The Bride’s Dream
1 On my bed rby night
I sought shim whom my soul loves;
tI sought him, but found him not.
2 I will rise now and go about the city,
in uthe streets and in the squares;
I will seek shim whom my soul loves.
I sought him, but found him not.
3 vThe watchmen found me
as they went about in the city.
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
4 Scarcely had I passed them
when I found shim whom my soul loves.
I wheld him, and would not let him go
until I had xbrought him into my mother’s house,
and into the chamber of yher who conceived me.
5 zI adjure you, aO daughters of Jerusalem,
bby the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.
Solomon Arrives for the Wedding
6 cWhat is that coming up from the wilderness
like dcolumns of smoke,
perfumed with emyrrh and frankincense,
with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?
7 Behold, it is the litter1 of Solomon!
Around it are fsixty gmighty men,
some of the mighty men of Israel,
8 all of them wearing swords
and expert in war,
each with his hsword at his thigh,
against iterror by night.
9 King Solomon made himself a carriage2
from the wood of Lebanon.
10 He made its posts of silver,
its back of gold, its seat of purple;
its interior was inlaid with love
by jthe daughters of Jerusalem.
11 Go out, O kdaughters of Zion,
and look upon King Solomon,
with the crown with which his mother crowned him
on lthe day of his wedding,
on the day of the gladness of his heart.
My Soul Thirsts for You
A Psalm of David, swhen he was in the wilderness of Judah.
1 O God, you are my God; tearnestly I seek you;
umy soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in va dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding wyour power and glory.
3 Because your xsteadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you yas long as I live;
5 My soul will be bsatisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
6 when I remember you cupon my bed,
and meditate on you in cthe watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,
and in dthe shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
8 My soul eclings to you;
your right hand fupholds me.
9 But those who seek to destroy my life
gshall go down into hthe depths of the earth;
10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword;
they shall be a portion for jackals.
11 But ithe king shall rejoice in God;
all who jswear by him shall exult,
Esther Prepares a Banquet
1 yOn the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in zthe inner court of the king’s palace, in front of the king’s quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace. 2 And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, ashe won favor in his sight, band he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. 3 And the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even cto the half of my kingdom.” 4 And Esther said, “If it please the king,1 let the king and Haman come today to a feast that I have prepared for the king.” 5 Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, so that we may do as Esther has asked.” So the king and Haman came to the feast that Esther had prepared. 6 dAnd as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king said to Esther, e“What is your wish? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? cEven to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.”2 7 Then Esther answered, “My wish and my request is: 8 fIf I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king3 to grant my wish and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come to gthe feast that I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.”
Haman Plans to Hang Mordecai
9 And Haman went out that day hjoyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai iin the king’s gate, jthat he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai. 10 Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home, and he sent and brought his friends and khis wife Zeresh. 11 And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, lthe number of his sons, all the promotions with which mthe king had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and the servants of the king. 12 Then Haman said, “Even Queen Esther let no one but me come with the king to the feast she prepared. And tomorrow also I am invited by her together with the king. 13 Yet all this is worth nothing to me, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting iat the king’s gate.” 14 Then khis wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, n“Let a gallows4 fifty cubits5 high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it. Then go joyfully with the king to the feast.” This idea pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made.
The Lord Will Give Salvation
1 iThe oracle of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: Thus declares the Lord, jwho stretched out the heavens and kfounded the earth and jformed the spirit of man within him: 2 “Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem la cup of staggering to mall the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem nwill also be against Judah. 3 oOn that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. pAll who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And mall the nations of the earth will gather against it. 4 oOn that day, declares the Lord, qI will strike every horse rwith panic, and its rider rwith madness. But for the sake of the house of Judah I will keep my eyes open, when I strike every horse of the peoples rwith blindness. 5 Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the Lord of hosts, their God.’
6 o“On that day I will make the clans of Judah slike a blazing pot in the midst of wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves. And tthey shall devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while uJerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem.
7 “And the Lord will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not surpass that of Judah. 8 oOn that day vthe Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that wthe feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, xlike the angel of the Lord, going before them. 9 oAnd on that day yI will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Him Whom They Have Pierced
10 “And zI will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and zpleas for mercy, so that, awhen they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, bthey shall mourn for him, cas one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. 11 oOn that day dthe mourning in Jerusalem will be as great eas the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 The land shall mourn, feach family1 by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of gNathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of hthe Shimeites by itself, and their wives by themselves; 14 and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves.
The Seven Seals
1 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of ethe seven seals, and I heard fone of the four living creatures say gwith a voice like thunder, h“Come!” 2 And I looked, and behold, ia white horse! And jits rider had a bow, and ka crown was given to him, and he came out lconquering, and to conquer.
3 When he opened the second seal, I heard mthe second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, nbright red. Its rider was permitted oto take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the mthird living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, pa black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, q“A quart1 of wheat for a denarius,2 and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and rdo not harm the oil and wine!”
7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of mthe fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 And I looked, and behold, sa pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill twith sword and with famine and with pestilence and uby wild beasts of the earth.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under vthe altar wthe souls of those who had been slain xfor the word of God and for ythe witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, zholy and true, ahow long bbefore you will judge and cavenge our blood on dthose who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given ea white robe and ftold to rest a little longer, guntil the number of their fellow servants and their brothers3 hshould be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, ithere was a great earthquake, and jthe sun became black as ksackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and lthe stars of the sky fell to the earth mas the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 nThe sky vanished mlike a scroll that is being rolled up, and oevery mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave4 and free, phid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 qcalling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of rhim who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for sthe great day of their wrath has come, and twho can stand?”
