Even this, had I seen of wisdom, under the sun, - and, of great import, was the same unto me: -

Better is wisdom, than weapons of war, - but, one sinner, may destroy much good.

He that diggeth a pit, thereinto, may fall, - and, he that breaketh through a hedge, there may bite him a serpent.

He that removeth stones, may be hurt therewith, - and he that cleaveth wood, may be endangered thereby.

By two lazy arms, the framework sinketh in, - and, by the hanging down of the hands, the house may leak.

But, though, many years, a man live, through them all, let him rejoice; yet let him remember the days of darkness, for many they may be, all that cometh, may be vanity.

And besides, from them, my son, be admonished, - Of making many books, there is no end, and, much study, is a weariness of the flesh.

SHELet him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! THEYFor better are thy caresses than wine:

SHEDraw me! THEYAfter thee, will we run! SHEThe king, hath brought me, into his chambers. THEYWe will exult and rejoice in thee, we will mention thy caresses, beyond wine, Sincerely they love thee.

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. --

Tell me, thou loved of my soul! Where wilt thou pasture thy flock? Where wilt thou let them recline at noon? For why should I be as one that wrappeth a veil about her, by the flocks of thy companions?

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:

A bag of myrrh, is my beloved to me, between my breasts, shall it tarry the night!

A cluster of henna, is my beloved to me, in the vineyards of En-gedi.

HELo! thou art beautiful my fair one, lo! thou art beautiful, Thine eyes, are doves!

SHELo! thou art beautiful, my beloved, Yea delightful! BOTHYea! our couch, is covered with leaves:

HEAs a lily among thorns, So, is my fair one, among the daughters!

SHEAs an apple-tree among the trees of the forest, So, is my beloved, among the sons: In his shade, I greatly delighted and sat down, And, his fruit, was sweet to my taste.

He hath brought me into the house of wine, and, his banner over me, is love.

Sustain me with raisin-cakes, refresh me with apples, - for sick with love, I am.

His left hand under my head, then, his right hand, embraceth me!

SHEThe voice of my beloved! Lo! here he cometh, - leaping over the mountains, skipping over the hills.

Resembleth, my beloved, a gazelle, or a young stag, - Lo! here he is, standing behind our wall, looking in at the windows, peeping in at the lattice.

Responded my beloved, and said to me, - Rise up! my fair - my beautiful - one, and come away,

The fig-tree, hath spiced her green figs, and, the vines - all blossom, yield fragrance, - Rise up! my fair - my beautiful - one, and come away!

HEO my dove! In the retreats of the crag, in the hiding-place of the terrace, Let me see thy form, Let me hear thy voice, - For, thy voice, is sweet, and, thy form, comely.

Until the day, breathe, and the shadows, be lengthened, Again, liken thyself, my beloved, to a gazelle, or to a young stag, upon the cleft mountains. ****

SHEUpon my couch, in the night-time, sought I the beloved of my soul, - I sought him, but found him not.

Come! I must arise, and go about in the city, In the paths and in the broadways, I must seek the beloved of my soul, - I sought him, but found him not.

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

Scarcely had I passed from them, when I found the beloved of my soul, - I caught him, and would not let him go, until that I had brought him into the house of my mother, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.

HELo! thou art beautiful, my fair one, Lo! thou art beautiful, Thine eyes, are doves, from behind thy veil, - Thy hair, is like a flock of goats, which are reclining on the sides of Mount Gilead:

Until the day, breathe, and the shadows, be lengthened, I will get me unto the mountain of myrrh, and unto the hill of frankincense.

Thou art, all over, beautiful, my fair one, and, blemish, is there none in thee.

With me, from Lebanon, O bride, with me, from Lebanon, shalt thou enter, - Thou shalt look round from the top of Amana, from the top of Senir, and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards.

Thou hast encouraged me, my sister, bride, - thou hast encouraged me, with one glance of thine eyes, with one ornament of thy neck.

How beautiful are thy caresses, my sister, bride, - how much more delightful thy caresses, than wine, and the fragrance of thine oils, than all spices:

A garden barred, is my sister, bride, - a spring barred, a fountain sealed:

SHEAwake, O north wind, and come in, thou south, Fan my garden - its balsams, will flow out, - Let my beloved enter his garden, and eat his precious fruits.

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!

SHEI, was sleeping, but, my heart, was awake, - The voice of my beloved - knocking! Open to me, my sister, my fair one, my dove, my perfect one, for, my head, is filled with dew, my locks, with the moisture of the night.

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

My beloved, thrust in his hand, at the window, and, my feelings, were deeply moved for him:

I myself, arose, to open to my beloved, - and, my hands, dripped with myrrh, and, my fingers, with myrrh distilling, upon the handles of the bolt.

I myself, opened to my beloved, but, my beloved, had turned away, had passed on, - My soul, had gone out when he spake, I sought him, but found him not, I called him, but he answered not.

The watchmen who were going round in the city, found me, they smote me, wounded me, - The watchmen of the walls, took away my cloak from off me.

I adjure you, ye daughters of Jerusalem, - If ye find my beloved, what will ye tell him? That, sick with love, I am.

SHE.My beloved, is white and ruddy, conspicuous beyond ten thousand:

His mouth, most sweet, yea, altogether, he is delightful, - This, is my beloved, yea, this, is my dear one, ye daughters of Jerusalem.

DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEMWhither hath thy beloved, gone, thou most beautiful among women? whither hath thy beloved turned him aside? That we may seek him with thee.

I, am, my beloved's, and, my beloved, is mine, he that pastureth among lilies.

HEBeautiful, art thou, my fair one, as Tirzah, comely, as Jerusalem, - majestic as bannered hosts!

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:

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.

I know not how it was , my soul, set for me the chariots of my willing people!

THEYReturn, return, O Shulamite, Return, return, that we may look on thee! SHEWhat would ye look on in the Shulamite? THEYAs it were the dance of a double camp --

Thy navel, is a round bowl, may it not lack spiced wine! Thy body, a heap of wheat fenced about with lilies;

And, thy mouth, like good wine - SHEFlowing to my beloved smoothly, gliding over the lips of the sleeping.

I, am my beloved's, and, unto me, is his longing.

Come, my beloved, Let us go forth into the country, Let us stay the night in the villages:

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.

His left hand under my head, then, his right hand, embraceth me.

SHESet me as a seal, upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine arm, For, mighty as death, is love, Exacting as hades, is jealousy, - The flames thereof, are flames of fire, The flash of Yah!

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?

SHEI, was a wall, and, my breasts, like towers, - Then, became I, in his eyes, one who did indeed find good content.

Mine own vineyard, is before me, - The thousand belong to thee, O Solomon, and two hundred to the keepers of the fruit thereof.

HEO thou fair dweller in the gardens, the companions are giving heed to thy voice, Let me hear it.

SHECome quickly, my beloved, and resemble thou a gazelle, or a young stag, upon the mountains of balsam-trees.

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.

An ox knoweth, his owner, And an ass his masters crib, - Israel, doth not know, My people doth not consider.

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.

When ye enter to see my face, Who hath required this at your hand trampling my courts?

Ye shall not again bring in an empty, present, Incense, an abomination, is that unto me! New moon, and sabbath calling an assembly - I cannot endure, iniquity and sacred festival!

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

Therefore, Declareth the Lord Yahweh of hosts, The Mighty One of Israel, - Alas! I must appease me on mine adversaries, I must avenge me on mine enemies

That I may turn my hand against thee, And smelt away, as with potash, thy dross, And remove all thine alloy;

That I may restore thy Judges as at the first, and thy Counsellors as at the beginning, - After that, shalt thou he called Righteous citadel, Trusty city, -

And many peoples shall go and say - Come ye, and let us ascend Unto the mountain of Yahweh Unto the house of the God of Jacob, That he may teach us of his ways, And we may walk in his paths, - For, out of Zion, shall go forth a law, And the word of Yahweh out of Jerusalem;

That he may enter into the clefts of the rocks, and into the fissures of the crags, - Because of the terribleness of Yahweh, And for his majestic splendour, When he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

He will swear, in that day, saying - I will take no control, When in mine own house, is neither food nor clothing, - Ye must not set me for a ruler of people!

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,

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 -

Therefore will My Lord, smite with leprosy the crown of hair of the daughters of Zion, - And, as for Yahweh, their shame, will he lay bare!

In that day, will My Lord remove the finery - of the anklets, and the little suns and the little moons;

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,

Let me sing, I pray you, for a well-beloved of mine, The song of my beloved concerning his vineyard: - A vineyard, had my well-beloved on a very fruitful hill;

Now, therefore, O inhabitant of Jerusalem, And men of Judah, - Judge, I pray you, betwixt me, and my vineyard: -

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?

Now, therefore, I pray you, let me tell, you, what I am about to do to my vineyard, - To take away the fence thereof And it shall be eaten up, To destroy the wall thereof And it shall be trodden down;

Alas, for them who rise early in the morning that strong drink, they may pursue, - Who follow on in the evening cool until with wine, they are heated;

Therefore, are my people taken away captive before they know it, - And their honourable mean are famished with hunger, And, their multitude, do gape for thirst.

Who say - Let his work quicken - let it hasten, That we may see, - And let the purpose of Israel's Holy One, draw near and come. That we may know!

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw My Lord, sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and, his skirts, did fill the temple,

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!

Then flew unto me one of the seraphim, And in his hand, a live coal, - With tongs, had he taken it from off the altar.

Then touched he my month, and said - Lo! this hath touched thy lips, - Thus shall be taken away, thine iniquity, And, thy sin, by propitiation be covered.