Bible Reading Plan

Chapter 23

The Prophecies of Balaam

¹ Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here."² Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.³ Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you." So he went to a bare hill.

⁴ Now God met with Balaam, and he said to Him, "I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar."⁵ Then the LORD ^(C1)put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak."⁶ So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab.⁷ And he took up his discourse and said,

"From ^(C1)Aram Balak has brought me,
Moab's king from the mountains of the East, saying,
'^(C2)Come, declare Jacob cursed for me,
And come, curse Israel!'

⁸ "^(C1)How am I to put a curse on him upon whom God has not put a curse?
And how am I to curse him whom the LORD has not cursed?

⁹ "For I see him from the top of the rocks,
And I look at him from the hills;
^(C1)Behold, a people that lives in isolation,
And does not consider itself to be among the nations.

¹⁰ "^(C1)Who has counted the dust of Jacob,
Or the number of the fourth part of Israel?
^(C2)May ^(F1)I die the death of the upright,
^(C3)And may my end be like his!"

¹¹ Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? ^(C1)I took you to put a curse on my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!"¹² He replied, "Must I not be careful to speak ^(C1)what the LORD puts in my mouth?"

¹³ Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, although you will only see the extreme end of them and will not see all of them; and put a curse on them for me from there."¹⁴ So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.¹⁵ Then he said to Balak, "Stand here beside your burnt offering while I myself meet the LORD over there."¹⁶ Then the LORD met Balaam and ^(C1)put a word in his mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak."¹⁷ So he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, "What has the LORD spoken?"¹⁸ Then he took up his discourse and said,

"Arise, Balak, and hear;
Listen to me, son of Zippor!

¹⁹ "^(C1)God is not a man, that He would lie,
Nor a son of man, that He would change His mind;
^(C2)Has He said, and will He not do it?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

²⁰ "Behold, I have received a command to bless;
^(C1)When He has blessed, ^(C2)I cannot revoke it.

²¹ "^(C1)He has not looked at misfortune in Jacob;
^(C2)Nor has He seen trouble in Israel;
^(C3)The LORD his God is with him,
^(C4)And the joyful shout of a king is among them.

²² "^(C1)God brings them out of Egypt,
He is for them like the ^(C2)horns of the wild ox.

²³ "^(C1)For there is no magic curse against Jacob,
Nor is there any divination against Israel;
At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob
And to Israel, what God has done!

²⁴ "^(C1)Behold, a people rises like a lioness,
And like a lion it raises itself;
It will not lie down until it devours the prey,
And drinks the blood of those slain."

²⁵ Then Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!"²⁶ But Balaam replied to Balak, "Did I not tell you, '^(F1)(C1)Whatever the LORD speaks, I must do'?"<

Chapter 4

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!"

Chapter 5

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."<