Welcome to the Daily Orthodox Scriptures, 2021. I am Fr. Alexis, and we are reading through the Scriptures each day of the year, using the Orthodox Study Bible. Today is Day 168 of our readings, and it’s June 17. So today we will be reading from the Song of Songs 7-8; Psalm 136 and 137; Proverbs 29:19-23; and Acts 2:22-47.

So we will be finishing the Song of Songs today, and, as I said before, there are different ways, different lenses, in which we can look at this book. On the surface, it’s a love poem between a man and a woman. For the Jews, it was a portrayal for God’s love for his people, the Jewish people, and for Christians it’s been seen as an allegory of Christ’s love for his bride, the Church. And each of these approaches is true. We don’t have to pick one or the other. Any successful relationship, in marriage or in our relationship with God, is an all-consuming thing. Even St. Paul, who was never married, knew how all-consuming marriage was. And a successful relationship must have both parties committed to working through life’s ups and downs. And those of us who are married know that. It’s the same with our relationship with God. The only difference is that God is always committed, and we are less so. The Song of Songs is a beautiful poem describing this commitment.

So we will also be reading Psalms 136 and 137 today. 136 was sung in exile in the Old Testament while Israel was in captivity in Babylon. In the Church it’s prayed before Great Lent, and I will say a word about it afterwards. In Psalm 137, we hear the verse, “And I shall sing to you in the presence of angels,” and so this psalm is used on feast days honoring the angels.

Now to the readings. Let’s begin.

Return, return, O Shulamite;
Return, return, and we will look at you.

What will you see in the Shulamite,
She who comes as the troops of armies?
Why are your feet beautiful in your sandals,
O daughter of Nadab?
The curves of your thighs are like small necklaces,
The work of a skilled craftsman.
Your navel is like an elaborate bowl,
Not lacking mixed wine.
Your stomach is like a heap of wheat
Set about with lilies.
Your two breasts are like two fawns,
The twins of a gazelle.
Your neck is like a tower of ivory,
And your eyes are like pools in Heshbon
By the gates of a daughter of many.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon
Pointing towards Damascus.
Your head crowns you like Carmel,
And the locks of your hair are like a purple garment.
The king is held captive by your curls.
How beautiful and how sweet you are, O love,
With your delights!
This greatness of yours is like the palm tree,
And your breasts like a cluster of grapes.
I said, “I will climb up the palm tree,
And grasp hold of its high branches.”
Indeed your breasts shall be like clusters of the vine,
And the fragrance of your nose like apples,
And your mouth like a good wine
That goes down smoothly for my beloved,
Fit for my lips and teeth.

I am my beloved’s
And his desire is towards me.
Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field;
Let us lodge in the villages;
Let us rise early in the morning in the vineyards;
Let us see if the vine has flowered,
If the blossoms have appeared,
If the pomegranates have blossomed.
There I will give you my breasts.
The mandrakes have put forth an aroma,
And fruits of all kinds, new and old,
Are at our doors.
O my beloved, I have kept them for you.

Who would have granted you, my brother,
To nurse at my mother’s breasts?
I would have found you outside;
I would have kissed you,
And no one would despise me.
Then I would take you along
And lead you to my mother’s house,
Into the chamber of her who conceived me;
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
The juice of my pomegranates.
His left hand would be under my head,
And his right hand would embrace me.
I implore you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
By the hosts and powers of the field,
Do not rouse nor wake my love
Until he wishes.

Who is she who comes up, is made white,
And leans on her beloved?

Under an apple tree I raised you up.
There your mother travailed in labor for you;
There she who travailed in labor for you
Gave you birth.
Set me as a seal upon your heart,
As a seal upon your arm;
For love is as strong as death,
Jealousy as cruel as Hades.
Her sparks are sparks of fire,
Even the flames thereof.
Much water will not be able to quench love,
Nor will rivers drown it.
If a man should give all his possessions for love,
Men would utterly despise them.

Our sister is small and has no breasts;
What will we do for our sister
In the day when she is spoken for?
If she is a wall, let us build silver battlements upon her;
And if she is a door, let us carve cedar panels for her.

I am a wall, and my breasts are as towers;
I was in his eyes as one who found peace.
Solomon had a vineyard in Baal Hamon;
He entrusted his vineyard to keepers.
A man was to bring a thousand silver coins for its fruit.
My vineyard before me is mine;
O Solomon, you shall have a thousand,
And those who keep its fruit, two hundred.

You who dwell in the gardens,
The companions give heed to your voice;
Cause me to hear.

Escape, my beloved, and be like the gazelle
Or the fawn of a deer
On the mountains of spices.

By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat and wept
When we remembered Zion.
Upon the willows in her midst,
We hung up our musical instruments;
For there our captors asked us for words from our songs,
And those who carried us off said to us,
“Sing us the songs of Zion.”
How shall we sing the Lord’s song
In a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
May my right hand be forgotten;
May my tongue be glued to my throat
If I do not remember you,
If I do not prefer Jerusalem
In the beginning of my merriment.
O Lord, remember the sons of Edom
On that day in Jerusalem,
When they were saying, “Empty it out,
Empty it out,
Even to its foundation!”
O wretched daughter of Babylon,
Blessed is he who shall deal with you
As you dealt with us;
Blessed is he who shall get the upper hand
And dash your infants against the rock.

I will give thanks to You, O Lord, with all my heart,
For you hear the words of my mouth;
And I shall sing to you in the presence of angels.
I shall bow down and worship toward your holy temple,
And I will give thanks to your name
For your mercy and your truth;
For you magnified your teaching above every name.
On the day I shall call out to you, hear me speedily;
You shall treat my soul with great care in your power.
O Lord, let all the kings of the earth give thanks to you,
For they heard all the words of your mouth;
And let them sing in the ways of the Lord,
For the glory of the Lord is great;
For the Lord is high, and he watches over the lowly things;
But the high things he knows from afar.
If I walk in the midst of affliction, you shall make me live;
You stretched out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And your right hand saved me.
The Lord shall repay them on my behalf.
O Lord, your mercy endures forever;
Do not forsake the works of your hands.

A stubborn servant will not be instructed by words,
For even if he understands them, he will not obey.
If you see a man hasty in words,
Know a man without discernment has more hope than he.
He who lives luxuriously from childhood shall be a servant,
And in the end, he shall cause himself pain.
An angry man digs up strife,
But a furious man digs up sins.
Arrogance humbles a man,
But the Lord supports the humble-minded with glory.

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it. For David says concerning him:

I foresaw the Lord always before my face,
For he is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.
Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad;
Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.
For you will not leave my soul in Hades,
Nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption.
You have made known to me the ways of life;
You will make me full of joy in your presence.

Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured out this which you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself:

The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
Till I make your enemies your footstool.”

Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

Let me say something about Psalm 136. This was written while the Jews were in their Babylonian exile, having been taken there by Nebuchadnezzar. Listen to the words and imagine how they were taken from their homes and forced to live in a foreign land.

By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat and wept
When we remembered Zion.

And those who carried us off said to us,
“Sing us the songs of Zion.”
How shall we sing the Lord’s song
In a foreign land?

This is a psalm of exile, a psalm of sadness, a psalm of longing to be home. We hear it in church at the beginning of Lent, remembering that we are in exile ourselves, having left through our sins our Father’s embrace and loving relationship. We long, like the Jews, to return home, and that’s what Great Lent is about: returning home. And the psalm ends in a pretty bitter way.

Blessed is he who shall get the upper hand
And dash your infants against the rock.

Wow. That’s kind of nasty. Again, it’s written by people taken from their homes and [who] don’t know if they’ll ever return. The Fathers of the Church look at this phrase, “dash your infants against the rock,” metaphorically. The “infants” are understood as our small sins. Get rid of your sins while they are small, before they grow up into passions and are much more difficult to eradicate. And so while not denying the meaning the author of the psalm meant, the Church re-interprets them in a way that is beneficial for us. Again, this is what we mean by reading the Scriptures through the eyes of Christ.

I’m Fr. Alexis, and remember: Christ is in our midst!