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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
June 23 - Old & New Testament
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Song of Solomon 4,5
Solomon's Love Expressed
1 "(F1)How beautiful (C1)you are, my darling,
(F1)How beautiful you are!
Your (C2)eyes are like doves (C3)behind your veil;
Your (C4)hair is like a flock of goats
That have descended from Mount (C5)Gilead.
2 "Your (C1)teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep
Which have come up from their watering place,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has lost her young.
3 "Your lips are like a (C1)scarlet thread,
And your (C2)mouth is beautiful.
Your (C3)temples are like a slice of a pomegranate
Behind your veil.
4 "Your (C1)neck is like the tower of David,
Built with layers of stones
On which are (C2)hung a thousand shields,
All the round (C3)shields of the warriors.
5 "Your (C1)two breasts are like two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle
That (C2)graze among the lilies.
6 "(C1)Until (F1)the cool of the day
When the shadows flee,
I will go my way to the mountain of (C2)myrrh
And to the hill of (C2)frankincense.
7 "(C1)You are altogether beautiful, my darling,
And there is no blemish on you.
8 "Come with me from (C1)Lebanon, my (C2)bride,
You shall come with me from Lebanon.
You shall (F1)come down from the summit of (C3)Amana,
From the summit of (C4)Senir and Hermon,
From the dens of lions,
From the mountains of leopards.
9 "You have (F1)enchanted my heart, (C1)my sister, my bride;
You have (F1)enchanted my heart with a single glance of your eyes,
With a single strand of your (C2)necklace.
10 "(C1)How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much (F1)(C2)sweeter is your love than wine,
And the (C3)fragrance of your oils
Than that of all kinds of balsam oils!
11 "Your lips (C1)drip (C2)honey, my bride;
Honey and milk are under your tongue,
And the fragrance of your garments is like the (C3)fragrance of Lebanon.
12 "A locked garden is my sister, my bride,
A locked spring, a (C1)sealed (C2)fountain.
13 "Your branches are an (F1)(C1)orchard of (C2)pomegranates
With (C3)delicious fruits, (C4)henna with nard plants,
14 (C1)Nard and saffron, spice reed and (C2)cinnamon,
With all the trees of (C3)frankincense,
(C4)Myrrh, and aloes, along with all the finest balsam oils.
15 "You are a garden spring,
A well of (F1)(C1)fresh water,
And flowing streams from Lebanon."
The Bride
16 "Awake, north wind,
And come, wind of the south;
(F1)Make my (C1)garden breathe out fragrance,
May its balsam oils flow.
May (C2)my beloved come into his garden
And eat its (C3)delicious fruits!"
The Torment of Separation
The Groom
1 "I have (C1)come into my garden, (C2)my sister, my bride;
I have gathered my (C3)myrrh along with my balsam.
I have eaten my honeycomb with my (C4)honey;
I have (C5)drunk my wine with my milk.
Eat, (C6)friends;
Drink and (F1)drink deeply, lovers."
The Bride
2 "I was asleep but my heart was awake.
A voice! My beloved was knocking:
'Open to me, (C1)my sister, my darling,
(C2)My dove, my perfect one!
For my head is (F1)drenched with dew,
My (C3)locks with the dew drops of the night.'
3 "I have (C1)taken off my dress,
How can I put it on again?
I have (C2)washed my feet,
How can I dirty them again?
4 "My beloved extended his hand through the opening,
And my (C1)feelings were stirred for him.
5 "I arose to open to my beloved;
And my hands (C1)dripped with myrrh,
And my fingers with drops of myrrh,
On the handles of the bolt.
6 "I opened to my beloved,
But my beloved had (C1)turned away and had gone!
My (F1)heart went out to him as he (C2)spoke.
I (C3)searched for him but I did not find him;
I (C4)called him but he did not answer me.
7 "The (C1)watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me,
They struck me and wounded me;
The guards of the walls took my shawl away from me.
8 "(C1)Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem,
If you find my beloved,
As to what you will tell him:
For (C2)I am lovesick."
The Chorus
9 "(F1)What kind of beloved is your beloved,
O (C1)most beautiful among women?
(F1)What kind of beloved is your beloved,
That you make us swear in this way?"
Admiration by the Bride
The Bride
10 "My beloved is dazzling and (F1)(C1)reddish,
(C2)Outstanding among ten thousand.
11 "His head is like gold, pure gold;
His (C1)locks are like clusters of dates
And black as a raven.
12 "His (C1)eyes are like doves
Beside streams of water,
Bathed in milk,
And perched in their (C2)setting.
13 "His cheeks are like a (C1)bed of balsam,
(F1)Banks of herbal spices;
His lips are (C2)lilies
(C3)Dripping with drops of myrrh.
14 "His hands are rods of gold
Set with (C1)topaz;
His abdomen is panels of ivory
Covered with (F1)(C2)sapphires.
15 "His thighs are pillars of alabaster
Set on pedestals of pure gold;
His appearance is like (C1)Lebanon,
Choice as the (C2)cedars.
16 "His (F1)(C1)mouth is full of sweetness.
And he is wholly (C2)desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
You daughters of Jerusalem."
Acts 7:1-21
Chapter 7
Stephen's Defense
1 Now the high priest said, "Are these things so?"
2 And (F1)Stephen said, "Listen to me, (F2)(C1)brothers and fathers! (C2)The God of glory (C3)appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in (F3)Haran,3 and He said to him, '(C1)GO FROM YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR RELATIVES, AND COME TO THE LAND WHICH I WILL SHOW YOU.'4 "(C1)Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in (F1)Haran. And (C2)from there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living.5 "But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, (C1)He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child.6 "But (C1)God spoke to this effect, that his DESCENDANTS WOULD BE STRANGERS IN A LAND THAT WAS NOT THEIRS, AND (F1)THEY WOULD ENSLAVE AND MISTREAT THEM FOR FOUR HUNDRED YEARS.7 "'AND WHATEVER NATION TO WHICH THEY ARE ENSLAVED I MYSELF WILL JUDGE,' said God, 'AND (C1)AFTER THAT THEY WILL COME OUT AND (F1)SERVE ME IN THIS PLACE.'8 "And He (C1)gave him (F1)the covenant of circumcision; and so (C2)Abraham fathered Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and (C3)Isaac fathered Jacob, and (C4)Jacob, the twelve (C5)patriarchs.
9 "The patriarchs (C1)became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him,10 and rescued him from all his afflictions, and (C1)granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and his entire household.
11 "Now (C1)a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers (F1)could find no food.12 "But (C1)when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time.13 "And on the second visit, (C1)Joseph (F1)made himself known to his brothers, and (C2)Joseph's family was revealed to Pharaoh.14 "Then (C1)Joseph sent word and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him, (C2)seventy-five (F1)(C3)people in all.15 "And (C1)Jacob went down to Egypt, and he and our fathers died there.16 "And they were brought back from there to (F1)(C1)Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of (F2)Hamor in (F1)Shechem.
17 "But as the (C1)time of the promise which God had assured to Abraham was approaching, (C2)the people increased and multiplied in Egypt,18 until (C1)ANOTHER KING AROSE OVER EGYPT WHO DID NOT KNOW JOSEPH.19 "It was he who (C1)shrewdly took advantage of our nation and mistreated our fathers in order that they would (C2)abandon their infants in the Nile, so that they would not survive.20 "At this time (C1)Moses was born; and he was beautiful to God. He was nurtured for three months in his father's home.21 "And after he had been put outside, (C1)Pharaoh's daughter (F1)took him away and nurtured him as her own son.<
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