One Year Bible.

Solomon Admires His Bride

The Bridegroom

¹How beautiful you are, my darling—

how very beautiful!

Your eyes are like doves

behind your veil.

Your hair is like a flock of goats

streaming down Mount Gilead.

²Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep

coming up from the washing;

each has its twin,

and not one of them is lost.

³Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon,

and your mouth is lovely.

Your brow behind your veil

is like a slice of pomegranate.

⁴Your neck is like the tower of David,

built with rows of stones;

on it hang a thousand shields,

all of them shields of warriors.

⁵Your breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle grazing among the lilies.

⁶Before the day breaks and the shadows flee,

I will make my way

to the mountain of myrrh

and to the hill of frankincense.

⁷You are altogether beautiful, my darling;

in you there is no flaw.

⁸Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,

come with me from Lebanon!

Descend from the peak of Amana,

from the summits of Senir and Hermon,

from the dens of the lions,

from the mountains of the leopards.

⁹You have captured my heart,

my sister, my bride;

you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes,

with one jewel of your neck.

¹⁰How delightful is your love,

my sister, my bride!

Your love is much better than wine,

and the fragrance of your perfume than all spices.

¹¹Your lips, my bride,

drip sweetness like the honeycomb;

honey and milk are under your tongue,

and the fragrance of your garments

is like the aroma of Lebanon.

¹²My sister, my bride, you are a garden locked up,

a spring enclosed, a fountain sealed.

¹³Your branches are an orchard of pomegranates

with the choicest of fruits, with henna and nard,

¹⁴with nard and saffron, with calamus and cinnamon,

with every kind of frankincense tree,

with myrrh and aloes,

with all the finest spices.

¹⁵You are a garden spring,

a well of fresh water

flowing down from Lebanon.

The Bride

¹⁶Awake, O north wind,

and come, O south wind.

Breathe on my garden

and spread the fragrance of its spices.

Let my beloved come into his garden

and taste its choicest fruits.

Children and Parents

¹Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ²“Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise), ³“that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on the earth.”

⁴Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Serving with Honor

⁵Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear and sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. ⁶And do this not only to please them while they are watching, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. ⁷Serve with good will, as to the Lord and not to men, ⁸because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.

⁹And masters, do the same for your slaves. Give up your use of threats, because you know that He who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him.

The Full Armor of God

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

¹³Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. ¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints. ¹⁹Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will boldly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it fearlessly, as I should.

Final Greetings

²¹Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know about me and what I am doing. ²²I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about us, and that he may encourage your hearts.

²³Peace to the brothers and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁴Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

The Feeding of the Five Thousand

¹After this, Jesus crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee ( that is, the Sea of Tiberias ). ²A large crowd followed Him because they saw the signs He was performing on the sick. ³Then Jesus went up on the mountain and sat down with His disciples.

⁴Now the Jewish Feast of the Passover was near. ⁵When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶But He was asking this to test him, for He knew what He was about to do.

⁷Philip answered, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to have a small piece.”

⁸One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, ⁹“Here is a boy with five barley loaves and two small fish. But what difference will these make among so many?”

¹⁰“Have the people sit down,” Jesus said. Now there was plenty of grass in that place, so the men sat down, about five thousand of them.

¹¹Then Jesus took the loaves and the fish, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted.

¹²And when everyone was full, He said to His disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over, so that nothing will be wasted.”

¹³So they collected them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

¹⁴When the people saw the sign that Jesus had performed, they began to say, “Truly this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

¹⁵Then Jesus, realizing that they were about to come and make Him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by Himself.

Jesus Walks on Water

¹⁶When evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, ¹⁷got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was already dark, and Jesus had not yet gone out to them. ¹⁸A strong wind was blowing, and the sea grew agitated.

¹⁹When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the sea — and they were terrified. ²⁰But Jesus spoke up: “It is I; do not be afraid.” ²¹Then they were willing to take Him into the boat, and at once the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

Jesus the Bread of Life

²²The next day, the crowd that had remained on the other side of the sea realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not boarded it with His disciples, but they had gone away alone. ²³However, some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. ²⁴So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum to look for Him. ²⁵When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they asked Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?”

²⁶Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, it is not because you saw these signs that you are looking for Me, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. ²⁷Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”

²⁸Then they inquired, “What must we do to perform the works of God?”

²⁹Jesus replied, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.”

³⁰So they asked Him, “What sign then will You perform, so that we may see it and believe You? What will You do? ³¹Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

³²Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴“Sir,” they said, “give us this bread at all times.”

³⁵Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst. ³⁶But as I stated, you have seen Me and still you do not believe.

³⁷Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away. ³⁸For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.

³⁹And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰For it is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

⁴¹At this, the Jews began to grumble about Jesus because He had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴²They were asking, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then can He say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

⁴³“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus replied. ⁴⁴“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁴⁵It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me — ⁴⁶not that anyone has seen the Father except the One who is from God; only He has seen the Father.

⁴⁷Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. ⁵⁰This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh.”

⁵²At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”

⁵³So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵For My flesh is real food, and My blood is real drink.

⁵⁶Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

Many Disciples Turn Back

⁵⁹Jesus said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. ⁶⁰On hearing it, many of His disciples said, “This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?”

⁶¹Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this teaching, Jesus asked them, “Does this offend you? ⁶²Then what will happen if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before?

⁶³The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. ⁶⁴However, there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray Him.)

⁶⁵Then Jesus said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has granted it to him.”

⁶⁶From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.

Peter’s Confession of Faith

⁶⁷So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?”

⁶⁸Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.”

⁷⁰Jesus answered them, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” ⁷¹He was speaking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. For although Judas was one of the Twelve, he was later to betray Jesus.