The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday September 6, 2020 (NIV)

1 The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.^(A)

⁵ Daughters of Jerusalem,^(F)
I am dark like the tents of Kedar,^(G)
yet lovely^(H) like the curtains of Solomon.
⁶ Do not stare at me because I am dark,
for the sun has gazed on me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;^(I)
they made me take care of the vineyards.^(J)
I have not taken care of my own vineyard.

⁷ Tell me, you whom I love:^(K)
Where do you pasture your sheep?^(L)
Where do you let them rest at noon?^(M)
Why should I be like one who veils herself^[d]
beside the flocks of your companions?^(N)

⁹ I compare you, my darling,^(P)
to a^[g] mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.^(Q)
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with jewelry,^(R)
your neck with its necklace.
¹¹ We will make gold jewelry for you,
accented with silver.

⁸ Listen! My love is approaching.
Look! Here he comes,
leaping over the mountains,^(AE)
bounding over the hills.
⁹ My love is like a gazelle
or a young stag.^(AF)
See, he is standing behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.
¹⁰ My love calls to me:

¹⁴ My dove,^(AK) in the clefts of the rock,^(AL)
in the crevices of the cliff,
let me see your face,^[s]
let me hear your voice;^(AM)
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.^(AN)

3 In my bed at night^[w]
I sought the one I love;^(AT)
I sought him, but did not find him.^[x](AU)
2 I will arise now and go about the city,
through the streets and the plazas.^(AV)
I will seek the one I love.
I sought him, but did not find him.
³ The guards who go about the city found me.^(AW)
I asked them, “Have you seen the one I love?”
⁴ I had just passed them
when I found the one I love.
I held on to him and would not let him go
until I brought him to my mother’s house^(AX)—
to the chamber of the one who conceived me.
⁵ Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field,
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.^[y](AY)

⁷ Look! Solomon’s bed
surrounded by sixty warriors
from the mighty men of Israel.
⁸ All of them are skilled with swords
and trained in warfare.
Each has his sword at his side^(BB)
to guard against the terror of the night.^(BC)

⁹ King Solomon made a carriage for himself
with wood from Lebanon.
¹⁰ He made its posts of silver,
its back^[z] of gold,
and its seat of purple.
Its interior is inlaid with love^[aa]
by the young women of Jerusalem.^(BD)
11 Go out, young women of Zion,^(BE)
and gaze at King Solomon,
wearing the crown his mother placed on him
on the day of his wedding^(BF)—
the day of his heart’s rejoicing.

⁸ Come with me from Lebanon,^[af](BQ) my bride;^(BR)
come with me from Lebanon!
Descend from the peak of Amana,
from the summit of Senir and Hermon,^(BS)
from the dens of the lions,
from the mountains of the leopards.
⁹ You have captured my heart,^(BT) my sister,^(BU) my bride.
You have captured my heart with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
¹⁰ How delightful your caresses are, my sister, my bride.
Your caresses are much better than wine,^(BV)
and the fragrance of your perfume than any balsam.
¹¹ Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride.^(BW)
Honey and milk^(BX) are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

¹² My sister, my bride, you are a locked garden—
a locked garden^[ag] and a sealed spring.^(BY)
13 Your branches are a paradise^[ah] of pomegranates
with choicest fruits;^(BZ)
henna with nard,
¹⁴ nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,^(CA)
with all the trees of frankincense,^(CB)
myrrh and aloes,^(CC)
with all the best spices.
¹⁵ You are a garden spring,
a well of flowing water^(CD)
streaming from Lebanon.

⁷ “Listen, my people, and I will speak;
I will testify against you, Israel.
I am God, your God.^(I)
8 I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices
or for your burnt offerings,
which are continually before me.^(J)
9 I will not take a bull from your household
or male goats from your pens,^(K)
10 for every animal of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
¹¹ I know every bird of the mountains,
and the creatures of the field are mine.^(L)
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and everything in it is mine.^(M)
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?^(N)
14 Offer a thanksgiving sacrifice to God,^(O)
and pay your vows to the Most High.^(P)
15 Call on me in a day of trouble;
I will rescue you, and you will honor me.”^(Q)

¹⁶ But God says to the wicked:
“What right do you have to recite my statutes
and to take my covenant on your lips?^(R)
17 You hate instruction
and fling my words behind you.^(S)
18 When you see a thief,
you make friends with him,
and you associate with adulterers.^(T)
19 You unleash your mouth for evil
and harness your tongue for deceit.^(U)
20 You sit, maligning your brother,
slandering your mother’s son.^(V)
21 You have done these things, and I kept silent;
you thought I was just like you.^(W)
But I will rebuke you
and lay out the case before you.^[c](X)

²² “Understand this, you who forget God,
or I will tear you apart,
and there will be no one to rescue you.^(Y)
23 Whoever offers a thanksgiving sacrifice honors me,
and whoever orders his conduct,
I will show him the salvation of God.”^(Z)

²² Don’t rob a poor person because he is poor,
and don’t crush the oppressed^(A) at the city gate,^(B)
23 for the Lord will champion their cause^(C)
and will plunder those who plunder them.