Monday, July 24, 2023

Song of Songs 6:1-13

¹Where has your lover gone, most beautiful of women? Which way did your lover turn, that we may look for him with you?

²My lover has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to browse in the gardens and to gather lilies. ³I am my lover's and my lover is mine; he browses among the lilies.

⁴You are beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, majestic as troops with banners. ⁵Turn your eyes from me; they overwhelm me. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Gilead. ⁶Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing. Each has its twin, not one of them is alone. ⁷Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate. ⁸Sixty queens there may be, and eighty concubines, and virgins beyond number; ⁹but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the only daughter of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. The maidens saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines praised her.

¹⁰Who is this that appears like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as the stars in procession?

¹¹I went down to the grove of nut trees to look at the new growth in the valley, to see if the vines had budded or the pomegranates were in bloom. ¹²Before I realized it, my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people.

¹³Come back, come back, O Shulammite; come back, come back, that we may gaze on you!

Why would you gaze on the Shulammite as on the dance of Mahanaim?

Song of Songs 7:1-10

¹How beautiful your sandaled feet, O prince's daughter! Your graceful legs are like jewels, the work of a craftsman's hands. ²Your navel is a rounded goblet that never lacks blended wine. Your waist is a mound of wheat encircled by lilies. ³Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle. ⁴Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath Rabbim. Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon looking toward Damascus. ⁵Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel. Your hair is like royal tapestry; the king is held captive by its tresses. ⁶How beautiful you are and how pleasing, O love, with your delights! ⁷Your stature is like that of the palm, and your breasts like clusters of fruit. ⁸I said, "I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit." May your breasts be like the clusters of the vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples, ⁹and your mouth like the best wine.

May the wine go straight to my lover, flowing gently over lips and teeth. ¹⁰I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me.

 

 

Psalm 21

¹For the director of music. A psalm of David. O LORD, the king rejoices in your strength. How great is his joy in the victories you give! ²You have granted him the desire of his heart and have not withheld the request of his lips. [Selah] ³You welcomed him with rich blessings and placed a crown of pure gold on his head. ⁴He asked you for life, and you gave it to him-- length of days, for ever and ever. ⁵Through the victories you gave, his glory is great; you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty. ⁶Surely you have granted him eternal blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence. ⁷For the king trusts in the LORD; through the unfailing love of the Most High he will not be shaken. ⁸Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies; your right hand will seize your foes. ⁹At the time of your appearing you will make them like a fiery furnace. In his wrath the LORD will swallow them up, and his fire will consume them. ¹⁰You will destroy their descendants from the earth, their posterity from mankind. ¹¹Though they plot evil against you and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed; ¹²for you will make them turn their backs when you aim at them with drawn bow. ¹³Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength; we will sing and praise your might.

 

 

Matthew 12:1–14

¹At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. ²When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."

³He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread--which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. ⁵Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? ⁶I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. ⁷If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. ⁸For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

⁹Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, ¹⁰and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"

¹¹He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? ¹²How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."

¹³Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. ¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.