Prayer from the Old Testament

Grant perfect joy to these loving companions,
as you did to the first man and woman
in the Garden of Eden.
Praised are you, O Lord,
who grants the joy of the (Bride) and (Groom)

Blessed is the Lord our God,
Ruler of the universe,
for giving us life,
for sustaining us,
and for enabling us to reach this day of joy.

This is the day the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord look kindly upon you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord bestow favor upon you
and give you peace.
Amen.

photo courtesy of Brian Freidman Photography

Isaiah 61:10-62:5

I rejoice heartily in the Lord,

in my God is the joy of my soul;
For he has clothed me with a robe of salvation,
and wrapped me in a mantle of justice,
Like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem,
like a bride bedecked with her jewels.
As the earth brings forth its plants,
and a garden makes its growth spring up,
So will the Lord God make justice and praise
spring up before all the nations.

For Zion’s sake I will not be silent,
for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,
Until her vindication shines forth like the dawn
and her victory like a burning torch.
Nations shall behold your vindication,
and all kings your glory;
You shall be called by a new name
pronounced by the mouth of the Lord.
You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the Lord,
a royal diadem held by your God.
No more shall men called you “Forsaken,”
or your land “Desolate,”
But you shall be called “My Delight,”
and your land “Espoused.”
For the Lord delights in you,
and makes your land his spouse.
As a young man marries a virgin,
your Builder shall marry you;
And as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride
so shall your God rejoice in you.

Song of Songs (Song of Solomon) 8:6-7

Set me as a seal on your heart,

      as a seal on your arm;

For stern as death is love,

      relentless as the nether world is devotion;
      its flames are a blazing fire.

Deep waters cannot quench love,

      nor floods sweep it away.

Were one to offer all he owns to purchase love,

      he would be roundly mocked.

Ecclasiastes 9:7-9

Go, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a merry heart, because it is not that God favors your works. At all times let your garments be white, and spare not the perfume for your head. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of the fleeting life that is granted you under the sun. Thi is your lot in life, for the toil of your labors under the sun.

Ecclasiastes 4:9-12

Two are better than one: they get a good wage for their labor.
If the one falls, the other will lift up his companion.
Woe to the solitary man!
For if he should fall, he has no one to lift him up.
So also, if two sleep together, they keep each other warm.
How can one alone keep warm?
Where a lone man may be overcome, two together can resist.
A three-ply cord is not easily broken.

Genesis 2:18-24

The Lord God said: “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him.” So the Lord God formed out of the ground various wild animals and arious birds of the air and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each of them would be its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals; but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.

So the Lord God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up the place with flesh. The Lord God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man. When he brought her to the man, the man said:

“This one, at last, is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

This one shall be called ‘woman’,

for out of ‘her man’ this one has been taken.”

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.