The Project Gutenberg eBook, Select Masterpieces of Biblical Literature,
by Various, Edited by Richard Green Moulton
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Title: Select Masterpieces of Biblical Literature
Author: Various
Editor: Richard Green Moulton
Release Date: December 12, 2008 [eBook #27510]
Language: English
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***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SELECT MASTERPIECES OF BIBLICAL
LITERATURE***
E-text prepared by Stephen Hope, Fox in the Stars, and the Project
Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
Transcriber's note.
Text enclosed by underscores was italicized in the original
book (_italics_), and text enclosed by forward slashes was
in bold face (/bold face/).
A minor printing error was corrected (Gen. xliv 29).
The Modern Reader's Bible
A Series of Works from the Sacred Scriptures Presented
in Modern Literary Form
SELECT MASTERPIECES OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE
Edited, with an Introduction and Notes by
RICHARD G. MOULTON, M.A. (CAMB.), Ph.D. (PENN.)
Professor of Literature in English in the University of Chicago
New York
The MacMillan Company
London: MacMillan & Co., Ltd.
1902
Copyright, 1897,
By THe MacMillan Company.
Set up and electrotyped September, 1897. Reprinted December, 1897;
August, 1898; February, 1899; August, 1900; July, 1901; April, 1902.
Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith
Norwood Mass. U.S.A.
INTRODUCTION
That which we call 'The Bible' has the outward appearance of a book: in
reality it is--what the word 'bible' implies in the original Greek--a
whole library. More than fifty books, the production of a large number
of different authors, representing periods of time extending over many
centuries, are all comprehended between the covers of a single volume.
There is no greater monument of the power of printing to diffuse thought
than this fact, that the whole classic literature of one of the world's
greatest peoples can be carried about in the hand or the pocket.
But there is another side to the matter. A high price has been paid for
this feat of manufacturing a portable literature: no less a price than
the effacement from the books of the Bible of their whole literary
structure. Where the literature is dramatic, there are (except in one
book) no names of speakers nor divisions of speeches; there are no
titles to essays or poems, nor anything to mark where one poem or
discourse ends and another begins; not only is there nothing to reflect
finer rhythmic distinctions in poetry, but (in King James's version)
there is not even a distinction made between poetry and prose. It is as
if the whole were printed 'solid,' like a newspaper without the
newspaper headings. The most familiar English literature treated in this
fashion would lose a great part of its literary interest; the writings
of the Hebrews suffer still more through our unfamiliarity with many of
the literary forms in which they are cast. Even this statement does not
fully represent the injury done to the literature of the Bible by the
traditional shape in which it is presented to us. Between the Biblical
writers and our own times have intervened ages in which all interest in
literary beauty was lost, and philosophic activity took the form of
protracted discussions of brief sayings or 'texts.' Accordingly this
solidified matter of Hebrew literature has been divided up into single
sentences or 'verses,' numbered mechanically one, two, three, etc., and
thus the original literary form has still further been obscured. It is
not surprising that to most readers the Bible has become, not a
literature, but simply a storehouse of pious 'texts.'
If the sacred Scriptures then are to be appreciated as literature, it is
necessary to restore their literary form and structure. To do this, with
all the assistance that the modern printed page gives to the reader, is
the aim of the 'Modern Reader's Bible.' The present volume is intended
as an introduction to the series, and, it is hoped, to the literary
study of the Bible in general, by Select Masterpieces, illustrating the
different types of literature represented in Scripture.
It is natural to enquire, What are the leading literary forms under
which the sacred writings may be classified?
A large proportion of the Bible is History: the History of the People of
Israel as presented by themselves. How Israel is chosen from all the
nations to be the special people of Jehovah; how the invisible Jehovah
is at first their only ruler; how gradually the spirit of assimilation
to surrounding nations leads to a demand for visible kings. Just as this
tendency to secular kingship becomes strong, there comes into prominence
an order of 'prophets': the word signifies 'interpreters,' and the
prophets are accepted as the interpreters of Jehovah's will to Israel.
Under such rule as that of David, the man after God's own heart, the
work of the prophets may fall into the background; but where, as usually
happened, the secular government tends to ungodliness, the order of
prophets stands forth as an organised opposition. On lines like these
the historic narrative of the Bible pursues its course; and with the
thread of narrative are interwoven legal and statistical documents which
give it support. The History Series of the Modern Reader's Bible
presents the sacred narrative divided according to its logical
divisions. Genesis is occupied with the formation of the chosen nation,
from the first beginnings of things to the development of the
descendants of Abraham as a patriarchal family. The Exodus narrates the
migration of the fully formed nation to the land of promise; this is the
period of constitutional development, and in this part of the history
we find massed together the whole of the constitutional lore of Israel.
The group of books constituting The Judges volume represents a period of
transition: the 'judges' of Israel correspond to the 'heroes' of other
peoples, and amid a succession of these judges the incidents of Israel's
history reveal the efforts of the people of Jehovah towards a secular
government. The Kings takes up the history of the nation from the
establishment of the dynasty of David, and covers the struggle between
the prophetic and the secular parties until the time of the fall and
captivity. Upon the return of the remnant from Babylon all opposition to
the theocracy has ceased; to the prophets have succeeded the 'scribes,'
or interpreters of the written law, and The Chronicles is the
ecclesiastical history, not of a Hebrew nation, but of a Jewish church.
From History we must, in literary analysis, distinguish Story: the one
is founded on the sense of record and scientific explanation of events,
the other appeals to the imagination and the emotions. The Story
literature of most peoples is 'fiction,' in the sense that its matter is
invented solely for literary purposes. The stories of the Bible are part
of the sacred history, differing only in the mode in which the matter is
presented; and a long series of these stories is scattered through the
historical books, with nothing to distinguish them, in the ordinary
versions, from the historic context. In the volumes of this series the
distinction is made by titles; the reader can thus, without difficulty,
bring to each of these varieties of literature the kind of attention it
requires; it is further possible, and highly desirable, for him to make
a separate study of Scriptural Story. History it is not easy to
illustrate by selections; but the stories of the sacred books are
represented in the present volume by typical specimens.
One book that has a place in the historic sequence of the Bible
introduces us in reality to a different class of literature--Oratory.
Deuteronomy is made up of the Orations (and Songs) of Moses,
constituting his Farewell to the People of Israel. It is oratory in the
fullest sense of the term, representing the words as they may be
supposed to come direct from the speaker. For the most part however the
sacred literature of oratory is of a different kind; not exact reports
of spoken words, but the substance, it may be, of several similar
speeches worked up afresh into a form of written discourse. In this
wider sense, the oratorical literature of the Bible is of considerable
extent; it includes the prophetic discourses, and reflects the fervid
contests over first principles of righteousness which constituted the
main life of Israel. The principal varieties of Biblical oratory are
illustrated in this volume.
Philosophy has an important place in Scripture. The word however is not
there used to describe a division of literature, but the sacred
philosophy is called 'wisdom,'--a term suggestive of its close
application to matters of human life and duty. This Wisdom literature
started from the 'proverbs'--simple thoughts conveyed in a couplet or
triplet of verse, which were collected together by King Solomon and
other of the wise men of Israel. From these proverbs the form of wisdom
enlarged to verse epigrams and sonnets, or prose maxims and essays,
until we find books of wisdom comprehending complete systems of thought.
To catch the development of this Wisdom literature, it is necessary to
take in two books of 'The Apocrypha'; a portion of sacred Scripture
which in the last century used to be bound up with Bibles, standing in
its historical position between the Old and New Testaments, though now
it is usually separated. In theology, which is concerned with questions
of authority, the distinction between the Bible and the Apocrypha is
fundamental: the one is accepted as authoritative in matters of faith,
whereas the Apocryphal books are merely recommended for devout reading.
But in literary study the distinction disappears; and two books of the
Apocrypha are of the highest literary importance,--Ecclesiasticus and
The Wisdom of Solomon. The Wisdom series of the Modern Reader's Bible
arranges the representative books of Biblical philosophy in the order of
its logical development. The Proverbs is a Miscellany of Sayings and
Poems, embodying isolated observations of life. Ecclesiasticus is a
Miscellany including longer compositions, but still embodying only
isolated observations of life. In Ecclesiastes we find a connected
series of writings, in which attempt is made to solve the mystery of the
universe: but the attempt breaks down in despair. The Wisdom of Solomon
renews the attempt in the light of an immortal life beyond the grave,
and despair yields to serenity of spirit. The four books thus reflect a
philosophical advance. In The Book of Job--one of the world's literary
marvels--men's varying attitudes towards the mystery of life are
represented in various speakers, and drawn together into a unity by the
movement of a dramatic plot. Such is the wisdom of the sacred Scriptures
viewed as a whole; in the present volume it is only possible to
illustrate the different forms, whether of poetry or of prose, in which
Biblical philosophy is conveyed.
Biblical Lyrics may be mentioned next. Originally, all poetry was spoken
with musical accompaniment; when this primitive literature began to
divide up into specialised forms, Lyric was the literary form which
retained most of the spirit of music. It includes Songs and Odes, in
which the very structure of the poem is determined by the mode of its
performance; Psalms and Lamentations; the Traditional Poetry scattered
through the historical books; again, considerable portions of prophetic
literature are found to take a lyric form. Even in the ordinary versions
the Psalms and Lamentations retain something of their poetic structure;
the less obvious features of lyric rhythm will be illustrated in the
selections admitted into this volume.
Of the fundamental divisions of literature there yet remains one--the
Drama. The relation of this to the Bible is interesting. It is
impossible to read the scriptures of the Old Testament without feeling
that the genius of the Hebrew people is strongly dramatic. Yet the
natural instrument for the expression of dramatic creations--the
theatre--is not a Hebrew institution. Accordingly the dramatic instinct,
denied its readiest outlet, is found to leaven all other literary forms.
We have already noticed dramatic wisdom in Job. Dramatic lyrics are
found, not only in some of the psalms, but on a larger scale in the love
songs of Solomon.[1] But there is a more important type of dramatic
literature in the sacred Scriptures. The prophets of Israel were not
only statesmen and preachers, they were also poets, and from them has
come down to us a form of spiritual drama to which may be given the name
'Rhapsody.'
[Footnote 1: This Lyric Idyl of 'Solomon's Song,' together with some
narrated stories of the same idyllic spirit, are united in a single
volume of this series under the name of Biblical Idyls.]
These spiritual dramas of the prophets are occupied with that
fundamental topic of Hebrew thought which is expressed by the word
'judgment': the eternal contest between good and evil, and the Divine
overthrow of wrong. They are dramas which no actual theatre could ever
express, for their action covers all space and all time. Their
personages include not only the prophet and the nation of Israel, but
also God himself and the celestial hosts. The working of events towards
the judgment is brought out before us with the general impression of
dramatic movement; but the means by which this movement is realised go
beyond the machinery of drama: not only dialogue and monologue, but song
and even discourse are made to bear their part in the total effect. The
grand example of rhapsody which covers the latter part of our Book of
Isaiah can be represented in the present volume only by its prelude and
one of its seven acts or 'visions.' But some of the shorter, and hardly
less splendid, rhapsodies are given in full; and the selections further
illustrate how a prophecy may set out as a simple discourse, and
suddenly rise to the level of rhapsodic presentation.
I believe few people realise what an immense addition has been made to
the literary patrimony of the English reader by the Revised Version of
the Bible, and such other presentations of the sacred Scriptures as this
Revised Version has made possible. The language of Biblical writers, and
the sentences of which their writings are made up, have long been
familiar through the earlier versions; the Revisers, by the attention
they have given to connectedness of thought, have carried forward
translated language into translated literature. It is thus open to a
person of average culture to add to his other mental possessions the
whole expression of itself which a great people has made in poetry and
prose throughout all the periods of its development. With the exception
of humorous writing, which is foreign to the genius of the ancient
Hebrews, the whole range of literary production is here illustrated; and
varieties of literary form are presented to which classic Greek or
modern European writers furnish no parallel. It is a literature
numbering among its authors some who--by critics entirely outside the
ranks of theologians--have been classed with the greatest names in the
world's roll of honour. More than this, the English reader who gives
attention to the literary side of the Bible is studying what is to him
ancestral literature. The Hebrew writers of the Old Testament, and their
followers the Christian Hebrews of the New Testament, have been the
inspiration of those who have inspired our own writers: their style has
largely leavened the style of modern English, their thought has become
so closely interwoven with English thought of the last three centuries
that it is impossible to sever the two. And, if the question be of what
is higher than literary impressions, no reader need fear that the more
sacred uses of the Bible will be imperilled by his reading, not with the
spirit only, but with the understanding also.
* *
*
In this, as in the other volumes of this series, the text of the
Selections is that of the Revised Version, the marginal alternatives
being often substituted for the readings in the text. For the use of
this Revised Version I express my obligation to the University Presses
of Oxford and Cambridge. A Reference Table at the end connects the
Selections with the volumes of the Modern Reader's Bible from which they
are taken, and with the chapters and verses of the ordinary versions.
CONTENTS
STORIES
I Joseph and his Brethren 5
II The Witness of Balaam to Israel 32
III The Crowning of Abimelech 43
IV Samson's Wedding Feast 49
V The Expedition against Elisha 53
VI The Dream of the Tree cut down 55
VII Belshazzar's Feast 60
ORATORY
I The Oration of Moses at the Rehearsal of the
Blessing and the Curse 67
II A Discourse on Immortality and the Covenant
with Death 75
III Isaiah: The Great Arraignment 84
IV Isaiah: The Covenant with Death 87
V Isaiah: The Utter Destruction and the Great
Restoration 90
VI Ezekiel: The Sword of the LORD 93
VII Ezekiel: Wreck of the Goodly Ship Tyre 98
VIII Prophetic Sentences (from Jeremiah) 101
WISDOM
Wisdom Brevities 107
Essays
i Wisdom's Way with her Children 112
ii Prosperity and Adversity are from the Lord 113
iii Against Gossip 114
iv On the Tongue 115
v Choice of Company 116
vi The Wisdom of Business and the Wisdom of
Leisure 120
vii Life as a Joy shadowed by the Judgment (with
a Sonnet: The Coming of the Evil Days) 123
Sonnets
i The Sluggard 125
ii The Mourning for the Fool 126
iii The Two Paths 126
iv The Creator has made Wisdom the Supreme Prize 127
v Watchfulness of Lips and Heart 129
vi Wisdom and the Fear of the Lord 130
vii Wisdom and the Strange Woman 132
LYRICS
I An Elegy of a Broken Heart 141
II The Creator's Joy in his Creation 143
III Song of Moses and Miriam 149
IV Deborah's Song 152
V David's Lament 158
VI David's Song of Victory 160
VII The Bride's Reminiscences: a Lyric Idyl 165
VIII Jeremiah: The Battle of Carchemish 168
IX A Song of Zion Redeemed (from the Isaiahan Rhapsody) 170
X Isaiah: Doom of Babylon 175
XI Nahum: Doom of Nineveh 182
RHAPSODY
I Jeremiah: Rhapsody of the Drought 193
II Habakkuk: Rhapsody of the Chaldeans 200
III Joel: Rhapsody of the Locust Plague 209
IV Jeremiah: The Hurt of the Daughter of my People
(A Rhapsodic Discourse) 222
V Micah: The LORD'S Controversy before the Mountains
(A Dramatic Morceau) 226
VI Prelude to the Rhapsody of Zion Redeemed 228
VII Zion Awakened (Vision III of the Rhapsody of
Zion Redeemed) 231
MASTERPIECES
OF
BIBLICAL LITERATURE
STORIES
I
JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN
And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of
Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen
years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and he was a lad
with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's
wives: and Joseph brought the evil report of them unto their father. Now
Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son
of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. And his brethren
saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren; and they
hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. And Joseph dreamed a
dream, and he told it to his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have
dreamed: for, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my
sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves came
round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. And his brethren said to
him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion
over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his
words. And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren,
and said, Behold, I have dreamed yet a dream; and, behold, the sun and
the moon and eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his
father, and to his brethren; and his father rebuked him, and said unto
him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother
and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
And his brethren envied him; but his father kept the saying in mind.
And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. And
Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem?
come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. And
he said to him, Go now, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and
well with the flock; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the
vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. And a certain man found him,
and, behold, he was wandering in a field: and the man asked him, saying,
What seekest thou? And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray
thee, where they are feeding the flock. And the man said, They are
departed hence: for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph
went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. And they saw him afar
off, and before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to
slay him. And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into one of the
pits, and we will say, An evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall
see what will become of his dreams. And Reuben heard it, and delivered
him out of their hand; and said, Let us not take his life. And Reuben
said unto them, Shed no blood; cast him into this pit that is in the
wilderness, but lay no hand upon him: that he might deliver him out of
their hand, to restore him to his father. And it came to pass, when
Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph of his coat,
the coat of many colours that was on him; and they took him, and cast
him into the pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. And
they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked,
and, behold, a travelling company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with
their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down
to Egypt. And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay
our brother and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the
Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother,
our flesh. And his brethren hearkened unto him. And there passed by
Midianites, merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the
pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And
they brought Joseph into Egypt. And Reuben returned unto the pit; and,
behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. And he
returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither
shall I go? And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a he-goat, and
dipped the coat in the blood; and they sent the coat of many colours,
and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know
now whether it be thy son's coat or not. And he knew it, and said, It is
my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt
torn in pieces. And Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his
loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his
daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he
said, For I will go down to the grave to my son mourning. And his father
wept for him. And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an
officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard.
And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of
Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hand
of the Ishmaelites, which had brought him down thither. And the LORD was
with Joseph and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his
master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and
that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph
found grace in his sight, and he ministered unto him: and he made him
overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. And
it came to pass from the time that he made him overseer in his house,
and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for
Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had,
in the house and in the field. And he left all that he had in Joseph's
hand; and he knew not aught that was with him, save the bread which he
did eat.
And Joseph was comely and well favoured. And it came to pass after these
things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said,
Lie with me. But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my
master knoweth not what is with me in the house, and he hath put all
that he hath into my hand; there is none greater in this house than I;
neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art
his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he
hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her. And it came to
pass about this time, that he went into the house to do his work; and
there was none of the men of the house there within. And she caught him
by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her
hand, and fled, and got him out. And it came to pass, when she saw that
he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth, that she called
unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath
brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with
me, and I cried with a loud voice: and it came to pass, when he heard
that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and
fled, and got him out. And she laid up his garment by her, until his
master came home. And she spake unto him according to these words,
saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in
unto me to mock me: and it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and
cried, that he left his garment by me, and fled out. And it came to
pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto
him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was
kindled. And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, the
place where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the
prison. But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed kindness unto him, and
gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper
of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in
the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. The
keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand,
because the LORD was with him; and that which he did, the LORD made it
to prosper.
And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of
Egypt and his baker offended their lord the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh
was wroth against his two officers, against the chief of the butlers,
and against the chief of the bakers. And he put them in ward in the
house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where
Joseph was bound. And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them,
and he ministered unto them: and they continued a season in ward. And
they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream, in one night,
each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and
the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison. And
Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and saw them, and, behold, they
were sad. And he asked Pharaoh's officers that were with him in ward in
his master's house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly today? And they
said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can
interpret it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong
to God? tell it me, I pray you. And the chief butler told his dream to
Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me; and
in the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and its
blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes:
and Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes, and pressed
them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand. And
Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: the three
branches are three days; within yet three days shall Pharaoh lift up
thine head, and restore thee unto thine office: and thou shalt give
Pharaoh's cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his
butler. But have me in thy remembrance when it shall be well with thee,
and shew kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto
Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house: for indeed I was stolen away
out of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that
they should put me into the dungeon. When the chief baker saw that the
interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream,
and, behold, three baskets of white bread were on my head: and in the
uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and
the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head. And Joseph
answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: the three baskets
are three days; within yet three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head
from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat
thy flesh from off thee. And it came to pass the third day, which was
Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he
lifted up the head of the chief butler and the head of the chief baker
among his servants. And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership
again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand: but he hanged the chief
baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet did not the chief butler
remember Joseph, but forgat him.
And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed:
and, behold, he stood by the river. And, behold, there came up out of
the river seven kine, well favoured and fatfleshed; and they fed in the
reed-grass. And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the
river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon
the brink of the river. And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did
eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke. And he
slept and dreamed a second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up
upon one stalk, rank and good. And, behold, seven ears, thin and blasted
with the east wind, sprung up after them. And the thin ears swallowed up
the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a
dream. And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled;
and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise
men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that
could interpret them unto Pharaoh. Then spake the chief butler unto
Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day: Pharaoh was wroth
with his servants, and put me in ward in the house of the captain of the
guard, me and the chief baker: and we dreamed a dream in one night, I
and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his
dream. And there was with us there a young man, an Hebrew, servant to
the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our
dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret. And it came
to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he restored unto mine
office, and him he hanged.
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of
the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in
unto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and
there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that
when thou hearest a dream thou canst interpret it. And Joseph answered
Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of
peace. And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon
the brink of the river: and, behold, there came up out of the river
seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in the
reed-grass: and, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and
very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land
of Egypt for badness: and the lean and ill favoured kine did eat up the
first seven fat kine: and when they had eaten them up, it could not be
known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at
the beginning. So I awoke. And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven
ears came up upon one stalk, full and good: and, behold, seven ears,
withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:
and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears: and I told it unto
the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me. And
Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: what God is about
to do he hath declared unto Pharaoh. The seven good kine are seven
years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. And
the seven lean and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven
years, and also the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind; they
shall be seven years of famine, That is the thing which I spake unto
Pharaoh: what God is about to do he hath shewed unto Pharaoh. Behold,
there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:
and there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the
plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall
consume the land; and the plenty shall not be known in the land by
reason of that famine which followeth; for it shall be very grievous.
And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice, it is because the
thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. Now
therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over
the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers
over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the
seven plenteous years. And let them gather all the food of these good
years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh for food in
the cities, and let them keep it. And the food shall be for a store to
the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land
of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.
And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all
his servants. And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one
as this, a man in whom the spirit of God is? And Pharaoh said unto
Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so
discreet and wise as thou: thou shalt be over my house, and according
unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be
greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee
over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his signet ring from
his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of
fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; and he made him to ride
in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the
knee: and he set him over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto
Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or
his foot in all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh called Joseph's name
Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of
Poti-phera priest of On. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of
Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went
throughout all the land of Egypt. And in the seven plenteous years the
earth brought forth by handfuls. And he gathered up all the food of the
seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the
cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he
up in the same. And Joseph laid up corn as the sand of the sea, very
much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.
And unto Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, which
Asenath the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On bare unto him. And
Joseph called the name of the first born 'Manasseh': For, said he, God
hath 'made me forget' all my toil, and all my father's house. And the
name of the second called he 'Ephraim': For God hath made me 'fruitful'
in the land of my affliction.
And the seven years of plenty, that was in the land of Egypt, came to an
end. And the seven years of famine began to come, according as Joseph
had said: and there was famine in all lands; but in all the land of
Egypt there was bread. And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the
people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the
Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do. And the famine was
over all the face of the earth: and Joseph opened all the storehouses,
and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine was sore in the land of
Egypt. And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn;
because the famine was sore in all the earth.
Now Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, and Jacob said unto his
sons, Why do ye look one upon another? And he said, Behold, I have heard
that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from
thence; that we may live, and not die. And Joseph's ten brethren went
down to buy corn from Egypt. But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent
not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall
him. And the sons of Israel came to buy among those that came: for the
famine was in the land of Canaan. And Joseph was the governor over the
land; he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's
brethren came, and bowed down themselves to him with their faces to the
earth. And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself
strange unto them, and spake roughly with them; and he said unto them,
Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. And
Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. And Joseph remembered
the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies;
to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. And they said unto him,
Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. We are all one
man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies. And he said unto
them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. And they
said, We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the
land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father,
and one is not. And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto
you, saying, Ye are spies: hereby ye shall be proved: by the life of
Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come
hither. Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be
bound, that your words may be proved, whether there be truth in you: or
else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies. And he put them all
together into ward three days.
And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear
God: if ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in your
prison house; but go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses: and
bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified,
and ye shall not die. And they did so. And they said one to another, We
are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of
his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this
distress come upon us. And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not
unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear?
therefore also, behold, his blood is required. And they knew not that
Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them. And
he turned himself about from them, and wept; and he returned to them,
and spake to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before
their eyes. Then Joseph commanded to fill their vessels with corn, and
to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision
for the way: and thus was it done unto them. And they laded their asses
with their corn, and departed thence. And as one of them opened his sack
to give his ass provender in the lodging place, he espied his money;
and, behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. And he said unto his
brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack: and
their heart failed them, and they turned trembling one to another,
saying, What is this that God hath done unto us?
And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told
him all that had befallen them: saying, The man, the lord of the land,
spake roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country. And we said
unto him, We are true men; we are no spies: we be twelve brethren, sons
of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father
in the land of Canaan. And the man, the lord of the land, said unto us,
Hereby shall I know that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren
with me, and take corn for the famine of your houses, and go your way:
and bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are
no spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your brother,
and ye shall traffick in the land. And it came to pass as they emptied
their sacks, that, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack:
and when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were
afraid. And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my
children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin
away: all these things are against me. And Reuben spake unto his father,
saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into
my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. And he said, My son shall
not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left: if
mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring
down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
And the famine was sore in the land. And it came to pass, when they had
eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said
unto them, Go again, buy us a little food. And Judah spake unto him,
saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see
my face, except your brother be with you. If thou wilt send our brother
with us, we will go down and buy thee food: but if thou wilt not send
him, we will not go down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my
face, except your brother be with you. And Israel said, Wherefore dealt
ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother? And
they said, The man asked straitly concerning ourselves, and concerning
our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother?
and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we in any
wise know that he would say, Bring your brother down? And Judah said
unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go;
that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little
ones. I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I
bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the
blame for ever: for except we had lingered, surely we had now returned a
second time. And their father Israel said unto them, If it be so now, do
this; take of the choice fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry
down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spicery and
myrrh, nuts, and almonds: and take double money in your hand; and the
money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks carry again in your
hand; peradventure it was an oversight: take also your brother, and
arise, go again unto the man: and God Almighty give you mercy before the
man, that he may release unto you your other brother and Benjamin. And
if I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.
And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand,
and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before
Joseph. And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward
of his house, Bring the men into the house, and slay, and make ready;
for the men shall dine with me at noon. And the man did as Joseph bade;
and the man brought the men into Joseph's house. And the men were
afraid, because they were brought into Joseph's house; and they said,
Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time
are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon
us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses. And they came near to the
steward of Joseph's house, and they spake unto him at the door of the
house, and said, Oh my lord, we came indeed down at the first time to
buy food: and it came to pass, when we came to the lodging place, that
we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man's money was in the mouth of
his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our
hand. And other money have we brought down in our hand to buy food: we
know not who put our money in our sacks. And he said, Peace be to you,
fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure
in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them.
And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water,
and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender.
And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they
heard that they should eat bread there. And when Joseph came home, they
brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and
bowed down themselves to him to the earth. And he asked them of their
welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is
he yet alive? And they said, Thy servant our father is well, he is yet
alive. And they bowed the head, and made obeisance. And he lifted up his
eyes, and saw Benjamin his brother, his mother's son, and said, Is this
your youngest brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be
gracious unto thee, my son. And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did
yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into
his chamber, and wept there. And he washed his face, and came out; and
he refrained himself, and said, Set on bread. And they set on for him by
himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did
eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread
with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians. And
they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the
youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one with
another. And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but
Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank
and were merry with him.
And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men's sacks
with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his
sack's mouth. And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the
youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that
Joseph had spoken. As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent
away, they and their asses. And when they were gone out of the city, and
were not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the
men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye
rewarded evil for good? Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and
whereby he indeed divineth? ye have done evil in so doing. And he
overtook them, and he spake unto them these words. And they said unto
him, Wherefore speaketh my lord such words as these? God forbid that thy
servants should do such a thing. Behold, the money, which we found in
our sacks' mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan:
how then should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or gold? With
whomsoever of thy servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be
my lord's bondmen. And he said, Now also let it be according unto your
words: he with whom it is found shall be my bondman; and ye shall be
blameless. Then they hasted, and took down every man his sack to the
ground, and opened every man his sack. And he searched, and began at the
eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin's
sack. Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and
returned to the city.
And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house; and he was yet there:
and they fell before him on the ground. And Joseph said unto them, What
deed is this that ye have done? know ye not that such a man as I can
indeed divine? And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what
shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the
iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord's bondmen, both we, and
he also in whose hand the cup is found. And he said, God forbid that I
should do so: the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my
bondman; but as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.
Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I
pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn
against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh. My lord asked his
servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother? And we said unto my
lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little
one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and
his father loveth him. And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down
unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him. And we said unto my lord,
The lad cannot leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his
father would die. And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your
youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more. And
it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him
the words of my lord. And our father said, Go again, buy us a little
food. And we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with
us, then will we go down: for we may not see the man's face, except our
youngest brother be with us. And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye
know that my wife bare me two sons: and the one went out from me, and I
said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I have not seen him since: and if
ye take this one also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring
down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. Now therefore when I come
to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his
life is bound up in the lad's life; it shall come to pass, when he seeth
that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servants shall
bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the
grave. For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying,
If I bring him not unto thee, then shall I bear the blame to my father
for ever. Now therefore, let thy servant, I pray thee, abide instead of
the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.
For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest I
see the evil that shall come on my father.
Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him;
and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man
with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept
aloud: and the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard. And
Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And
his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his
presence. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray
you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother whom ye
sold into Egypt. And now be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that
ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For
these two years hath the famine been in the land: and there are yet five
years in the which there shall be neither plowing nor harvest. And God
sent me before you to preserve you a remnant in the earth, and to save
you alive by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me
hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of
all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Haste ye, and go up
to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made
me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not: and thou shalt dwell
in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy
children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds,
and all that thou hast: and there will I nourish thee; for there are yet
five years of famine; lest thou come to poverty, thou, and thy
household, and all that thou hast. And, behold, your eyes see, and the
eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.
And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye
have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither. And he
fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon
his neck. And he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after
that his brethren talked with him.
And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's
brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. And
Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your
beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan; and take your father
and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of
the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. Now thou art
commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your
little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Also
regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.
And the sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to
the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. To all
of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave
three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment. And to his
father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things
of Egypt, and ten she-asses, laden with corn and bread and victual for
his father by the way. So he sent his brethren away, and they departed:
and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way.
And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto
Jacob their father. And they told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and
he is ruler over all the land of Egypt. And his heart fainted, for he
believed them not. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he
had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to
carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: and Israel said, It
is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I
die.
And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to
Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. And
God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob,
Jacob. And he said, Here am I. And he said, I am God, the God of thy
father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a
great nation: I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also
surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine
eyes. And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba: and the sons of Israel carried
Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the
wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. And they took their cattle,
and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came
into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him: his sons, and his sons'
sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed
brought he with him into Egypt.
And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to shew the way before him
unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. And Joseph made
ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen; and
he presented himself unto him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his
neck a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I
have seen thy face, that thou art yet alive. And Joseph said unto his
brethren, and unto his father's house, I will go up, and tell Pharaoh,
and will say unto him, My brethren, and my father's house, which were in
the land of Canaan, are come unto me; and the men are shepherds, for
they have been keepers of cattle; and they have brought their flocks,
and their herds, and all that they have. And it shall come to pass, when
Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation? that ye
shall say, Thy servants have been keepers of cattle from our youth even
until now, both we, and our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of
Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.
Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my
brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are
come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of
Goshen. And from among his brethren he took five men, and presented them
unto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your
occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both
we, and our fathers. And they said unto Pharaoh, To sojourn in the land
are we come; for there is no pasture for thy servants' flocks; for the
famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now, therefore, we pray thee, let
thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen. And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph,
saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee: the land of
Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and thy
brethren to dwell: in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou
knowest any able men among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.
And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and
Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How many are the
days of the years of thy life? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of
the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil
have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained
unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of
their pilgrimage. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the
presence of Pharaoh. And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and
gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in
the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph nourished his
father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread,
according to their families.
II
THE WITNESS OF BALAAM TO ISRAEL
And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the
Amorites. And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were
many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. And
Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this multitude lick up
all that is round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field.
And Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. And he sent
messengers unto Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the
River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying,
Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the
face of the earth, and they abide over against me: come now therefore, I
pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me:
peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may
drive them out of the land: for I know that he whom thou blessest is
blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed. And the elders of Moab and
the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their
hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.
And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word
again, as the LORD shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode
with Balaam. And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with
thee? And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab,
hath sent unto me, saying, Behold, the people that is come out of Egypt,
it covereth the face of the earth: now, come curse me them; peradventure
I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out. And God
said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the
people: for they are blessed. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and
said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the LORD
refuseth to give me leave to go with you.
And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said,
Balaam refuseth to come with us. And Balak sent yet again princes, more,
and more honourable than they. And they came to Balaam, and said to him,
Thus saith Balak, the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder
thee from coming unto me: for I will promote thee unto very great
honour, and whatsoever thou sayest unto me I will do: come therefore, I
pray thee, curse me this people. And Balaam answered and said unto the
servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and
gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or
more. Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I
may know what the LORD will speak unto me more. And God came unto Balaam
at night, and said unto him, If the men be come to call thee, rise up,
go with them; but only the word which I speak unto thee, that shalt thou
do.
And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with
the princes of Moab. And God's anger was kindled because he went: and
the angel of the LORD placed himself in the way for an adversary against
him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.
And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, with his
sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and
went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.
Then the angel of the LORD stood in a hollow way between the vineyards,
a fence being on this side, and a fence on that side. And the ass saw
the angel of the LORD, and she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed
Balaam's foot against the wall: and he smote her again. And the angel of
the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to
turn either to the right hand or to the left. And the ass saw the angel
of the LORD, and she lay down under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was
kindled, and he smote the ass with his staff. And the LORD opened the
mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee,
that thou hast smitten me these three times? And Balaam said unto the
ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine
hand, for now I had killed thee. And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I
thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden all thy life long unto this day?
was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay. Then the LORD
opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in
the way, with his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed his head, and
fell on his face. And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore
hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I am come forth
for an adversary, because thy way is perverse before me: and the ass saw
me, and turned aside before me these three times: unless she had turned
aside from me, surely now I had even slain thee, and saved her alive.
And Balaam said unto the angel of the LORD, I have sinned; for I knew
not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it
displease thee, I will get me back again. And the angel of the LORD said
unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto
thee, that thou shalt speak.
So Balaam went with the princes of Balak. And when Balak heard that
Balaam was come, he went out to meet him unto the city of Moab, which is
on the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost part of the border. And
Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee?
wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee
to honour? And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I
now any power at all to speak anything? the word that God putteth in my
mouth, that shall I speak.
And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kiriath-huzoth. And Balak
sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that
were with him. And it came to pass in the morning, that Balak took
Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, and he saw from
thence the utmost part of the people. And Balaam said unto Balak, Build
me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on
every altar a bullock and a ram. And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by
thy burnt offering, and I will go; peradventure the LORD will come to
meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to a
bare height. And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared
the seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock and a ram on every
altar. And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto
Balak, and thus thou shalt speak. And he returned unto him, and, lo, he
stood by his burnt offering, he, and all the princes of Moab. And he
took up his parable, and said:
From Aram hath Balak brought me,
The king of Moab from the mountains of the East:
Come, curse me Jacob,
And come, defy Israel.
How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?
And how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?
For from the top of the rocks I see him,
And from the hills I behold him:
Lo, it is a people that dwell alone,
And shall not be reckoned among the nations.
Who can count the dust of Jacob,
Or number the fourth part of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,
And let my last end be like his!
And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to
curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether. And
he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD
putteth in my mouth?
And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place,
from whence thou mayest see them; thou shalt see but the utmost part of
them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence. And he
took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven
altars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar. And he said
unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the LORD
yonder. And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said,
Return unto Balak, and thus shalt thou speak. And he came to him, and,
lo, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him.
And Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken? And he took up his
parable, and said:
Rise up, Balak, and hear;
Hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:
God is not a man, that he should lie;
Neither the son of man, that he should repent:
Hath he said, and shall he not do it?
Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Behold, I have received commandment to bless:
And he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob,
Neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel:
The LORD his God is with him,
And the shout of a king is among them.
God bringeth them forth out of Egypt;
He hath as it were the strength of the wild-ox.
Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob,
Neither is there any divination against Israel:
Now shall it be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!
Behold, the people riseth up as a lioness,
And as a lion doth he lift himself up:
He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey,
And drink the blood of the slain.
And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at
all. But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying,
All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?
And Balak said unto Balaam, Come now, I will take thee unto another
place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them
from thence. And Balak took Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh
down upon the desert. And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven
altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams. And Balak did
as Balaam had said, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.
And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he went
not, as at the other times, to meet with enchantments, but he set his
face toward the wilderness. And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw
Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came
upon him. And he took up his parable, and said:
Balaam the son of Beor saith,
And the man whose eye is opened saith:
He saith, which heareth the words of God,
Which seeth the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, and having his eyes open:
How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob,
Thy tabernacles, O Israel!
As valleys are they spread forth,
As gardens by the river side,
As lign-aloes which the LORD hath planted,
As cedar trees beside the waters.
Water shall flow from his buckets,
And his seed shall be in many waters,
And his king shall be higher than Agag,
And his kingdom shall be exalted.
God bringeth him forth out of Egypt;
He hath as it were the strength of the wild-ox:
He shall eat up the nations his adversaries,
And shall break their bones in pieces,
And smite them through with his arrows.
He couched, he lay down as a lion,
And as a lioness; who shall rouse him up?
Blessed be every one that blesseth thee,
And cursed be every one that curseth thee.
And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands
together: and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine
enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three
times. Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee
unto great honour; but, lo, the LORD hath kept thee back from honour.
And Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy messengers which
thou sentest unto me, saying, If Balak would give me his house full of
silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD, to do either
good or bad of mine own mind; what the LORD speaketh, that will I speak?
And now, behold, I go unto my people: come, and I will advertise thee
what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days. And he took
up his parable, and said:
Balaam the son of Beor saith,
And the man whose eye is opened saith:
He saith, which heareth the words of God,
And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High,
Which seeth the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, and having his eyes open:
I see him, but not now:
I behold him, but not nigh:
There shall come forth a star out of Jacob,
And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel,
And shall smite through the corners of Moab,
And break down all the sons of tumult.
And Edom shall be a possession,
Seir also shall be a possession, which were his enemies;
While Israel doeth valiantly.
And out of Jacob shall one have dominion,
And shall destroy the remnant from the city.
And he looked on Amalek, and took up his parable, and said:
Amalek was the first of the nations;
But his latter end shall come to destruction.
And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said:
Strong is thy dwelling place,
And thy nest is set in the rock.
Nevertheless Kain shall be wasted,
Until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.
And he took up his parable, and said:
Alas, who shall live when God doeth this?
But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim,
And they shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber,
And he also shall come to destruction.
And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place: and Balak also
went his way.
III
THE CROWNING OF ABIMELECH
And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. And
Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many
wives. And his concubine that was in Sechem, she also bare him a son,
and he called his name Abimelech. And Gideon the son of Joash died in a
good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in
Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of
Israel turned again, and went a whoring after the Baalim, and made
Baal-berith their god. And the children of Israel remembered not the
LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their
enemies on every side: neither shewed they kindness to the house of
Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had
shewed unto Israel.
And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother's
brethren, and spake with them, and with all the family of the house of
his mother's father, saying, Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the
men of Shechem, Whether is better for you, that all the sons of
Jerubbaal, which are threescore and ten persons, rule over you, or that
one rule over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.
And his mother's brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of
Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech;
for they said, He is our brother. And they gave him threescore and ten
pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith, wherewith Abimelech
hired vain and light fellows, which followed him. And he went unto his
father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal,
being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone: but Jotham the
youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself.
And all the men of Shechem assembled themselves together, and all the
house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the
pillar that was in Shechem. And when they told it to Jotham, he went and
stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried,
and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may
hearken unto you. The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over
them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. But the
olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me
they honour God and man, and go to wave to and fro over the trees? And
the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us. But the
fig tree said unto them, Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit,
and go to wave to and fro over the trees? And the trees said unto the
vine, Come thou, and reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should
I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to wave to and fro
over the trees? Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and
reign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye
anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and
if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of
Lebanon. Now therefore, if ye have dealt truly and uprightly, in that ye
have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and
his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his
hands;--for my father fought for you, and adventured his life, and
delivered you out of the hand of Midian: and ye are risen up against my
father's house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten
persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his
maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your
brother;--if ye then have dealt truly and uprightly with Jerubbaal and
with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also
rejoice in you: but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour
the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from
the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.
And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for
fear of Abimelech his brother.
And Abimelech was prince over Israel three years. And God sent an evil
spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem
dealt treacherously with Abimelech: that the violence done to the
threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and that their blood
might be laid upon Abimelech their brother, which slew them, and upon
the men of Shechem, which strengthened his hands to slay his brethren.
And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him on the tops of the
mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it
was told Abimelech.
And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to
Shechem: and the men of Shechem put their trust in him. And they went
out into the field, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes,
and held festival, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and
drink, and cursed Abimelech. And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is
Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? is not he the
son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? serve ye the men of Hamor the
father of Shechem; but why should we serve him? And would to God this
people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And he said to
Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out. And when Zebul the ruler
of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was
kindled. And he sent messengers unto Abimelech craftily, saying, Behold,
Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren are come to Shechem; and, behold,
they constrain the city to take part against thee. Now therefore, up by
night, thou and the people that is with thee, and lie in wait in the
field: and it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up,
thou shalt rise early, and set upon the city: and, behold, when he and
the people that is with him come out against thee, then mayest thou do
to them as thou shalt find occasion.
And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night,
and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies. And Gaal the son
of Ebed went out, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and
Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with him, from the
ambushment. And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold,
there come people down from the tops of the mountains. And Zebul said
unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.
And Gaal spake again and said, See, there come people down by the middle
of the land, and one company cometh by the way of the oak of Meonenim.
Then said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy mouth, that thou saidst, Who
is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that thou
hast despised? go out now, I pray, and fight with them. And Gaal went
out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. And Abimelech
chased him, and he fled before him, and there fell many wounded, even
unto the entering of the gate. And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul
drave out Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem.
And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into the
field; and they told Abimelech. And he took the people, and divided them
into three companies, and laid wait in the field; and he looked, and,
behold, the people came forth out of the city; and he rose up against
them, and smote them. And Abimelech, and the companies that were with
him, rushed forward, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city:
and the two companies rushed upon all that were in the field, and smote
them. And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took
the city, and slew the people that was therein: and he beat down the
city, and sowed it with salt.
And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard thereof, they entered
into the hold of the house of Elberith. And it was told Abimelech that
all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. And
Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were
with him; and Abimelech took an ax in his hand, and cut down a bough
from the trees, and took it up, and laid it on his shoulder: and he said
unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste,
and do as I have done. And all the people likewise cut down every man
his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the
hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died
also, about a thousand men and women.
Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took
it. But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all
the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut themselves in, and
gat them up to the roof of the tower. And Abimelech came unto the tower,
and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn
it with fire. And a certain woman cast an upper millstone upon
Abimelech's head, and brake his skull. Then he called hastily unto the
young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and kill
me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust
him through, and he died. And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech
was dead, they departed every man unto his place. Thus God requited the
wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his
seventy brethren: and all the wickedness of the men of Shechem did God
requite upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son
of Jerubbaal.
IV
SAMSON'S WEDDING FEAST
And Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the
daughters of the Philistines. And he came up, and told his father and
his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of
the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife. Then his father
and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters
of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife
of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get
her for me; for she pleaseth me well. But his father and his mother knew
not that it was of the LORD; for he sought an occasion against the
Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines had rule over Israel. Then
went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnah, and came to
the vineyards of Timnah: and, behold, a young lion roared against him.
And the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he
would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not
his father or his mother what he had done. And he went down and talked
with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. And after a while he
returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the
lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion,
and honey. And he took it into his hands, and went on, eating as he
went, and he came to his father and mother, and gave unto them, and they
did eat: but he told them not that he had taken the honey out of the
body of the lion. And his father went down unto the woman: and Samson
made there a feast: for so used the young men to do. And it came to
pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with
him. And Samson said unto them, Let me now put forth a riddle unto you:
if ye can declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it
out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of
raiment: but if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty
linen garments and thirty changes of raiment. And they said unto him,
Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. And he said unto them,
Out of the eater came forth meat,
And out of the strong came forth sweetness.
And they could not in three days declare the riddle. And it came to pass
on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice thy
husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and
thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to impoverish us? is it
not so? And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate
me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of
my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have
not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell thee? And she wept
before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass
on the seventh day, that he told her, because she pressed him sore: and
she told the riddle to the children of her people. And the men of the
city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down:
What is sweeter than honey?
And what is stronger than a lion?
And he said unto them:
If ye had not plowed with my heifer,
Ye had not found out my riddle.
And the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he went down to
Ashkelon, and smote thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave
the changes of raiment unto them that declared the riddle. And his anger
was kindled, and he went up to his father's house. But Samson's wife was
given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.
But it came to pass after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, that
Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife
into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in. And her
father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her;
therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer
than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her. And Samson said unto
them, This time shall I be blameless in regard of the Philistines, when
I do them a mischief. And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes,
and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the
midst between every two tails. And when he had set the brands on fire,
he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up
both the shocks and the standing corn, and also the oliveyards. Then the
Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they said, Samson, the son in
law of the Timnite, because he hath taken his wife, and given her to his
companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father
with fire. And Samson said unto them, If ye do after this manner, surely
I will be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. And he smote them
hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the
cleft of the rock of Etam.
V
THE EXPEDITION AGAINST ELISHA
Now the king of Syria warred against Israel: and he took counsel with
his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp. And the
man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass
not such a place; for thither the Syrians are coming down. And the king
of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him
of; and he saved himself there, not once nor twice. And the heart of the
king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his
servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for
the king of Israel? And one of his servants said, Nay, my lord, O king:
but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel
the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber. And he said, Go and see
where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying,
Behold, he is in Dothan. Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots,
and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.
And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth,
behold, an host with horses and chariots was round about the city. And
his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he
answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be
with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his
eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man;
and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of
fire round about Elisha. And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed
unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness.
And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. And
Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city:
follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. And he led them
to Samaria. And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that
Elisha said, LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And
the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the
midst of Samaria. And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw
them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them? And he
answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou
hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water
before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. And he
prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he
sent them away, and they went to their master. And the bands of Syria
came no more into the land of Israel.
VI
THE DREAM OF THE TREE CUT DOWN
'Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all the peoples, nations, and languages,
that dwell in all the earth: peace be multiplied unto you. It hath
seemed good unto me to shew the signs and wonders that the Most High God
hath wrought toward me. How great are his signs! and how mighty are his
wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from
generation to generation.
'I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my
palace. I saw a dream which made me afraid; and the thoughts upon my bed
and the visions of my head troubled me. Therefore made I a decree to
bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make
known unto me the interpretation of the dream. Then came in the
magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I
told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the
interpretation thereof. But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose
name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is
the spirit of the holy gods: and I told the dream before him, saying, O
Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of
the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the
visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.
'Thus were the visions of my head upon my bed: I saw, and behold a tree
in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. The tree
grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven and the
sight thereof to the end of all the earth. The leaves thereof were fair,
and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of
the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the
branches thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. I saw in the visions of
my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down
from heaven. He cried aloud, and said thus: "Hew down the tree, and cut
off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the
beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches.
Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a
band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be
wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in
the grass of the earth: let his heart be changed from man's, and let a
beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him. The
sentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of
the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the Most High
ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and
setteth up over it the lowest of men." This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar
have seen: and thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation,
forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known
unto me the interpretation; but thou art able, for the spirit of the
holy gods is in thee.
'Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for a while, and
his thoughts troubled him. The king answered and said, Belteshazzar, let
not the dream, or the interpretation, trouble thee. Belteshazzar
answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the
interpretation thereof to thine adversaries. The tree that thou sawest,
which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and
the sight thereof to all the earth; whose leaves were fair, and the
fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts
of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had
their habitation; it is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong:
for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion
to the end of the earth. And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy
one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew down the tree, and destroy
it; nevertheless leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even
with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let
it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts
of the field, till seven times pass over him; this is the
interpretation, O king, and it is the decree of the Most High, which is
come upon my lord the king: that thou shalt be driven from men, and thy
dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and thou shalt be made
to eat grass as oxen, and shalt be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven
times shall pass over thee; till thou know that the Most High ruleth in
the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And whereas
they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall
be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do
rule. Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and
break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing
mercy to the poor; if there may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.
'All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months
he was walking in the royal palace of Babylon. The king spake and said,
Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling
place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty? While
the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven,
saying: "O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken: the kingdom is
departed from thee. And thou shalt be driven from men, and thy dwelling
shall be with the beasts of the field; thou shalt be made to eat grass
as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee; until thou know that the
Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he
will." The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he
was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet
with the dew of heaven, till his hair was grown like eagles' feathers,
and his nails like birds' claws. And at the end of the days I
Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding
returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and
honoured him that liveth for ever; for his dominion is an everlasting
dominion, and his kingdom from generation to generation: and all the
inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according
to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the
earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? At
the same time mine understanding returned unto me; and for the glory of
my kingdom, my majesty and brightness returned unto me; and my
counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my
kingdom, and excellent greatness was added unto me.
'Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven;
for all his works are truth, and his ways judgement: and those that walk
in pride he is able to abase.'
VII
BELSHAZZAR'S FEAST
Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and
drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine,
commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar
his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the
king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, might drink therein.
Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple
of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king and his lords,
his wives and his concubines, drank in them. They drank wine, and
praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and
of stone. In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man's hand, and
wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the
king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then
the king's countenance was changed in him, and his thoughts troubled
him; and the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one
against another. The king cried aloud to bring in the enchanters, the
Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. The king spake and said to the wise men
of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the
interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain
of gold about his neck, and shall rule as one of three in the kingdom.
Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the
writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation. Then was king
Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and
his lords were perplexed.
Now the queen by reason of the words of the king and his lords came into
the banquet house: the queen spake and said: O king, live for ever; let
not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed: there
is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in
the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the
wisdom of the gods, was found in him: and the king Nebuchadnezzar thy
father, the king, I say, thy father, made him master of the magicians,
enchanters, Chaldeans, and soothsayers; forasmuch as an excellent
spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and
shewing of dark sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the
same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called,
and he will shew the interpretation.
Then was Daniel brought in before the king. The king spake and said unto
Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the
captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Judah? I have
heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light
and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee. And now the
wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me, that they
should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation
thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing. But I
have heard of thee, that thou canst give interpretations, and dissolve
doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the
interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with purple, and have a
chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt rule as one of three in the
kingdom. Then Daniel answered and said before the king: Let thy gifts be
to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; nevertheless I will read
the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation. O
thou king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father the kingdom,
and greatness, and glory, and majesty: and because of the greatness that
he gave him, all the peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared
before him: whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive; and
whom he would he raised up, and whom he would he put down. But when his
heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened that he dealt proudly,
he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:
and he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the
beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses; he was fed with grass
like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven: until he knew
that the Most High God ruleth in the kingdom of men, and that he setteth
up over it whomsoever he will. And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not
humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this: but hast lifted up
thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of
his house before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy wives and thy
concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of
silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor
hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are
all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: then was the part of the hand
sent from before him, and this writing was inscribed. And this is the
writing that was inscribed[2]:
M U P
E L H
N E A
E K R
M E S
E T I
N E N
[Footnote 2: Daniel reads down, up, down: instead of across.]
This is the interpretation of the thing:
MENE
God hath NUMBERED thy kingdom:
And brought it to an end!
TEKEL
Thou art WEIGHED in the balances:
And art found wanting!
PERES
Thy kingdom is DIVIDED:
And given to the Medes and Persians!
Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put
a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him,
that he should rule as one of three in the kingdom. In that night
Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain. And Darius the Mede received the
kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.
ORATORY
I
THE ORATION OF MOSES
AT THE REHEARSAL OF THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE
And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the
voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments which I
command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above
all the nations of the earth: and all these blessings shall come upon
thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the
LORD thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou
be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit
of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine,
and the young of thy flock. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy
kneadingtrough. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed
shalt thou be when thou goest out. The LORD shall cause thine enemies
that rise up against thee to be smitten before thee: they shall come out
against thee one way, and shall flee before thee seven ways. The LORD
shall command the blessing upon thee in thy barns, and in all that thou
puttest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the
LORD thy God giveth thee. The LORD shall establish thee for an holy
people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee; if thou shalt keep the
commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. And all the
peoples of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the
LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. And the LORD shall make thee
plenteous for good, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy
cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware
unto thy fathers to give thee. The LORD shall open unto thee his good
treasury the heaven to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to
bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations,
and thou shalt not borrow. And the LORD shall make thee the head, and
not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be
beneath; if thou shalt hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy
God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them; and shalt
not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to
the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of
the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes
which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon
thee, and overtake thee. Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed
shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy
kneadingtrough. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of
thy ground, the increase of thy kine, and the young of thy flock. Cursed
shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou
goest out. The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, discomfiture, and
rebuke, in all that thou puttest thine hand unto for to do, until thou
be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the evil of thy
doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. The LORD shall make the
pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the
land, whither thou goest in to possess it. The LORD shall smite thee
with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with fiery
heat, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they
shall pursue thee until thou perish. And thy heaven that is over thy
head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. The
LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall
it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed. The LORD shall cause
thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way
against them, and shalt flee seven ways before them: and thou shalt be
tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth. And thy carcase
shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the
earth, and there shall be none to fray them away. The LORD shall smite
thee with the boil of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scurvy,
and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. The LORD shall
smite thee with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of
heart: and thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in
darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only
oppressed and spoiled alway, and there shall be none to save thee. Thou
shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt
build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a
vineyard, and shalt not use the fruit thereof. Thine ox shall be slain
before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shalt be
violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to
thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have
none to save thee. Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto
another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for
them all the day: and there shall be nought in the power of thine hand.
The fruit of thy ground, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou
knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:
so that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt
see. The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a
sore boil, whereof thou canst not be healed, from the sole of thy foot
unto the crown of thy head. The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king
which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which thou hast not known,
thou nor thy fathers; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and
stone. And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword,
among all the peoples whither the LORD shall lead thee away. Thou shalt
carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather little in; for the
locust shall consume it. Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but
thou shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the
worm shall eat them. Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy
borders, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive
shall cast its fruit. Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but they
shall not be thine; for they shall go into captivity. All thy trees and
the fruit of thy ground shall the locust possess. The stranger that is
in the midst of thee shall mount up above thee higher and higher; and
thou shalt come down lower and lower. He shall lend to thee, and thou
shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.
And all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and
overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto
the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes
which he commanded thee: and they shall be upon thee for a sign, and for
a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. Because thou servedst not the LORD
thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the
abundance of all things: therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which
the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in
nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron
upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. The LORD shall bring a
nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle
flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; a nation of
fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor
shew favour to the young: and he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and
the fruit of thy ground, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not
leave thee corn, wine, or oil, the increase of thy kine, or the young of
thy flock, until he have caused thee to perish. And he shall besiege
thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down,
wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege
thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God
hath given thee. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the
flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters which the LORD thy God hath given
thee; in the siege and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall
straiten thee. The man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his
eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom,
and toward the remnant of his children which he hath remaining: so that
he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he
shall eat, because he hath nothing left him; in the siege and in the
straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall straiten thee in all thy gates.
The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to
set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and
tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and
toward her son, and toward her daughter; and toward her young one that
cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she
shall bear; for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly: in
the siege and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall straiten
thee in thy gates.
If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are
written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful
name, THE LORD THY GOD; then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful,
and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long
continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. And he will
bring upon thee again all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid
of; and they shall cleave unto thee. Also every sickness, and every
plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD
bring upon thee until thou be destroyed. And ye shall be left few in
number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because
thou didst not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. And it shall
come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to
multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to cause you to perish,
and to destroy you; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither
thou goest in to possess it. And the LORD shall scatter thee among all
peoples, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the
earth; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which thou hast not known,
thou nor thy fathers, even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt
thou find no ease, and there shall be no rest for the sole of thy foot:
but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of
eyes, and pining of soul: and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee;
and thou shalt fear night and day, and shalt have none assurance of thy
life: in the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even
thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart
which thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt
see. And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the
way whereof I said unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there
ye shall sell yourselves unto your enemies for bondmen and for
bondwomen: and no man shall buy you.
II
A DISCOURSE ON
IMMORTALITY AND THE COVENANT WITH DEATH
Court not death in the error of your life;
Neither draw upon yourselves destruction by the works of your hands.
Because God made not death: neither delighteth he when the living
perish. For he created all things that they might have being; and the
generative powers of the world are healthsome, and there is no poison of
destruction in them, nor hath Hades royal dominion upon earth: for
righteousness is immortal. But ungodly men by their hands and their
words called death unto them; deeming him a friend they consumed away,
and they made a covenant with him because they are worthy to be of his
portion.
For they said within themselves, reasoning not aright: "Short and
sorrowful is our life; and there is no healing when a man cometh to his
end, and none was ever known that gave release from Hades. Because by
mere chance were we born, and hereafter we shall be as though we had
never been; because the breath in our nostrils is smoke, and while our
heart beateth reason is a spark, which being extinguished, the body
shall be turned into ashes, and the spirit shall be dispersed as thin
air. And our name shall be forgotten in time, and no man shall remember
our works; and our life shall pass away as the traces of a cloud, and
shall be scattered as is a mist, when it is chased by the beams of the
sun, and overcome by the heat thereof. For our allotted time is the
passing of a shadow, and our end retreateth not; because it is fast
sealed, and none turneth it back. Come therefore and let us enjoy the
good things that now are; and let us use the creation with all our soul
as youth's possession. Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and
perfumes, and let no flower of spring pass us by; let us crown ourselves
with rosebuds before they be withered; let none of us go without his
share in our proud revelry; everywhere let us leave tokens of our mirth:
because this is our portion, and our lot is this. Let us oppress the
righteous poor: let us not spare the widow, nor reverence the hairs of
the old man gray for length of years, but let our strength be to us a
law of righteousness; for that which is weak is found to be of no
service. But let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is of
disservice to us, and is contrary to our works, and upbraideth us with
sins against the law, and layeth to our charge sins against our
discipline. He professeth to have knowledge of God, and nameth himself
servant of the Lord. He became to us a reproof of our thoughts. He is
grievous unto us even to behold, because his life is unlike other men's,
and his paths are of strange fashion. We were accounted of him as base
metal, and he abstaineth from our ways as from uncleannesses. The latter
end of the righteous he calleth happy; and he vaunteth that God is his
father. Let us see if his words be true, and let us try what shall
befall in the ending of his life: for if the righteous man is God's son,
he will uphold him, and he will deliver him out of the hand of his
adversaries. With outrage and torture let us put him to the test, that
we may learn his gentleness, and may prove his patience under wrong. Let
us condemn him to a shameful death; for he shall be visited according to
his words."
Thus reasoned they, and they were led astray. For their wickedness
blinded them; and they knew not the mysteries of God, neither hoped they
for wages of holiness, nor did they judge that there is a prize for
blameless souls. Because God created man for incorruption, and made him
an image of his own proper being; but by the envy of the devil death
entered into the world, and they that are of his portion make trial
thereof.
But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment
shall touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died;
and their departure was accounted to be their hurt, and their journeying
away from us to be their ruin: but they are in peace. For even if in
the sight of men they be punished, their hope is full of immortality;
and having borne a little chastening, they shall receive great good.
Because God made trial of them, and found them worthy of himself; as
gold in the furnace he proved them, and as a whole burnt offering he
accepted them. And in the time of their visitation they shall shine
forth, and as sparks among stubble they shall run to and fro. They shall
judge nations, and have dominion over peoples; and the Lord shall reign
over them for evermore. They that trust on him shall understand truth,
and the faithful shall abide with him in love: because grace and mercy
are to his chosen.
But the ungodly shall be requited even as they reasoned, they which
lightly regarded the righteous man, and revolted from the Lord: for he
that setteth at nought wisdom and discipline is miserable. And void is
their hope and their toils unprofitable, and useless are their works.
Their wives are foolish, and wicked are their children; accursed is
their begetting.[3] For good labours have fruit of great renown; and the
root of understanding cannot fail. But children of adulterers shall not
come to maturity, and the seed of an unlawful bed shall vanish away.
For if they live long they shall be held in no account, and at the last
their old age shall be without honour; and if they die quickly they
shall have no hope, nor in the day of decision shall they have
consolation. For the end of an unrighteous generation is alway grievous.
Better than this is childlessness with virtue. For in the memory of
virtue is immortality, because it is recognised both before God and
before men; when it is present men imitate it, and they long after it
when it is departed; and throughout all time it marcheth crowned in
triumph, victorious in the strife for the prizes that are undefiled. But
the multiplying brood of the ungodly shall be of no profit, and with
bastard slips they shall not strike deep root, nor shall they establish
a sure hold. For even if these put forth boughs and flourish for a
season, yet, standing unsure, they shall be shaken by the wind, and by
the violence of winds they shall be rooted out. Their branches shall be
broken off before they come to maturity; and their fruit shall be
useless, never ripe to eat, and fit for nothing. For children unlawfully
begotten are witnesses of wickedness against parents when God searcheth
them out.
[Footnote 3: Because happy is the barren that is indefiled, she who hath
not conceived in transgression; she shall have fruit when God visiteth
souls. And happy is the eunuch which hath wrought no lawless deed with
his hands, nor imagined wicked things against the Lord; for there shall
be given him for his faithfulness a peculiar favour, and a lot in the
sanctuary of the Lord more delightsome than wife or children.]
But a righteous man, though he die before his time, shall be at rest.
For honourable old age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor
is its measure given by number of years: but understanding is gray hairs
unto men, and an unspotted life is ripe old age. Being found well
pleasing unto God he was beloved of him, and while living among sinners
he was translated. He was caught away lest wickedness should change his
understanding, or guile deceive his soul; for the bewitching of
naughtiness bedimmeth the things which are good, and the giddy whirl of
desire perverteth an innocent mind. Being made perfect in a little while
he fulfilled long years: for his soul was pleasing unto the Lord;
therefore hasted he out of the midst of wickedness.
But as for the peoples, seeing and understanding not, neither laying
this to heart, that grace and mercy are with his chosen, and that he
visiteth his holy ones:[4] they shall see, and they shall despise; but
them the Lord shall laugh to scorn. And after this they shall become a
dishonoured carcase, and a reproach among the dead for ever. Because he
shall dash them speechless to the ground, and shall shake them from the
foundations, and they shall lie utterly waste, and they shall be in
anguish, and their memory shall perish. They shall come, when their sins
are reckoned up, with coward fear; and their lawless deeds shall convict
them to their face. Then shall the righteous man stand in great boldness
before the face of them that afflicted him, and them that make his
labours of no account. When they see it, they shall be troubled with
terrible fear, and shall be amazed at the marvel of God's salvation.
[Footnote 4: But a righteous man that is dead shall condemn the ungodly
that are living, and youth that is quickly perfected the many years of
an unrighteous man's old age; for the ungodly shall see a wise man's
end, and shall not understand what the Lord purposed concerning him, and
for what he safely kept him.]
They shall say within themselves, repenting, and for distress of spirit
shall they groan: "This was he whom aforetime we had in derision, and
made a parable of reproach; we fools accounted his life madness and his
end without honour. How was he numbered among sons of God? and how is
his lot among saints? Verily we went astray from the way of truth; and
the light of righteousness shined not for us, and the sun rose not for
us. We took our fill of the paths of lawlessness and destruction, and we
journeyed through trackless deserts; but the way of the Lord we knew
not. What did our arrogancy profit us? and what good have riches and
vaunting brought us? Those things all passed away as a shadow, and as a
message that runneth by; as a ship passing through the billowy water,
whereof, when it is gone by, there is no trace to be found, neither
pathway of its keel in the billows; or as when a bird flieth through the
air, no token of her passage is found, but the lightwind, lashed with
the stroke of her pinions, and rent asunder with the violent rush of the
moving wings, is passed through, and afterwards no sign of her coming is
found therein; or as when an arrow is shot at a mark, the air disparted
closeth up again immediately, so that men know not where it passed
through: so we also, as soon as we were born, ceased to be; and of
virtue we had no sign to shew, but in our wickedness we were utterly
consumed."
Because the hope of the ungodly man is as chaff carried by the wind, and
as foam vanishing before a tempest; and is scattered as smoke is
scattered by the wind; and passeth by as the remembrance of a guest that
tarrieth but a day. But the righteous live for ever, and in the Lord is
their reward, and the care for them with the Most High. Therefore shall
they receive the crown of royal dignity and the diadem of beauty from
the Lord's hand; because with his right hand shall he cover them, and
with his arm shall he shield them. He shall take his jealousy as
complete armour, and shall make the whole creation his weapons for
vengeance on his enemies; he shall put on righteousness as a
breastplate, and shall array himself with judgement unfeigned as with a
helmet: he shall take holiness as an invincible shield, and he shall
sharpen stern wrath for a sword. And the world shall go forth with him
to fight against his insensate foes. Shafts of lightning shall fly with
true aim, and from the clouds, as from a well-drawn bow, shall they leap
to the mark; and as from an engine of war shall be hurled hailstones
full of wrath; the water of the sea shall be angered against them, and
rivers shall sternly overwhelm them; a mighty blast shall encounter
them, and as a tempest shall it winnow them away. And so shall
lawlessness make all the land desolate, and their evil-doing shall
overturn the thrones of princes.
Hear therefore, ye kings, and understand; learn, ye judges of the ends
of the earth; give ear, ye that have dominion over much people, and make
your boast in multitudes of nations. Because your dominion was given you
from the Lord, and your sovereignty from the Most High, who shall search
out your works, and shall make inquisition of your counsels; because
being officers of his kingdom ye did not judge aright, neither kept ye
law, nor walked after the counsel of God. Awfully and swiftly shall he
come upon you, because a stern judgement befalleth them that be in high
place: for the man of low estate may be pardoned in mercy, but mighty
men shall be searched out mightily. For the Sovereign Lord of all will
not refrain himself for any man's person, neither will he reverence
greatness, because it is he that made both small and great. And alike he
taketh thought for all; but strict is the scrutiny that cometh upon the
powerful. Unto you, therefore, O princes, are my words, that ye may
learn wisdom and fall not from the right way. For they that have kept
holily the things that are holy shall themselves be hallowed; and they
that have been taught them shall find what to answer. Set your desire
therefore on my words; long for them, and ye shall be trained by their
discipline.
III
ISAIAH'S DISCOURSE
THE GREAT ARRAIGNMENT
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD hath spoken: I have
nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth
not know, my people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden
with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that deal corruptly: they
have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they
are estranged and gone backward. Why will ye be still stricken, that ye
revolt more and more? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in
it; but wounds, and bruises, and festering sores: they have not been
closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with oil. Your country is
desolate; your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers devour
it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. And
the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a lodge in a
garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Except the LORD of hosts had
left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, we
should have been like unto Gomorrah.
Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of
our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your
sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of
rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of
bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. When ye come to appear before me,
who hath required this at your hand, to trample my courts? Bring no more
vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; new moon and sabbath,
the calling of assemblies,--I cannot away with iniquity and the solemn
meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they
are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth
your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many
prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before
mine eyes; cease to do evil: learn to do well; seek judgement, relieve
the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and
let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they
shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good
of the land: but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the
sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
How is the faithful city become an harlot! she that was full of
judgement! righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. Thy silver is
become dross, thy wine mixed with water. Thy princes are rebellious, and
companions of thieves; every one loveth gifts, and followeth after
rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the
widow come unto them. Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the
Mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge
me of mine enemies: and I will turn my hand upon thee, and throughly
purge away thy dross, and will take away all thy alloy: and I will
restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the
beginning: afterward thou shalt be called The city of righteousness, the
faithful city. Zion shall be redeemed with judgement, and her converts
with righteousness. But the destruction of the transgressors and the
sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be
consumed. For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired,
and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. For ye
shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no
water. And the strong shall be as tow, and his work as a spark; and they
shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.
IV
ISAIAH'S DISCOURSE
THE COVENANT WITH DEATH
Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading
flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley of
them that are overcome with wine! Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and
strong one; as a tempest of hail, a destroying storm, as a tempest of
mighty waters overflowing, shall he cast down to the earth with the
hand. The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden
under foot: and the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on
the head of the fat valley, shall be as the firstripe fig before the
summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his
hand he eateth it up.
In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a
diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people: and for a spirit of
judgement to him that sitteth in judgement, and for strength to them
that turn back the battle at the gate.
But these also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are
gone astray; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink,
they are swallowed up of wine, they are gone astray through strong
drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgement. For all tables
are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place
clean.--'Whom will he teach knowledge? and whom will he make to
understand the message? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn
from the breasts? For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept;
line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little.'--Nay,
but by men of strange lips and with another tongue will he speak to this
people: to whom he said, This is the rest, give ye rest to him that is
weary; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. Therefore
shall the word of the LORD be unto them precept upon precept, precept
upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a
little; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared,
and taken. Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that
rule this people which is in Jerusalem: Because ye have said, We have
made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the
overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for
we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
therefore thus saith the LORD God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a
foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone of sure
foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. And I will make
judgement the line, and righteousness the plummet: and the hail shall
sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding
place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your
agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall
pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. As often as it
passeth through, it shall take you; for morning by morning shall it pass
through, by day and by night: and it shall be nought but terror to
understand the message. For the bed is shorter than that a man can
stretch himself on it; and the covering narrower than that he can wrap
himself in it. For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall
be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon; that he may do his work, his
strange work, and bring to pass his act, his strange act. Now therefore
be ye not scorners, lest your bands be made strong: for a consummation,
and that determined, have I heard from the Lord, the LORD of hosts, upon
the whole earth.
Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech. Doth the
plowman plow continually to sow? doth he continually open and break the
clods of his ground? When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he
not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and put in the
wheat in rows and the barley in the appointed place and the spelt in the
border thereof? For his God doth instruct him aright, and doth teach
him. For the fitches are not threshed with a sharp threshing instrument,
neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches
are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod. Is bread corn
crushed? Nay, he will not ever be threshing it, and driving his cart
wheels and his horses over it; he doth not crush it. This also cometh
forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and
excellent in wisdom.
V
ISAIAH'S DISCOURSE
THE UTTER DESTRUCTION AND THE GREAT RESTORATION
1
Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples: let the earth
hear, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all things that come forth
of it. For the LORD hath indignation against all the nations, and fury
against all their host: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath
delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and
the stink of their carcases shall come up, and the mountains shall be
melted with their blood. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved,
and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host
shall fade away, as the leaf fadeth from off the vine, and as a fading
leaf from the fig tree. For my sword hath drunk its fill in heaven:
behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my curse,
to judgement. The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat
with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the
kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great
slaughter in the land of Edom. And the wild-oxen shall come down with
them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be drunken
with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. For it is the day of
the LORD'S vengeance, the year of recompence in the controversy of Zion.
And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof
into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It
shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for
ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass
through it for ever and ever. But the pelican and the porcupine shall
possess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell therein: and he shall
stretch over it the line of confusion, and the plummet of emptiness.
They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be
there; and all her princes shall be nothing. And thorns shall come up in
her palaces, nettles and thistles in the fortresses thereof: and it
shall be an habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches. And the wild
beasts of the desert shall meet with the wolves, and the satyr shall cry
to his fellow; yea, the night-monster shall settle there, and shall find
her a place of rest. There shall the arrowsnake make her nest, and lay,
and hatch, and gather under her shadow: yea, there shall the kites be
gathered, every one with her mate.
Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read:
No one of these shall be missing,
None shall want her mate:
For my mouth it hath commanded,
And his spirit it hath gathered them.
And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto
them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to
generation shall they dwell therein.
2
The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad; and the desert
shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and
rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given
unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon: they shall see the glory
of the LORD, the excellency of our God.
Strengthen ye the weak hands,
And confirm the feeble knees;
Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not:
Behold, your God will come with vengeance,
With the recompence of God he will come and save you.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf
shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the
tongue of the dumb shall sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break
out, and streams in the desert. And the glowing sand shall become a
pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water: in the habitation of
jackals, where they lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And an
highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of
holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those:
the wayfaring men, yea fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be
there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up thereon, they shall not be
found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: and the ransomed of the
LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy
shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and
sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
VI
EZEKIEL'S DISCOURSE
THE SWORD OF THE LORD
1
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face
toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy
against the land of Israel; and say to the land of Israel, Thus saith
the LORD: Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my SWORD out
of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.
Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked,
therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh
from the south to the north: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD
have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath; it shall not return any
more. Sigh therefore, thou son of man; with the breaking of thy loins
and with bitterness shalt thou sigh before their eyes. And it shall be,
when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt say,
Because of the tidings, for it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and
all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees
shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and it shall be done, saith
the Lord GOD.
2
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy, and
say, Thus saith the LORD: Say,
A sword,
A sword,
It is sharpened,
And also furbished:
It is sharpened that it may make a slaughter;
It is furbished that it may be as lightning!
'Shall we then make mirth? The Rod of my son, it contemneth every tree.'
And it is given to be furbished
That it may be handled:
The sword, it is sharpened, yea it is furbished,
To give it into the hand of the slayer.
Cry and howl, son of man: for it is upon my people, it is upon all the
princes of Israel: they are delivered over to the sword with my people:
smite therefore upon thy thigh. For there is a trial; and what if even
the Rod that contemneth shall be no more? saith the Lord GOD. Thou
therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together.
And let the sword be doubled the third time;
The sword of the deadly wounded:
It is the sword of the great one that is deadly wounded
Which compasseth them about.
I have set the point of the sword against all their gates,
That their heart may melt,
And their stumblings be multiplied:
Ah! it is made as lightning!
It is pointed for slaughter--
Gather thee together, go to the right;
Set thyself in array, go to the left--
Whithersoever thy face is set.
I will also smite mine hands together, and I will satisfy my fury: I the
LORD have spoken it.
3
The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying, Also, thou son of man,
appoint thee two ways that the sword of the king of Babylon may come;
they twain shall come forth out of one land: and mark out a place, mark
it out at the head of the way to the city. Thou shall appoint a way, for
the sword to come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in
Jerusalem the defenced. For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of
the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shook the
arrows to and fro, he consulted the teraphim, he looked in the liver. In
his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams,
to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting,
to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounts, to build
forts. And it shall be unto them as a vain divination in their sight,
which have sworn oaths unto them: but he bringeth iniquity to
remembrance, that they may be taken. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD:
Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your
transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do
appear; because that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with
the hand. And thou, O deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel,
whose day is come, in the time of the iniquity of the end; thus saith
the Lord GOD: Remove the mitre, and take off the crown: this shall be no
more the same: exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high. I
will overturn, overturn, overturn it: this also shall be no more, until
he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.
4
And thou, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD
concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach; and say
thou:
'A sword, a sword is drawn,
For the slaughter it is furbished:
To cause it to devour,
That it may be as lightning:'
whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine lies unto thee, to
lay thee upon the necks of the wicked that are deadly wounded, whose day
is come, in the time of the punishment of the end. (Cause it to return
into its sheath.) In the place where thou wast created, in the land of
thy birth, will I judge thee. And I will pour out mine indignation upon
thee; I will blow upon thee with the fire of my wrath: and I will
deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, skilful to destroy. Thou
shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the
land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the LORD have spoken it.
VII
EZEKIEL'S DISCOURSE
WRECK OF THE GOODLY SHIP TYRE
The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, And thou, son of man,
take up a lamentation for Tyre; and say unto Tyre, O thou that dwellest
at the entry of the sea, which art the merchant of the peoples unto many
isles: thus saith the Lord GOD: Thou, O Tyre, hast said, I am perfect in
beauty. Thy borders are in the heart of the seas, thy builders have
perfected thy beauty. They have made all thy planks of fir trees from
Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make a mast for thee. Of
the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; they have made thy benches
of ivory inlaid in boxwood, from the isles of Kittim. Of fine linen with
broidered work from Egypt was thy sail, that it might be to thee for an
ensign; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was thine awning. The
inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy rowers: thy wise men, O Tyre,
were in thee, they were thy pilots. The ancients of Gebal and the wise
men thereof were in thee thy calkers: all the ships of the sea with
their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise. Persia and Lud
and Put were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and
helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness. The men of Arvad with
thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadim were in thy
towers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have
perfected thy beauty. Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the
multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they
traded for thy wares. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy
traffickers: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass for thy
merchandise. They of the house of Togarmah traded for thy wares with
horses and war-horses and mules. The men of Dedan were thy traffickers:
many isles were the mart of thine hand: they brought thee in exchange
horns of ivory and ebony. Syria was thy merchant by reason of the
multitude of thy handyworks: they traded for thy wares with emeralds,
purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and rubies.
Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy traffickers: they traded
for thy merchandise wheat of Minnith, and pannag, and honey, and oil,
and balm. Damascus was thy merchant for the multitude of thy handyworks,
by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with the wine of
Helbon, and white wool. Vedan and Javan traded with yarn for thy wares:
bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were among thy merchandise. Dedan was
thy trafficker in precious cloths for riding. Arabia, and all the
princes of Kedar, they were the merchants of thy hand; in lambs, and
rams, and goats, in these were they thy merchants. The traffickers of
Sheba and Raamah, they were thy traffickers: they traded for thy wares
with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold. Haran
and Canneh and Eden, the traffickers of Sheba, Asshur and Chilmad, were
thy traffickers. These were thy traffickers in choice wares, in
wrappings of blue and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel,
bound with cords and made of cedar, among thy merchandise. The ships of
Tarshish were thy caravans for thy merchandise: and thou wast
replenished, and made very glorious in the heart of the seas.
Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath
broken thee in the heart of the seas. Thy riches, and thy wares, thy
merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the
occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee,
with all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the
heart of the seas in the day of thy ruin. At the sound of the cry of thy
pilots the suburbs shall shake. And all that handle the oar, the
mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their
ships, they shall stand upon the land, and shall cause their voice to
be heard over thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon
their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes: and they shall
make themselves bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they
shall weep for thee in bitterness of soul with bitter mourning. And in
their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over
thee, saying, 'Who is there like Tyre, like her that is brought to
silence in the midst of the sea?' When thy wares went forth out of the
seas, thou filledst many peoples; thou didst enrich the kings of the
earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise. In the
time that thou wast broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, thy
merchandise and all thy company did fall in the midst of thee. All the
inhabitants of the isles are astonished at thee, and their kings are
horribly afraid, they are troubled in their countenance. The merchants
among the peoples hiss at thee; thou art become a terror, and thou shalt
never be any more.
VIII
PROPHETIC SENTENCES
Thus saith the LORD: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither
let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his
riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth,
and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness,
judgement, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I
delight, saith the LORD.
* *
*
There is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is
great in might. Who would not fear thee, O King of the nations? for to
thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the
nations, and in all their royal estate, there is none like unto thee,
but they are together brutish and foolish.
* *
*
Thus saith the LORD: Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh
flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. For he shall be
like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but
shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not
inhabited.
Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD
is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth
out his roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat cometh, but his
leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought,
neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
* *
*
The New Covenant
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to
the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them
by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant
they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD. But
this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days, saith the LORD; I will put my law in their inward parts, and
in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall
be my people: and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and
every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know
me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD:
for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no
more.
WISDOM
WISDOM BREVITIES
The liberal soul shall be made fat:
And he that watereth shall be watered also himself.
* *
*
Where no oxen are, the crib is clean:
But much increase is by the strength of the ox.
* *
*
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty;
And he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
* *
*
It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer:
But when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.
* *
*
The words of a whisperer are as dainty morsels,
And they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.
* *
*
Boast not thyself of tomorrow;
For thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
* *
*
As vinegar to the teeth,
And as smoke to the eyes,
So is the sluggard to them that send him.
* *
*
All the brethren of the poor do hate him:
How much more do his friends go far from him!
He pursueth them with words, but they are gone.
* *
*
The getting of treasures by a lying tongue
Is a vapour driven to and fro;
They that seek them seek death.
* *
*
As one that taketh off a garment in cold weather,
And as vinegar upon nitre,
So is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.
* *
*
Wrath is cruel,
And anger is outrageous:
But who is able to stand before jealousy?
* *
*
The fining pot is for silver,
And the furnace for gold:
And a man is tried by his praise.
* *
*
Transitoriness of Riches
An Epigram
Weary not thyself to be rich;
Cease from thine own wisdom;
Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not?
For riches certainly make themselves wings,
Like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.
* *
*
Hospitality of the Evil Eye
An Epigram
Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye,
Neither desire thou his dainties;
For as one that reckoneth within himself, so is he:
Eat and drink, saith he to thee;
But his heart is not with thee.
The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up,
And lose thy sweet words.
* *
*
A Maxim
My son, if thou comest to serve the Lord,
Prepare thy soul for temptation.
Set thy heart aright, and constantly endure, and make not haste in time
of calamity. Cleave unto him, and depart not, that thou mayest be
increased at thy latter end. Accept whatsoever is brought upon thee, and
be longsuffering when thou passest into humiliation. For gold is tried
in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation. Put thy
trust in him, and he will help thee: order thy ways aright, and set thy
hope on him.
* *
*
Three Temperance Maxims
Go not after thy lusts;
And refrain thyself from thine appetites.
If thou give fully to thy soul the delight of her desire, she will make
thee the laughingstock of thine enemies.
Make not merry in much luxury;
Neither be tied to the expense thereof.
Be not made a beggar by banqueting upon borrowing, when thou hast
nothing in thy purse. A workman that is a drunkard shall not become
rich.
He that despiseth small things
Shall fall by little and little.
Wine and women will make men of understanding to fall away: and he that
cleaveth to harlots will be the more reckless. Moths and worms shall
have him to heritage; and a reckless soul shall be taken away.
ESSAYS
i
Wisdom's Way with her Children
Wisdom exalteth her sons, and taketh hold of them that seek her. He that
loveth her loveth life; and they that seek to her early shall be filled
with gladness. He that holdeth her fast shall inherit glory; and where
he entereth, the Lord will bless. They that do her service shall
minister to the Holy One; and them that love her the Lord doth love. He
that giveth ear unto her shall judge the nations; and he that giveth
heed unto her shall dwell securely. If he trust her, he shall inherit
her; and his generations shall have her in possession. For at the first
she will walk with him in crooked ways, and will bring fear and dread
upon him, and torment him with her discipline, until she may trust his
soul, and try him by her judgements: then will she return again the
straight way unto him, and will gladden him, and reveal to him her
secrets. If he go astray, she will forsake him, and give him over to his
fall.
ii
Prosperity and Adversity are from the Lord
There is one that toileth, and laboureth, and maketh haste, and is so
much the more behind. There is one that is sluggish, and hath need of
help, lacking in strength, and that aboundeth in poverty; and the eyes
of the Lord looked upon him for good, and he set him up from his low
estate, and lifted up his head; and many marvelled at him. Good things
and evil, life and death, poverty and riches, are from the Lord. The
gift of the Lord remaineth with the godly, and his good pleasure shall
prosper for ever. There is that waxeth rich by his wariness and
pinching, and this is the portion of his reward: when he saith, I have
found rest, and now will I eat of my goods--yet he knoweth not what time
shall pass, and he shall leave them to others, and die. Be stedfast in
thy covenant, and be conversant therein, and wax old in thy work. Marvel
not at the works of a sinner, but trust the Lord, and abide in thy
labour; for it is an easy thing in the sight of the Lord swiftly on the
sudden to make a poor man rich. The blessing of the Lord is in the
reward of the godly; and in an hour that cometh swiftly he maketh his
blessing to flourish. Say not, What use is there of me? And what from
henceforth shall my good things be? Say not, I have sufficient, and
from henceforth what harm shall happen unto me? In the day of good
things there is a forgetfulness of evil things; and in the day of evil
things a man will not remember things that are good. For it is an easy
thing in the sight of the Lord to reward a man in the day of death
according to his ways. The affliction of an hour causeth forgetfulness
of delight; and in the last end of a man is the revelation of his deeds.
Call no man blessed before his death; and a man shall be known in his
children.
iii
Against Gossip
He that is hasty to trust is lightminded; and he that sinneth shall
offend against his own soul. He that maketh merry in his heart shall be
condemned: and he that hateth talk hath the less wickedness. Never
repeat what is told thee, and thou shalt fare never the worse. Whether
it be of friend or foe, tell it not; and unless it is a sin to thee,
reveal it not: for he hath heard thee, and observed thee, and when the
time cometh he will hate thee. Hast thou heard a word? let it die with
thee: be of good courage, it will not burst thee. A fool will travail in
pain with a word, as a woman in labour with a child. As an arrow that
sticketh in the flesh of the thigh, so is a word in a fool's belly.
Reprove a friend: it may be he did it not, and if he did something, that
he may do it no more. Reprove thy neighbour: it may be he said it not,
and if he hath said it, that he may not say it again. Reprove a friend,
for many times there is slander; and trust not every word. There is one
that slippeth, and not from the heart; and who is he that hath not
sinned with his tongue? Reprove thy neighbour before thou threaten him;
and give place to the law of the Most High.
iv
On the Tongue
If thou blow a spark, it shall burn; and if thou spit upon it, it shall
be quenched: and both these shall come out of thy mouth. Curse the
whisperer and double-tongued: for he hath destroyed many that were at
peace. A third person's tongue hath shaken many, and dispersed them from
nation to nation; and it hath pulled down strong cities, and overthrown
the houses of great men. A third person's tongue hath cast out brave
women, and deprived them of their labours. He that hearkeneth unto it
shall not find rest, nor shall he dwell quietly. The stroke of a whip
maketh a mark in the flesh; but the stroke of a tongue will break
bones. Many have fallen by the edge of the sword; yet not so many as
they that have fallen because of the tongue. Happy is he that is
sheltered from it, that hath not passed through the wrath thereof; that
hath not drawn its yoke, and hath not been bound with its bands. For the
yoke thereof is a yoke of iron, and the bands thereof are bands of
brass. The death thereof is an evil death; and Hades were better than
it. It shall not have rule over godly men; and they shall not be burned
in its flame. They that forsake the Lord shall fall into it; and it
shall burn among them, and shall not be quenched: it shall be sent forth
upon them as a lion, and as a leopard it shall destroy them. Look that
thou hedge thy possession about with thorns; bind up thy silver and thy
gold; and make a balance and a weight for thy words; and make a door and
a bar for thy mouth. Take heed lest thou slip therein; lest thou fall
before one that lieth in wait.
v
Choice of Company
Bring not every man into thine house; for many are the plots of the
deceitful man. As a decoy partridge in a cage, so is the heart of a
proud man; and as one that is a spy, he looketh upon thy falling. For he
lieth in wait to turn things that are good into evil; and in things
that are praiseworthy he will lay blame. From a spark of fire a heap of
many coals is kindled; and a sinful man lieth in wait for blood. Take
heed of an evil-doer, for he contriveth wicked things; lest haply he
bring upon thee blame for ever. Receive a stranger into thine house, and
he will distract thee with brawls, and estrange thee from thine own.
If thou do good, know to whom thou doest it; and thy good deeds shall
have thanks. Do good to a godly man, and thou shalt find a recompense;
and if not from him, yet from the Most High. There shall no good come to
him that continueth to do evil, nor to him that giveth no alms. Give to
the godly man and help not the sinner. Do good to one that is lowly, and
give not to an ungodly man; keep back his bread, and give it not to him,
lest he overmaster thee thereby; for thou shalt receive twice as much
evil for all the good thou shalt have done unto him. For the Most High
also hateth sinners, and will repay vengeance unto the ungodly. Give to
the good man, and help not the sinner.
A man's friend will not be fully tried in prosperity; and his enemy will
not be hidden in adversity. In a man's prosperity his enemies are
grieved; and in his adversity even his friend will be separated from
him. Never trust thine enemy, for like as the brass rusteth, so is his
wickedness: though he humble himself, and go crouching, yet take good
heed, and beware of him, and thou shalt be unto him as one that hath
wiped a mirror, and thou shalt know that he hath not utterly rusted it.
Set him not by thee, lest he overthrow thee and stand in thy place; let
him not sit on thy right hand, lest he seek to take thy seat, and at the
last thou acknowledge my words, and be pricked with my sayings. Who will
pity a charmer that is bitten with a serpent? or any that come nigh wild
beasts? Even so who will pity him that goeth to a sinner, and is mingled
with him in his sins? For a while he will abide with thee, and if thou
give way, he will not hold out. And the enemy will speak sweetly with
his lips, and in his heart take counsel how to overthrow thee into a
pit; the enemy will weep with his eyes, and if he find opportunity, he
will not be satiated with blood. If adversity meet thee, thou shalt find
him there before thee; and as though he would help thee, he will trip up
thy heel. He will shake his head, and clap his hands, and whisper much,
and change his countenance.
He that toucheth pitch shall be defiled; and he that hath fellowship
with a proud man shall become like unto him. Take not up a burden above
thy strength; and have no fellowship with one that is mightier and
richer than thyself. What fellowship shall the earthen pot have with the
kettle? this shall smite, and that shall be dashed in pieces. The rich
man doeth a wrong, and he threateneth withal: the poor is wronged, and
he shall entreat withal. If thou be profitable, he will make
merchandise of thee; and if thou be in want, he will forsake thee. If
thou have substance, he will live with thee; and he will make thee bare,
and will not be sorry. Hath he had need of thee? then he will deceive
thee, and smile upon thee, and give thee hope: he will speak thee fair,
and say, What needest thou? and he will shame thee by his meats, until
he have made thee bare twice or thrice. And at the last he will laugh
thee to scorn; afterward will he see thee, and will forsake thee, and
shake his head at thee. Beware that thou be not deceived, and brought
low in thy mirth. If a mighty man invite thee, be retiring, and so much
the more will he invite thee. Press not upon him, lest thou be thrust
back; and stand not far off, lest thou be forgotten. Affect not to speak
with him as an equal, and believe not his many words: for with much talk
will he try thee, and in a smiling manner will search thee out. He that
keepeth not to himself words spoken is unmerciful; and he will not spare
to hurt and to bind. Keep them to thyself, and take earnest heed, for
thou walkest in peril of thy falling.
Every living creature loveth his like, and every man loveth his
neighbour. All flesh consorteth according to kind, and a man will cleave
to his like. What fellowship shall the wolf have with the lamb? so is
the sinner unto the godly. What peace is there between the hyena and the
dog? and what peace between the rich man and the poor? Wild asses are
the prey of lions in the wilderness; so poor men are pasture for the
rich. Lowliness is an abomination to a proud man; so a poor man is an
abomination to the rich. A rich man when he is shaken is held up of his
friends; but one of low degree being down is thrust away also by his
friends. When a rich man is fallen, there are many helpers; he speaketh
things not to be spoken, and men justify him: a man of low degree
falleth, and men rebuke him withal; he uttereth wisdom, and no place is
allowed him. A rich man speaketh, and all keep silence; and what he
saith they extol to the clouds: a poor man speaketh, and they say, Who
is this? and if he stumble, they will help to overthrow him. Riches are
good that have no sin; and poverty is evil in the mouth of the ungodly.
vi
The Wisdom of Business and the Wisdom of Leisure
The wisdom of the scribe cometh by opportunity of leisure; and he that
hath little business shall become wise. How shall he become wise that
holdeth the plow, that glorieth in the shaft of the goad, that driveth
oxen, and is occupied in their labours, and whose discourse is of the
stock of bulls? He will set his heart upon turning his furrows; and his
wakefulness is to give his heifers their fodder. So is every artificer
and workmaster, that passeth his time by night as by day; they that cut
gravings of signets, and his diligence is to make great variety; he will
set his heart to preserve likeness in his portraiture, and will be
wakeful to finish his work. So is the smith sitting by the anvil, and
considering the unwrought iron; the vapour of the fire will waste his
flesh, and in the heat of the furnace will he wrestle with his work; the
noise of the hammer will be ever in his ear, and his eyes are upon the
pattern of the vessel; he will set his heart upon perfecting his works,
and he will be wakeful to adorn them perfectly. So is the potter sitting
at his work, and turning the wheel about with his feet, who is alway
anxiously set at his work, and all his handywork is by number; he will
fashion the clay with his arm, and will bend its strength in front of
his feet; he will apply his heart to finish the glazing, and he will be
wakeful to make clean the furnace. All these put their trust in their
hands; and each becometh wise in his own work. Without these shall not a
city be inhabited, and men shall not sojourn nor walk up and down
therein. They shall not be sought for in the council of the people, and
in the assembly they shall not mount on high, they shall not sit on the
seat of the judge, and they shall not understand the covenant of
judgement; neither shall they declare instruction and judgement, and
where parables are they shall not be found. But they will maintain the
fabric of the world; and in the handywork of their craft is their
prayer.
Not so he that hath applied his soul, and meditateth in the law of the
Most High. He will seek out the wisdom of all of the ancients, and will
be occupied in prophecies. He will keep the discourse of the men of
renown, and will enter in amidst the subtilties of parables. He will
seek out the hidden meaning of proverbs, and be conversant in the dark
sayings of parables. He will serve among great men, and appear before
him that ruleth. He will travel through the land of strange nations; for
he hath tried good things and evil among men. He will apply his heart to
resort early to the Lord that made him, and will make supplication
before the Most High, and will open his mouth in prayer, and will make
supplication for his sins. If the great Lord will, he shall be filled
with the spirit of understanding: he shall pour forth the words of his
wisdom, and in prayer give thanks unto the Lord. He shall direct his
counsel and knowledge, and in his secrets shall he meditate. He shall
shew forth the instruction which he hath been taught, and shall glory in
the law of the covenant of the Lord. Many shall commend his
understanding, and so long as the world endureth, it shall not be
blotted out; his memorial shall not depart, and his name shall live from
generation to generation; nations shall declare his wisdom, and the
congregation shall tell out his praise. If he continue, he shall leave a
greater name than a thousand: and if he die, he addeth thereto.
vii
Life as a Joy shadowed by the Judgment
An Essay with a Sonnet
Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to
behold the sun. Yea, if a man live many years, let him rejoice in them
all; and remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that
cometh is vanity. 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 judgement. Therefore remove sorrow from
thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for youth and the prime of
life are vanity.
The Coming of the Evil Days
Remember also thy Creator in the days of thy youth:
Or ever the evil days come,
And the years draw nigh,
When thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them:
Or ever the sun.
And the light,
And the moon,
And the stars,
Be darkened,
And the clouds return after the rain:
In the days 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 be darkened,
And the doors shall be shut in the street;
When the sound of the grinding is low,
And one shall rise up at the voice of a bird,
And all the daughters of music shall be brought low;
Yea, they shall be afraid of that which is high.
And terrors shall be in the way;
And the almond tree shall blossom,
And the grasshopper shall be a burden,
And the caperberry shall burst:
Because man goeth to his long home,
And the mourners go about the streets:
Or ever the silver cord be loosed,
Or the golden bowl be broken,
Or the pitcher be broken at the fountain,
Or the wheel broken at the cistern:
And the dust return to the earth,
As it was;
And the spirit return unto God
Who gave it.
SONNETS[5]
[Footnote 5: For the difference of form between the Hebrew and the
modern sonnet see Notes, page 255.]
i
The Sluggard
Go to the ant, thou Sluggard;
Consider her ways, and be wise:
Which having no chief,
Overseer,
Or ruler,
Provideth her meat in the summer,
And gathereth her food in the harvest.
How long wilt thou sleep, O Sluggard?
When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
"Yet a little sleep,
A little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep"--
So shall thy poverty come as a robber,
And thy want as an armed man!
ii
The Mourning for the Fool
Weep for the dead,
For light hath failed him;
And weep for a fool,
For understanding hath failed him:
Weep more sweetly for the dead,
Because he hath found rest;
But the life of the fool
Is worse than death.
Seven days are the days of mourning for the dead: But for a fool and an
ungodly man, all the days of his life.
iii
The Two Paths
Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings;
And the years of thy life shall be many.
I have taught thee in the way of wisdom;
I have led thee in paths of uprightness.
When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened;
And if thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.
Take fast hold of instruction;
Let her not go:
Keep her;
For she is thy life.
Enter not into the path of the wicked,
And walk not in the way of evil men.
Avoid it,
Pass not by it;
Turn from it,
And pass on.
For they sleep not, except they have done mischief;
And their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
For they eat the bread of wickedness,
And drink the wine of violence.
But the path of the righteous is as the light of dawn,
That shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
The way of the wicked is as darkness:
They know not at what they stumble.
iv
The Creator has made Wisdom the Supreme Prize
My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD;
Neither be weary of his reproof:
For whom the LORD loveth he reproveth;
Even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,
And the man that getteth understanding.
For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver,
And the gain thereof than fine gold.
She is more precious than rubies:
And none of the things thou canst desire are to be compared unto her.
Length of days is in her right hand;
In her left hand are riches and honour.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
And all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her:
And happy is every one that retaineth her.
The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
By understanding he established the heavens.
By his knowledge the depths were broken up,
And the skies drop down the dew.
v
Watchfulness of Lips and Heart
Who shall set a watch over my mouth,
And a seal of shrewdness upon my lips,
That I fall not from it,
And that my tongue destroy me not?
O Lord, Father and Master of my life,
Abandon me not to their counsel:
Suffer me not to fall by them.
Who will set scourges over my thought,
And a discipline of wisdom over mine heart?
That they spare me not for mine ignorances,
And my heart pass not by their sins:
That mine ignorances be not multiplied,
And my sins abound not;
And I shall fall before mine adversaries,
And mine enemy rejoice over me?
O Lord, Father and God of my life,
Give me not a proud look,
And turn away concupiscence from me.
Let not greediness and chambering overtake me,
And give me not over to a shameless mind.
vi
Wisdom and the Fear of the Lord
All wisdom cometh from the Lord,
And is with him for ever.
The sand of the seas,
And the drops of rain,
And the days of eternity, who shall number?
The height of the heaven,
And the breadth of the earth, and the deep,
And wisdom, who shall search them out?
Wisdom hath been created before all things,
And the understanding of prudence from everlasting.
To whom hath the root of wisdom been revealed?
And who hath known her shrewd counsels?
There is one wise,
Greatly to be feared,
The Lord sitting upon his throne:
He created her,
And saw, and numbered her,
And poured her out upon all his works.
She is with all flesh according to his gift;
And he gave her freely to them that love him.
The fear of the Lord
Is glory and exultation,
And gladness, and a crown of rejoicing.
The fear of the Lord
Shall delight the heart,
And shall give gladness, and joy, and length of days.
Whoso feareth the Lord,
It shall go well with him at the last,
And in the day of his death he shall be blessed.
To fear the Lord
Is the beginning of wisdom;
And it was created together with the faithful in the womb.
With men she laid an eternal foundation;
And with their seed shall she be had in trust.
To fear the Lord
Is the fulness of wisdom;
And she satiateth men with her fruits.
She shall fill all her house with desirable things,
And her garners with her produce.
The fear of the Lord
Is the crown of wisdom,
Making peace and perfect health to flourish.
He both saw and numbered her;
He rained down skill and knowledge of understanding,
And exalted the honour of them that hold her fast.
To fear the Lord
Is the root of wisdom;
And her branches are length of days.
vii
Wisdom and the Strange Woman
1
My son, keep my words,
And lay up my commandments with thee.
Keep my commandments, and live;
And my law, as the apple of thine eye.
Bind them upon thy fingers;
Write them upon the table of thine heart.
Say unto Wisdom, Thou art my sister;
And call Understanding thy kinswoman:
That they may keep thee from the Strange Woman,
From the stranger which flattereth with her words.
2
For at the window of my house
I looked forth through my lattice;
And I beheld among the simple ones,
I discerned among the youths,
A young man,
Void of understanding,
Passing through the street near her corner,
And he went the way to her house;
In the twilight, in the evening of the day,
In the blackness of night and the darkness;
And behold, there met him a Woman
With the attire of an harlot, and wily of heart.
She is clamorous and wilful;
Her feet abide not in her house;
Now she is in the streets, now in the broad places,
And lieth in wait at every corner.
So she caught him, and kissed him,
With an impudent face she said unto him:
"Sacrifices of peace offerings are with me;
This day have I paid my vows;
Therefore came I forth to meet thee,
Diligently to seek thy face,
And I have found thee.
I have spread my couch with carpets of tapestry,
With striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt;
I have perfumed my bed
With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
Come, let us take our fill of love
Until the morning;
Let us solace ourselves with loves;
For the goodman is not at home,
He is gone a long journey:
He hath taken a bag of money with him;
He will come home at the full moon."
With her much fair speech she causeth him to yield,
With the flattering of her lips she forceth him away.
He goeth after her straightway,
As an ox goeth to the slaughter,
Or as one in fetters to the correction of the fool;
Till an arrow strike through his liver;
As a bird hasteth to the snare,
And knoweth not that it is for his life.
3
Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me,
And attend to the words of my mouth.
Let not thine heart decline to her ways,
Go not astray in her paths.
For she hath cast down many wounded:
Yea, all her slain are a mighty host.
Her house is the way to Sheol,
Going down to the chambers of death.
4
Doth not Wisdom cry,
And Understanding put forth her voice?
In the top of high places by the way,
Where the paths meet,
She standeth;
Beside the gates, at the entry of the city,
At the coming in at the doors,
She crieth aloud:
Unto you, O men, I call;
And my voice is to the sons of men.
O ye simple, understand subtilty;
And ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.
Hear, for I will speak excellent things;
And the opening of my lips shall be right things.
For my mouth shall utter truth;
And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
All the words of my mouth are righteousness;
There is nothing crooked or perverse in them.
They are all plain to him that understandeth,
And right to them that find knowledge
Receive my instruction, and not silver;
And knowledge rather than choice gold.
For wisdom is better than rubies;
And all the things that may be desired are not to be compared unto her.
5
I Wisdom have made subtilty my dwelling,
And find out knowledge and discretion.
The fear of the LORD is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogancy,
And the evil way,
And the froward mouth, do I hate.
Counsel is mine,
And sound knowledge;
I am understanding,
I have might.
By me kings reign,
And princes decree justice;
By me princes rule,
And nobles, even all the judges of the earth.
I love them that love me;
And those that seek me diligently shall find me.
Riches and honour are with me;
Durable riches and righteousness;
My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold;
And my revenue than choice silver.
I walk in the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of judgement:
That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance,
And that I may fill their treasuries.
6
The LORD formed me in the beginning of his way,
Before his works of old.
I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning,
Or ever the earth was.
When there were no depths, I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, was I brought forth:
While as yet he had not made the earth,
Nor the fields,
Nor the beginning of the dust of the world.
When he established the heavens, I was there:
When he set a circle upon the face of the deep:
When he made firm the skies above:
When the fountains of the deep became strong:
When he gave to the sea its bound,
That the waters should not transgress his commandment:
When he marked out the foundations of the earth,
Then I was by him,
As a master workman,
And I was daily his delight,
Sporting always before him;
Sporting in his habitable earth;
And my delight was with the sons of men.
7
Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me:
For blessed are they that keep my ways.
Hear instruction, and be wise,
And refuse it not.
Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors.
For whoso findeth me findeth life,
And shall obtain favour of the LORD;
But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul;
All they that hate me love death.
LYRICS
I
AN ELEGY OF A BROKEN HEART
1
Let the day perish wherein I was born;
And the night which said, There is a man child conceived!
Let that day be darkness;
Let not God regard it from above,
Neither let the light shine upon it!
Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own;
Let a cloud dwell upon it;
Let all that maketh black the day terrify it!
As for that night, let thick darkness seize upon it;
Let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
Let it not come into the number of the months!
Lo, let that night be barren;
Let no joyful voice come therein!
Let them curse it that curse the day,
Who are ready to rouse up leviathan!
Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark!
Let it look for light, but have none;
Neither let it behold the eyelids of the morning:
Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb,
Nor hid trouble from mine eyes!
2
Why died I not from the womb?
Why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?
Why did the knees receive me?
Or why the breasts, that I should suck?
For now should I have lien down and been quiet;
I should have slept; then had I been at rest,
With kings and counsellors of the earth,
Which built solitary piles for themselves;
Or with princes that had gold,
Who filled their houses with silver;
Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been;
As infants which never saw light.
There the wicked cease from troubling;
And there the weary be at rest.
There the prisoners are at ease together;
They hear not the voice of the taskmaster.
The small and great are there;
And the servant is free from his master.
Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery,
And life unto the bitter in soul?
Which long for death, but it cometh not;
And dig for it more than for hid treasures;
Which rejoice exceedingly,
And are glad when they can find the grave.
Why is light given to a man whose way is hid,
And whom God hath hedged in?
For my sighing cometh before I eat,
And my roarings are poured out like water.
For the thing which I fear cometh upon me,
And that which I am afraid of cometh unto me.
I am not at ease, neither am I quiet,
Neither have I rest: but trouble cometh!
II
THE CREATOR'S JOY IN HIS CREATION
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?
----Declare, if thou hast understanding----
Who determined the measures thereof, if thou knowest?
Or who stretched the line upon it?
Whereupon were the foundations thereof fastened?
Or who laid the corner stone thereof;
When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Or who shut up the sea with doors,
When it brake forth, and issued out of the womb;
When I made the cloud the garment thereof,
And thick darkness a swaddling band for it,
And prescribed for it my decree,
And set bars and doors,
And said, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further;
And here shall thy proud waves be stayed?"
Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days began,
And caused the dayspring to know its place;
That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,
And the wicked be shaken out of it?
It is changed as clay under the seal;
And all things stand forth as a garment:
And from the wicked their light is withholden,
And the high arm is broken.
Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?
Or hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep?
Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee?
Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?
Hast thou comprehended the breadth of the earth?
----Declare, if thou knowest it all----
Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
And as for darkness, where is the place thereof;
That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof,
And that thou shouldest discern the paths to the house thereof?
----Doubtless, thou knowest, for thou wast then born,
And the number of thy days is great!----
Hast thou entered the treasuries of the snow,
Or hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail,
Which I have reserved against the time of trouble,
Against the day of battle and war?
By what way is the light parted,
Or the east wind scattered upon the earth?
Who hath cleft a channel for the waterflood,
Or a way for the lightning of the thunder;
To cause it to rain on a land where no man is;
On the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
To satisfy the waste and desolate ground;
And to cause the tender grass to spring forth?
Hath the rain a father?
Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
Out of whose womb came the ice?
And the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?
The waters are hidden as with stone,
And the face of the deep is frozen.
Canst thou bind the cluster of the Pleiades,
Or loose the bands of Orion?
Canst thou lead forth the signs of the Zodiac in their season?
Or canst thou guide the Bear with her train?
Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens?
Canst thou establish the dominion thereof in the earth?
Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds,
That abundance of waters may cover thee?
Canst thou send forth lightnings, that they may go,
And say unto thee, Here we are?
Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts?
Or who hath given understanding to the mind?
Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven,
When the dust runneth into a mass,
And the clods cleave fast together?
Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lioness?
Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
When they couch in their dens,
And abide in the covert to lie in wait?
Who provideth for the raven his food,
When his young ones cry unto God,
And wander for lack of meat?
Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth?
Or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?
Canst thou number the months that they fulfil?
Or knowest thou the time when they bring forth?
They bow themselves, they bring forth their young,
They cast out their sorrows.
Their young ones are in good liking,
They grow up in the open field;
They go forth, and return not again.
Who hath sent out the wild ass free?
Or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass?
Whose house I have made the wilderness,
And the salt land his dwelling place;
He scorneth the tumult of the city,
Neither heareth he the shoutings of the driver.
The range of the mountains is his pasture,
And he searcheth after every green thing.
Will the wild-ox be content to serve thee?
Or will he abide by thy crib?
Canst thou bind the wild-ox with his band in the furrow?
Or will he harrow the valleys after thee?
Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great?
Or wilt thou leave to him thy labour?
Wilt thou confide in him, that he will bring home thy seed,
And gather the corn of thy threshing-floor?
The wing of the ostrich rejoiceth;
But are her pinions and feathers kindly?
For she leaveth her eggs on the earth,
And warmeth them in the dust,
And forgetteth that the foot may crush them,
Or that the wild beast may trample them.
She is hardened against her young ones, as if they were not hers:
Though her labour be in vain, she is without fear;
Because God hath deprived her of wisdom,
Neither hath he imparted to her understanding.
What time she lifteth up herself on high,
She scorneth the horse and his rider.
Hast thou given the horse his might?
Hast thou clothed his neck with the quivering mane?
Hast thou made him to leap as a locust?
The glory of his snorting is terrible.
He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength:
He goeth out to meet the armed men.
He mocketh at fear and is not dismayed;
Neither turneth he back from the sword.
The quiver rattleth against him,
The flashing spear and the javelin.
He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage;
Neither standeth he still at the voice of the trumpet.
As oft as the trumpet soundeth he saith, Aha!
And he smelleth the battle afar off,
The thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
Doth the hawk soar by thy wisdom,
And stretch her wings toward the south?
Doth the eagle mount up at thy command,
And make her nest on high?
She dwelleth on the rock, and hath her lodging there,
Upon the crag of the rock and the strong hold.
From thence she spieth out the prey;
Her eyes behold it afar off.
Her young ones also suck up blood:
And where the slain are, there is she.
III
SONG OF MOSES AND MIRIAM
TUTTI
_I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously:_
_The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea._
The LORD is my strength and song,
And he is become my salvation:
This is my God, and I will praise him;
My father's God, and I will exalt him.
1
MEN
The LORD is a man of war:
The LORD is his name.
Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea:
And his chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea.
The deeps cover them:
They went down into the depths like a stone.
WOMEN
_Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously:_
_The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea._
2
MEN
Thy right hand, O LORD, is glorious in power,
Thy right hand, O LORD, dasheth in pieces the enemy.
And in the greatness of thine excellency thou overthrowest them that
rise up against thee:
Thou sendest forth thy wrath, it consumeth them as stubble.
And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were piled up,
The floods stood upright as an heap;
The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea.
The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil:
My lust shall be satisfied upon them;
I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them:
They sank as lead in the mighty waters.
WOMEN
_Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously:_
_The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea._
3
MEN
Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods?
Who is like thee, glorious in holiness,
Fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Thou stretchedst out thy right hand,
The earth swallowed them.
Thou in thy mercy hast led the people which thou hast redeemed:
Thou hast guided them in thy strength to thy holy habitation.
The peoples have heard, they tremble:
Pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia.
Then were the dukes of Edom amazed;
The mighty men of Moab, trembling taketh hold upon them:
All the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away.
Terror and dread falleth upon them;
By the greatness of thine arm they are as still as a stone;
Till thy people pass over, O LORD,
Till the people pass over which thou hast purchased.
Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine
inheritance,
The place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in,
The sanctuary, O LORD, which thy hands have established.
The LORD shall reign for ever and ever.
WOMEN
_Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously:_
_The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea._
IV
DEBORAH'S SONG
_Men._ _For that the leaders took the lead in Israel--_
_Women._ _For that the people offered themselves willingly--_
_Tutti._ _Bless ye the LORD!_
PRELUDE
_Men._ Hear, O ye kings--
_Women._ Give ear, O ye princes--
_Men._ I, even I, will sing unto the LORD--
_Women._ I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel.
_Tutti._ Lord, when thou wentest forth out of Seir,
When thou marchedst out of the field of Edom,
The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped,
Yea, the clouds dropped water.
The mountains flowed down at the presence of the LORD,
Even yon Sinai at the presence of the LORD, the God
of Israel.
1. THE DESOLATION
_Men._ In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath,
In the days of Jael,
The highways were unoccupied,
And the travellers walked through byways;
The rulers ceased in Israel,
They ceased--
_Women._ Until that I, Deborah, arose,
That I arose a mother in Israel.
They chose new gods;
Then was war in the gates:
Was there a shield or spear seen
Among forty thousand in Israel?
_Men._ _My heart is toward the governors of Israel--_
_Women._ _Ye that offered yourselves willingly among the people--_
_Tutti._ _Bless ye the LORD!_
_Men._ _Tell of it, ye that ride on white asses,_
_Ye that sit on rich carpets,_
_And ye that walk by the way:--_
_Women._ _Far from the noise of archers,_
_In the places of drawing water:--_
_Tutti._ _There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD,_
_Even the righteous acts of his rule in Israel._
2. THE MUSTER
_Tutti._ Then the people of the LORD went down to the gates--
(_Men._ _Awake, awake, Deborah,_
_Awake, awake, utter a song:--_
_Women._ _Arise, Barak,_
_And lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam._)
_Tutti._ Then came down a remnant of the nobles,
The people of the LORD came down for me against the mighty.
_Women._ Out of Ephraim came down they whose root is in Amalek--
_Men._ After thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples--
_Women._ Out of Machir came down governors--
_Men._ And out of Zebulun they that handle the marshal's staff
_Women._ And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah--
_Men._ As was Issachar, so was Barak:
_Tutti._ Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet.
_Men._ By the watercourses of Reuben
There were great resolves of heart.
_Women._ Why satest thou among the sheepfolds,
To hear the pipings for the flocks?
_Men._ At the watercourses of Reuben
There were great searchings of heart!
_Women._ Gilead abode beyond Jordan--
_Men._ And Dan, why did he remain in ships?--
_Women._ Asher sat still at the haven of the sea,
And abode by his creeks.
_Men._ Zebulun was a people that jeoparded their lives
unto the death,
And Naphtali upon the high places of the field.
3. THE BATTLE AND ROUT
_Strophe_
_Men._ The kings came and fought;
Then fought the kings of Canaan,
In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo:--
They took no gain of money!
_Antistrophe_
_Women._ They fought from heaven,
The stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
The river Kishon swept them away,--
That ancient river, the river Kishon!
_Strophe_
_Men._ O my soul, march on with strength!
Then did the horsehoofs stamp
By reason of the pransings,
The pransings of their strong ones.
_Antistrophe_
_Women._ Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD,
Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof;
Because they came not to the help of the LORD,
To the help of the LORD against the mighty!
4. THE RETRIBUTION
_Strophe_
_Men._ Blessed above women shall Jael be, the wife of Heber
the Kenite,
Blessed shall she be above women in the tent!
He asked water, and she gave him milk;
She brought him butter in a lordly dish.
She put her hand to the nail,
And her right hand to the workman's hammer;
And with the hammer she smote Sisera.
She smote through his head,
Yea, she pierced and struck through his temples.
At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay:
At her feet he bowed, he fell:
Where he bowed, there he fell down dead!
_Antistrophe_
_Women._ Through the window she looked forth, and cried,
The mother of Sisera, through the lattice,
"Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?"
Her wise ladies answered her,
Yea, she returned answer to herself,
"Have they not found,
Have they not divided the spoil?
A damsel, two damsels to every man;
To Sisera a spoil of divers colours,
A spoil of divers colours of embroidery,
Of divers colours of embroidery on both
sides, on the necks of the spoil!"
_Tutti._ So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD:
But let them that love him be as the sun
when he goeth forth in his might!
V
DAVID'S LAMENT
Thy glory, O Israel,
Is slain upon thy high places!
How are the mighty--
Fallen!
Tell it not in Gath,
Publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon;
Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,
Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew nor rain upon you,
Neither fields of offerings:
For there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away,
The shield of Saul, as of one not anointed with oil.
From the blood of the slain,
From the fat of the mighty,
The bow of Jonathan turned not back,
And the sword of Saul returned not empty.
Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives,
And in their death they were not divided;
They were swifter than eagles,
They were stronger than lions.
Ye daughters of Israel,
Weep over Saul,
Who clothed you in scarlet delicately,
Who put ornaments of gold upon your apparel.
How are the mighty--
Fallen in the midst of the battle!
O Jonathan,
Slain upon thy high places,
I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan:
Very pleasant hast thou been unto me:
Thy love to me was wonderful,
Passing the love of women.
How are the mighty--
Fallen!
And the weapons of war--
Perished!
VI
DAVID'S SONG OF VICTORY
The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, even mine;
The God of my rock, in him will I trust;
My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge;
My saviour, thou savest me from violence.
I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised:
So shall I be saved from mine enemies.
For the waves of death compassed me,
The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
The cords of Sheol were round about me:
The snares of death came upon me.
In my distress I called upon the LORD,
Yea, I called unto my God:
And he heard my voice out of his temple,
And my cry came into his ears.
Then the earth shook and trembled,
The foundations of heaven moved
And were shaken, because he was wroth.
There went up a smoke out of his nostrils,
And fire out of his mouth devoured:
Coals were kindled by it.
He bowed the heavens also, and came down;
And thick darkness was under his feet.
And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly:
Yea, he was seen upon the wings of the wind.
And he made darkness pavilions round about him,
Gathering of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
At the brightness before him coals of fire were kindled
The LORD thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered his voice.
And he sent out arrows, and scattered them;
Lightning, and discomfited them.
Then the channels of the sea appeared,
The foundations of the world were laid bare,
By the rebuke of the LORD,
At the blast of the breath of his nostrils
He sent from on high, he took me;
He drew me out of many waters;
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From them that hated me;
For they were too mighty for me.
They came upon me in the day of my calamity:
But the LORD was my stay.
He brought me forth also into a large place:
He delivered me, because he delighted in me.
The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness:
According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
For I have kept the ways of the LORD,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
For all his judgements were before me:
And as for his statutes, I did not depart from them.
I was also perfect toward him,
And I kept myself from mine iniquity.
Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness;
According to my cleanness in his eyesight.
With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful,
With the perfect man thou wilt shew thyself perfect;
With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure;
And with the perverse thou wilt shew thyself froward.
And the afflicted people thou wilt save:
But thine eyes are upon the haughty,
That thou mayest bring them down.
For thou art my lamp, O LORD:
And the LORD will lighten my darkness.
For by thee I run upon a troop:
By my God do I leap over a wall.
As for God, his way is perfect:
The word of the LORD is tried;
He is a shield unto all them that trust in him.
For who is God, save the LORD?
And who is a rock, save our God?
God is my strong fortress:
And he guideth the perfect in his way.
He maketh his feet like hinds' feet:
And setteth me upon my high places.
He teacheth my hands to war;
So that mine arms do bend a bow of brass.
Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation:
And thy gentleness hath made me great.
Thou hast enlarged my steps under me,
And my feet have not slipped.
I have pursued mine enemies,
And destroyed them;
Neither did I turn again till they were consumed.
And I have consumed them,
And smitten them through that they cannot arise:
Yea, they are fallen under my feet.
For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle:
Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.
Thou hast also made mine enemies turn their backs unto me,
That I might cut off them that hate me.
They looked, but there was none to save;
Even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.
Then did I beat them small as the dust of the earth,
I did stamp them as the mire of the streets, and did spread
them abroad.
Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people;
Thou hast kept me to be the head of the nations:
A people whom I have not known shall serve me.
The strangers shall submit themselves unto me:
As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me.
The strangers shall fade away,
And shall come trembling out of their close places.
The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock;
And exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation:
Even the God that executeth vengeance for me,
And bringeth down peoples under me,
And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies:
Yea, thou liftest me up above them that rise up against me:
Thou deliverest me from the violent man.
Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the nations,
And will sing praises unto thy name.
Great deliverance giveth he to his king:
And sheweth lovingkindness to his anointed,
To David and to his seed, for evermore.
VII
THE BRIDE'S REMINISCENCES
A Lyric Idyl
The Interrupted Visit
THE BRIDE
The voice of my beloved! behold he cometh,
Leaping upon the mountains,
Skipping upon the hills.
My beloved is like a roe or a young hart:
Behold, he standeth behind our wall,
He looketh in at the windows,
He sheweth himself through the lattice.
My beloved spake, and said unto me:
"Rise up, my love, my fair one,
And come away.
For, lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of the singing of birds is come,
And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
The fig tree ripeneth her green figs,
And the vines are in blossom,
They give forth their fragrance.
Arise, my love, my fair one,
And come away.
O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock,
In the covert of the steep place,
Let me see thy countenance,
Let me hear thy voice;
For sweet is thy voice,
And thy countenance is comely."
VOICES OF THE BROTHERS (_heard interrupting_)
"Take us the foxes,
The little foxes that spoil the vineyards;
For our vineyards are in blossom."
* *
*
_My beloved is mine, and I am his:_
_He feedeth his flock among the lilies._
_Until the day break, and the shadows flee away,_
_Turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart_
_Upon the mountains of separation._
The Happy Dream
By night, on my bed, I sought him whom my soul loveth:
I sought him, but I found him not.
I said, I will rise now, and go about the city,
In the streets and in the broad ways,
I will seek him whom my soul loveth:
I sought him, but I found him not.
The watchmen that go about the city found me:
To whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?
It was but a little that I passed from them,
When I found him whom my soul loveth:
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 conceived me.
* *
*
_I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,_
_By the roes, and by the hinds of the field,_
_That ye stir not up, nor awaken love,_
_Until it please._
VIII
THE BATTLE OF CARCHEMISH
1
Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle;
Harness the horses, and get up ye horsemen, and stand forth with your
helmets;
Furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail.
Wherefore have I seen it? they are dismayed,
And are turned backward, and their mighty ones are beaten down,
And are fled apace, and look not back.
Terror is on every side, saith the LORD,
Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape:
In the north by the river Euphrates have they stumbled and fallen.
2
Who is this that riseth up like the Nile,
Whose waters toss themselves like the rivers?
Egypt riseth up like the Nile,
And his waters toss themselves like the rivers;
And he saith, I will rise up, I will cover the earth;
I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.
Go up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men go forth:
Cush and Put, that handle the shield;
And the Ludim, that handle and bend the bow.
For that day is a day of the Lord, the LORD of hosts,
A day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries:
And the sword shall devour and be satiate,
And shall drink its fill of their blood:
For the Lord, the LORD of hosts hath a sacrifice
In the north country by the river Euphrates.
3
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt:
In vain dost thou use many medicines;
There is no healing for thee.
The nations have heard of thy shame, and the earth is full of thy cry:
For the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty,
They are fallen both of them together.
IX
A SONG OF ZION REDEEMED
1
Arise, shine; for thy light is come,
And the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
And gross darkness the peoples:
But the LORD shall arise upon thee,
And his glory shall be seen upon thee.
2
And nations shall come to thy light,
And kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Lift up thine eyes round about, and see:
They all gather themselves together, they come to thee:
Thy sons shall come from far,
And thy daughters shall be carried in the arms.
Then thou shalt see and be lightened,
And thine heart shall tremble and be enlarged;
Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned unto thee,
The wealth of the nations shall come unto thee.
The multitude of camels shall cover thee,
The dromedaries of Midian and Ephah;
They all shall come from Sheba, they shall bring gold and frankincense,
And shall proclaim the praises of the LORD.
All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee,
The rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee;
They shall come up with acceptance on mine altar,
And I will beautify the house of my glory.
3
Who are these that fly as a cloud,
And as the doves to their windows?
Surely the isles shall wait for me,
And the ships of Tarshish first,
To bring thy sons from far,
Their silver and their gold with them,
For the name of the LORD thy God,
And for the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.
And strangers shall build up thy walls,
And their kings shall minister unto thee:
For in my wrath I smote thee,
But in my favour have I had mercy on thee.
Thy gates also shall be open continually,
They shall not be shut day nor night;
That men may bring unto thee the wealth of the nations,
And their kings led with them:
For that nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish;
Yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.
The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee,
The fir tree, the pine, and the box tree together;
To beautify the place of my sanctuary,
And I will make the place of my feet glorious.
And the sons of them that afflicted thee
Shall come bending unto thee;
And all they that despised thee
Shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet.
4
And they shall call thee the City of the LORD,
The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated,
So that no man passed through thee,
I will make thee an eternal excellency,
A joy of many generations.
Thou shalt also suck the milk of the nations,
And shalt suck the breast of kings:
And thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy saviour,
And thy redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
For brass I will bring gold,
And for iron I will bring silver,
And for wood brass,
And for stones iron.
I will also make thy officers peace,
And thine exactors righteousness;
Violence shall no more be heard in thy land,
Desolation nor destruction within thy borders;
But thou shalt call thy walls Salvation,
And thy gates Praise.
5
The sun shall be no more thy light by day,
Neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee:
But the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light,
And thy God thy glory.
Thy sun shall no more go down,
Neither shall thy moon withdraw itself:
For the LORD shall be thine everlasting light,
And the days of thy mourning shall be ended.
Thy people also shall be all righteous,
They shall inherit the land for ever;
The branch of my planting,
The work of my hands,
That I may be glorified.
The little one shall become a thousand,
And the small one a strong nation:
I the LORD will hasten it in its time.
X
ISAIAH'S
DOOM OF BABYLON
Set ye up an ensign upon the bare mountain, lift up the voice unto them,
wave the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. I have
commanded my consecrated ones, yea, I have called my mighty men for mine
anger, even them that exult in my majesty.
The noise of a multitude in the mountains,
Like as of a great people!
The noise of a tumult
Of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together!
The LORD of HOSTS
Mustereth the HOST for the battle;
They come from a far country,
From the uttermost part of heaven:
Even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation,
To destroy the whole land.
Howl ye, for the Day of the LORD is at hand:
As destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
Therefore shall all hands be feeble, and every heart of man shall melt:
and they shall be dismayed; pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them;
they shall be in pain as a woman in travail; they shall be amazed one at
another; their faces shall be faces of flame.
Behold, the Day of the LORD cometh,
Cruel, with wrath and fierce anger;
To make the land a desolation,
And to destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give
their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon
shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for
their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the
arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the
terrible. I will make a man more rare than fine gold, even a man than
the pure gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens to tremble,
and the earth shall be shaken out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD
of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. And it shall come to pass,
that as the chased roe, and as sheep that no man gathereth, they shall
turn every man to his own people, and shall flee every man to his own
land. Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one
that is taken shall fall by the sword. Their infants also shall be
dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and
their wives ravished. Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them,
which shall not regard silver, and as for gold, they shall not delight
in it. And their bows shall dash the young men in pieces; and they shall
have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare
children.
And BABYLON,
The glory of kingdoms,
The beauty of the Chaldeans' pride,
Shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
It shall never be inhabited,
Neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation;
Neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there;
Neither shall shepherds make their flocks to lie down there.
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there;
And their houses shall be full of doleful creatures;
And ostriches shall dwell there,
And satyrs shall dance there.
And wolves shall cry in their castles,
And jackals in the pleasant palaces:
And her time is near to come,
And her days shall not be prolonged.
For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel,
and set them in their own land: and the stranger shall join himself with
them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the peoples shall
take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall
possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and for handmaids; and
they shall take them captive, whose captives they were; and they shall
rule over their oppressors. And it shall come to pass in the day that
the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy trouble, and
from the hard service wherein thou wast made to serve, that thou shalt
take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say:
How hath the oppressor ceased!
The golden city ceased!
The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked,
The sceptre of the rulers;
He that smote the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke,
That ruled the nations in anger,
Is persecuted,
And none hindereth!
The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet:
They break forth into singing:
Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee,
And the cedars of Lebanon:
'Since thou art laid down,
No feller is come up against us.'
Hell from beneath is moved for thee,
To meet thee at thy coming:
It stirreth up the dead for thee,
Even all the chief ones of the earth;
It hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations,
All they shall answer and say unto thee:
'Art thou also become weak as we?
Art thou become like unto us?'
Thy pomp is brought down to hell,
And the noise of thy viols:
The worm is spread under thee,
And worms cover thee.
How art thou fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, son of the morning
How art thou cut down to the ground,
Which didst lay low the nations!
And thou saidst in thine heart, 'I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
And I will sit upon the mount of congregation,
In the uttermost parts of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will be like the Most High.'
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell,
To the uttermost parts of the pit.
They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee,
They shall consider thee:
'Is this the man that made the earth to tremble,
That did shake kingdoms;
That made the world as a wilderness, and overthrew the cities thereof,
That let not loose his prisoners to their home?'
All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory,
Every one in his own house:
But thou art cast forth away from thy sepulchre,
Like an abominable branch,
As the raiment of those that are slain,
That are thrust through with the sword,
That go down to the stones of the pit;
As a carcase trodden under foot.
Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast
destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people; the seed of evil-doers
shall not be named for ever. Prepare ye slaughter for his children for
the iniquity of their fathers; that they rise not up, and possess the
earth, and fill the face of the world with cities. And I will rise up
against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon name and
remnant, and son and son's son, saith the LORD. I will also make it a
possession for the porcupine, and pools of water: and I will sweep it
with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.
XI
NAHUM'S DOOM OF NINEVEH
1
The LORD is a jealous God and avengeth; the LORD avengeth and is full of
wrath; the LORD taketh vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth
wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power,
and will by no means clear the guilty: the LORD hath his way in the
whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He
rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers:
Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.
The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt; and the earth is
upheaved at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.
Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the
fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks
are broken asunder by him.
The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth
them that put their trust in him.
But with an overrunning flood he will make a full end of the place
thereof, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
2
What do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make a full end: affliction
shall not rise up the second time. For though they be like tangled
thorns, and be drenched as it were in their drink, they shall be
devoured utterly as dry stubble. There is one gone forth out of thee,
that imagineth evil against the LORD, that counselleth wickedness. Thus
saith the LORD: Though they be in full strength, and likewise many, even
so shall they be cut down, and he shall pass away.
Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. And now will
I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.
And the LORD hath given commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy
name be sown; out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven
image and the molten image; I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.
3
Behold, upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace! Keep thy feasts, O Judah, perform thy vows: for
the wicked one shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.
He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face:
Keep the munition; watch the way;
Make thy loins strong,
Fortify thy power mightily.
For the LORD bringeth again the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency
of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine
branches.
The shield of his mighty men is made red:
The valiant men are in scarlet:
The chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation,
And the spears are shaken terribly.
The chariots rage in the streets,
They justle one against another in the broad ways:
The appearance of them is like torches,
They run like the lightnings.
He remembereth his worthies:
They stumble in their march;
They make haste to the wall thereof,
And the mantelet is prepared.
The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved:
And Huzzab is uncovered; she is carried away;
And her handmaids mourn as with the voice of doves,
Tabering upon their breasts.
But Nineveh hath been from of old like a pool of water;
Yet they flee away:
'Stand, stand'--
But none looketh back.
Take ye the spoil of silver,
Take the spoil of gold;
For there is none end of the store,
The glory of all pleasant furniture.
She is empty, and void, and waste:
And the heart melteth, and the knees smite together;
And anguish is in all loins,
And the faces of them all are waxed pale.
4
Where is the den of the lions,
And the feeding place of the young lions,
Where the lion and the lioness walked,
The lion's whelp, and none made them afraid?
The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps,
And strangled for his lionesses;
And filled his caves with prey,
And his dens with ravin.
5
Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her
chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I
will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers
shall no more be heard.
Woe to the bloody city!
It is all full of lies and rapine;
The prey departeth not.
The noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of wheels;
And pransing horses, and jumping chariots;
The horseman mounting, and the flashing sword, and the glittering spear;
And a multitude of slain, and a great heap of carcases:
And there is none end of the corpses;
They stumble upon their corpses:
Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favoured harlot,
The mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms,
And families through her witchcrafts.
Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will discover
thy skirts upon thy face; and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and
the kingdoms thy shame. And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and
make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock. And it shall come to
pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say:
6
Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her?
Whence shall I seek comforters for thee?
Art thou better than No-amon, that was situate among the rivers,
That had the waters round about her;
Whose rampart was the sea,
And her wall was of the sea?
Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite;
Put and Lubim were thy helpers:
Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity:
Her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the
streets;
And they cast lots for her honourable men,
And all her great men were bound in chains:
Thou also shalt be drunken, thou shalt be hid;
Thou also shalt seek a strong hold because of the enemy.
All thy fortresses shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs:
If they be shaken,
They fall into the mouth of the eater.
Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women;
The gates of thy land are set wide open unto thine enemies;
The fire hath devoured thy bars.
Draw the water for the siege;
Strengthen thy fortresses:
Go into the clay, and tread the mortar, make strong the brickkiln:
There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off.
It shall devour thee like the cankerworm:
Make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locust;
Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven:
The cankerworm spreadeth himself, and flieth away.
Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy marshals as the swarms of
grasshoppers,
Which camp in the hedges in the cold day,
But when the sun ariseth they flee away,
And their place is not known where they are.
7
Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria,
Thy worthies are at rest:
Thy people are scattered upon the mountains,
And there is none to gather them.
There is no assuaging of thy hurt;
Thy wound is grievous:
All that hear the bruit of thee clap the hands over thee:
For upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?
RHAPSODY
OR
PROPHETIC DRAMA
JEREMIAH'S RHAPSODY OF THE DROUGHT
Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they sit in black upon
the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
And their nobles send their little ones to the waters: they come to the
pits, and find no water; they return with their vessels empty: they are
ashamed and confounded, and cover their heads.
Because of the ground which is chapt, for that no rain hath been in the
land, the plowmen are ashamed, they cover their heads.
Yea, the hind also in the field calveth, and forsaketh her young,
because there is no grass. And the wild asses stand on the bare heights,
they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail, because there is no
herbage.
REPENTENT ISRAEL
Though our iniquities testify against us, work thou for thy name's sake,
O LORD: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee. O
thou hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in the time of trouble, why
shouldest thou be as a sojourner in the land, and as a wayfaring man
that turneth aside to tarry for a night? Why shouldest thou be as a man
astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the
midst of us, and we are called by thy name: leave us not.
THE PROPHET
Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Even so have they loved to wander;
they have not refrained their feet: therefore the LORD doth not accept
them; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.
THE LORD (to the Prophet)
Pray not for this people for their good. When they fast, I will not hear
their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and oblation, I will not
accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine,
and by the pestilence.
THE PROPHET
Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the
sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace
in this place.
THE LORD
The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I
commanded them, neither spake I unto them; they prophesy unto you a
lying vision, and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of
their own heart. Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets
that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and
famine shall not be in this land: By sword and famine shall those
prophets be consumed. And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast
out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and
they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons,
nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them. And
thou shalt say this word unto them, 'Let mine eyes run down with tears
night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my
people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous wound. If I
go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I
enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! for
both the prophet and the priest go about in the land and have no
knowledge.'
REPENTENT ISRAEL
Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul loathed Zion? why hast
thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? We looked for peace,
but no good came; and for a time of healing, and behold dismay! We
acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers:
for we have sinned against thee. Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake;
do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy
covenant with us. Are there any among the vanities of the heathen that
can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD
our God? therefore we will wait upon thee; for thou hast made all these
things.
THE LORD (to the Prophet)
Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward
this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. And it
shall come to pass, when they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth?
then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD: Such as are for death,
to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are
for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to
captivity. And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord: the
sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and
the beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy. And I will cause them
to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth, because of
Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in
Jerusalem. For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall
bemoan thee? or who shall turn aside to ask of thy welfare? Thou hast
rejected me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore have I
stretched out my hand against thee, and destroyed thee; I am weary with
repenting. And I have fanned them with a fan in the gates of the land; I
have bereaved them of children, I have destroyed my people; they have
not returned from their ways. Their widows are increased to me above the
sand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of the
young men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused anguish and terrors to
fall upon her suddenly. She that hath borne seven languisheth; she hath
given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day; she hath
been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to
the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.
THE PROPHET
Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man
of contention to the whole earth! I have not lent on usury, neither have
men lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.
THE LORD (to the Prophet)
Verily I will strengthen thee for good; verily I will cause the enemy to
make supplication unto thee in the time of evil and in the time of
affliction.
THE LORD (to the People)
Can one break iron, even iron from the north, and brass? Thy substance
and thy treasures will I give for a spoil without price, and that for
all thy sins, even in all thy borders. And I will make thee to serve
thine enemies in a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in
mine anger, which shall burn upon you.
REPENTENT ISRAEL
O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and avenge me of my
persecutors: take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy
sake I have suffered reproach. Thy words were found, and I did eat them;
and thy words were unto me a joy and the rejoicing of mine heart: for I
am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts. I sat not in the assembly of
them that make merry, nor rejoiced: I sat alone because of thy hand; for
thou hast filled me with indignation. Why is my pain perpetual, and my
wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou indeed be unto
me as a deceitful brook, as waters that fail?
THE LORD
Therefore thus saith the LORD: If thou return, then will I bring thee
again, that thou mayest stand before me; and if thou take forth the
precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: they shall return
unto thee, but thou shalt not return unto them.
EPILOGUE (to the Prophet)
And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall; and they
shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I
am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD. And I
will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee
out of the hand of the terrible.
HABAKKUK'S RHAPSODY OF THE CHALDEANS
i
The Mystery
THE PROPHET
O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto
thee of violence, and thou wilt not save. Why dost thou shew me
iniquity, and cause me to look upon perverseness? for spoiling and
violence are before me: and there is strife, and contention riseth up.
Therefore the law is slacked, and judgement doth never go forth: for the
wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore judgement goeth forth
perverted.
THE LORD
Behold ye among the nations, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I
work a work in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told
you. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation;
which march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places
that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful: their judgement
and their dignity proceed from themselves. Their horses also are swifter
than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves; and their
horsemen bear themselves proudly: yea, their horsemen come from far;
they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour. They come all of them for
violence; their faces are set eagerly as the east wind; and they gather
captives as the sand. Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a
derision unto him: he derideth every strong hold; for he heapeth up
dust, and taketh it. Then shall he sweep by as a wind, and shall pass
over, and be guilty: even he whose might is his god.
THE PROPHET
Art not thou from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? thou diest
not. O LORD, thou hast ordained him for judgement; and thou, O Rock,
hast established him for correction. Thou that art of purer eyes than to
behold evil, and that canst not look on perverseness, wherefore lookest
thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy peace when the
wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he; and makest
men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler
over them? He taketh up all of them with the angle, he catcheth them in
his net, and gathereth them in his drag: therefore he rejoiceth and is
glad. Therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto
his drag; because by them his portion is fat, and his meat plenteous.
Shall he therefore empty his net, and not spare to slay the nations
continually?
ii
The Solution
THE PROPHET
I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will look
forth to see what he will speak by me, and what I shall answer
concerning my complaint.
THE LORD
Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that
readeth it. For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hasteth
toward the end, and shall not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because
it will surely come, it will not delay. Behold, his soul is puffed up,
it is not upright in him: but the just shall live in his faithfulness.
Yea, moreover, wine is a treacherous dealer, a haughty man, and that
keepeth not at home; who enlargeth his desire as hell, and he is as
death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and
heapeth unto him all peoples. Shall not all these take up a parable
against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say:
Doom of the Chaldeans
1
Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his,
--How long?--
And that ladeth himself with pledges!
Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall exact usury of thee, and
awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?
Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the peoples
shall spoil thee; because of men's blood, and for the violence done to
the land, to the city, and to all that dwell therein.
2
Woe to him that getteth an evil gain for his house,
That he may set his nest on high,
That he may be delivered from the hand of evil!
Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many peoples, and
hast sinned against thy soul. For the stone shall cry out of the wall,
and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.
3
Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood,
And stablisheth a city by iniquity!
Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the peoples labour for the
fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity? For the earth shall
be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters
cover the sea.
4
Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink,
That addest thy venom thereto,
And makest him drunken also,
That thou mayest look on their nakedness!
Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and be as one
uncircumcised. The cup of the LORD'S right hand shall be turned unto
thee, and foul shame shall be upon thy glory. For the violence done to
Lebanon shall cover thee, and the destruction of the beasts which made
them afraid; because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the
land, to the city, and to all that dwell therein.
5
What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it;
the molten image, and the teacher of lies, that the maker of his work
trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?--
Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake;
To the dumb stone, Arise!
Shall this teach? Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and
there is no breath at all in the midst of it. But the LORD is in his
holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him!
iii
Jehovah come to Judgment
Prelude
O LORD, I have heard the report of thee, and am afraid:
O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years,
In the midst of the years make it known:
In wrath remember mercy!
Strophe
God cometh from Teman,
And the Holy One from Mount Paran.
His glory covereth the heavens,
And the earth is full of his praise.
And his brightness is as the light;
He hath rays coming forth from his hand;
And there is the hiding of his power.
Before him goeth the pestilence,
And fiery bolts go forth at his feet.
He standeth and shaketh the earth;
He beholdeth, and driveth asunder the nations:
And the eternal mountains are scattered,
The everlasting hills do bow;
His ways are everlasting.
I see the tents of Cushan in affliction;
The curtains of the land of Midian do tremble.
Antistrophe
Is the LORD displeased against the rivers?
Is thine anger against the rivers, or thy wrath against the sea,
That thou dost ride upon thine horses,
Upon thy chariots of salvation?
Thy bow is made quite bare,
Sworn are the chastisements of thy word.
Thou dost cleave the earth with rivers;
The mountains see thee and are afraid;
The tempest of waters passeth by;
The deep uttereth his voice,
And lifteth up his hands on high;
The sun and moon stand still in their habitation
At the light of thine arrows as they go,
At the shining of thy glittering spear.
Thou dost march through the land in indignation,
Thou dost thresh the nations in anger.
Epode
Thou art come for the salvation of thy people,
For the salvation of thine anointed:
Thou dost smite off the head from the house of the wicked,
Laying bare the foundation even unto the neck.
Thou dost pierce with his own staves the head of his warriors:
(They came as a whirlwind to scatter me,
Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly:)
Thou dost tread the sea with thine horses, the surge of mighty waters.
Postlude
I heard, and my belly trembled,
My lips quivered at the voice;
Rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in my place:
That I should rest waiting for the day of trouble,
When he that shall invade them in troops cometh up against the people.
For though the fig tree shall not blossom,
Neither shall fruit be in the vines;
The labour of the olive shall fail,
And the fields shall yield no meat;
The flock shall be cut off from the fold,
And there shall be no herd in the stalls:
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Jehovah, the Lord, is my strength,
And he maketh my feet like hinds' feet,
And will make me to walk upon mine high places.
JOEL'S RHAPSODY OF THE LOCUST PLAGUE
i
The Land Desolate and Mourning
OLD MEN
Hear this, ye old men,
And give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land!
Hath this been in your days,
Or in the days of your fathers?
Tell ye your children of it,
And let your children tell their children,
And their children another generation.
That which the palmerworm hath left
Hath the locust eaten;
And that which the locust hath left
Hath the cankerworm eaten;
And that which the cankerworm hath left
Hath the caterpillar eaten.
REVELLERS
Awake, ye drunkards, and weep,
And howl, all ye drinkers of wine,
Because of the sweet wine;
For it is cut off from your mouth!
For a nation is come up upon my land,
Strong, and without number;
His teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And he hath the jaw teeth of a great lion.
He hath laid my vine waste,
And barked my fig tree:
He hath made it clean bare, and cast it away;
The branches thereof are made white.
PRIESTS
Lament like a virgin
Girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth!
The meal offering and the drink offering
Is cut off from the house of the LORD:
The priests, the LORD'S ministers, mourn.
The field is wasted,
The land mourneth;
For the corn is wasted,
The new wine is dried up,
The oil languisheth.
HUSBANDMEN
Be ashamed, O ye husbandmen,
Howl, O ye vinedressers,
For the wheat, and for the barley;
For the harvest of the field is perished!
The vine is withered,
And the fig tree languisheth;
The pomegranate tree,
The palm tree also, and the apple tree,
Even all the trees of the field are withered:
For joy is withered away from the sons of men.
PRIESTS
Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests;
Howl, ye ministers of the altar;
Come, lie all night in sackcloth,
Ye ministers of my God:
For the meal offering and the drink offering
Is withholden from the house of your God!
THE WHOLE PEOPLE
Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the old men and all the
inhabitants of the land unto the house of the LORD your God, and cry
unto the LORD:
Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand!
And as destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
Is not the meat cut off before our eyes,
Yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
The seeds rot under their clods:
The garners are laid desolate,
The barns are broken down;
For the corn is withered.
How do the beasts groan!
The herds of cattle are perplexed,
Because they have no pasture;
Yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
O LORD, to thee do I cry:
For the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
And the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
Yea, the beasts of the field pant unto thee:
For the water brooks are dried up,
And the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
ii
The Judgment Advancing
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion,
And sound an alarm in my holy mountain;
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble!
For the Day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of
darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the dawn
spread upon the mountains; a great people and a strong, there hath not
been ever the like, neither shall be any more after them, even to the
years of many generations!
A fire devoureth before them;
And behind them a flame burneth:
The land is as the garden of Eden before them,
And behind them a desolate wilderness!
Yea, and none hath escaped them. The appearance of them is as the
appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so do they run. Like the noise of
chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, like the noise of a
flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in
battle array.
At their presence the peoples are in anguish:
All faces are waxed pale:
They run like mighty men;
They climb the wall like men of war;
And they march every one on his ways.
And they break not their ranks: neither doth one thrust another; they
march every one in his path: and they burst through the weapons, and
break not off their course.
They leap upon the city;
They run upon the wall;
They climb up into the houses;
They enter in at the windows like a thief.
The earth quaketh before them;
The heavens tremble:
The sun and the moon are darkened,
And the stars withdraw their shining.
And the LORD uttereth his voice before his army; for his camp is very
great; for he is strong that executeth his word: for the Day of the LORD
is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
iii
Repentance at the Last Moment
THE LORD
Yet even now, saith the LORD, turn ye unto me with all your heart, and
with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart,
and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is
gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy,
and repenteth him of the evil.
THE PEOPLE
Who knoweth whether he will not turn and repent, and leave a blessing
behind him, even a meal offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your
God?
Blow the trumpet in Zion,
Sanctify a fast,
Call a solemn assembly:
Gather the people,
Sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the old men,
Gather the children, and those that suck the breasts:
Let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber,
And the bride out of her closet.
Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and
the altar, and let them say:
PRIESTS
Spare thy people, O LORD,
And give not thine heritage to reproach,
That the nations should use a byword against them,
Wherefore should they say among the peoples,
Where is their God?
iv
Relief and Restoration
Then was the LORD jealous for his land, and had pity on his people.
THE LORD
Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be
satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the
nations: but I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will
drive him into a land barren and desolate, his forepart into the eastern
sea, and his hinder part into the western sea; and his stink shall come
up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.
Fear not, O land, be glad and rejoice; for the LORD hath done great
things. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field; for the pastures of the
wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and
the vine do yield their strength. Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and
rejoice in the LORD your God: for he giveth you the former rain in just
measure, and he causeth to come down for you the rain, the former rain
and the latter rain, in the first month. And the floors shall be full of
wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will
restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm,
and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent
among you. And ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and shall praise
the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and
my people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the
midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and there is none
else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
v
Afterward
THE LORD
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon
all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men
shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the
servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and
fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and
the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the
LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall
be those that escape, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the
LORD doth call. For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I
shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather
all nations, and will bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat[6];
and I will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage
Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
And they have cast lots for my people: and have given a boy for an
harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink. Yea, and what
are ye to me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the regions of Philistia? will
ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily
will I return your recompence upon your own head. Forasmuch as ye have
taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my
goodly pleasant things; the children also of Judah and the children of
Jerusalem have ye sold unto the sons of the Grecians, that ye might
remove them far from their border: behold, I will stir them up out of
the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence
upon your own head; and I will sell your sons and your daughters into
the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the men
of Sheba, to a nation far off: for the LORD hath spoken it.
[Footnote 6: The LORD'S Decision.]
vi
Advance to the Valley of Decision
THE LORD
Proclaim ye this among the nations; prepare war: stir up the mighty men;
let all the men of war draw near, let them come up. Beat your plowshares
into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am
strong.
VOICES
Haste ye, and come, all ye nations round about, and gather yourselves
together. Thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.
THE LORD
Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the Valley of
'Jehoshaphat': for there will I 'sit to judge' all the nations round
about.
THE LORD (to his Hosts)
Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, tread ye; for the
winepress is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
THE PROPHETIC SPECTATOR
Multitudes, multitudes in the Valley of Decision! for the Day of the
LORD is near in the Valley of Decision. The sun and the moon are
darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. And the LORD shall roar
from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the
earth shall shake: but the LORD will be a refuge unto his people, and a
strong hold to the children of Israel.
vii
The Holy Mountain and Eternal Peace
THE LORD
So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God, dwelling in Zion my holy
mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers
pass through her any more. And it shall come to pass in that day, that
the mountains shall drop down sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with
milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall flow with waters; and a fountain
shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the Valley of
Acacias. Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate
wilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because
they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall be
inhabited for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. And I
will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth
in Zion.
THE HURT OF THE DAUGHTER OF MY PEOPLE
A Rhapsodic Discourse of Jeremiah
Thus saith the LORD: Shall men fall, and not rise up again? shall one
turn away, and not return? Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden
back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to
return. I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man
repenteth him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one
turneth to his course, as a horse that rusheth headlong in the battle.
Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle
and the swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my
people know not the ordinance of the LORD. How do ye say, We are wise,
and the law of the LORD is with us? But, behold, the false pen of the
scribes hath wrought falsely. The wise men are ashamed, they are
dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and
what manner of wisdom is in them? Therefore will I give their wives unto
others, and their fields to them that shall possess them: for every one
from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the
prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. And they have
healed the hurt of the daughter of my people lightly, saying, Peace,
peace; when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed
abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they
blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of
their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD. I will utterly
consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor
figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I
have given them shall pass away from them.
THE PEOPLE
Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the
defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath
put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have
sinned against the LORD. We looked for peace, but no good came; and for
a time of healing, and behold dismay! The snorting of his horses is
heard from Dan: at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones the
whole land trembleth; for they are come, and have devoured the land and
all that is in it; the city and those that dwell therein.
THE LORD
For, behold, I will send serpents, basilisks, among you, which will not
be charmed; and they shall bite you, saith the LORD.
THE PROPHET
Oh that I could comfort myself against sorrow! my heart is faint within
me. Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a
land that is very far off--
THE PEOPLE
Is not the LORD in Zion? is not her King in her?
THE LORD
Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with
strange vanities?
THE PEOPLE
The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved!
THE PROPHET
For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt: I am black;
astonishment hath taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead? is there
no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my
people recovered? Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain
of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter
of my people! Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of
wayfaring men; that I might leave my people and go from them! for they
be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. And they bend their
tongue as it were their bow for falsehood; and they are grown strong in
the land, but not for truth.
THE LORD
For they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the
LORD. Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any
brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour
will go about with slanders. And they will deceive every one his
neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue
to speak lies; they weary themselves to commit iniquity. Thine
habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know
me, saith the LORD. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I
will melt them, and try them; for how else should I do, because of the
daughter of my people? Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaketh
deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in
his heart he layeth wait for him. Shall I not visit them for these
things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as
this?
THE LORD'S CONTROVERSY BEFORE THE MOUNTAINS
A Dramatic Morceau of Micah
THE LORD
Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy
voice. Hear, O ye mountains, the LORD'S controversy, and ye enduring
foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with his
people, and he will plead with Israel.
O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied
thee? testify against me. For I brought thee up out of the land of
Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage; and I sent before
thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember now what Balak king
of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him;
remember from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteous acts
of the LORD.
THE PEOPLE
Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high
God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year
old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten
thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my
transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
THE MOUNTAINS
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require
of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with
thy God?
A CRY OF COMFORT FOR JERUSALEM
Prelude to the Rhapsody of 'Zion Redeemed'
JEHOVAH
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably
to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that
her iniquity is pardoned; that she hath received of the LORD'S hand
double for all her sins.
[Voices carry on the tidings across the desert to Jerusalem
A VOICE OF ONE CRYING
Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of the LORD,
Make straight in the desert a high way for our God.
Every valley shall be exalted,
And every mountain and hill shall be made low:
And the crooked shall be made straight,
And the rough places plain:
And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together:
For the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
A SECOND VOICE (in the distance)
Cry!
A DESPAIRING VOICE
What shall I cry?
All flesh is grass,
And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
The grass withereth,
The flower fadeth,
Because the breath of the LORD bloweth upon it:
Surely the people is grass!
THE SECOND VOICE
The grass withereth,
The flower fadeth:
But the word of our God shall stand for ever.
FOURTH VOICE (still more distant)
O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion,
Get thee up into the high mountain;
O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem,
Lift up thy voice with strength;
Lift it up, be not afraid;
Say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
FIFTH VOICE
Behold, the Lord GOD will come as a mighty one,
And his arm shall rule for him:
Behold, his reward is with him,
And his recompence before him.
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd,
He shall gather the lambs in his arm,
And carry them in his bosom,
And shall gently lead those that give suck.
ZION AWAKENED
(Being Vision III of the Rhapsody of 'Zion Redeemed')
Appeals to Zion
JEHOVAH
Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the
LORD: look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit
whence ye were digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah
that bare you: for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him,
and made him many.
For the LORD hath comforted Zion: he hath comforted all her waste
places, and hath made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the
garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein,
thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
(No response)
JEHOVAH
Attend unto me, O my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation; for a
law shall go forth from me, and I will make my judgement to rest for a
light of the peoples. My righteousness is near, my salvation is gone
forth, and mine arms shall judge the peoples; the isles shall wait for
me, and on mine arm shall they trust.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for
the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old
like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner:
but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be
abolished.
(No response)
JEHOVAH
Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart
is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye dismayed at
their revilings.
For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat
them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation
unto all generations.
(No response)
THE CELESTIAL HOSTS
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD;
Awake, as in the days of old,
The generations of ancient times!
Art thou not it that cut Rahab in pieces,
That pierced the dragon?
Art thou not it which dried up the sea,
The waters of the great deep;
That made the depths of the sea
A way for the redeemed to pass over?
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return,
And come with singing unto Zion;
And everlasting joy shall be upon their heads:
They shall obtain gladness and joy,
And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
JEHOVAH
I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou art afraid
of man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as
grass; and hast forgotten the LORD thy Maker, that stretched forth the
heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and fearest continually
all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he maketh ready
to destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor? The captive exile
shall speedily be loosed; and he shall not die and go down into the pit,
neither shall his bread fail.
For I am the LORD thy God, which stilleth the sea, when the waves
thereof roar: the LORD of hosts is his name. And I have put my words in
thy mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may
plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto
Zion, Thou art my people.
(No response)
THE CELESTIAL HOSTS
Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem,
Which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury;
Thou hast drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it.
There is none to guide her
Among all the sons whom she hath brought forth;
Neither is there any that taketh her by the hand
Of all the sons that she hath brought up.
These two things are befallen thee;
Who shall bemoan thee?
Desolation and destruction,
And the famine, and the sword,
How shall I comfort thee?
Thy sons have fainted,
They lie at the top of all the streets,
As an antelope in a net;
They are full of the fury of the LORD,
The rebuke of thy God.
JEHOVAH
Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:
Thus saith thy Lord, the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of
his people: Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of
staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more
drink it again: and I will put it into the hand of them that afflict
thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and
thou hast laid thy back as the ground, and as the street, to them that
go over.
(No response)
THE CELESTIAL HOSTS
Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion;
Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city:
For henceforth there shall no more come into thee the
uncircumcised and the unclean.
Shake thyself from the dust;
Arise, sit thee down, O Jerusalem:
Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
JEHOVAH
For thus saith the LORD, Ye were sold for nought, and ye shall be
redeemed without money. For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went down
at the first into Egypt to sojourn there: and the Assyrian oppressed
them without cause. Now therefore, what do I here, saith the LORD,
seeing that my people is taken away for nought? They that rule over them
do howl, saith the LORD, and my name continually all the day is
blasphemed. Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall
know in that day that I am he that doth speak: Behold it is I!
ii
The Awakening
CHORUS OF WATCHMEN
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him
That bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace,
That bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation:
That saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
The voice of thy Watchmen! they lift up the voice,
Together do they sing,
For they shall see, eye to eye,
How the LORD returneth to Zion.
Break forth into joy, sing together,
Ye waste places of Jerusalem:
For the LORD hath comforted his people,
He hath redeemed Jerusalem.
The LORD hath made bare his holy arm
In the eyes of all the nations;
And all the ends of the earth
Shall see the salvation of our God.
Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence,
Touch no unclean thing;
Go ye out of the midst of her;
Be ye clean, ye that bear the vessels of the LORD.
For ye shall not go out in haste,
Neither shall ye go by flight;
For the LORD will go before you,
And the God of Israel will be your rearward.
NOTES
The Metrical System of Biblical Verse
In the strictest sense the term 'metrical' is not applicable to Biblical
verse, since this is constituted, not by any numbering of syllables, but
by the parallelism of whole clauses.
The LORD of Hosts is with us,
The God of Jacob is our refuge.
This is verse, not in virtue of any particular number of syllables in
the lines, but because the second line is felt to run parallel with the
first. This principle of parallelism of clauses underlies the whole of
versification in Scriptural literature. As however the different modes
of combination and variation of these parallel lines in Biblical poetry
correspond, to a large extent, with those of metrical lines in other
languages, it is convenient to speak of the principles governing them as
a 'metrical system.'
One consequence however of the difference between Biblical and other
verse should always be borne in mind. The parallelism of clauses, which
makes the foundation of Hebrew verse, is also a thing proper to
oratorical prose in all languages. Accordingly in Hebrew prose and verse
overlap: the extremes of either (e.g. Psalms and Chronicles) are
strongly contrasted, but there is a middle style which can be presented
in either form. Hence there is nothing strange in the fact that the same
passage of Scripture may be presented by one editor as prose and by
another as verse, according to the purpose of each arrangement. [For
example: the Oration on Immortality (page 75), which for a specimen of
oratory is here arranged as prose, is printed as verse in the Revised
Version of the Apocrypha.]
1. The simplest type of parallelism in Biblical literature may be called
'Antique Rhythm.' It is the metre of most of the traditional poetry
preserved in the historic books of Scripture. Its unit consists in a
couplet, of which either member may be strengthened by a parallel line,
but not both.
Let me die the death of the righteous.
And let my last end be like his!
He saith, which heareth the words of God,
Which seeth the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, and having his eyes open.
He shall eat up the nations his adversaries,
And shall break their bones in pieces,
And smite them through with his arrows.
Such a unit may be called a 'strain.' It will be seen in the examples
that the first strain is a simple couplet, the second has its first line
strengthened, the last has its second line strengthened. This power of
occasionally strengthening either line of a couplet by an additional
line gives the Antique Rhythm a flexibility suited to spontaneous
composition. A similar device is found in connection with the
traditional ballad poetry of England, of which such collections as The
Percy Reliques are accidentally preserved specimens. While the regular
metre of such ballads is a four-line stanza, yet a few poems, such as
the Ballad of Sir Cauline, show some stanzas with individual lines
strengthened:
Fair Christabel, that lady mild,
Was had forth of her tower;
But ever she droopeth in her mind,
As nipt by an ungentle wind
Doth some pale lily flower.
The poetry of the historic books mostly takes the form of aggregations
of such 'strains' of Antique Rhythm, with no further structure.
Occasionally such a poem will fall into verse paragraphs or 'strophes'
[to be distinguished from the antistrophic system presently to be
described]: an example is David's Song of Victory (see note on page
266). [For a combination of Antique Rhythm and the Antistrophic system,
see note to vii on page 267.]
2. The metre of Wisdom verse is highly elaborate: we find here, not only
the parallelism of successive clauses, but the 'high parallelism' which
correlates all parts of a whole poem with one another. Two types may be
distinguished: the Stanza structure and the Antistrophic structure.
Stanzas are familiar to the English reader: in Biblical poetry groups of
three lines, or four lines, etc., recur in succession: a simple example
is the Chorus of Watchmen (on page 236).
The Antistrophic system is familiar to students of Greek, as the
metrical form of tragic choral odes. In this case the stanzas run in
pairs, strophe and antistrophe, the theory being that the antistrophe
exactly repeats the metrical form of its strophe; if another strophe
follows the form may altogether change, but the changed form will be
repeated in the corresponding antistrophe. [This may be expressed by the
formula a a', b b', c c', etc.] Besides the pair of strophes there may
be an introduction, or conclusion, or both. No. i of the Sonnets (on
page 125) is an example of a poem consisting simply of strophe and
antistrophe; No. iii (page 126) has also a conclusion.[7]
[Footnote 7: The term strophe is the Greek for 'turning': the system is
derived from the dance performance of Greek odes, according to which the
chorus danced from the altar to the end of the orchestra in one stanza,
then 'turned,' and _retraced their steps_ for the antistrophe or
'answering' stanza. The term strophe has come to be used also for verse
paragraphs where there is no antistrophic arrangement. (See page 266,
note on vi.)]
Both in the case of the Stanza structure and the Antistrophic structure
there are various modifications and elaborations--duplication,
inversion, interruption, etc.: these it will be sufficient to explain in
connection with the examples in which they are found.
3. The metre of Lyrics is in the main the same as that of Wisdom poetry.
But in the strictest kinds of lyrics the structure is further determined
by the musical performance. A lyric may be a solo, or the matter may be
arranged for 'antiphonal' performance between different performers, e.g.
choruses of Men and of Women. Antiphonal and antistrophic structure go
easily together: see Deborah's Song, page 152. The musical performance
also introduces the 'refrain,' a passage recurring (with or without
changes for musical effect): for example see The Song of Moses and
Miriam (page 149).
4. A characteristic metrical system in Biblical verse is the 'Doom
form.' Here the thread of the poem is in what, for form and spirit, may
be called prose; but this prose is interrupted at intervals by lyric
verse, celebrating or realising what the prose brings forward. This is
chiefly found in prophecies of 'doom,' or denunciation of the foes of
Israel (hence the name): the prose is a Divine word of denunciation, the
lyrics are mostly impersonal celebrations of what the Divine speaker
says. The form is easily collected from examples; see pages 175-181.
STORY
Story as a form of literature differs from History by its appeal to the
imagination and emotions, whereas History addresses itself to our sense
of record and scientific explanation. It is of no consequence whether
the matter of the story be historic fact or invention; in the one case
the writer selects, in the other case he frames, such details as will
have the desired effect in presenting the story to the mind of the
reader. The stories of the Bible are scattered through the history, of
which they form a part; thus a reader of the Bible in its ordinary
versions may be required at any moment to alter the character of his
attention without anything to warn him of the change. In the Modern
Reader's Bible (volumes Genesis, The Exodus, The Judges, The Kings) the
stories are separated from the surrounding matter by titles. Selections
of these stories enter into the present volume.
/i. Joseph and his Brethren./ This is one of the most elaborate and
artistically beautiful stories in all literature. It emphasises an
important place in the Biblical history, Joseph being a link between the
Children of Israel and the world empire of Egypt. Among elements of
story beauty note the personality of Joseph, its attractiveness wherever
he goes and its gradual maturing. Note also the sketches of varied life
which make a background to the story as it moves along--glimpses of
shepherd life, of caravan trading, of palace life in Egypt. But the main
interest will be the 'plot'--the technical term for the harmony that
binds the different parts of a story into one whole. In the present case
there are three 'motives' underlying the plot. (1) What has been called
the 'oracular action': the interest of mystic dream oracles gradually
becoming clear as the oracles are fulfilled. (2) The development of an
ironic situation--Joseph recognising his brethren but not recognised by
them: once developed this situation is prolonged to the utmost by the
hero's conflict of feelings, between resentment and family affection.
(3) Beneath all other motives is the providential overruling of human
events for high purposes (compare page 27).
/ii. The Witness of Balaam./ The place of this story in the main history
is indicated by its title: the 'Exodus' is the period of development for
Israel from a family to a nation, and towards the close of the period
Balaam, an outsider, bears witness in spite of himself to the growing
numbers of the nation and to its glorious future.--In literary form it
is a 'mixed epic' or 'canti-fable': a story in prose that breaks into
verse at appropriate places. (Compare the expression _took up his
parable_: the parable is an undefined term for a more specialised
literary form occurring in the course of more general literature, such
as a fable in the midst of a discourse, or a poem in the midst of
prose.)--Its interest rests partly upon the conception of the 'Blessing
and the Curse': there is the superstitious idea of the efficacy of these
in the minds of Balak and his people, while the true Blessing comes from
the prophetic vision accorded to Balaam by God. [Compare 'The Stolen
Blessing' in the Genesis volume.] In character Balaam is a sincere
worshipper of Jehovah outside the ranks of Jehovah's people, who however
from interested motives conforms to the heathen world around him as far
as he can. [Outside this story the general history shows him as yielding
at last to material interest and acting as tempter to Israel: compare
Revelation, chapter ii. 14.]--The third paragraph (page 34) is the
famous story of Balaam's Ass. It is the opinion of some that this is a
fable interwoven with the main story: it is in favour of this view that
the following paragraph, _So Balaam went with the princes of Balak_,
etc., seems the natural continuation of the second paragraph; while the
_princes of Balak_ are ignored in the story of the Ass.
/iii. The Crowning of Abimelech./ This occupies an important place in
the general history. Originally Israel is ruled only by the invisible
Jehovah; gradually the secularising forces around lead to the
institution of visible kings. This story is the first attempt at
crowning a king, the work of a faction, with civil war and ruin as a
result.--It is a story of war and adventure. [Compare the Raid on
Michmash, or The Feud of Saul and David in the Judges volume.]--Its
interest also rests upon the bitter fable of Jotham in scorn of
kingship: the fable has the effect of a curse since it is literally
fulfilled.
/iv. Samson's Wedding Feast./ This illustrates a variety of story called
'Idyl': the word is almost equivalent to 'trifle,' and the term is
applied to incidents of love or domestic life in contradistinction to
graver matters of history. [Three Idyl Stories (Ruth, Esther, Tobit) are
contained in the Biblical Idyls volume of this series.]--Characteristic
of such a story is the game of riddles; the original riddle, answer, and
rejoinder are all in single couplets.--It is not a pure idyl; feats of
hero strength form another interest, as with other stories of Samson.
/v-vii./ These are Prophetic Stories. As the secularising tendency in
Israel towards visible kings prevails against the original conception of
a spiritual rule by an invisible God there arises an order of
'prophets,' who stand forth as representatives of the invisible Jehovah,
and are thus often in opposition to the external government. So in the
history of The Kings stories of these prophets, with their miraculous
powers, take the place of the stories of heroes and their feats in
earlier parts of the history. During the captivity in Babylon, Daniel in
a similar way represents the Hebrew God against the king and hierarchy
of Babylon.
/vii. Page 63./ I have followed a tradition that the mystic writing on
the wall was interpreted by Daniel reading downward instead of across
[or rather, down, up, down: the form of writing known as boustrophedon,
that is, the way an ox turns in a furrow]. If the handwriting was in an
unknown alphabet Daniel must have said so, or why should his
interpretation be accepted at once? But if the characters were those to
which the beholders were accustomed, but arranged in an unthought-of
direction, it is easy to realise the puzzle of the audience and the
instantaneous acceptance of the solution.
ORATORY
/i. The Oration of Moses at the Rehearsal of the Blessing and the
Curse./ The Book of Deuteronomy, from which this is taken, is a
collection of the Orations and Songs of Moses, constituting his Farewell
to the People of Israel. The general subject both of the oratory and
song is the Covenant between Jehovah and his people, now for the first
time committed to writing, and entrusted by the retiring leader of
Israel to the Levites and Elders. The third of these orations is
connected with a ceremonial occasion. An ordinance has been made for the
ceremony of 'The Blessing and the Curse' to be an institution of the
promised land: representatives of the Blessing are to stand on one
mountain and representatives of the Curse on the opposite slope, the
whole ritual solemnly enforcing the sanctity of the Covenant. At present
however the people are on the wilderness side of Jordan; accordingly
Moses arranges a _Rehearsal_ of this ceremony, on ground resembling the
valley between Ebal and Gerizim. This rehearsal is allowed to proceed to
a certain point when Moses stops it, and takes the subject of the
blessings and curses into his own hands. Hence the abrupt commencement
of this oration.--As elements of oratorical beauty note (1) the
interweaving and parallelism of sentences, (2) the terrific crescendo
and climax of denunciation. The oration must be spoken to get the full
effect.
/ii. Immortality and the Covenant with Death./ This is an example of the
Written Address, Oratory that is not intended to be spoken. It is one of
a series of imaginary addresses by King Solomon to the other rulers of
the nations, constituting a work entitled 'The Wisdom of Solomon' (in
volume 3 of the present series).--The author's style is distinguished by
a peculiar order of thought, according to which some of the leading
points of his argument take the form of digressions. The thought of this
discourse is that death is no part of the natural order of the universe,
but is introduced into the world by the wickedness of men. The author
imagines a monologue of the wicked, led by despair of aught beyond the
grave to a life of luxury and oppression. Another imaginary monologue
expresses the feelings of the same wicked men as they awaken from death
to the life beyond. But as a digression between these two monologues the
author places his reflections on the 'hopes of the ungodly,' that is,
the substitutes in earlier thought for the grand conception of a life
beyond death. These substitutes are (1) the living over again in
posterity, (2) long life in this world. With regard to the first he
argues that the brood of the ungodly is unstable and accursed: better is
childlessness with virtue. As to the hopes of long life, he argues that
the old age of the wicked is without honour; whereas a life cut short
may be a life perfected.
/iii-vii./ These are Prophetic Discourses. Considered as part of the
literature of Oratory these Prophetic Discourses hold an intermediate
position between the spoken and the written address. What appears as a
discourse in the books of the prophets is probably not the exact report
of a speech, but the substance of a speech, or of several similar
speeches, worked up again into the style of a written address.
/iii. The Great Arraignment./ This discourse of Isaiah takes the
form of a theme (God's arraignment of his people as rebels) treated
in four paragraphs: the prophet's remonstrance--repentance by
oblations--repentance of life--corruption redeemed with judgment.
/iv. The Covenant with Death./ The phrase Covenant with Death in the
title of this discourse of Isaiah has a different meaning from the same
phrase in the title of another discourse (ii). In the latter it meant a
supposed invitation to Death to come as a friend, by those who were 'of
his portion'; in the present case it means an agreement with Death to
pass by the supposed speaker while he visits others.--This discourse
illustrates what is a characteristic feature of Hebrew literature--the
'pendulum structure,' by which the thought alternates in successive
paragraphs between one and the other of two contrasting themes, in this
case between Judgment and Salvation. The prophet is writing for the
southern kingdom of Judah. Commencing with the rival kingdom of northern
Israel he denounces drunken Ephraim, and how its crown of pride shall be
trodden down (Judgment). But (Salvation) there shall be a crown of glory
for the residue. Now he proceeds to Judgment upon Judah: the drunken
rulers who trust to a refuge of lies, which the overflowing scourge
shall sweep away. But there is Salvation for the patient. This comfort
is imparted in agricultural images: the cruel plowing does not go on for
ever, the gentle sowing comes; there are sharp threshing instruments
[for the guilty], the gentle threshing with the rod for the precious
cummin; and even the threshing is not to crush, but to make corn fit for
bread.
/v. The Utter Destruction and the Great Restoration./ A discourse made
by companion pictures linked together by two parallel passages, each a
parenthetic quintet, interrupting the pictorial description, which is
afterwards resumed, with words emphasising the prophecy as a whole:
_Seek ye out of the book of the LORD and read_ [how all these woes shall
come to pass] ... _Strengthen ye the weak hands_ [with these glorious
promises].--Note that Edom is only mentioned as typical of the foes of
Israel in general, the pictures being of universal destruction and
restoration. There is a similar use of Egypt and Edom as types of all
the foes of Israel in another discourse (page 220).
/vi. The Sword of the LORD./ This is an illustration of a very peculiar
form of discourse, which is without parallel in modern literature.
Ezekiel is the great representative of 'Emblem Prophecy,' that is,
discourses which have for texts some symbolic action or piece of dumb
show. But in extreme examples of Emblem Prophecy, like the present,
symbolism pervades the whole of the discourse: attitude, gesture,
visible emblem, sustained dumb show, song, are all mingled together and
combined with oratory.--The discourse falls into four parts. (1) At the
opening, the prophet sets his face toward Jerusalem: there is no
symbolic action beyond this. (2) But as the address progresses, he
suddenly draws forth a sword: this is the sword of the Lord which is to
go forth out of its sheath against all flesh, and it will not return any
more. Suddenly, the dramatic speaker has identified himself with the
victims of this Divine sword: _Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the
breaking of thy loins_, etc. Now the theme of the sword is resumed, and
with it mingles what is evidently some military strain or folk-lore
song, of which the augmenting lines suggest the gathering spirit of
combat: _A sword, a sword, it is sharpened, and also furbished_, etc.
For a single moment the other side is presented--a people careless and
secure: _the Rod of my son_ [they say] _it contemneth every tree_. But
the impending destruction continues to gather force: _And it is given to
be furbished that it may be handled_, etc. There is a sudden change, and
cries and howls proclaim how the sword has fallen upon the people, and
the _Rod that contemneth_ is no more. The emblematic movement seems to
become more and more rapid [through three verses of the song: _And let
the sword be doubled the third time_, etc.].--(3) A total change here
ensues. The sword now becomes emblematic of the sword of Babylon; and
the imaginary picture is that of the conqueror arriving at the junction
of the ways and deciding by his omens to proceed against Jerusalem.--(4)
Once more there is a total change: the sword now stands for Israel's
enemies, the children of Ammon, and the verse conveys their boasting.
But suddenly the prophetic speaker plunges the sword into its sheath: so
is symbolically introduced the fate of Ammon to return to the land of
his birth and perish there.
/vii. Wreck of the Goodly Ship Tyre./ This illustrates a characteristic
of Ezekiel's style by which, in place of visible symbolism, illustrated
by the last example, a single image is sustained through the whole of a
discourse. In the present case it is the image of a ship. Tyre was the
great maritime city of antiquity: its grandeur is conveyed under the
image of a ship which all the nations of the known world combine to
build and load; the judgment is the wrecking of this goodly ship.
/viii./ Amongst other things the prophetic books contain 'Sentences,'
that is, brief sayings of prophets, each like an epigram, complete in
itself. These no doubt passed from mouth to mouth like proverbs, and
were collected by the prophets. The examples in this section are from
the Book of Jeremiah.
WISDOM
'Wisdom' is the name given to the department of Biblical literature
which corresponds to Philosophy in modern literature. It is however
always philosophy in application to human life and conduct.
The starting-point of Wisdom literature is the /Unit Proverb/, which is
a unit of thought in a unit of form. The unit of form is the couplet or
triplet of verse: see above, page 242. Examples are given on pages
107-9. It will be seen that this Unit Proverb is a meeting-point of
prose and verse literature: its form is verse, its matter (philosophy)
belongs to the literature of prose. Accordingly it is natural that the
more extended forms of Wisdom literature should take two directions: one
on the side of verse, the other on the side of prose.
/Epigrams/ and /Maxims/: examples of these are found on pages 109-11.
The Epigram is a verse saying, of a few lines in length, in which two
lines (not necessarily consecutive) are capable of standing by
themselves as a unit proverb. In the examples given the two lines in
each epigram that stand out on the left may be read as a proverb
complete in itself. Such a germ proverb is the text of the epigram, the
remaining lines serve to expand this text. The corresponding prose form
is the Maxim, a unit proverb text with a brief prose comment.
/Essays./ A more extended form of Wisdom literature, on the side of
prose, is the Essay. The word has various uses: the Scriptural essays
are not of the modern type (like those of Macaulay or Emerson), but of
the antique type like the essays of Bacon. The title of an essay
suggests a theme, on which the rest is a prose comment. (Pages 112-24.)
Verse compositions consisting of comments upon themes are in this series
called /Sonnets/. In general literature the idea underlying the Sonnet
is the adaptation of the matter to the outer form, as if a poet's
thought were poured into special moulds. In English and Italian sonnets
there is only one such form or mould--a sequence of 14 lines divided
according to a particular plan; the matter of these sonnets must be
condensed or expanded to suit this plan. The nearest approach to this in
Scriptural literature is the Fixed or Number Sonnet: the opening of this
suggests a number scheme, to which the rest conforms.
There be three things which are too wonderful for me,
Yea, four which I know not:
The way of an Eagle in the air;
The way of a Serpent upon a rock;
The way of a Ship in the midst of the sea;
And the way of a Man with a Maid.
The examples quoted in the present volume are different. They may be
called 'Free Sonnets': the moulding in these is to nothing more
restricted than 'high parallelism,' that is, not the parallelism binding
successive lines into a stanza, but the bond which may correlate the
most distant parts of a poem into a single scheme. The scheme of
parallelism for each sonnet will be given in a separate note.
Essays
/ii./ This essay touches upon what was the great difficulty to early
Hebrew thinkers: the visible prosperity of the wicked, which seemed to
them contrary to their conception of 'judgment' or righteous providence.
The author in this essay endeavours to meet the difficulty by two
thoughts: (1) how a change of fate at the very end of life may make all
the difference; (2) how the punishment may come in the next
generation.--A resemblance will be noted at one point to a parable of
the New Testament.
/v./ An essay on the Choice of Company, in five paragraphs: The danger
of unknown company in a house--the good only are proper objects of
charity--friendship not trustworthy until tested by adversity--the
humble can only be defiled by contact with the proud--like will to like,
and riches cannot consort with poverty.
/vi./ This essay is founded upon the old conception of society by which
the educated formed a separate class--here called 'the scribes.'
Translated into modern ideas of life the argument would be that no life
in any social station must be without leisure, and on such leisure
self-culture depends.
/vii./ This section makes a transitional stage to the next division of
our selections, as it consists of an Essay containing a Sonnet.
The argument of the whole is that Life is a thing of joy, tempered by
the sense of responsibility. The latter idea is conveyed by the word
'judgment,' which throughout the Old Testament stands for the
irreconcilable antagonism between good and evil, and the certain
overthrow of evil: the recognition of this makes action responsible.
With this limitation, the author urges that the very shortness of life
and youth is so much incentive to make joyful what days are allowed.
The scheme of high parallelism [see above, page 256] in this sonnet is
the 'pendulum structure': the alternation of successive lines between
two thoughts is conveyed to the eye by the indenting of the lines. The
middle lines put symbolic descriptions of old age; the lines indented on
the left drop the symbolism and speak in plain terms. [The lines
indented on the right are subordinate clauses.]
The matter of the sonnet is a tour-de-force of symbolism, under which
are veiled the symptoms of senile decay followed by death. It is very
likely that some of the symbols may be lost; but it is not difficult to
see, without straining, a possible interpretation for each; and some of
them have passed into traditional use. The poetic beauty of the passage
is marvellous.
_Or ever the sun, and the light ... be darkened_: in view of the opening
words of the preceding essay, which take the 'light' and 'sun' as
symbols of the whole happiness of conscious existence, it is clear that
the darkening of this light is the gradual failing of the joy of
living.--_And the clouds return after the rain_: an exquisite symbol,
closely akin to the last. In youth we may overstrain and disturb our
health, but we soon rally; these are storms that quickly clear up. In
age the rallying power is gone: "the clouds return after the
rain."--_The keepers of the house shall tremble_: Cheyne understands of
the hands and arms, the trembling of which is a natural accompaniment of
old age.--_The strong men shall bow themselves_: the stooping frame; the
plural is merely by attraction to 'keepers.'--_The grinders cease
because they are few_: obviously of the teeth.--_Those that look out of
the windows be darkened_: the eyes becoming dim.--_The doors shall be
shut in the street_: the general connection of ideas makes it inevitable
that the 'folding-doors' should be the jaws; clenched jaws are so marked
a feature in the skull that it is not difficult to associate them with
the picture of old age.--_When the sound of the grinding is low, and one
shall rise up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of music
shall be brought low_: these must be taken together: appetite, speech,
and sleep are all feeble. Grinding must be interpreted as grinders in
the previous part of the sonnet: the loud or low sound of such grinding
may fitly typify the eagerness of appetite or the reverse. The early
waking or short sleeping of old age is well known. _The daughters of
music_ are the tones of the voice.--_They shall be afraid of that which
is high, and terrors shall be in the way_: the gait of old age is,
through physical feebleness, much what the gait of a person terrified is
for other reasons.--_The almond tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper
shall be a burden, and the caperberry shall burst_: the three are linked
together as being images from natural objects, not because of their
symbolising similar things. _The blossoming of the almond tree_ probably
refers to the sparse white hairs of age. The name of this tree in Hebrew
is founded on the fact that it is the first to blossom; though not
strictly white, its blossoms may be called whitish: the whitish
blossoms, solitary while all is bare around, just yield the image
required. The grasshopper is evidently a symbol for a small object,
which is nevertheless heavy to feeble age. _The caperberry shall burst_:
the last stage of its decay: the failing powers at last give way. And
then follows the dropping of the symbolism: "Man goeth to his long
home."
So far we have had symbols for failure of powers; now for actual death
and dissolution. _Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl
be broken_: a symbol from the house-lamp of gold, suspended by a silver
cord, suddenly slipping its cord and breaking, its light becoming
extinguished. For bowl in this sense compare Zechariah, chapter iv. 2,
3.--_Or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at
the cistern_: these are exquisite symbols for the sudden and violent
cessation of every-day functions. Compare the popular proverb: "The
pitcher goes to the well once too often."--_And the spirit return unto
God who gave it_: this by analogy with the previous line must be
interpreted to mean no more than that the man becomes just what he was
before he was born.
Sonnets
/i. The Sluggard./ The metrical scheme of this sonnet is simple: a
strophe balanced by an antistrophe. [See above, page 244.]
/ii. The Mourning for the Fool./ Metrical scheme: a brief strophe and
antistrophe and conclusion.
/iii. The Two Paths./ Strophe, the way of wisdom; antistrophe, the path
of the wicked; conclusion, union of the two in a common image.
/iv. The Creator has made Wisdom the Supreme Prize./ The metrical scheme
of this sonnet is an example of 'antistrophic inversion': that is, two
strophes followed by their antistrophes, but the antistrophe to the
second strophe precedes the antistrophe to the first. [This is sometimes
expressed by the formula a b b a; or (reckoning the number of lines in
each strophe) 4, 6; 6, 4.] The printing makes this clear to the
eye.--The unity of thought in the sonnet is the conception of Wisdom as
a prize. The middle strophe and antistrophe describe the richness of
this prize; the opening strophe makes 'chastening' the cost at which it
is obtained by the individual from the Lord; and the corresponding
antistrophe (at the end) explains the reason for this costliness--wisdom
was the instrument by which the whole universe was created.
/v. Watchfulness of Lips and Heart./ A Prayer in sonnet form. The
metrical scheme is an illustration of 'duplication' applied to
antistrophic structure: a quatrain question (strophe 1) has a couplet
answer (strophe 2); then the quatrain is duplicated into an octet
(antistrophe 1), and the answer is duplicated into a quatrain
(antistrophe 2). [The lines of invocation are not counted in strophe and
antistrophe 2.]
/vi. Wisdom and the Fear of the Lord./ This is one of the most elaborate
sonnets: its metrical scheme combines antistrophic and stanza structure
(above, page 243). There is first a strophe with its antistrophe; then a
series of stanzas; but these stanzas illustrate the metrical device of
'augmenting,' for they increase, as the thought gathers strength, from 3
lines to 5 lines and 6 lines.
/vii. Wisdom and the Strange Woman./ This is at once the foremost of
wisdom poems in its thought, and the most elaborate in sonnet structure:
here, as always, the structure is an exact reflection of the thought.
The metrical scheme shows stanza structure throughout. The poem falls
into seven sections. In sections 1, 3, 4, 7, which contain the thread of
argument, we find octet and ten-line stanzas. Section 2, which breaks
off from the argument to give a picture of temptation, changes to sextet
stanzas. Sections 5 and 6, the monologue of Wisdom, are cast in
quatrains, but as the monologue crescendoes to its climax the quatrains
'augment' to 5, 6, 7 lines. There is further the artistic device of
'interruption': the regular flow of stanzas is broken at critical points
by single couplets (like musical rhythm interrupted by recitative);
again in section 2 the actual speech of the temptress is an irregular
mass of lines outside the stanza structure, and this break in the flow
of lines has a fine effect.
The thought of the poem is in the highest degree grand and bold.
Scriptural philosophy loves to celebrate under the name 'Wisdom' the
union of all things, whether of the external universe or of the
spiritual life, in one Divine harmony. In this poem this Wisdom is to be
personified, and to proclaim her attractions. But the poet prepares the
way by contrast with the spirit of temptation, also personified in
female form practising her allurements. This is displayed in a boldly
drawn picture; and then the poet, with the words _Doth not Wisdom cry?_
suddenly turns round and presents 'Wisdom' as the temptress to good.
LYRICS
/i-ii./ These two selections are from the Book of Job. This consists of
matter mainly philosophic worked up into an elaborate poem in which all
literary forms--epic, lyric, drama, rhetoric, etc.--are blended in a way
unparalleled in modern literature. Hence the form of these two pieces is
intermediate between wisdom sonnets and the lyrical poems that follow.
/i. An Elegy of a Broken Heart./ In the Book of Job this intervenes
between the Story Prologue, which is prose, and the main body of the
poem, which takes a dramatic form. Job breaks the silence to dilate,
with lyrical elaboration, upon the situation of utter ruin which is to
be the starting-point of the dramatic discussion. Hence the title of the
section in the whole poem of Job is 'Job's Curse': but it admits of
being separated from the action of the drama as an independent poem,
with some such title as I have given it.--In metrical scheme it falls
into two sections. Section 1 is an example of 'interruption' (compare
note to vii of the sonnets). It will be seen that the last two lines
continue the sentence begun by the first two lines, making with them a
quatrain: between come masses of parallel lines interrupting with a
tour-de-force of execration. Section 2 is made up of introductory
quatrain, strophe, and antistrophe.
/ii. The Creator's Joy in his Creation./ This selection from Job is a
part of the 'Divine Intervention,' which may be read as a complete poem.
That drama introduces the Voice of God out of the whirlwind as taking a
part in the dialogue. The link between the Divine Intervention as a
whole and the general argument is the impossibility of any mortal
grasping the mysteries of the universe, which mysteries enfold the
glories of nature as well as the dark ways of providence which Job and
his friends have been discussing. As a part of this general thought the
portion here cited works out the idea of the Creator's joy in his
creation--a joyous sympathy with the infinities of great and small
throughout the universe. It might be an expansion of the words in the
story of the creation: "And God saw everything that he had made, and,
behold, it was very good."--The metrical scheme of this poem is a
variation of the 'pendulum structure.' [Page 251.] It may be called a
'triple pendulum,' or alternation between three notes: one note is made
by the startling questions of nature mysteries, another (lines indented
to the right) exquisitely pictures the details of these wonders of
nature, while for a third (lines still more to the right) there is a
word of challenge to Job to answer.
/iii-v./ These three selections are lyrics in the strictest sense.
Originally all poetry is of the form technically called 'Ballad-Dance,'
that is, verse combined with musical accompaniment and dancing. When
this primitive poetry branches out into other forms, lyric is the form
which retains most of the musical element. The poems here cited are
lyrics in the strict sense that their structure is determined by the
mode of their musical performance. This is seen by the 'antiphonal'
distribution of the matter, for example, between choruses of men and
women, and by the recurrence of passages ('refrains').
/iii. Song of Moses and Miriam./ This is arranged for a Chorus of Men,
taking the successive sections of the song, and a Chorus of Women,
singing the refrain. The metre is Antique Rhythm (above, page 242): the
successive strophes augment with the growing fulness of the theme. The
first strophe (after the prelude) simply states the fact of the
deliverance; the second pictures it in detail, the third meditates on
the consequences to the furthest future.
/iv. Deborah's Song./ This also is arranged for a Chorus of Men, led by
Barak, and a Chorus of Women, led by Deborah. It is in Antique Rhythm
(above, page 242). Its structure is antiphonal as between Men, Women,
and the two combined. The structure is further elaborated by
'interruption' [passages printed in italics], where the singers
encourage one another.
To appreciate the matter of the song it should be compared with the
description of the incident in plain historic prose (Judges, chapter
iv). It is not difficult to make out from this narrative (1) that Heber
the Kenite, Jael's husband, was acting as a spy against his allies of
Israel, and betraying their movements to the tyrant. Jael's act was
treachery in retaliation for the treachery on the other side by her
husband. This explains the exultation over her deed in Deborah's Song.
(2) This treachery of Heber had upset the plans of Deborah and Barak:
helpless against the iron chariots, their only hope had been to assemble
secretly on the heights of Kedesh and attempt a surprise. But while the
army of Sisera, warned by Heber, were awaiting them on the plains of
Esdraelon, a sudden thunder storm with rain (commemorated in the Song)
converted the whole plain into a morass. The army of Barak fell on the
foe while their horses were struggling in the mud, and extirpated them
at a blow.
/V. David's Lament./ This simple elegy is cast in quatrain stanzas. Its
only elaboration is an augmenting refrain. This beautiful refrain seems
to rest for its effect upon the bringing together of two ideas, like a
crescendo and decrescendo in music: How are the mighty fallen! This
fragmentary refrain as it appears at the beginning is enlarged at the
passage from the section on Saul to that on Jonathan, and still further
enlarged at the close of the whole.
/vi. David's Song of Victory./ This is in Antique Rhythm: its structure
is 'strophic' (above, page 243). There is an introduction and
conclusion, and three unequal strophes: the first pictures the
deliverance, the second meditates on the principle involved (deliverance
of the righteous), the third extends the confidence thus produced to the
whole past and future. The most notable artistic effect is the sudden
change at the prayer of the afflicted one: all nature is convulsed as
the Almighty rushes to the rescue.
/vii. The Bride's Reminiscences./ This is introduced as an example of
the Lyric Idyl. The term 'idyl' has been explained above (page 248, note
to iv): such idyls may be either narrated as stories, or brought out
lyrically or dramatically, as in the present case. It is one of a series
of lyric idyls making up the poem of Solomon's Song. The story
underlying this poem has been variously interpreted; the interpretation
followed in this series (Biblical Idyls volume) is that King Solomon,
visiting his vineyards on Mount Lebanon, has come by surprise upon a
beautiful Shulammite maiden. As she flies from the royal suite he seeks
her in shepherd disguise and wins her love, then he brings her as queen
to his palace. The present selection is Idyl II of the series, and
contains two of the Bride's Reminiscences of this courtship. The first
is of a visit by the disguised king on a fair spring morning, and how
the lovers were interrupted by the harsh voices of the Bride's Brothers
crying out that the foxes were in the vineyards. The second is a dream
of losing and finding her lover. [The passages in italics are not spoken
by the Bride, but are the poet's interludes, dividing the different
sections of the poem.]--Metrical scheme. The idyls are a combination of
Antique Rhythm and Antistrophic structure: but the parallelism of
strophe and antistrophe must be reckoned in strains, not in lines (see
above, page 242): thus we have four strains balanced by four, then two
by two; then (in the Dream) three by three. [The refrains are outside
the metrical scheme.]
/viii, ix./ These are songs from the books of the prophets.
/viii. The Battle of Carchemish./ This is a War Ballad, in triplet
stanzas with 'duplication.' The battle celebrated was a turning-point in
history, settling for ever the supremacy of the Babylonian over the
Egyptian empire: these were the two world empires between which parties
in the nation of Israel fluctuated, the whole strength of Jeremiah and
the prophetic party being thrown against Egypt.
/ix./ This /Song of Zion Redeemed/ forms a section of the Isaiahan
'Rhapsody of Zion Redeemed' [chapters xl-lxvi]. It is in stanzas of 4,
or occasionally 6 and 8 lines, the flow interrupted by couplets,
especially at the beginning of the sections. Compare above, page 262,
note to /vii/ (Sonnets).
/x, xi./ These are illustrations of a characteristic feature of
Biblical poetry--the 'Doom form.' See above, page 245.
/x. Isaiah's Doom of Babylon./ The structure is made up of the Divine
word of the overthrow of Babylon [prose passages] interrupted at
intervals by [impersonal] songs, realising or celebrating what the
Divine word brings forward. The last of these verse interruptions is a
fully developed Ode on Fallen Babylon. The structural form of this ode
is antistrophic inversion (7, 6; 6, 7), like that of No. /iv/ of the
Sonnets (above, page 260). Another effect in this ode is the Taunt or
Dirge Song.--_My consecrated ones ... them that exult in my majesty._
The Divine voice is heard calling to God's 'hosts,' the idea suggested
by the title 'Jehovah Sabaoth.' Compare Joel, chapter iii. 11 and 13;
Psalm ciii. 20, 21.--_I will sit upon the mount of congregation in the
uttermost parts of the north_: the north is regularly in Scripture the
quarter from which Divine judgment is looked for (e.g. Ezekiel, chapter
i. 4; Jeremiah vi. i; Job xxxvii. 22).
/xi. Nahum's Doom of Nineveh./ This is a Doom Prophecy directed against
Nineveh, partly in the structure called above 'doom form,' partly in
other forms. It falls into seven sections. Sections 1 and 2 are
meditations in pendulum form (above, page 251), the paragraphs
alternating between judgment and salvation. Section 3 is in doom form:
the Divine announcement of doom is interrupted by lyric realisation of
the sudden attack upon Nineveh in the midst of its careless security.
Section 4 is a brief lyric triumph over Nineveh overthrown. Section 5
resumes the doom form: the Divine denunciation interrupted by lyric
realisation of Nineveh in its pride. With section 6 this passes into a
Taunt Song (as in example /x/). The seventh section is a brief lyric
meditation upon Nineveh overthrown and desolate.
RHAPSODY
This has been explained in the Introduction (pages xii-xiii) as a term
applied to a highly characteristic form of prophetic literature,
amounting to spiritual drama: actual dramatic dialogue and action being
combined with other literary modes of expression to produce the general
effect of dramatic realisation and movement. Some of the examples
(I-III) are complete rhapsodies; IV is a discourse that becomes
rhapsodic at its conclusion; V is a rhapsodic morceau, a single thought
cast in this literary form; VI and VII are integral portions of one of
the long rhapsodies.
/I. Rhapsody of the Drought./ This is a simple and clear example of
rhapsodic writing. It opens with scenic description of the drought; the
rest is dialogue between God, Repentant Israel, and the Prophet. The
action of the rhapsody consists in the gradual effect of intercession:
God at first refuses so much as to answer the sinful People, and speaks
only through the Prophet; at last he answers the People directly, but
only to threaten; finally he shows mercy to the repentant remnant.
/II. Habakkuk's Rhapsody of the Chaldeans./ This is a thoroughly typical
and a splendid specimen of the rhapsody as a form of literature, (1) The
historic situation is the appearance of the Chaldeans as a conquering
power trampling down surrounding nations. This suggests the thought of
judgment upon unpunished sin in Israel. But the Prophet feels a
difficulty: how can a righteous God use a godless people as an
instrument for the punishment of wickedness that is less than its own?
The elaboration of this spiritual problem, in dramatic dialogue between
God and the Prophet, makes the first section of the rhapsody.--(2) The
Divine solution of this problem comes under the image of intoxication:
the haughty career of the Chaldean is no more than the drunkard's
reeling which precedes his fall. But as the idea of the fall of the
Chaldean is reached there is a sudden change from dialogue to the doom
form. This Doom of the Chaldeans has five stanzas of the usual
combination between prose and verse: the prose is Divine denunciation,
the verse passages are the imagined triumphing of the down-trodden
nations over their fallen oppressor. Four of the stanzas express the
fall of the Chaldean in four images: his uninterrupted career has been a
heaping up of usury, but the exactor shall come; it has been building a
house of refuge, but shame has been built into its walls; it has been
building a huge city only to make a bigger bonfire to the glory of the
avenging God; it has been giving drink to behold shame, but the drink of
shame shall be given to the oppressor. The fifth stanza goes to the root
of the matter: the Chaldean has trusted to senseless idols: Jehovah is
the true teacher.--(3) So far the overthrow of the Chaldeans has been
presented as a thing of the distant future; in the third section it is
realised as visibly present: thus the movement of the rhapsody has been
steadily advancing from the first forming of a problem to the climax of
its solution. The literary form now changes to that of an Ode, realising
the idea of Jehovah come to judgment. The prelude and postlude express
the Prophet's feelings at the vision he hears and sees; the body of the
ode realises the theophany itself. [Strophe, All nature convulsed as God
comes; antistrophe, Is it against nature that the coming is directed?
conclusion, Nay, but God comes to deliver his people. Compare Psalm
cxiv.]
/Page 205./ _I have heard the report of thee._ This _report_, and so
_the voice_ in the second line of the postlude, refer to the voice
supposed to sing what makes the body of the ode. This is the voice of
Israel, heard in the vision describing the advent of Jehovah.--_O LORD
revive thy work in the midst of the years_: compare on page 202 _though
it tarry, wait for it_: the Prophet prays God to interpose before it is
too late.
/Page 207./ _I trembled in my place_, etc. The Prophet has a strange
mingling of different feelings: terror at the vision of Jehovah's
advent, though it be for his deliverance, and confidence, as a result of
this vision, in the midst of desolation.
/III. Joel's Rhapsody of the Locust Plague./ This rhapsody may be
founded on an historic plague of locusts, but the notion is idealised
into mystic forces of destruction. Nothing else in the historic
situation has any bearing on the rhapsody, it is ideal all through:
desolation because of sin, and 'judgment,' in the double sense of first
a judgment on Israel that is turned by repentance to purification, then
a judgment as between Israel and the nations. As arranged in the text
the movement of this rhapsody explains itself.
/VI./ This selection is the Prelude to the elaborate 'Rhapsody of Zion
Redeemed' [Isaiah volume, pages 127-209]. Like the overture of many
modern musical compositions, this Prelude is a lyric anticipation or
foreshadowing of the whole work. A word of comfort for Jerusalem is
spoken by God, and Voices are heard carrying the glad tidings on the way
towards Jerusalem. The words spoken by these voices are anticipations of
subsequent parts of the rhapsody.
/VII./ This selection is the third Act or 'Vision' of the same rhapsody.
It brings out in dramatic realisation the Awakening of Zion. Successive
appeals are made by Jehovah to Zion without response. The Celestial
Hosts join in the appeal: still without response from Zion. At last the
awakening of Zion is brought out by the Chorus of Zion's Watchmen
recognising the advent of the messengers who bring the glad tidings
(compare the Prelude), and calling upon the city to awake and rejoice.
REFERENCE TABLE
The Volumes of the Modern Reader's Bible referred to in the Table are as
follows:
Wisdom Series: four volumes
The Proverbs
Ecclesiasticus
Ecclesiastes and The Wisdom of Solomon
The Book of Job
Deuteronomy
Biblical Idyls
History Series: five volumes
Genesis
The Exodus
The Judges
The Kings
The Chronicles
Prophecy Series: four volumes
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
Daniel and the Minor Prophets
REFERENCE TABLE
To connect the Selections with the Volumes of the Modern Reader's Bible
and with the Chapters and Verses of the Ordinary Versions
Modern Reader's Authorised or Revised
Bible Version
Volume Page Book Chapter Verse
STORY
Genesis 107 I Joseph and his Brethren Genesis XXXVII 1
The Exodus 250 II The Witness of Balaam
to Israel Numbers XXII 2
The Judges 105 III The Crowning of
Abimelech Judges VIII 29
The Judges 122 IV Samson's Wedding Feast Judges XIV 1
The Kings 189 V The Expedition against
Elisha II Kings VI 8
Minor Prophets 15 VI The Dream of the Tree
cut down Daniel IV 1
Minor Prophets 20 VII Belshazzar's Feast Daniel V 1
ORATORY
Deuteronomy 91 I The Oration of Moses at
the Rehearsal of the
Blessing and the Curse Deuteronomy XXVIII 1
Ecclesiastes, 71 II A Discourse on
etc. Immortality and the Wisdom
Covenant with Death of Solomon I 12
Isaiah 7 III Isaiah: The Great
Arraignment Isaiah I 2
Isaiah 93 IV Isaiah: The Covenant
with Death Isaiah XXVIII 1
Isaiah 109 V Isaiah: The Utter
Destruction and the Great
Restoration Isaiah XXXIV 1
Ezekiel 79 VI Ezekiel: The Sword of
the Lord Ezekiel XXI 1
Ezekiel 104 VII Ezekiel: Wreck of the Ezekiel XXVII 1
Goodly Ship Tyre,
VIII Prophetic Sentences
Jeremiah 41 Thus saith the Lord: Let
not the wise Jeremiah IX 23
Jeremiah 43 There is none like unto
thee Jeremiah X 6
Jeremiah 71 Thus saith the Lord:
Cursed Jeremiah XVII 5
Jeremiah 127 Behold, the days come Jeremiah XXXI 31
WISDOM
Wisdom Brevities
Proverbs 48 The liberal soul Proverbs XI 25
Proverbs 59 Where no oxen are Proverbs XIV 4
Proverbs 75 He that is slow to anger Proverbs XVI 32
Proverbs 91 It is naught Proverbs XX 14
Proverbs 132 The words of a whisperer Proverbs XXVI 22
Proverbs 133 Boast not thyself Proverbs XXVII 1
Proverbs 43 As vinegar to the teeth Proverbs X 26
Proverbs 85 All the brethren Proverbs XIX 7
Proverbs 94 The getting of treasures Proverbs XXI 6
Proverbs 128 As one that taketh off Proverbs XXV 20
Proverbs 134 Wrath is cruel Proverbs XXVII 4
Proverbs 136 The fining pot Proverbs XXVII 21
Proverbs 108 Epigram: Transitoriness
of Riches, Proverbs XXIII 4
Proverbs 109 Epigram: Hospitality of
the Evil Eye Proverbs XXIII 6
Ecclesiasticus 16 Maxim: My son, if thou
comest Ecclesiasticus II 1
Ecclesiasticus 57 Three Temperance Maxims Ecclesiasticus XVIII 30
Essays
Ecclesiasticus 22 i Wisdom's Way with her
Children Ecclesiasticus IV 11
Ecclesiasticus 40 ii Prosperity and
Adversity are from
the Lord Ecclesiasticus XI 11
Ecclesiasticus 58 iii Against Gossip Ecclesiasticus XIX 4
Ecclesiasticus 94 iv On the Tongue Ecclesiasticus XXVIII 12
Ecclesiasticus 42 v Choice of Company Ecclesiasticus XI 29
Ecclesiasticus 129 vi The Wisdom of Business
and the Wisdom of
Leisure Ecclesiasticus XXXVIII 24
Ecclesiastes,
etc. 55 vii Life as a Joy
shadowed by the Judgment Ecclesiastes XI 7
Sonnets
Proverbs 23 i The Sluggard Proverbs VI 6
Ecclesiasticus 70 ii Mourning for the Fool Ecclesiasticus XXII 11
Proverbs 18 iii The Two Paths Proverbs IV 10
Proverbs 13 iv The Creator has made
Wisdom the Supreme
Prize Proverbs III 11
Ecclesiasticus 72 v Watchfulness of Lips
and Heart Ecclesiasticus XXII 27
Ecclesiasticus 13 vi Wisdom and the Fear
of the Lord Ecclesiasticus I 1
Proverbs 27 vii Wisdom and the
Strange Woman Proverbs VII 1
LYRICS
Job 15 I An Elegy of a Broken
Heart Job III 3
Job 107 II The Creator's Joy in
his Creation Job XXXVIII 4
The Exodus 43 III The Song of Moses
and Miriam Exodus XV 1
The Judges 88 IV Deborah's Song Judges V 2
The Judges 244 V David's Lament II Samuel I 19
The Kings 67 VI David's Song of Victory II Samuel XXII 2
Bib. Idyls 13 VII The Bride's
Reminiscences Song of Songs II 8
Jeremiah 175 VIII Jeremiah: The Battle
of Carchemish Jeremiah XLVI 3
Isaiah 190 IX A Song of Zion Redeemed Isaiah LX 1
Isaiah 49 X Isaiah: Doom of Babylon Isaiah XIII 2
Minor Prophets 147 XI Nahum: Doom of Nineveh Nahum I 2
RHAPSODY
Jeremiah 61 I Rhapsody of the Drought Jeremiah XIV 2
Minor Prophets 157 II Rhapsody of the
Chaldeans Habakkuk I 2
Minor Prophets 77 III Rhapsody of the
Locust Plague Joel I 2
Jeremiah 35 IV The Hurt of the Daughter
of my People Jeremiah VIII 4
Minor Prophets 140 V The Lord's Controversy
before the Mountains Micah VI 1
Isaiah 131 VI Prelude to the Rhapsody
of Zion Redeemed Isaiah XL 1
Isaiah 165 VII Zion Awakened Isaiah LI 1
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WISDOM SERIES
IN FOUR VOLUMES
THE PROVERBS
A Miscellany of Sayings and Poems embodying Isolated Observations
of Life.
ECCLESIASTICUS
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ECCLESIASTES--WISDOM OF SOLOMON
Each is a Series of Connected Writings embodying, from different
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THE BOOK OF JOB
A Dramatic Poem in which are embodied Varying Solutions of the
Mystery of Life.
DEUTERONOMY
The Orations and Songs of Moses, constituting his Farewell to the
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BIBLICAL IDYLS
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SELECT MASTERPIECES OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE
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THE JUDGES
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NEW TESTAMENT SERIES
IN FOUR VOLUMES
ST. MATTHEW, ST. MARK, and the GENERAL EPISTLES
Containing The Gospel according to St. Matthew, The Gospel
according to St. Mark, an Epistle to the Hebrews, The Epistle of
St. James, The Epistles of St. Peter, and The Epistle of St. Jude.
ST. LUKE and ST. PAUL (Two Volumes)
Containing The Gospel of St. Luke, The Acts of the Apostles, with
the Pauline Epistles introduced at the several points of the
history to which they are usually referred. An opportunity will
thus be afforded of studying, without the interruption of comment
or discussion, the continuous History of the New Testament Church
as presented by itself.
ST. JOHN
Containing the Gospel, Epistles, and Revelation of St. John.
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK
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