Bible in 90 Days
3 ¶ For all things there is a season, and every will under the heaven has its time determined.
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
9 What profit does the one that works have in that in which he labours?
10 I have seen the travail which God has given to the sons of men that they may be occupied in it.
11 ¶ He has made every thing beautiful in his time: even the world he has given over to their will, in such a way that no man can attain to this work that God makes from the beginning to the end.
12 I have learned that there is nothing better for them, but to rejoice and to do good in his life.
13 And also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labour; it is the gift of God.
14 I have understood that whatever God does, it shall be for ever; nothing can be added to it, nor any thing taken from it because God does it that men should fear before him.
15 That which has been is now, and that which is to be has already been and God shall seek that which is past.
16 ¶ And moreover I saw under the sun that instead of judgment, there was wickedness; and instead of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
17 I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time determined to judge every will and regarding everything that is done.
18 I said in my heart concerning the estate of the sons of men that God might manifest them and that they might see that they themselves are beasts one to another.
19 For that which befalls the sons of men befalls beasts; even one thing befalls them: as the one dies, so dies the other; and they all have one breath; so that a man has no more breath than a beast: for all is vanity.
20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all shall turn to dust again.
21 Who knows that the spirit of the sons of men goes upward and that the spirit of the beast goes downward to the earth?
22 Therefore I perceive that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion; for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?
4 ¶ So I returned and considered all the violence that is done under the sun and behold the tears of such as are oppressed, and they have no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but the oppressed had no comforter.
2 Therefore I praised the dead who are already dead more than the living who are yet alive.
3 And I thought that better is he than both of them who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil works that are done under the sun.
4 ¶ Again, I considered all travail and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
5 The fool folds his hands together and eats his own flesh.
6 Better is a handful with rest than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.
7 ¶ Then I returned, and I saw another vanity under the sun.
8 It is the man who is alone, without a successor, who has neither son nor brother; yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity and sore travail.
9 Two are better than one because they have a better reward for their labour.
10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falls, for he has not another to help him up.
11 Again, if two sleep together, then they have heat, but how can one be warm alone?
12 And if one prevails against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
13 ¶ Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king who will no longer be admonished.
14 For he came out of prison to reign, even though he was born poor into his kingdom.
15 I saw all the living who are under the sun walking with the child, the successor that shall stand up in his stead.
16 There is no end of all the people that have been before them; those also that come after shall not be content in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
5 ¶ Watch thy feet when thou goest to the house of God and draw near with more willingness to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know how to do what God wants.
2 Do not be rash with thy mouth and do not let thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God, for God is in heaven and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words be few.
3 For out of much preoccupation comes the dream, and the voice of the fool out of a multitude of words.
4 ¶ When thou dost vow a vow unto God, do not defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools; pay that which thou hast vowed.
5 It is better that thou should not vow than that thou should vow and not pay.
6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was ignorance. Why should thou cause God to be angry because of thy voice and destroy the work of thine hands?
7 Because dreams abound, and vanities and the words are many, but fear thou God.
8 If thou seest violence unto the poor and the extortion of rights and justice in a province, do not marvel at the matter, for height is looking upon height; and there is one higher than they.
9 ¶ And there is higher authority in all of the things of the earth, but he who serves the field is king.
10 He that loves money shall not be satisfied with money; nor he that loves abundance with increase; this is also vanity.
11 When goods increase, those that eat them are increased; and what good is there to the owners thereof, except the beholding of them with their eyes?
12 The sleep of the servant is sweet whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
13 There is another sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt;
14 which are lost by evil pursuits and to the sons which he has begotten; there is nothing left in his hand.
15 As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.
16 And this also is a sore evil; that in all points as he came, so shall he go; and what profit has he that has laboured for the wind?
17 In addition to this, all the days of his life he shall eat in darkness, with much wrath and pain and sorrow sickness.
18 ¶ Behold therefore the good which I have seen: that good is to eat and to drink and to enjoy of the good of all his labour that he takes under the sun all the days of his life, which God gives him; for it is his portion.
19 Likewise, unto every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, he has also given him power to eat thereof and to take his portion and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.
20 To such a one, God will remove the concerns common to others, for God shall answer him with joy from his heart.
6 ¶ There is another evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is very common among men:
2 A man to whom God has given riches, wealth, and honour so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but the strangers eat it; this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
3 If a man begets a hundred sons and lives many years so that the days of his years are many, if his soul is not filled with good and also that he have no burial; I say that an aborted birth is better than he.
4 For he came in vain and departs unto darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.
5 Even though he has not seen the sun nor known any thing; this one has more rest than the other.
6 For though the other should live a thousand years twice and has not enjoyed good; both shall surely go to the same place.
7 ¶ All the labour of man is for his mouth, and with all this the appetite is not filled.
8 For what has the wise more than the fool? what more has the poor that knows how to walk among the living?
9 It is better to enjoy the good that is present than the wandering of desire; this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
10 He that is has been named already; and it is known that he is man and that he shall not be able to contend with him that is mightier than he.
11 ¶ Certainly the many words multiply vanity, what more does man have?
12 For who knows what is good for man in this life, all the days of the life of his vanity which he causes to be as a shadow? for who shall teach the man what shall be after him under the sun?
7 ¶ A good name is better than precious ointment and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.
2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made whole.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools.
6 The laughter of the fool is as the crackling of thorns under a pot, and this also (the laughter or prosperity of the fool) is vanity.
7 ¶ Surely oppression makes a wise man mad, and a gift destroys the heart.
8 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and he who has suffered in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
9 Do not be hasty in thy spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.
10 Never say, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this.
11 ¶ Knowledge is good with an inheritance and is the excellency of those that see the sun.
12 For knowledge is a defence, and money is a defence; but wisdom excels in that it gives life to those that have it.
13 Consider the work of God; for who can make straight that which he has twisted?
14 In the day of good enjoy that which is good, but in the day of adversity open your eyes and learn: God also has made the one (the day of adversity) before the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.
15 All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perishes for his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongs his days by his wickedness.
16 Do not be too legalistic; neither make thyself over wise in thine own eyes: why should thou destroy thyself?
17 Do not be hasty to condemn, neither be thou foolish: why should thou die in the midst of thy labours?
18 It is good that thou should take hold of this; and also from the other not withdraw thy hand; for he that fears God shall come through with everything.
19 Wisdom strengthens the wise more than ten mighty men who are in the city.
20 For surely there is not a just man upon earth that in doing good does not sin.
21 Also do not take to heart all the words that are spoken lest thou hear thy slave speak evil of thee:
22 For thine own heart knows that thou thyself likewise hast spoken evil of others many times.
23 ¶ All this I have proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me.
24 That which has been is far off and that which is exceeding deep, who can find it out?
25 I applied my heart to know and to search and to seek out wisdom and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the madness of error;
26 and I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands are bonds; whosoever pleases God shall escape from her, but the sinner shall be held prisoner in her.
27 Behold, this I have found, saith the preacher, weighing things one by one to find out the answer,
28 which my soul yet seeks, but I find not: one man among a thousand I have found, but a woman among all those I have not found.
29 Behold, this only have I found: that God has made man upright, but they have sought out many perversions.
8 ¶ Who is as the wise man? and who is as he who knows the interpretation of all things? The wisdom of this man shall make his face to shine, and the coarseness of his face shall be changed.
2 I counsel thee to keep the king’s commandment and the word of the covenant that thou hast made with God.
3 Do not be hasty to rebel against him; do not persist in any evil thing, for he shall do whatsoever pleases him;
4 because the word of the king is his power and who may say unto him, What doest thou?
5 Whosoever keeps the commandment shall experience no evil thing, and a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment.
6 ¶ Because for every will there is time and judgment, because the evil of man is great upon him,
7 for he does not know that which shall be; nor when it shall be. Who will teach it to him?
8 There is no man that has power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither does he have power over the day of death, and weapons are of no use in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.
9 ¶ All this I have seen and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: the time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt.
10 Then I also saw that the wicked who were buried came into remembrance more than those who had frequented the holy place, and these were forgotten in the city where they had worked uprightly. This also is vanity.
11 Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
12 Though a sinner does evil one hundred times and his judgment is prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with those that fear God, who fear before his presence;
13 but it shall never be well with the wicked, neither shall his days be prolonged, which are as a shadow, because he did not fear before the presence of God.
14 ¶ There is another vanity which is done upon the earth: that there are just men, who are recompensed as if they had done according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men, who are recompensed as if they had done according to the work of the righteous; I say that this also is vanity.
15 Therefore I commended joy because a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat and to drink and to be merry, for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God gives him under the sun.
16 Therefore I applied mine heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done upon the earth (for also there is he that neither day nor night sees sleep with his eyes).
17 And I have seen regarding all the works of God that man cannot attain to understand the work that is being done under the sun, because though a man labours to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; even though the wise man says that he knows it, yet he shall not be able to attain it.
9 ¶ Certainly I applied my heart unto all of this that I might declare all of this: that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God; no man knows either love or hatred by all that passes before them.
2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean and to the unclean; to him that sacrifices and to him that does not sacrifice: as unto the good so unto the sinner; and unto him that swears as unto him that fears the oath.
3 This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all; and also that the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
4 ¶ For to him that is still among the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
5 For the living know that they shall die, but the dead do not know any thing; neither do they have any more reward, for their memory is placed into oblivion.
6 Even their love and their hatred and their envy is now perished; neither have they any more a portion in the age in any thing that is done under the sun.
7 Go, eat thy bread with joy and drink thy wine with a joyful heart that thy works might be acceptable unto God.
8 Thy garments shall always be white, and thy head shall never lack ointment.
9 Live joyfully with the wife whom thou dost love all the days which thou art to live in this lake of vanity, which are given unto thee; all the days of thy vanity under the sun: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour in which thou dost work under the sun.
10 Whatever thy hand finds to do, do it with all thy might, for there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol, where thou goest.
11 ¶ I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of prudence, nor yet grace to men of eloquence; but time and chance happens to them all.
12 For man also does not know his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net and as the birds that are caught in the snare, so are the sons of men snared in the evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them.
13 ¶ I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, which is important unto me:
14 There was a little city and few men within it; and a great king came against it and besieged it and built great bulwarks against it;
15 now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no one remembered that same poor man.
16 Then I said, Wisdom is better than strength: even though the poor man’s knowledge is despised, and his words are not heard.
17 The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that rules among fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
10 ¶ Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: likewise a small act of folly unto him that is esteemed for wisdom and honour.
2 A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, but a fool’s heart at his left.
3 Even when the fool walks by the way, he lacks prudence, and he says unto every one that he is a fool.
4 ¶ If the spirit of the ruler rises up against thee, do not leave thy place; for meekness pacifies great sins.
5 There is another evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceeds from the ruler:
6 Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich are seated in a low place.
7 I saw slaves upon horses, and princes walking as slaves upon the earth.
8 He that digs a pit shall fall into it, and whosoever breaks a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.
9 Whosoever moves the stones shall have tribulation along with it, and he that cuts the firewood shall be endangered by it.
10 If the iron is blunt, and he does not whet the edge, then he must put forth more strength, but the advantages of wisdom excel.
11 If the serpent bites without being enchanted, then the babbler is no more.
12 ¶ The words from the mouth of the wise man are grace, but the lips of the fool will swallow up himself.
13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.
14 The fool multiplies words and says, Man cannot tell what shall be, and what shall be after him, who can tell him?
15 The labour of the foolish wearies all of them because they do not know how to go to the city.
16 ¶ Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes banquet in the morning!
17 Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season for strength, and not for drunkenness!
18 By much slothfulness the building decays, and through idleness of the hands the rain drips throughout the house.
19 The banquet is made for pleasure, and wine makes merry; but money answers all things.
20 Do not curse the king, not even in thy thought; and do not curse the rich even in the secret place of thy bedchamber; for the birds of the air shall carry the voice, and those who have wings shall tell the matter.
11 ¶ Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days.
2 Give a portion to seven and even to eight, for thou dost not know what evil shall come upon the earth.
3 If the clouds are full of rain, they shall empty themselves upon the earth; and if the tree falls toward the south or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it shall remain.
4 He that observes the wind shall not sow, and he that regards the clouds shall not reap.
5 As thou dost not know what is the way of the spirit nor how the bones grow in the womb of her that is with child, even so thou dost not know the works of God who makes all.
6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand; for thou knowest not which shall prosper, either this or that or whether they both shall be equally good.
7 ¶ Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun,
8 but if a man lives many years and rejoices in them all; yet if afterwards he remembers the days of darkness, for they shall be many, he shall say that everything that shall have happened to him is vanity.
9 Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, 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 childhood and youth are vanity.
12 ¶ Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth while the evil days do not come nor the years draw near when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain:
3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble and the strong men shall bow themselves and the grinders cease because they are few and those that look out of the windows are darkened;
4 and the doors outside shall be shut because the voice of the grinder is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird and all the daughters of song shall be humbled;
5 when they shall also be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and appetite shall fail: because man goes to the home of his age, and the mourners shall go about the streets;
6 before the silver chain is broken, and the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the wheel is broken at the cistern;
7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was before and the spirit returns unto God who gave it.
8 ¶ Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
9 And the wiser the preacher became that much more did he teach wisdom to the people, causing them to listen and to search things out, and he composed many proverbs.
10 The preacher sought to find willing words and upright writings, even words of truth.
11 The words of the wise are as goads and as nails hammered into place, those of the teachers of the congregations, who are placed under one Shepherd.
12 My son, in addition to this, be admonished: of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
13 ¶ The conclusion of the entire sermon is heard: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole happiness of man.
14 For God shall bring every work to judgment with every secret thing, whether it is good or whether it is evil.
1 ¶The song of songs, which is of Solomon.
2 ¶ Oh! if he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! for thy love is better than wine.
3 Because of the savour of thy good ointments (ointment poured forth is thy name), therefore have the virgins loved thee.
4 Draw me after thee, we will run. The king has brought me into his chambers; we will be glad and rejoice in thee; we will remember thy love more than the wine; the upright love thee.
5 I am dark, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, more desirable as the booths of Kedar, as the tents of Solomon.
6 Do not look upon me because I am dark because the sun has looked upon me; my mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards, but I have not kept my own vineyard.
7 ¶ Tell me, O thou whom my soul loves, where thou dost feed, where thou dost make thy flock to rest at noon; for why did I have to be as a wanderer after the flocks of thy companions?
8 If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go forth, following the footprints of the flock and feed thy little female goats beside the booths of the shepherds.
9 I have compared thee, O my love, to a mare of the chariots of Pharaoh.
10 Thy cheeks are beautiful between the earrings, thy neck between the necklaces.
11 We will make thee earrings of gold with studs of silver.
12 ¶ While the king was on his couch, my spikenard gave forth its fragrance.
13 A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me that rests between my breasts.
14 My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire {Heb. ransom} in the vineyards of Engedi.
15 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes.
16 Behold, thou art fair, O my beloved, and pleasant; also our bed has flowers.
17 The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.
2 ¶ I am the lily of the field {Heb. Sharon} and the rose of the valleys.
2 As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the virgins.
3 ¶ As the apple tree among the trees of the wild, so is my beloved among the sons. I desired to sit under his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4 He brought me to the wine chamber and placed his banner of love over me.
5 Sustain me with flagons of wine, strengthen me with apples; for I am sick with love.
6 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.
7 I charge you, O ye virgins of Jerusalem, by the roes and by the hinds of the field that ye not awake nor stir up love, until he pleases.
8 ¶ The voice of my beloved! behold, he comes leaping over the mountains, skipping over the hills.
9 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart; behold, he stands behind our wall; he looks through the windows, blossoming through the lattice.
10 My beloved spoke and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
11 For, behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone;
12 the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the song is come, and the voice of the turtle dove has been heard in our land;
13 the fig tree has put forth her green figs, and the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
14 ¶ O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is beautiful.
15 Hunt the foxes for us, the little foxes, that spoil the vines; for our vines are in blossom.
16 My beloved is mine, and I am his; he feeds among the lilies.
17 Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, return, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.
3 ¶ By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but I did not find him.
2 I will rise now and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but I did not find him.
3 The watchmen that go about the city found me, to whom I said, Have ye seen him whom my soul loves?
4 It was but a little that I passed from them that I found him whom my soul loves: I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother’s house and into the chamber of her that brought me into the light.
5 I charge you, O ye virgins of Jerusalem, by the roes and by the hinds of the field, that ye not awake nor stir up love, until he pleases.
6 ¶ Who is she that rises out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense and with all the aromatic powders?
7 ¶ Behold it is the bed of Solomon; sixty valiant men are about it of the valiant of Israel.
8 They all hold swords, being expert in war; each one has his sword upon his thigh because of the fears of the night.
9 King Solomon made himself a palanquin of the wood of Lebanon.
10 He made its pillars of silver, the bottom of it of gold, the covering of it of purple, its interior being paved with love, for the virgins of Jerusalem.
11 Go forth, O ye virgins of Zion, and behold King Solomon with the crown with which his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.
4 ¶ Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes within thy locks; thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Mount Gilead.
2 Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; of which every one bear twins, and none is barren among them.
3 Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is lovely; thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.
4 Thy neck is like the tower of David built for teaching, upon which there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.
5 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which are fed among the lilies.
6 Until the day breaks, and the shadows flee away, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense.
7 Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.
8 ¶ With me from Lebanon, my spouse, thou shalt come with me from Lebanon; thou shalt look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards.
9 Thou hast taken hold of my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast imprisoned my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck.
10 How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!
11 Thy lips, O my spouse, drip as the honeycomb; honey and milk are under thy tongue, and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.
12 A closed garden is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
13 Thy newly budded plants are a paradise of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, {Heb. ransom} with spikenard,
14 spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:
15 ¶ A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, that flow from Lebanon.
16 Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden that the aroma of its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his sweet fruits.
5 ¶ I came into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh and my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk: eat, O friends; drink, beloved, drink abundantly.
2 ¶ I sleep, but my heart watches for the voice of my beloved that knocks at the door, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.
5 I rose up to open to my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.
6 I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone; my soul went after his speech; I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
7 The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my outer cloak from me.
8 I charge you, O virgins of Jerusalem, if ye should find my beloved that ye cause him to know how sick I am with love.
9 ¶ What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? What is thy beloved more than another beloved that thou dost so charge us?
10 My beloved is white and ruddy; the standard-bearer among the ten thousands.
11 His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are as doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, as doves that are next to abundance.
13 His cheeks are as a bed of aromatic spices, as fragrant flowers; his lips like lilies, dripping sweet smelling myrrh that transcends.
14 His hands are as gold rings set with beryls; his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.
15 His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold; his countenance is as Lebanon, chosen as the cedars.
16 His mouth is most sweet; he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O virgins of Jerusalem.
6 ¶ Where has thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? where didst thy beloved separate himself? that we may seek him with thee.
2 My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather the lilies.
3 I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine; he feeds among the lilies.
4 ¶ Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, as desirable as Jerusalem, imposing as the standard-bearer of the army.
5 Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me; thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.
6 Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, of which every one bears twins, and there is not one barren among them.
7 As slices of pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks.
8 There are sixty queens, and eighty concubines, and virgins without number.
9 My dove is but one, my perfect one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that brought her into the light. The virgins saw her and called her blessed; yea, the queens and the concubines and they praised her.
10 Who is she that shows herself forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and imposing as the standard-bearer of the army?
11 ¶ I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vines flourished, and the pomegranates budded.
12 Or ever I was aware, my soul made me return like the chariots of Amminadib.
13 Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? She shall be as a multitude of tabernacles.
7 ¶ How beautiful are thy feet in thy shoes, O prince’s daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of an excellent workman.
2 Thy navel is like a round goblet, which does not lack liquor; thy belly is like a heap of wheat set about with lilies.
3 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.
4 Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon by the gate of Bathrabbim; thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looks toward Damascus.
5 Thine head upon thee is like scarlet, and the hair of thine head like the purple of the king hung in the galleries.
6 How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!
7 This, thy stature is like unto the palm tree, and thy breasts to the clusters.
8 I said, I will climb up the palm tree, I will take hold of the clusters thereof; now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine and the smell of thy nose like apples;
9 and thy palate like the best wine that goes into my beloved sweetly and causes the lips of those that are asleep to speak.
10 ¶ I am my beloved’s, and with me he has his contentment.
11 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.
12 Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vines flourish, whether the tender flowers appear, if the pomegranates bud forth; there I will give thee my loves.
13 The mandrakes have given their fragrance, and at our gates are all manner of sweet fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.
8 ¶ O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; and I should not be despised.
2 I would lead thee and bring thee into my mother’s house, that thou would instruct me; I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate.
3 His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me.
4 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye not awake nor stir up love until he pleases.
5 ¶ Who is she that comes up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I woke thee up under the apple tree; there thy mother had birth pains; there she had pains that brought thee into the light.
6 Set me as a seal upon thine heart as a sign upon thine arm; for love is strong as death; jealousy is hard as Sheol; the coals thereof are coals of fire, which have a most vehement flame.
7 The many waters cannot quench love, neither can the rivers drown it; if a man would give all the substance of his house for this love, it would certainly be despised.
8 ¶ We have a little sister, and she still has no breasts; what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?
9 If she is a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver; and if she is a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar.
10 I am a wall, and my breasts like towers since I was in his eyes as the one that found peace.
11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baalhamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; for its fruit each one was to bring a thousand pieces of silver.
12 My vineyard, which is mine, is before me; the thousand pieces shall be thine, O Solomon, and two hundred for those that keep the fruit.
13 ¶ Thou, she that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice; cause me to hear it.
14 Run, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.
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