Do not have friendship with one given to anger, and, with a wrathful man, shall thou not enter in:

Revere thou Yahweh, my son, and the king, and, with the fickle, have thou no fellowship;

For better it be said to thee, Come up hither, - than that thou be put lower down before a noble, whom thine own eyes, have beheld.

He that tilleth his ground, shall have plenty of bread, but, he that pursueth empty-heads, shall have plenty of poverty.

One who giveth to the poor, shall have no want, but, he that hideth his eyes, shall receive many a curse.

He that dealeth tenderly with his servant from childhood, in his after life, shall have him for a son.

Neither have I learned wisdom, nor, the knowledge of the Holy Ones, can I acquire.

Two things, have I asked of thee, withhold them not from me, ere yet I die:

The vampire, hath two daughters, Give! Give! Three, there are will not be satisfied, four, have not said, Enough!

So, is the way of a woman committing adultery, - she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no iniquity!

Many daughters, have done virtuously, but, thou, excellest them all!

Spake, I, in my heart, saying, As for me, lo! I have become great, and have gathered wisdom, beyond any one who hath been before me over Jerusalem, - and, my heart, hath seen much wisdom and knowledge:

yea I have given my heart, to know wisdom, and to know madness, and folly, - I know that, even this, is a feeding on wind.

Thus turned, I, to look at wisdom, and madness and folly, - for what can the man do more who cometh after the king? save that which, already, men have done.

That which was, already, had been, and, that which shall be, already, shall have been, - but, God, seeketh that which hath been chased away.

For, as regardeth the destiny of the sons of men and the destiny of beasts, one fate, have they, as dieth the one, so, dieth the other, and, one spirit, have they all, - and, the pre-eminence of man over beast, is nothing, for, all, were vanity:

Then again, I, considered all the oppressive deeds which were done under the sun, - and lo! the tears of the oppressed, and they have no comforter, and, on the side of their oppressing, is power, and they have no comforter.

Better are two, than one, - in that they have a good reward for their toil.

Moreover, if two lie together, then have they warmth, - but how can, one, have warmth?

Even this, moreover, is an incurable evil, altogether as he came, so, shall he depart, - what profit then shall he have who toileth for the wind?

Lo! what, I myself, have seen - Better that it should be excellent to eat and to drink and to see blessedness, in all one's toil wherein one toileth under the sun, for the number of the days of his life, in that God hath given it him, for, that, is his portion:

Though a man should beget a hundred children, and live, many years, so that many should be the days of his years but, his own soul, should not be satisfied with the good, and he should not even have, a burial, I said, Better than he, is an untimely birth!

All this, have I proved by wisdom, - I said, I will be wise, but, that, was far from me.

See! this, have I found, saith the Proclaimer counting one by one, to find a conclusion;

what my soul still sought, yet I found not, - one man out of a thousand, have I found, but, a woman among all these, have I not found.

Only, see, this, have I found, That God made man upright, but, they, have sought out many devices.

If, the spirit of a ruler, riseth up against thee, thy place, do not leave, for gentleness, pacifieth such as have greatly erred.

Yet remember thy Creator, in the days of thy vigour, - or ever come in, the days of discomfort, and the years arrive, in which thou shalt say - I have, in them, no pleasure;

SHEDo not look on me, because, I, am so swarthy, because the sun hath scorched me, - My mother's sons, were angry with me, they set me to keep the vineyards, Mine own vineyard, have I not kept. --

To a mare of mine, in the chariots of Pharaoh, have I likened thee, my fair one!

SHEBy the time the king is in his circle, my nard, will have given out its fragrance:

The flowers, have appeared in the earth, the time of the spring-song, hath come, - and, the voice of the turtle, is heard in our land;

The watchmen that go round in the city, found me, The beloved of my soul, have ye seen?

Thy teeth, are like a flock, evenly grown, which have come up from the washing-place, - whereof, all of them, are twin-bearers, and bereaved, is none among them:

HEI have entered my garden, my sister, bride, I have plucked my myrrh, with my balsam, I have eaten the honey of my thicket, I have drunk my wine, with my milk: - Eat ye, O friends, Drink, yea drink abundantly, ye beloved!

I have put off my tunic, oh how shall I put it on? I have bathed my feet, oh how shall I soil them?

Turn away thine eyes from me, for, they, have excited me, - Thy hair, is like a flock of goats, that are reclining on the sides of Mount Gilead:

Thy teeth, are like a flock of sheep which have come up from the washing-place, - whereof, all of them, are twin-bearers, and bereaved, is there none among them:

One alone, is my dove, my perfect one, one alone, was she to her mother, Pure, was she to her that bare her, - The daughters, have seen her, and pronounced her happy, Queens and concubines, and they have praised her.

Let us get up early to the vineyards, Let us see whether the vine, hath burst forth, the blossom, hath opened, the pomegranates, have bloomed, - There, will I give my caresses to thee.

The love-apples, have given fragrance, and, at our openings, are all precious things, new and yet old, - O my beloved! I have treasured them up for thee.

Oh that thou hadst been a very brother to me, who had sucked the breasts of my own mother, - Had I found thee without, I had kissed thee, Yea, folk would not have despised me!

I would have guided thee - brought thee into the house of my mother, Thou wouldst have instructed me, - I would have let thee drink of spiced wine, of the pressed-out juice of my pomegranate.

THEYA sister, have we, a little one, and, breasts, hath she none, What shall we do for our sister, in the day when she may be spoken for?

Hear O heavens, And give ear, O earth, for Yahweh, hath spoken: - Sons, have I brought up, and advanced, And, they, have rebelled against me.

Alas! a nation - committing sin, a people - burdened with iniquity, a seed - practising wickedness, sons - acting corruptly. They have forsaken Yahweh despised the Holy One of Israel, - Are estranged and gone back.

From the sole of the foot even unto the head, there is in it no soundness, Bruise and stripe and newly-made wound, - They have not been pressed out, nor bound up, nor soothed with oil.

Of what use to me, is your multitude of sacrifices: Saith Yahweh: I am sated with ascending-offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts, - In the blood of bulls and young rams and he-goats, have I no pleasure.

Your new moons and your appointed feasts, my soul, hateth, - They have become unto me a burden I am too weary to bear:

Therefore hast thou abandoned thy people the house of Jacob, Because they have become full of the And use hidden arts like the Philistines, - And with the children of foreigners, strike hands; -

The show of their face, hath answered against them, And their sin - like Sodom, have they told, they have not concealed it. Alas for their souls! For they have requited to themselves, calamity.

My people! children, are their tyrants, And, women, rule over them, - My people! they who should lead thee forward, are causing thee to stray, Thy pathways, have they destroyed,

Yahweh, into judgment, will enter, With the elders of his people And their princes, - But ye, have consumed the vineyard, That which hath been robbed from the oppressed, is in your houses.

What right have ye to crush my people, And the faces of the oppressed, to grind? Demandeth My Lord Yahweh of hosts - And Yahweh saith -

When My Lord shall have bathed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, And the blood-guiltiness of Jerusalem, he shall wash away out of her midst, - By the spirit of judgment, and By the spirit of thorough cleansing,

What could have been done further to my vineyard, That I had not done in it? Why then - When I had waited that it should bring forth grapes, Brought it forth, wild grapes?

And it cometh to pass - that lyre and harp, timbrel and flute and wine are in their banquets, - But, the doing of Yahweh, they do not discern, And the work of his hands, have they not seen.

Then said I - Woe to me! - for I am undone, Because a man of unclean lips, am, I, And in the midst of a people of unclean lips, do I dwell, - For the King. Yahweh of hosts, have mine eyes seen!

And Yahweh have far removed men, - And great! be the abandonment in the midst of the land.

Yet still shall there be in it a tenth, Though it again be consumed, - Like an oak and like a terebinth Which when felled, have a stock in them, A holy seed, shall be the stock thereof. Courage.

Yahweh will bring upon thee and upon thy people, and upon the house of thy father, days which have not come, from the day when Ephraim departed from Judah, - even the king of Assyria.

For before the boy shall have knowledge to cry, My father! and, My mother! the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be carried away before the king of Assyria.

To the law and to the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, It is , because they have no dawning day.

the people who were walking in darkness, Have seen a great light, - The dwellers in a land death-shadowed, A light, hath shined upon them.

Bricks, have fallen down But with hewn stone, will we build, - Sycomores, have been felled, But with cedars, will we replace them.

Syrians before and Philistines behind, Thus have they devoured Israel with open mouth, - For all this, hath his anger, not turned back, But still, is his hand outstretched.

Yet, the people, have not turned unto him that smote them, - And Yahweh of hosts, have they not sought.

And they who should have led this people forward have been causing them to stray, - And, they who are led of them are destroyed,

For this cause, over their choice young men, will My Lord not rejoice, And on their fatherless and their widows, will he not have compassion, For every one of them, is profane and an evildoer, And, every mouth is speaking baseness, - For all this, hath his anger, not turned back, But still, is his hand outstretched.

For lawlessness, hath consumed like fire, Briars and thorns, doth it devour, - Yea it hath kindled upon the thickets of the forest, And they have rolled up as a column of smoke.

Through the wrath of Yahweh of hosts, is the land consumed, - And the people have come to be, as fuel for fire, A man unto his own brother, sheweth not pity;

Shall I not as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so, do to Jerusalem and her images?

For he hath said - By the strength of mine own hand, have I effectually wrought, And by my wisdom - for I have discernment, - That I might remove the bounds of peoples, Yea their treasures, have I plundered That I might lay prostrate as a mighty one the inhabitants;

And my hand hath found as a nest the wealth of the peoples, And as the gathering of eggs that are forsaken, all the earth, have, I, gathered, - And there was none to flap a wing, or open a mouth or chirp.

They have passed over the pare, Geba is his halting-place, - Terror-stricken is Ramah, Gibeah of Saul, hath fled!

Madmenah, hath fled, - The inhabitants of Gebim, have gone into safety:

I myself, have given charge to my hallowed ones, - Yea I have called My heroes in showing mine anger, My proudly exulting ones. The noise of a multitude in the mountains A resemblance of many people, -

And, bows, shall dash the young to pieces, - And on the fruit of the womb, will they have no pity, Over children, will their eye throw no shield.

For Yahweh will have compassion on Jacob, And will yet choose Israel, And will give them rest upon their own soil, - And the sojourner, shall join himself, unto them, And they shall attach themselves unto the house of Jacob;

Quiet, at rest, the whole earth, - Men have burst into shouting!

In their streets, have they girded them with sackcloth, - On their housetops, and in their broadways, every one is howling - melting in tears;

Let mine own outcasts, sojourn with thee, O Moab, become thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler, - For vanished is the oppressor, At an end is extortion, They who tread down have ceased out of the land.

We have heard of the arrogance of Moab, Proud exceedingly! His haughtiness and his arrogance and his passion, Not true, are his boastings.

For, the fields of Heshbon are withered - The vine of Sibmah, the owners of nations, have broken off ruddy branches, Unto Jazer, had they reached, They had spread abroad to the desert, - Her boughs, had stretched forth, had gone over to the sea.

Now shall be withdrawn rejoicing and exultation out of the garden-land, And, in the vineyards, shall be neither singing nor shouting, - Wine in the winepress, the treader, shall not tread, The vintage-shout, have I made to cease.

Forsaken, are the desolate cities, - For flocks, shall they serve, Which shall lie down and have none to make them afraid.

And he shall not look unto the altars the work of his own hands, - Nor to what his own fingers have made, shall his eye be turned, Whether Sacred Stems or Sun-pillars.

In the day when thou plantest, fence thou in, And in the morning, cause thou, they slip, to blossom, - A harvest will have waved in the day of destiny, and mortal pain.

That sendeth by the sea, ambassadors Even in vessels of paper-reed, upon the face of the waters, - Go ye swift messengers Unto a nation drawn out and polished, Unto a people terrible from their beginning and onwards, - A nation most mighty and subduing, Whose land rivers have cut through.

In that time, shall there be borne along. As a present unto Yahweh of hosts A people drawn out and polished, Even from a people terrible from their beginning and onwards, - nation most mighty and subduing Whose land rivers, have cut through, Unto the place of the Name of Yahweh of hosts. Mount Zion.

And the spirit of Egypt, shall vanish, within them, Yea the sagacity thereof, will I swallow up, - And they will seek Unto the idols and Unto them that mutter, and Unto them that have familiar spirits, and Unto the wizards;

Doting are the princes of Zoan, Deceived are the princes of Noph: They who are the corner-stone of her tribes, have led Egypt astray.

Yahweh, hath infused in her midst, a spirit of perverseness, - And they have led Egypt astray into all his own doings, As a drunken man staggereth into his own vomit;

And Egypt shall have nothing which can be don Which head or tail palm-top or rush, can do!

So hath, a grievous vision, been told me: - the deceiver, is deceiving. And the spoiler, is spoiling, Go up, O Elam Besiege O Media, All the sighing she hath caused, have I made to cease.

For this cause, are my loins filled with anguish, Pangs, have seized me, as the pangs of her that is giving birth, - I writhe so that I cannot hear, I tremble, so that I cannot see:

O thou My threshing! And the grain of my corn-floor! That which I have heard from Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, Have I declared, unto you.

For, before swords, have they fled: Before a sword that is drawn, Before a bow that is bent, And before the stress of war.

All thy ruler, having fled, together, by the bow, are taken captive: All found in thee have been taken captive, together, Far away, have they fled.

And it hath come to pass that the choice of thy vales, are full of chariots; Yea, the horsemen, have set themselves, in array, at the gate.