Lectionary Calendar
Monday, August 11th, 2025
the Week of Proper 14 / Ordinary 19
the Week of Proper 14 / Ordinary 19
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Read the Bible
THE MESSAGE
Song of Solomon 3:1
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.
Jump to:Bible Study Tools • Parallel Bible Verse • Bible Contextual Overview • Bible Cross-References • Gill's Bible Notes • Clarke's Bible Notes • Barnes' Bible Notes
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
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- DailyParallel Translations
Christian Standard Bible®
In my bed at night
In my bed at night
Hebrew Names Version
By night on my bed, I sought him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but I didn't find him.
By night on my bed, I sought him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but I didn't find him.
King James Version
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
English Standard Version
On my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not.
On my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not.
New American Standard Bible
"On my bed night after night I sought him Whom my soul loves; I sought him but did not find him.
"On my bed night after night I sought him Whom my soul loves; I sought him but did not find him.
New Century Version
At night on my bed, I looked for the one I love; I looked for him, but I could not find him.
At night on my bed, I looked for the one I love; I looked for him, but I could not find him.
Amplified Bible
"On my bed night after night [I dreamed that] I sought the one Whom my soul loves; I sought him but did not find him.
"On my bed night after night [I dreamed that] I sought the one Whom my soul loves; I sought him but did not find him.
World English Bible
By night on my bed, I sought him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but I didn't find him.
By night on my bed, I sought him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but I didn't find him.
Geneva Bible (1587)
In my bed by night I sought him that my soule loued: I sought him, but I found him not.
In my bed by night I sought him that my soule loued: I sought him, but I found him not.
Legacy Standard Bible
"On my bed night after night I sought himWhom my soul loves;I sought him but did not find him.
"On my bed night after night I sought himWhom my soul loves;I sought him but did not find him.
Berean Standard Bible
On my bed at night I sought the one I love; I sought him but did not find him.
On my bed at night I sought the one I love; I sought him but did not find him.
Contemporary English Version
She Speaks: While in bed at night, I reached for the one I love with heart and soul. I looked for him, but he wasn't there.
She Speaks: While in bed at night, I reached for the one I love with heart and soul. I looked for him, but he wasn't there.
Complete Jewish Bible
Night after night on my bed I looked for the man I love. I looked for him, but I didn't find him.
Night after night on my bed I looked for the man I love. I looked for him, but I didn't find him.
Darby Translation
On my bed, in the nights, I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
On my bed, in the nights, I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
Easy-to-Read Version
At night on my bed, I look for the man I love. I looked for him, but I could not find him.
At night on my bed, I look for the man I love. I looked for him, but I could not find him.
George Lamsa Translation
UPON my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him but found him not.
UPON my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him but found him not.
Good News Translation
Asleep on my bed, night after night I dreamed of the one I love; I was looking for him, but couldn't find him.
Asleep on my bed, night after night I dreamed of the one I love; I was looking for him, but couldn't find him.
Lexham English Bible
On my bed in the night, I sought him whom my heart loves. I sought him, but I did not find him.
On my bed in the night, I sought him whom my heart loves. I sought him, but I did not find him.
Literal Translation
By night on my bed I sought Him whom my soul loves. I sought Him, but I did not find Him.
By night on my bed I sought Him whom my soul loves. I sought Him, but I did not find Him.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
By night in my bedd, I sought him, whom my soule loueth: yee diligently sought I him, but I founde him not.
By night in my bedd, I sought him, whom my soule loueth: yee diligently sought I him, but I founde him not.
American Standard Version
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
Bible in Basic English
By night on my bed I was looking for him who is the love of my soul: I was looking for him, but I did not see him.
By night on my bed I was looking for him who is the love of my soul: I was looking for him, but I did not see him.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth; I sought him, but I found him not.
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth; I sought him, but I found him not.
King James Version (1611)
By night on my bed I sought him whome my soule loueth. I sought him, but I found him not.
By night on my bed I sought him whome my soule loueth. I sought him, but I found him not.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
By night in my bed I sought hym whom my soule loueth: yea diligently sought I him, but I found him not.
By night in my bed I sought hym whom my soule loueth: yea diligently sought I him, but I found him not.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loves: I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he hearkened not to me.
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loves: I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he hearkened not to me.
English Revised Version
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
In my litle bed Y souyte hym bi niytis, whom my soule loueth; Y souyte hym, and Y foond not.
In my litle bed Y souyte hym bi niytis, whom my soule loueth; Y souyte hym, and Y foond not.
Update Bible Version
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loves: I sought him, but I did not find him.
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loves: I sought him, but I did not find him.
Webster's Bible Translation
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
New English Translation
The Beloved about Her Lover:
All night long on my bed I longed for my lover. I longed for him but he never appeared.New King James Version
By night on my bed I sought the one I love; I sought him, but I did not find him.
By night on my bed I sought the one I love; I sought him, but I did not find him.
New Living Translation
Young Woman
One night as I lay in bed, I yearned for my lover. I yearned for him, but he did not come.New Life Bible
"On my bed night after night I looked for him whom my soul loves. I looked for him but did not find him.
"On my bed night after night I looked for him whom my soul loves. I looked for him but did not find him.
New Revised Standard
Upon my bed at night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.
Upon my bed at night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
SHEUpon my couch, in the night-time, sought I the beloved of my soul, - I sought him, but found him not.
SHEUpon my couch, in the night-time, sought I the beloved of my soul, - I sought him, but found him not.
Douay-Rheims Bible
In my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, and found him not.
In my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, and found him not.
Revised Standard Version
Upon my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.
Upon my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.
Young's Literal Translation
On my couch by night, I sought him whom my soul hath loved; I sought him, and I found him not!
On my couch by night, I sought him whom my soul hath loved; I sought him, and I found him not!
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"On my bed night after night I sought him Whom my soul loves; I sought him but did not find him.
"On my bed night after night I sought him Whom my soul loves; I sought him but did not find him.
Contextual Overview
1Restless 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.
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
night: Psalms 4:4, Psalms 6:6, Psalms 22:2, Psalms 63:6-8, Psalms 77:2-4, Isaiah 26:9
him whom: Song of Solomon 1:7, Song of Solomon 5:8, John 21:17, 1 Peter 1:8
but: Song of Solomon 5:6, Job 23:8, Job 23:9, Psalms 130:1, Psalms 130:2, Isaiah 55:6, Luke 13:24
Reciprocal: Job 29:5 - the Almighty Psalms 63:1 - early Song of Solomon 5:2 - sleep Matthew 25:5 - they Mark 13:36 - he find Luke 11:9 - seek John 11:29 - General 1 Corinthians 16:22 - love Hebrews 11:6 - diligently
Cross-References
Genesis 3:13
"The serpent seduced me," she said, "and I ate."
"The serpent seduced me," she said, "and I ate."
Isaiah 27:1
At that time God will unsheathe his sword, his merciless, massive, mighty sword. He'll punish the serpent Leviathan as it flees, the serpent Leviathan thrashing in flight. He'll kill that old dragon that lives in the sea.
At that time God will unsheathe his sword, his merciless, massive, mighty sword. He'll punish the serpent Leviathan as it flees, the serpent Leviathan thrashing in flight. He'll kill that old dragon that lives in the sea.
Matthew 10:16
"Stay alert. This is hazardous work I'm assigning you. You're going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don't call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.
"Stay alert. This is hazardous work I'm assigning you. You're going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don't call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.
2 Corinthians 11:14
Pseudo-Servants of God Will you put up with a little foolish aside from me? Please, just for a moment. The thing that has me so upset is that I care about you so much—this is the passion of God burning inside me! I promised your hand in marriage to Christ, presented you as a pure virgin to her husband. And now I'm afraid that exactly as the Snake seduced Eve with his smooth patter, you are being lured away from the simple purity of your love for Christ. It seems that if someone shows up preaching quite another Jesus than we preached—different spirit, different message—you put up with him quite nicely. But if you put up with these big-shot "apostles," why can't you put up with simple me? I'm as good as they are. It's true that I don't have their voice, haven't mastered that smooth eloquence that impresses you so much. But when I do open my mouth, I at least know what I'm talking about. We haven't kept anything back. We let you in on everything. I wonder, did I make a bad mistake in proclaiming God's Message to you without asking for something in return, serving you free of charge so that you wouldn't be inconvenienced by me? It turns out that the other churches paid my way so that you could have a free ride. Not once during the time I lived among you did anyone have to lift a finger to help me out. My needs were always supplied by the believers from Macedonia province. I was careful never to be a burden to you, and I never will be, you can count on it. With Christ as my witness, it's a point of honor with me, and I'm not going to keep it quiet just to protect you from what the neighbors will think. It's not that I don't love you; God knows I do. I'm just trying to keep things open and honest between us. And I'm not changing my position on this. I'd die before taking your money. I'm giving nobody grounds for lumping me in with those money-grubbing "preachers," vaunting themselves as something special. They're a sorry bunch—pseudo-apostles, lying preachers, crooked workers—posing as Christ's agents but sham to the core. And no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light. So it shouldn't surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But they're not getting by with anything. They'll pay for it in the end. Let me come back to where I started—and don't hold it against me if I continue to sound a little foolish. Or if you'd rather, just accept that I am a fool and let me rant on a little. I didn't learn this kind of talk from Christ. Oh, no, it's a bad habit I picked up from the three-ring preachers that are so popular these days. Since you sit there in the judgment seat observing all these shenanigans, you can afford to humor an occasional fool who happens along. You have such admirable tolerance for impostors who rob your freedom, rip you off, steal you blind, put you down—even slap your face! I shouldn't admit it to you, but our stomachs aren't strong enough to tolerate that kind of stuff. Since you admire the egomaniacs of the pulpit so much (remember, this is your old friend, the fool, talking), let me try my hand at it. Do they brag of being Hebrews, Israelites, the pure race of Abraham? I'm their match. Are they servants of Christ? I can go them one better. (I can't believe I'm saying these things. It's crazy to talk this way! But I started, and I'm going to finish.) I've worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death's door time after time. I've been flogged five times with the Jews' thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I've been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I've had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I've been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I've known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather. And that's not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches. When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut. If I have to "brag" about myself, I'll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus. The eternal and blessed God and Father of our Master Jesus knows I'm not lying. Remember the time I was in Damascus and the governor of King Aretas posted guards at the city gates to arrest me? I crawled through a window in the wall, was let down in a basket, and had to run for my life.
Pseudo-Servants of God Will you put up with a little foolish aside from me? Please, just for a moment. The thing that has me so upset is that I care about you so much—this is the passion of God burning inside me! I promised your hand in marriage to Christ, presented you as a pure virgin to her husband. And now I'm afraid that exactly as the Snake seduced Eve with his smooth patter, you are being lured away from the simple purity of your love for Christ. It seems that if someone shows up preaching quite another Jesus than we preached—different spirit, different message—you put up with him quite nicely. But if you put up with these big-shot "apostles," why can't you put up with simple me? I'm as good as they are. It's true that I don't have their voice, haven't mastered that smooth eloquence that impresses you so much. But when I do open my mouth, I at least know what I'm talking about. We haven't kept anything back. We let you in on everything. I wonder, did I make a bad mistake in proclaiming God's Message to you without asking for something in return, serving you free of charge so that you wouldn't be inconvenienced by me? It turns out that the other churches paid my way so that you could have a free ride. Not once during the time I lived among you did anyone have to lift a finger to help me out. My needs were always supplied by the believers from Macedonia province. I was careful never to be a burden to you, and I never will be, you can count on it. With Christ as my witness, it's a point of honor with me, and I'm not going to keep it quiet just to protect you from what the neighbors will think. It's not that I don't love you; God knows I do. I'm just trying to keep things open and honest between us. And I'm not changing my position on this. I'd die before taking your money. I'm giving nobody grounds for lumping me in with those money-grubbing "preachers," vaunting themselves as something special. They're a sorry bunch—pseudo-apostles, lying preachers, crooked workers—posing as Christ's agents but sham to the core. And no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light. So it shouldn't surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But they're not getting by with anything. They'll pay for it in the end. Let me come back to where I started—and don't hold it against me if I continue to sound a little foolish. Or if you'd rather, just accept that I am a fool and let me rant on a little. I didn't learn this kind of talk from Christ. Oh, no, it's a bad habit I picked up from the three-ring preachers that are so popular these days. Since you sit there in the judgment seat observing all these shenanigans, you can afford to humor an occasional fool who happens along. You have such admirable tolerance for impostors who rob your freedom, rip you off, steal you blind, put you down—even slap your face! I shouldn't admit it to you, but our stomachs aren't strong enough to tolerate that kind of stuff. Since you admire the egomaniacs of the pulpit so much (remember, this is your old friend, the fool, talking), let me try my hand at it. Do they brag of being Hebrews, Israelites, the pure race of Abraham? I'm their match. Are they servants of Christ? I can go them one better. (I can't believe I'm saying these things. It's crazy to talk this way! But I started, and I'm going to finish.) I've worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death's door time after time. I've been flogged five times with the Jews' thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I've been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I've had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I've been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I've known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather. And that's not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches. When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut. If I have to "brag" about myself, I'll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus. The eternal and blessed God and Father of our Master Jesus knows I'm not lying. Remember the time I was in Damascus and the governor of King Aretas posted guards at the city gates to arrest me? I crawled through a window in the wall, was let down in a basket, and had to run for my life.
1 Peter 3:7
The same goes for you husbands: Be good husbands to your wives. Honor them, delight in them. As women they lack some of your advantages. But in the new life of God's grace, you're equals. Treat your wives, then, as equals so your prayers don't run aground.
The same goes for you husbands: Be good husbands to your wives. Honor them, delight in them. As women they lack some of your advantages. But in the new life of God's grace, you're equals. Treat your wives, then, as equals so your prayers don't run aground.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth,.... The day being not yet broke, the night of Jewish darkness still on the church, and the shadow of the ceremonial law as yet stretched upon her; and having some knowledge of Christ by types and prophecies, desires more, and seeks it in the use of means: though the words may be taken in a more large sense, and represent the state and condition of the church and of all true believers in any age, and at one time as well as another; who, when their beloved is absent, it is "night" with them; as Christ's presence makes day, his absence makes night; and it was now night with the Church, either of affliction, or of darkness and desertion, and indeed of both. The word is plural, "by nights" i; one night after another, successively, she sought her beloved; which both expresses the continuance of her state, and her diligence and constancy in seeking Christ. The place where she sought him was "her bed"; not the same as in Song of Solomon 1:16; which was both Christ's and hers, and where a different word is used; but this was purely her own: either a bed of affliction, when good men usually seek the Lord, Isaiah 26:16 Hosea 5:15; or rather of carnal ease and security, in which she continued, and rose not up from it to seek her beloved; which shows the cold, lukewarm, lazy frame she was in, and formal manner in which she sought him, and so succeeded not: however, he was stilt the person "whom [her] soul loved", cordially and sincerely, though not so fervently as she had done; true love, though it may be abated, cannot be lost;
I sought him, but I found him not; because she sought him not aright; not timely, nor fervently and diligently, nor in a proper place; not in her closet, by prayer, reading, and meditation, nor in public ordinances, she afterwards did; but on her bed.
i בלילות εν νυξιν, Sept. "per noctes", V. L. Junius Tremeilius, Piscator "in noctibus", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine versions, Marckius, Michaelis.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
By night - i. e., In the night-hours.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER III
The bride mentions the absence of her spouse, her search after
him, and her ultimate success, 1-5.
A description of the bridegroom, his bed, chariot, &c., 6-11.
NOTES ON CHAP. III
Verse Song of Solomon 3:1. By night on my bed I sought him — It appears that the bridegroom only saw the bride by night: that on the night referred to here he did not come as usual. The bride troubled on the account, rose and sought him, inquired of the city guards, and continued to seek till at last she found him, and brought him to her apartment, Song of Solomon 3:2-4.
