Alex. for T τοῦ ἀνδρείου. Wisdom is the an energetic man. against thee, leave not thy place; for soothing will put an end to great offences. 5 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, wherein an error has proceeded from the ruler. 6 The fool has been set in very high places, while rich men would sit in a low one. I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants on the earth. 8 He that digs a pit shall fall into it; and him that breaks down a hedge a serpent shall bite. 9 He that removes stones shall be troubled thereby; he that cleaves wood shall be endangered thereby. 10 If the axehead should fall off, then the man troubles his countenance, and he must put forth more strength: and in that case skill is of no advantage to a man. 11 If a serpent bite when there is no + Or, whistle. charmer's whisper, then avôpi où reads there is no advantage to the charmer. 12 The words of advantage of a wise mouth are gracious: but the lips of a fool will swallow him up. 13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is folly: and the end of his talk mischievous madness. 14A fool also multiplies words: man knows not what has been, nor what will be: who shall tell him what will come after him? 15 The labour of fools will afflict them, as that of one who knows not to go to the city. 16 Woe to thee, O city, whose king is young, and thy princes eat in the morning! 17 Blessed art thou, O land, whose king is a son of nobles, and whose princes shall eat scasonably, for strength, and shall not be ashamed. 18 By slothful neglect a building will be brought low: and by idleness of the hands the house will fall to pieces. 19 Men prepare bread for laughter, and wine and oil that the living should reHeb. doubly joice: but to money all translated. things will humbly yield 'humbly.' obedience. 20 Even in thy conscience, curse not the king: and curse not the rich in thy bed-chamber: for a bird of the air shall carry thy Alex. voice, and that which has wings shall report thy speech. 2 11. Send forth thy bread upon the face of the water: for thou shalt find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil there shall be upon the earth. If the clouds be filled with rain, they pour it out upon the earth: and if a tree fall southward, or if it fall northward, in the place where the tree shall fall, there it shall be. 4 He that observes the wind sows not; and he that looks at the clouds will not reap. Among whom none knows what is the way of the wind: as the bones are hid in the womb of a pregnant woman, so thou shalt not know the works of God, even all things whatsoever he shall do. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening let not thine hand be slack: for thou knowest not what sort shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether both shall be good alike. 8 5 7 Moreover the light is sweet, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun. For even if a man should live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. 9 All that comes is vanity. Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thine heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart blameless, but not in the sight of thine eyes: yet know that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. 10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for youth and folly are vanity. 12. And remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the days of evil come, and the overtake years thee in which thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. While the sun and light are not darkened, nor the moon and the stars, nor the clouds return after the rain: 3in the day wherein the + See chap. and the spirit return to the God who gave keepers of the house shall tremble, and the mighty men shall become bent, and the grinding women cease because they have become few, and the women looking out at the windows be dark; *and they shall shut the doors in the market-place, because of the weakness of the voice of her that grinds at the mill, and he shall rise up at the voice of the sparrow, and all the daughters - of song shall be brought low; and words of the wise are as goads, they shall look up, and there shall and as nails, firmly fastened, which be fears in the way, and the almond have been given from one sheptree shall blossom, and the locusts herd by agreement. 12 And More lit. shall increase, and the capers shall moreover, my son, beware 'watchwords.' be scattered: because man has gone of them: of making many books there to his eternal home, and the mourn- is no end; and much study is a weariers have gone about the market: 6 be- ness of the flesh. 13 Hear the end of the +Gr. flower fore the silver cord be let matter, the sum: Fear God, and keep go, or the choice gold be his commandments: for this is the broken, or the pitcher be broken at the whole man. 14 For God will bring every fountain, or the wheel 'run work into judgment, with everything ambiguous. down to the cistern; and that has been overlooked whether it be the dust return to the earth as it was, good, or whether it be evil. of gold. + Heb. רוּץ 7 THE SONG. 4 CHAPTER I. VERSES 1-8. 1. THE song of songs, which is Solomon's. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy breasts are better than wine. And the smell + Gr. beyond. of thine ointments is better than all spices: thy name is ointment poured forth; therefore do the young maidens love thee. They have drawn thee: we will run after thee, for the smell of thine ointments: the king has brought me into his closet: let us rejoice and be glad in thee; we will love thy breasts more than wine: righteousness loves thee. "I am black, but beautiful, ye daughters of Jerusalem, + as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains herself. and feed thy kids by the shepherds' | are seen in the land; the time of tents. "I have likened thee, my com- pruning has arrived; the voice of the panion, to my horses in the chariots of turtle-dove has been heard in our land. Pharao. 10 How are thy cheeks beautiful as those of a dove, thy neck as chains! We will make thee figures of gold with studs of silver. 12 So long as the king was at table, my spikenard gave forth its smell. 13 My kinsman is to me a bundle of myrrh; he shall lie between my breasts. 14 My kinsman is to me a cluster of camphor in the vineyards of Engaddi. 15 Behold, thou art fair, my companion; behold, thou art fair; thine eyes are doves. 16 Behold thou art fair, my kinsman, yea, beautiful, overshadowing our bed. 17 The beams of our + Or, wainscots. house are cedars, our* ceilings are of cypress. 2 2. I am a flower of the plain, a lily of the valleys. As a lily among thorns, so is my companion among the daughters. As the apple among the trees of the wood, so is my kinsman among the sons. I desired his shadow, and sat down, and his fruit was sweet in my throat. Bring me into the wine house; set love before me. Strengthen me with perfumes, stay me with apples: for I am wounded with love. His left hand shall be under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me, I have charged you, ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the powers and by the virtues of the field, that ye do not rouse or wake my love, until he please. 5 6 9 8 The voice of my kinsman! behold, he comes leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills. My kinsman is like a roe or a young hart on the mountains of Bethel: behold, he is behind our wall, looking through the windows, peeping through the + Lit. nets. *lattices. 10 My kinsman answers, and says to me, Rise up, come, my companion, my fair one, my dove. "For, behold, the winter is past, the rain is gone, it has departed. 12The flowers 13 The fig tree has put forth its young figs, the vines put forth the tender grape, they yield a smell, arise, come, my companion, my fair one, my dove; yea, come. 14 Thou art my dove, in the shelter of the rock, near the wall: show me thy face, and cause me to hear thy voice; for thy voice is sweet, and thy countenance is beautiful. 15 Take us the little foxes that spoil the vines: for our vines put forth tender grapes. 16 My kinsman is mine, and I am his: he feeds his flock among the lilies. "Until the day dawn, and the shadows depart, turn, my kinsman, be thou like to a roe or young hart on the mountains of the ravines. 3. By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loves: I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he hearkened not to me. 2 I will rise now, and go about in the city, in the market-places, and in the streets, and I will seek him whom my soul loves: I sought him, but I found him not. 3 The watchmen who go their rounds in the city found me. I said, Have ye seen him whom my soul loves? 4 It was as a little while after I parted from them, that I found him whom my soul loves: I held him, and did not let him go, until I brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. I have charged you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the powers + Comp. Heb. and by the virtues of the and E. V. field, that ye rouse not nor awake my love, until he please. 5 6 Who is this that comes up from the wilderness as pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the perfumer? Behold, Solomon's bed; sixty mighty men of the mighty ones of Israel are round about it. They all hold a 8 9 sword, being expert in war: every man has his sword upon his thigh because of fear by night. King Solomon made himself a litter of woods of Lebanon. 10 He made the pillars of it silver, the bottom of it gold, the covering of it scarlet, in the midst of it a pavement of love, for the daughters of Jerusalem. 11 Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and behold king Solomon, with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him, in the day + Comp. Heb. of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart. 4. Behold, thou art fair, my companion; behold, thou art fair; thine eyes are doves, beside thy silence, thy hair is as flocks of goats, that have appeared from Galaad. 2 Thy teeth are as flocks of shorn sheep, that have gone up from the washing; all of them bearing twins, and there is not a barren one among them. Thy lips are as a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: like the rind of a pomegranate is thy cheek without thy silence. Thy neck is as the tower of David, that was built for an armoury: a thousand shields hang upon it, and all darts of mighty men. 5 Thy two breasts are as two twin fawns, that feed among the lilies. Until the day dawn, and the shadows depart, I will betake me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. Thou art all fair, my companion, and there is no spot in thee. 4 6 11 than wine! and the smell of thy gar- 16 14 Awake, O north wind; and come, O south; and blow through my garden, and let my spices flow out. 5. Let my kinsman come down into his garden, and eat the fruit of his choice berries. I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spices; I have eaten my bread with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk; eat, O friends, and drink; yea, brethren, drink abundantly. I sleep, but my heart is awake: the voice of my kinsman knocks at the door, saying, Open, open to me, my companion, my sister, my dove, my perfect one: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? My kinsman Come from Libanus, my bride, put forth his hand by the hole of the come from Libanus: thou shalt come door, and my belly was moved for him. and pass from the top of Faith, from I rose up to open to my kinsman; my + Heb. Amana. the top of Sanir and Her- hands dropped myrrh, my fingers mon, from the lions' dens, from the choice myrrh, on the handles of the mountains of the leopards. My sis- lock. I opened to my kinsman; my ter, my spouse, thou hast ravished my kinsman was gone: my soul failed heart; thou hast ravished my heart at his speech: I sought him, + Gr. went with one of thine eyes, with one chain but found him not; I called forth. of thy neck. 10 How him, but he answered me not. 7 The beautiful are thy breasts, watchmen that go their rounds in the my sister, my spouse! how city found me, they smote me, they much more beautiful are thy breasts wounded me; the keepers of the walls + Gr. why have they been made beautiful, &c. 9 5 Cephaz. THE SONG. array? 8 CHAP. V. v. 8. vail from me. 8 I have of scarlet, and thy speech is comely. took away my charged you, O daughters of Jerusalem, 6 Thy cheek is like the rind of a pomeby the powers and the virtues of the granate, being seen without thy vail. field: if ye should find my kinsman, There are sixty queens, and eighty what are ye to say to him? That I am concubines, and maidens without number. My dove, my perfect one is wounded with love. 9 What is thy kinsman more than one; she is the only one of her mother; another kinsman, O thou beautiful she is the choice of her that bore her. among women? what is thy kinsman The daughters saw her, and the queens more than another kinsman, that thou will pronounce her blessed, yea, and 10 My kinsman the concubines, and they will praise hast so charged us? + Gr. gold of is white and ruddy, chosen her. 9 Who is this that looks forth as out from myriads. His the morning, fair as the moon, choice head is as very fine gold, his locks are as the sun, terrible as armies set in 12 His eyes flowing, black as a raven. are as doves, by the pools of waters, washed with milk, sitting by the pools. 13 His cheeks are as bowls of spices pouring forth perfumes: his lips are lilies, dropping choice myrrh. 14 His hands are as turned gold set with 'beryl: his belly is + Ezek. 1. 16. anivory tablet on a sapphire stone. 15 His legs are marble pillars set on golden sockets: his form is as Libanus, choice as the cedars. 16 His throat is most sweet, and altogether desirable. This is my kinsman, and this is my companion, O daughters of Jerusalem. 17 Whither is thy kinsman gone, thou beautiful among women? Gr. looked whither has thy kinsman *turned aside? tell us, and we will seek him with thee. + Or, gold rings. aside. 4 10 I went down to the garden of nuts to look at the fruits of the valley, to see if the vine flowered, if the pome11 There I will granates blossomed. give thee my breasts: my soul knew it not: it made me as the chariots of 12 Return, return, O SuAminadab. namite; return, return, and we will look at thee. 4 + that comest, 3 7. What will ye see in the Sunamite? She comes as bands + Or, Othou of armies. Thy steps are &c. beautiful in shoes, O daughter of the prince: the joints of thy thighs are like chains, the work of the craftsman. 2 Thy navel is as a turned bowl, not wanting liquor, thy belly is as a heap Thy of wheat set about with lilies. two breasts are as two twin fawns. Thy neck is as an ivory tower; thine eyes are as pools in Esebon, by the gates of the daughter of Heb. Bathmany: thy nose is as the rabbim. tower of Libanus, looking toward Thy head upon thee is as Carmel, and the curls of thy hair like scarlet; the king is bound in the galleries. How beautiful tq.d.corridors. art thou, and how sweet art thou, my love? This is thy greatness in thy delights: thou wast made like a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters. said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of its high boughs: and now shall thy breasts be as clusters of 6. My kinsman is gone down to his garden, to the beds of spice, to feed his flock in the gardens, and to gather lilies. 2 I am my my kinsman's, and kinsman is mine, who feeds among the lilies. Thou art fair, my companion, Damascus. as Pleasure, beautiful as Jerusalem, terrible as armies set in array. Turn away thine eyes from before me, for they have ravished me: thy hair is as flocks of goats that have appeared from Mount Galaad. Thy teeth are as flocks of shorn sheep, that have gone up from the washing, all of them bearing twins, and there is none barren among them: thy lips are as a thread 5 682 + 6 5 8 I |