Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹Send your bread on the surface of the water, for after many days you may find it.

²Give a portion to seven or even to eight, for you don’t know what disaster may happen on earth.

³If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain on the earth; whether a tree falls to the south or the north, the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.

⁴One who watches the wind will not sow, and the one who looks at the clouds will not reap.

⁵Just as you don’t know the path of the wind, or how bones develop in the womb of a pregnant woman, so also you don’t know the work of God who makes everything.

⁶In the morning sow your seed, and at evening do not let your hand rest, because you don’t know which will succeed, whether one or the other, or if both of them will be equally good.

⁷Light is sweet, and it is pleasing for the eyes to see the sun.

⁸Indeed, if someone lives many years, let him rejoice in them all, and let him remember the days of darkness, since they will be many. All that comes is futile.

⁹Rejoice, young person, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. And walk in the ways of your heart and in the desire of your eyes; but know that for all of these things God will bring you to judgment.

¹⁰Remove sorrow from your heart, and put away pain from your flesh, because youth and the prime of life are fleeting.

¹So remember your Creator in the days of your youth: Before the days of adversity come, and the years approach when you will say, “I have no delight in them”;

²before the sun and the light are darkened, and the moon and the stars, and the clouds return after the rain;

³on the day when the guardians of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, the women who grind grain cease because they are few, and the ones who watch through the windows see dimly,

⁴the doors at the street are shut while the sound of the mill fades; when one rises at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song grow faint.

⁵Also, they are afraid of heights and dangers on the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper loses its spring, and the caper berry has no effect; for the mere mortal is headed to his eternal home, and mourners will walk around in the street;

⁶before the silver cord is snapped, and the gold bowl is broken, and the jar is shattered at the spring, and the wheel is broken into the well;

⁷and the dust returns to the earth as it once was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

⁸“Absolute futility,” says the Teacher. “Everything is futile.”

⁹In addition to the Teacher being a wise man, he constantly taught the people knowledge; he weighed, explored, and arranged many proverbs.

¹⁰The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and write words of truth accurately.

¹¹The sayings of the wise are like cattle prods, and those from masters of collections are like firmly embedded nails. The sayings are given by one Shepherd.

¹²But beyond these, my son, be warned: there is no end to the making of many books, and much study wearies the body.

¹³When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: fear God and keep his commands, because this is for all humanity.

¹⁴For God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil.

¹The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.

²Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your caresses are more delightful than wine.

³The fragrance of your perfume is intoxicating; your name is perfume poured out. No wonder young women adore you.

⁴Take me with you  — let’s hurry. Oh, that the king would bring me to his chambers. We will rejoice and be glad in you; we will celebrate your caresses more than wine. It is only right that they adore you.

⁵Daughters of Jerusalem, I am dark like the tents of Kedar, yet lovely like the curtains of Solomon.

⁶Do not stare at me because I am dark, for the sun has gazed on me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me take care of the vineyards. I have not taken care of my own vineyard.

⁷Tell me, you whom I love: Where do you pasture your sheep? Where do you let them rest at noon? Why should I be like one who veils herself beside the flocks of your companions?

⁸If you do not know, most beautiful of women, follow the tracks of the flock, and pasture your young goats near the shepherds’ tents.

⁹I compare you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.

¹⁰Your cheeks are beautiful with jewelry, your neck with its necklace.

¹¹We will make gold jewelry for you, accented with silver.

¹²While the king is on his couch, my perfume releases its fragrance.

¹³The one I love is a sachet of myrrh to me, spending the night between my breasts.

¹⁴The one I love is a cluster of henna blossoms to me, in the vineyards of En-gedi.

¹⁵How beautiful you are, my darling. How very beautiful! Your eyes are doves.

¹⁶How handsome you are, my love. How delightful! Our bed is verdant;

¹⁷the beams of our house are cedars, and our rafters are cypresses.

¹I am a wildflower of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.

²Like a lily among thorns, so is my darling among the young women.

³Like an apricot tree among the trees of the forest, so is my love among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

⁴He brought me to the banquet hall, and he looked on me with love.

⁵Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apricots, for I am lovesick.

⁶May his left hand be under my head, and his right arm embrace me.

⁷Young 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.

⁸Listen! My love is approaching. Look! Here he comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills.

⁹My love is like a gazelle or a young stag. See, he is standing behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.

¹⁰My love calls to me: Arise, my darling. Come away, my beautiful one.

¹¹For now the winter is past; the rain has ended and gone away.

¹²The blossoms appear in the countryside. The time of singing has come, and the turtledove’s cooing is heard in our land.

¹³The fig tree ripens its figs; the blossoming vines give off their fragrance. Arise, my darling. Come away, my beautiful one.

¹⁴My dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crevices of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.

¹⁵Catch the foxes for us  — the little foxes that ruin the vineyards — for our vineyards are in bloom.

¹⁶My love is mine and I am his; he feeds among the lilies.

¹⁷Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, turn around, my love, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the divided mountains.

¹In my bed at night I sought the one I love; I sought him, but did not find him.

²I will arise now and go about the city, through the streets and the plazas. I will seek the one I love. I sought him, but did not find him.

³The guards who go about the city found me. I asked them, “Have you seen the one I love?”

⁴I 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  — to the chamber of the one who conceived me.

⁵Young 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.

⁶Who is this coming up from the wilderness like columns of smoke, scented with myrrh and frankincense from every fragrant powder of the merchant?

⁷Look! Solomon’s bed surrounded by sixty warriors from the mighty men of Israel.

⁸All of them are skilled with swords and trained in warfare. Each has his sword at his side to guard against the terror of the night.

⁹King Solomon made a carriage for himself with wood from Lebanon.

¹⁰He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, and its seat of purple. Its interior is inlaid with love by the young women of Jerusalem.

¹¹Go out, young women of Zion, and gaze at King Solomon, wearing the crown his mother placed on him on the day of his wedding  — the day of his heart’s rejoicing.

¹How beautiful you are, my darling. How very beautiful! Behind your veil, your eyes are doves. 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 washing, each one bearing twins, and none has lost its young.

³Your lips are like a scarlet cord, and your mouth is lovely. Behind your veil, your brow is like a slice of pomegranate.

⁴Your neck is like the tower of David, constructed in layers. A thousand shields are hung on it — all of them shields of warriors.

⁵Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, that feed among the lilies.

⁶Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, I will make my way to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense.

⁷You are absolutely beautiful, my darling; there is no imperfection in you.

⁸Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; come with me from Lebanon! Descend from the peak of Amana, from the summit 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 captured my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.

¹⁰How delightful your caresses are, my sister, my bride. Your caresses are much better than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than any balsam.

¹¹Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride. Honey and milk are under your tongue. The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

¹²My sister, my bride, you are a locked garden — a locked garden and a sealed spring.

¹³Your branches are a paradise of pomegranates with choicest fruits; henna with nard,

¹⁴nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all the best spices.

¹⁵You are a garden spring, a well of flowing water streaming from Lebanon.

¹⁶Awaken, north wind; come, south wind. Blow on my garden, and spread the fragrance of its spices. Let my love come to his garden and eat its choicest fruits.

¹I have come to my garden — my sister, my bride. I gather my myrrh with my spices. I eat my honeycomb with my honey. I drink my wine with my milk. Eat, friends! Drink, be intoxicated with caresses!

²I was sleeping, but my heart was awake. A sound! My love was knocking! Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my perfect one. For my head is drenched with dew, my hair with droplets of the night.

³I have taken off my clothing. How can I put it back on? I have washed my feet. How can I get them dirty?

⁴My love thrust his hand through the opening, and my feelings were stirred for him.

⁵I rose to open for my love. My hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh on the handles of the bolt.

⁶I opened to my love, but my love had turned and gone away. My heart sank because he had left. I sought him, but did not find him. I called him, but he did not answer.

⁷The guards who go about the city found me. They beat and wounded me; they took my cloak from me — the guardians of the walls.

⁸Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you, if you find my love, tell him that I am lovesick.

⁹What makes the one you love better than another, most beautiful of women? What makes him better than another, that you would give us this charge?

¹⁰My love is fit and strong, notable among ten thousand.

¹¹His head is purest gold. His hair is wavy and black as a raven.

¹²His eyes are like doves beside flowing streams, washed in milk and set like jewels.

¹³His cheeks are like beds of spice, mounds of perfume. His lips are lilies, dripping with flowing myrrh.

¹⁴His arms are rods of gold set with beryl. His body is an ivory panel covered with lapis lazuli.

¹⁵His legs are alabaster pillars set on pedestals of pure gold. His presence is like Lebanon, as majestic as the cedars.

¹⁶His mouth is sweetness. He is absolutely desirable. This is my love, and this is my friend, young women of Jerusalem.

¹Where has your love gone, most beautiful of women? Which way has he turned? We will seek him with you.

²My love has gone down to his garden, to beds of spice, to feed in the gardens and gather lilies.

³I am my love’s and my love is mine; he feeds among the lilies.

⁴You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling, lovely as Jerusalem, awe-inspiring as an army with banners.

⁵Turn your eyes away from me, for they captivate me. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down from Gilead.

⁶Your teeth are like a flock of ewes coming up from washing, each one having a twin, and not one missing.

⁷Behind your veil, your brow is like a slice of pomegranate.

⁸There are sixty queens and eighty concubines and young women without number.

⁹But my dove, my virtuous one, is unique; she is the favorite of her mother, perfect to the one who gave her birth. Women see her and declare her fortunate; queens and concubines also, and they sing her praises:

¹⁰Who is this who shines like the dawn, as beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awe-inspiring as an army with banners?

¹¹I came down to the walnut grove to see the blossoms of the valley, to see if the vines were budding and the pomegranates blooming.

¹²I didn’t know what was happening to me. I felt like I was in a chariot with a nobleman.

¹³Come back, come back, Shulammite! Come back, come back, that we may look at you! How you gaze at the Shulammite, as you look at the dance of the two camps!

¹How beautiful are your sandaled feet, princess! The curves of your thighs are like jewelry, the handiwork of a master.

²Your navel is a rounded bowl; it never lacks mixed wine. Your belly is a mound of wheat surrounded by lilies.

³Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle.

⁴Your neck is like a tower of ivory, your eyes like pools in Heshbon by Bath-rabbim’s gate. Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon looking toward Damascus.

⁵Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel, the hair of your head like purple cloth — a king could be held captive in your tresses.

⁶How beautiful you are and how pleasant, my love, with such delights!

⁷Your stature is like a palm tree; your breasts are clusters of fruit.

⁸I said, “I will climb the palm tree and take hold of its fruit.” May your breasts be like clusters of grapes, and the fragrance of your breath like apricots.

⁹Your mouth is like fine wine  — flowing smoothly for my love, gliding past my lips and teeth!

¹⁰I am my love’s, and his desire is for me.

¹¹Come, my love, let’s go to the field; let’s spend the night among the henna blossoms.

¹²Let’s go early to the vineyards; let’s see if the vine has budded, if the blossom has opened, if the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my caresses.

¹³The mandrakes give off a fragrance, and at our doors is every delicacy, both new and old. I have treasured them up for you, my love.

¹If only I could treat you like my brother, one who nursed at my mother’s breasts, I would find you in public and kiss you, and no one would scorn me.

²I would lead you, I would take you, to the house of my mother who taught me. I would give you spiced wine to drink from the juice of my pomegranate.

³May his left hand be under my head, and his right arm embrace me.

⁴Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you, do not stir up or awaken love until the appropriate time.

⁵Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on the one she loves? I awakened you under the apricot tree. There your mother conceived you; there she conceived and gave you birth.

⁶Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death; jealousy is as unrelenting as Sheol. Love’s flames are fiery flames  — an almighty flame!

⁷A huge torrent cannot extinguish love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If a man were to give all his wealth for love, it would be utterly scorned.

⁸Our sister is young; she has no breasts. What will we do for our sister on the day she is spoken for?

⁹If she is a wall, we will build a silver barricade on her. If she is a door, we will enclose her with cedar planks.

¹⁰I am a wall and my breasts like towers. So in his eyes I have become like one who finds peace.

¹¹Solomon owned a vineyard in Baal-hamon. He leased the vineyard to tenants. Each was to bring for his fruit one thousand pieces of silver.

¹²I have my own vineyard. The one thousand are for you, Solomon, but two hundred for those who take care of its fruits.

¹³You who dwell in the gardens, companions are listening for your voice; let me hear you!

¹⁴Run away with me, my love, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.

¹The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah.

²Listen, heavens, and pay attention, earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.

³The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s feeding trough, but Israel does not know; my people do not understand.”

⁴Oh sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, brood of evildoers, depraved children! They have abandoned the LORD; they have despised the Holy One of Israel; they have turned their backs on him.

⁵Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep on rebelling? The whole head is hurt, and the whole heart is sick.

⁶From the sole of the foot even to the head, no spot is uninjured  — wounds, welts, and festering sores not cleansed, bandaged, or soothed with oil.

⁷Your land is desolate, your cities burned down; foreigners devour your fields right in front of you — a desolation, like a place demolished by foreigners.

⁸Daughter Zion is abandoned like a shelter in a vineyard, like a shack in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.

⁹If the LORD of Armies had not left us a few survivors, we would be like Sodom, we would resemble Gomorrah.

¹⁰Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

¹¹“What are all your sacrifices to me?” asks the LORD. “I have had enough of burnt offerings and rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I have no desire for the blood of bulls, lambs, or male goats.

¹²When you come to appear before me, who requires this from you — this trampling of my courts?

¹³Stop bringing useless offerings. Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons and Sabbaths, and the calling of solemn assemblies  — I cannot stand iniquity with a festival.

¹⁴I hate your New Moons and prescribed festivals. They have become a burden to me; I am tired of putting up with them.

¹⁵When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will refuse to look at you; even if you offer countless prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.

¹⁶“Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from my sight. Stop doing evil.

¹⁷Learn to do what is good. Pursue justice. Correct the oppressor. Defend the rights of the fatherless. Plead the widow’s cause.

¹⁸“Come, let us settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are crimson red, they will be like wool.

¹⁹If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land.

²⁰But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

²¹The faithful town — what an adulteress she has become! She was once full of justice. Righteousness once dwelt in her, but now, murderers!

²²Your silver has become dross to be discarded, your beer is diluted with water.

²³Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love graft and chase after bribes. They do not defend the rights of the fatherless, and the widow’s case never comes before them.

²⁴Therefore the Lord GOD of Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: “Ah, I will get even with my foes; I will take revenge against my enemies.

²⁵I will turn my hand against you and will burn away your dross completely; I will remove all your impurities.

²⁶I will restore your judges to what they were at first, and your advisers to what they were at the start. Afterward you will be called the Righteous City, a Faithful Town.”

²⁷Zion will be redeemed by justice, those who repent, by righteousness.

²⁸At the same time both rebels and sinners will be broken, and those who abandon the LORD will perish.

²⁹Indeed, they will be ashamed of the sacred trees you desired, and you will be embarrassed because of the garden shrines you have chosen.

³⁰For you will become like an oak whose leaves are withered, and like a garden without water.

³¹The strong one will become tinder, and his work a spark; both will burn together, with no one to extinguish the flames.

¹The vision that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

²In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s house will be established at the top of the mountains and will be raised above the hills. All nations will stream to it,

³and many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us about his ways so that we may walk in his paths.” For instruction will go out of Zion and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

⁴He will settle disputes among the nations and provide arbitration for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not take up the sword against nation, and they will never again train for war.

⁵House of Jacob, come and let us walk in the LORD’s light.

⁶For you have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of divination from the East and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines. They are in league with foreigners.

⁷Their land is full of silver and gold, and there is no limit to their treasures; their land is full of horses, and there is no limit to their chariots.

⁸Their land is full of idols; they worship the work of their hands, what their fingers have made.

⁹So humanity is brought low, and each person is humbled. Do not forgive them!

¹⁰Go into the rocks and hide in the dust from the terror of the LORD and from his majestic splendor.

¹¹The pride of mankind will be humbled, and human loftiness will be brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted on that day.

¹²For a day belonging to the LORD of Armies is coming against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up — it will be humbled —

¹³against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up, against all the oaks of Bashan,

¹⁴against all the high mountains, against all the lofty hills,

¹⁵against every high tower, against every fortified wall,

¹⁶against every ship of Tarshish, and against every splendid sea vessel.

¹⁷The pride of mankind will be brought low, and human loftiness will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted on that day.

¹⁸The idols will vanish completely.

¹⁹People will go into caves in the rocks and holes in the ground, away from the terror of the LORD and from his majestic splendor, when he rises to terrify the earth.

²⁰On that day people will throw their silver and gold idols, which they made to worship, to the moles and the bats.

²¹They will go into the caves of the rocks and the crevices in the cliffs, away from the terror of the LORD and from his majestic splendor, when he rises to terrify the earth.

²²Put no more trust in a mere human, who has only the breath in his nostrils. What is he really worth?

¹Note this: The Lord GOD of Armies is about to remove from Jerusalem and from Judah every kind of security: the entire supply of bread and water,

²heroes and warriors, judges and prophets, fortune-tellers and elders,

³commanders of fifty and dignitaries, counselors, cunning magicians, and necromancers.

⁴“I will make youths their leaders, and unstable rulers will govern them.”

⁵The people will oppress one another, man against man, neighbor against neighbor; the young will act arrogantly toward the old, and the worthless toward the honorable.

⁶A man will even seize his brother in his father’s house, saying: “You have a cloak — you be our leader! This heap of rubble will be under your control.”

⁷On that day he will cry out, saying: “I’m not a healer. I don’t even have food or clothing in my house. Don’t make me the leader of the people!”

⁸For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen because they have spoken and acted against the LORD, defying his glorious presence.

⁹The look on their faces testifies against them, and like Sodom, they flaunt their sin; they do not conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster on themselves.

¹⁰Tell the righteous that it will go well for them, for they will eat the fruit of their labor.

¹¹Woe to the wicked — it will go badly for them, for what they have done will be done to them.

¹²Youths oppress my people, and women rule over them. My people, your leaders mislead you; they confuse the direction of your paths.

¹³The LORD rises to argue the case and stands to judge the people.

¹⁴The LORD brings this charge against the elders and leaders of his people: “You have devastated the vineyard. The plunder from the poor is in your houses.

¹⁵Why do you crush my people and grind the faces of the poor?” This is the declaration of the Lord GOD of Armies.

¹⁶The LORD also says: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, walking with heads held high and seductive eyes, prancing along, jingling their ankle bracelets,

¹⁷the Lord will put scabs on the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will shave their foreheads bare.

¹⁸On that day the Lord will strip their finery: ankle bracelets, headbands, crescents,

¹⁹pendants, bracelets, veils,

²⁰headdresses, ankle jewelry, sashes, perfume bottles, amulets,

²¹signet rings, nose rings,

²²festive robes, capes, cloaks, purses,

²³garments, linen clothes, turbans, and shawls.

²⁴Instead of perfume there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of beautifully styled hair, baldness; instead of fine clothes, sackcloth; instead of beauty, branding.

²⁵Your men will fall by the sword, your warriors in battle.

²⁶Then her gates will lament and mourn; deserted, she will sit on the ground.