no longer serves you so well. Muscles slacken, grip weakens, joints stiffen. The shades are pulled down on the world. You can’t come and go at will. Things grind to a halt. The hum of the household fades away. You are wakened now by bird-song. Hikes to the mountains are a thing of the past. Even a stroll down the road has its terrors. Your hair turns apple-blossom white, Adorning a fragile and impotent matchstick body. Yes, you’re well on your way to eternal rest, While your friends make plans for your funeral. [6-7] Life, lovely while it lasts, is soon over. Life as we know it, precious and beautiful, ends. The body is put back in the same ground it came from. The spirit returns to God, who first breathed it. [8] It’s all smoke, nothing but smoke. The Quester says that everything’s smoke. [9-10] Besides being wise himself, the Quester also taught others knowledge. He weighed, examined, and arranged many proverbs. The Quester did his best to find the right words and write the plain truth. [11] The words of the wise prod us to live well. They’re like nails hammered home, holding life together. They are given by God, the one Shepherd. [12-13] But regarding anything beyond this, dear friend, go easy. There’s no end to the publishing of books, and constant study wears you out so you’re no good for anything else. The last and final word is this: Fear God. Do what he tells you. [14] And that’s it. Eventually God will bring everything that we do out into the open and judge it according to its hidden intent, whether it’s good or evil. -
Ecclesiastes 11:1-10 MSG
[1] Be generous: Invest in acts of charity. Charity yields high returns. [2] Don’t hoard your goods; spread them around. Be a blessing to others. This could be your last night. [3-4] When the clouds are full of water, it rains. When the wind blows down a tree, it lies where it falls. Don’t sit there watching the wind. Do your own work. Don’t stare at the clouds. Get on with your life. [5] Just as you’ll never understand the mystery of life forming in a pregnant woman, So you’ll never understand the mystery at work in all that God does. [6] Go to work in the morning and stick to it until evening without watching the clock. You never know from moment to moment how your work will turn out in the end. [7-8] Oh, how sweet the light of day, And how wonderful to live in the sunshine! Even if you live a long time, don’t take a single day for granted. Take delight in each light-filled hour, Remembering that there will also be many dark days And that most of what comes your way is smoke. [9] You who are young, make the most of your youth. Relish your youthful vigor. Follow the impulses of your heart. If something looks good to you, pursue it. But know also that not just anything goes; You have to answer to God for every last bit of it. [10] Live footloose and fancy-free— You won’t be young forever. Youth lasts about as long as smoke. - Load More
