{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_27510/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_27510","id":"gutenberg_27510","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/27510","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Old Testament -- Selections","Category: Classics of Literature","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"E-text prepared by Stephen Hope, Fox in the Stars, and the Project\nGutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)\n\n\n\nTranscriber's note.\n\n Text enclosed by underscores was italicized in the original\n book (_italics_), and text enclosed by forward slashes was\n in bold face (/bold face/).\n\n A minor printing error was corrected (Gen. xliv 29).\n\n\n\n\n\nThe Modern Reader's Bible\n\nA Series of Works from the Sacred Scriptures Presented\nin Modern Literary Form\n\nSELECT MASTERPIECES OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE\n\nEdited, with an Introduction and Notes by\n\nRICHARD G. MOULTON, M.A. (CAMB.), Ph.D. (PENN.)\n\nProfessor of Literature in English in the University of Chicago\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNew York\nThe MacMillan Company\nLondon: MacMillan & Co., Ltd.\n1902\n\nCopyright, 1897,\nBy THe MacMillan Company.\n\nSet up and electrotyped September, 1897. Reprinted December, 1897;\nAugust, 1898; February, 1899; August, 1900; July, 1901; April, 1902.\n\nNorwood Press\nJ. S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith\nNorwood Mass. U.S.A.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nThat which we call 'The Bible' has the outward appearance of a book: in\nreality it is--what the word 'bible' implies in the original Greek--a\nwhole library. More than fifty books, the production of a large number\nof different authors, representing periods of time extending over many\ncenturies, are all comprehended between the covers of a single volume.\nThere is no greater monument of the power of printing to diffuse thought\nthan this fact, that the whole classic literature of one of the world's\ngreatest peoples can be carried about in the hand or the pocket.\n\nBut there is another side to the matter. A high price has been paid for\nthis feat of manufacturing a portable literature: no less a price than\nthe effacement from the books of the Bible of their whole literary\nstructure. Where the literature is dramatic, there are (except in one\nbook) no names of speakers nor divisions of speeches; there are no\ntitles to essays or poems, nor anything to mark where one poem or\ndiscourse ends and another begins; not only is there nothing to reflect\nfiner rhythmic distinctions in poetry, but (in King James's version)\nthere is not even a distinction made between poetry and prose. It is as\nif the whole were printed 'solid,' like a newspaper without the\nnewspaper headings. The most familiar English literature treated in this\nfashion would lose a great part of its literary interest; the writings\nof the Hebrews suffer still more through our unfamiliarity with many of\nthe literary forms in which they are cast. Even this statement does not\nfully represent the injury done to the literature of the Bible by the\ntraditional shape in which it is presented to us. Between the Biblical\nwriters and our own times have intervened ages in which all interest in\nliterary beauty was lost, and philosophic activity took the form of\nprotracted discussions of brief sayings or 'texts.' Accordingly this\nsolidified matter of Hebrew literature has been divided up into single\nsentences or 'verses,' numbered mechanically one, two, three, etc., and\nthus the original literary form has still further been obscured. It is\nnot surprising that to most readers the Bible has become, not a\nliterature, but simply a storehouse of pious 'texts.'\n\nIf the sacred Scriptures then are to be appreciated as literature, it is\nnecessary to restore their literary form and structure. To do this, with\nall the assistance that the modern printed page gives to the reader, is\nthe aim of the 'Modern Reader's Bible.' The present volume is intended\nas an introduction to the series, and, it is hoped, to the literary\nstudy of the Bible in general, by Select Masterpieces, illustrating the\ndifferent types of literature represented in Scripture.\n\nIt is natural to enquire, What are the leading literary forms under\nwhich the sacred writings may be classified?\n\nA large proportion of the Bible is History: the History of the People of\nIsrael as presented by themselves. How Israel is chosen from all the\nnations to be the special people of Jehovah; how the invisible Jehovah\nis at first their only ruler; how gradually the spirit of assimilation\nto surrounding nations leads to a demand for visible kings. Just as this\ntendency to secular kingship becomes strong, there comes into prominence\nan order of 'prophets': the word signifies 'interpreters,' and the\nprophets are accepted as the interpreters of Jehovah's will to Israel.\nUnder such rule as that of David, the man after God's own heart, the\nwork of the prophets may fall into the background; but where, as usually\nhappened, the secular government tends to ungodliness, the order of\nprophets stands forth as an organised opposition. On lines like these\nthe historic narrative of the Bible pursues its course; and with the\nthread of narrative are interwoven legal and statistical documents which\ngive it support. The History Series of the Modern Reader's Bible\npresents the sacred narrative divided according to its logical\ndivisions. Genesis is occupied with the formation of the chosen nation,\nfrom the first beginnings of things to the development of the\ndescendants of Abraham as a patriarchal family. The Exodus narrates the\nmigration of the fully formed nation to the land of promise; this is the\nperiod of constitutional development, and in this part of the history\nwe find massed together the whole of the constitutional lore of Israel.\nThe group of books constituting The Judges volume represents a period of\ntransition: the 'judges' of Israel correspond to the 'heroes' of other\npeoples, and amid a succession of these judges the incidents of Israel's\nhistory reveal the efforts of the people of Jehovah towards a secular\ngovernment. The Kings takes up the history of the nation from the\nestablishment of the dynasty of David, and covers the struggle between\nthe prophetic and the secular parties until the time of the fall and\ncaptivity. Upon the return of the remnant from Babylon all opposition to\nthe theocracy has ceased; to the prophets have succeeded the 'scribes,'\nor interpreters of the written law, and The Chronicles is the\necclesiastical history, not of a Hebrew nation, but of a Jewish church.\n\nFrom History we must, in literary analysis, distinguish Story: the one\nis founded on the sense of record and scientific explanation of events,\nthe other appeals to the imagination and the emotions. The Story\nliterature of most peoples is 'fiction,' in the sense that its matter is\ninvented solely for literary purposes. The stories of the Bible are part\nof the sacred history, differing only in the mode in which the matter is\npresented; and a long series of these stories is scattered through the\nhistorical books, with nothing to distinguish them, in the ordinary\nversions, from the historic context. In the volumes of this series the\ndistinction is made by titles; the reader can thus, without difficulty,\nbring to each of these varieties of literature the kind of attention it\nrequires; it is further possible, and highly desirable, for him to make\na separate study of Scriptural Story. History it is not easy to\nillustrate by selections; but the stories of the sacred books are\nrepresented in the present volume by typical specimens.\n\nOne book that has a place in the historic sequence of the Bible\nintroduces us in reality to a different class of literature--Oratory.\nDeuteronomy is made up of the Orations (and Songs) of Moses,\nconstituting his Farewell to the People of Israel. It is oratory in the\nfullest sense of the term, representing the words as they may be\nsupposed to come direct from the speaker. For the most part however the\nsacred literature of oratory is of a different kind; not exact reports\nof spoken words, but the substance, it may be, of several similar\nspeeches worked up afresh into a form of written discourse. In this\nwider sense, the oratorical literature of the Bible is of considerable\nextent; it includes the prophetic discourses, and reflects the fervid\ncontests over first principles of righteousness which constituted the\nmain life of Israel. The principal varieties of Biblical oratory are\nillustrated in this volume.\n\nPhilosophy has an important place in Scripture. The word however is not\nthere used to describe a division of literature, but the sacred\nphilosophy is called 'wisdom,'--a term suggestive of its close\napplication to matters of human life and duty. This Wisdom literature\nstarted from the 'proverbs'--simple thoughts conveyed in a couplet or\ntriplet of verse, which were collected together by King Solomon and\nother of the wise men of Israel. From these proverbs the form of wisdom\nenlarged to verse epigrams and sonnets, or prose maxims and essays,\nuntil we find books of wisdom comprehending complete systems of thought.\nTo catch the development of this Wisdom literature, it is necessary to\ntake in two books of 'The Apocrypha'; a portion of sacred Scripture\nwhich in the last century used to be bound up with Bibles, standing in\nits historical position between the Old and New Testaments, though now\nit is usually separated. In theology, which is concerned with questions\nof authority, the distinction between the Bible and the Apocrypha is\nfundamental: the one is accepted as authoritative in matters of faith,\nwhereas the Apocryphal books are merely recommended for devout reading.\nBut in literary study the distinction disappears; and two books of the\nApocrypha are of the highest literary importance,--Ecclesiasticus and\nThe Wisdom of Solomon. The Wisdom series of the Modern Reader's Bible\narranges the representative books of Biblical philosophy in the order of\nits logical development. The Proverbs is a Miscellany of Sayings and\nPoems, embodying isolated observations of life. Ecclesiasticus is a\nMiscellany including longer compositions, but still embodying only\nisolated observations of life. In Ecclesiastes we find a connected\nseries of writings, in which attempt is made to solve the mystery of the\nuniverse: but the attempt breaks down in despair. The Wisdom of Solomon\nrenews the attempt in the light of an immortal life beyond the grave,\nand despair yields to serenity of spirit. The four books thus reflect a\nphilosophical advance. In The Book of Job--one of the world's literary\nmarvels--men's varying attitudes towards the mystery of life are\nrepresented in various speakers, and drawn together into a unity by the\nmovement of a dramatic plot. Such is the wisdom of the sacred Scriptures\nviewed as a whole; in the present volume it is only possible to\nillustrate the different forms, whether of poetry or of prose, in which\nBiblical philosophy is conveyed.\n\nBiblical Lyrics may be mentioned next. Originally, all poetry was spoken\nwith musical accompaniment; when this primitive literature began to\ndivide up into specialised forms, Lyric was the literary form which\nretained most of the spirit of music. It includes Songs and Odes, in\nwhich the very structure of the poem is determined by the mode of its\nperformance; Psalms and Lamentations; the Traditional Poetry scattered\nthrough the historical books; again, considerable portions of prophetic\nliterature are found to take a lyric form. Even in the ordinary versions\nthe Psalms and Lamentations retain something of their poetic structure;\nthe less obvious features of lyric rhythm will be illustrated in the\nselections admitted into this volume.\n\nOf the fundamental divisions of literature there yet remains one--the\nDrama. The relation of this to the Bible is interesting. It is\nimpossible to read the scriptures of the Old Testament without feeling\nthat the genius of the Hebrew people is strongly dramatic. Yet the\nnatural instrument for the expression of dramatic creations--the\ntheatre--is not a Hebrew institution. Accordingly the dramatic instinct,\ndenied its readiest outlet, is found to leaven all other literary forms.\nWe have already noticed dramatic wisdom in Job. Dramatic lyrics are\nfound, not only in some of the psalms, but on a larger scale in the love\nsongs of Solomon.[1] But there is a more important type of dramatic\nliterature in the sacred Scriptures. The prophets of Israel were not\nonly statesmen and preachers, they were also poets, and from them has\ncome down to us a form of spiritual drama to which may be given the name\n'Rhapsody.'\n\n[Footnote 1: This Lyric Idyl of 'Solomon's Song,' together with some\nnarrated stories of the same idyllic spirit, are united in a single\nvolume of this series under the name of Biblical Idyls.]\n\nThese spiritual dramas of the prophets are occupied with that\nfundamental topic of Hebrew thought which is expressed by the word\n'judgment': the eternal contest between good and evil, and the Divine\noverthrow of wrong. They are dramas which no actual theatre could ever\nexpress, for their action covers all space and all time. Their\npersonages include not only the prophet and the nation of Israel, but\nalso God himself and the celestial hosts. The working of events towards\nthe judgment is brought out before us with the general impression of\ndramatic movement; but the means by which this movement is realised go\nbeyond the machinery of drama: not only dialogue and monologue, but song\nand even discourse are made to bear their part in the total effect. The\ngrand example of rhapsody which covers the latter part of our Book of\nIsaiah can be represented in the present volume only by its prelude and\none of its seven acts or 'visions.' But some of the shorter, and hardly\nless splendid, rhapsodies are given in full; and the selections further\nillustrate how a prophecy may set out as a simple discourse, and\nsuddenly rise to the level of rhapsodic presentation.\n\nI believe few people realise what an immense addition has been made to\nthe literary patrimony of the English reader by the Revised Version of\nthe Bible, and such other presentations of the sacred Scriptures as this\nRevised Version has made possible. The language of Biblical writers, and\nthe sentences of which their writings are made up, have long been\nfamiliar through the earlier versions; the Revisers, by the attention\nthey have given to connectedness of thought, have carried forward\ntranslated language into translated literature. It is thus open to a\nperson of average culture to add to his other mental possessions the\nwhole expression of itself which a great people has made in poetry and\nprose throughout all the periods of its development. With the exception\nof humorous writing, which is foreign to the genius of the ancient\nHebrews, the whole range of literary production is here illustrated; and\nvarieties of literary form are presented to which classic Greek or\nmodern European writers furnish no parallel. It is a literature\nnumbering among its authors some who--by critics entirely outside the\nranks of theologians--have been classed with the greatest names in the\nworld's roll of honour. More than this, the English reader who gives\nattention to the literary side of the Bible is studying what is to him\nancestral literature. The Hebrew writers of the Old Testament, and their\nfollowers the Christian Hebrews of the New Testament, have been the\ninspiration of those who have inspired our own writers: their style has\nlargely leavened the style of modern English, their thought has become\nso closely interwoven with English thought of the last three centuries\nthat it is impossible to sever the two. And, if the question be of what\nis higher than literary impressions, no reader need fear that the more\nsacred uses of the Bible will be imperilled by his reading, not with the\nspirit only, but with the understanding also.\n\n * *\n *\n\nIn this, as in the other volumes of this series, the text of the\nSelections is that of the Revised Version, the marginal alternatives\nbeing often substituted for the readings in the text. For the use of\nthis Revised Version I express my obligation to the University Presses\nof Oxford and Cambridge. A Reference Table at the end connects the\nSelections with the volumes of the Modern Reader's Bible from which they\nare taken, and with the chapters and verses of the ordinary versions.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nSTORIES\n\n I Joseph and his Brethren 5\n II The Witness of Balaam to Israel 32\n III The Crowning of Abimelech 43\n IV Samson's Wedding Feast 49\n V The Expedition against Elisha 53\n VI The Dream of the Tree cut down 55\n VII Belshazzar's Feast 60\n\nORATORY\n\n I The Oration of Moses at the Rehearsal of the\n Blessing and the Curse 67\n II A Discourse on Immortality and the Covenant\n with Death 75\n III Isaiah: The Great Arraignment 84\n IV Isaiah: The Covenant with Death 87\n V Isaiah: The Utter Destruction and the Great\n Restoration 90\n VI Ezekiel: The Sword of the LORD 93\n VII Ezekiel: Wreck of the Goodly Ship Tyre 98\nVIII Prophetic Sentences (from Jeremiah) 101\n\nWISDOM\n\n Wisdom Brevities 107\n Essays\n i Wisdom's Way with her Children 112\n ii Prosperity and Adversity are from the Lord 113\n iii Against Gossip 114\n iv On the Tongue 115\n v Choice of Company 116\n vi The Wisdom of Business and the Wisdom of\n Leisure 120\n vii Life as a Joy shadowed by the Judgment (with\n a Sonnet: The Coming of the Evil Days) 123\n Sonnets\n i The Sluggard 125\n ii The Mourning for the Fool 126\n iii The Two Paths 126\n iv The Creator has made Wisdom the Supreme Prize 127\n v Watchfulness of Lips and Heart 129\n vi Wisdom and the Fear of the Lord 130\n vii Wisdom and the Strange Woman 132\n\nLYRICS\n\n I An Elegy of a Broken Heart 141\n II The Creator's Joy in his Creation 143\n III Song of Moses and Miriam 149\n IV Deborah's Song 152\n V David's Lament 158\n VI David's Song of Victory 160\n VII The Bride's Reminiscences: a Lyric Idyl 165\nVIII Jeremiah: The Battle of Carchemish 168\n IX A Song of Zion Redeemed (from the Isaiahan Rhapsody) 170\n X Isaiah: Doom of Babylon 175\n XI Nahum: Doom of Nineveh 182\n\nRHAPSODY\n\n I Jeremiah: Rhapsody of the Drought 193\n II Habakkuk: Rhapsody of the Chaldeans 200\n III Joel: Rhapsody of the Locust Plague 209\n IV Jeremiah: The Hurt of the Daughter of my People\n (A Rhapsodic Discourse) 222\n V Micah: The LORD'S Controversy before the Mountains\n (A Dramatic Morceau) 226\n VI Prelude to the Rhapsody of Zion Redeemed 228\n VII Zion Awakened (Vision III of the Rhapsody of\n Zion Redeemed) 231\n\n\n\n\nMASTERPIECES\n\nOF\n\nBIBLICAL LITERATURE\n\n\n\n\nSTORIES\n\nI\n\nJOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN\n\n\nAnd Jacob dwelt in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of\nCanaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen\nyears old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and he was a lad\nwith the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's\nwives: and Joseph brought the evil report of them unto their father. Now\nIsrael loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son\nof his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. And his brethren\nsaw that their father loved him more than all his brethren; and they\nhated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. And Joseph dreamed a\ndream, and he told it to his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.\nAnd he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have\ndreamed: for, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my\nsheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves came\nround about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. And his brethren said to\nhim, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion\nover us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his\nwords. And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren,\nand said, Behold, I have dreamed yet a dream; and, behold, the sun and\nthe moon and eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his\nfather, and to his brethren; and his father rebuked him, and said unto\nhim, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother\nand thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?\nAnd his brethren envied him; but his father kept the saying in mind.\n\nAnd his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. And\nIsrael said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem?\ncome, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. And\nhe said to him, Go now, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and\nwell with the flock; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the\nvale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. And a certain man found him,\nand, behold, he was wandering in a field: and the man asked him, saying,\nWhat seekest thou? And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray\nthee, where they are feeding the flock. And the man said, They are\ndeparted hence: for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph\nwent after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. And they saw him afar\noff, and before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to\nslay him. And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.\nCome now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into one of the\npits, and we will say, An evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall\nsee what will become of his dreams. And Reuben heard it, and delivered\nhim out of their hand; and said, Let us not take his life. And Reuben\nsaid unto them, Shed no blood; cast him into this pit that is in the\nwilderness, but lay no hand upon him: that he might deliver him out of\ntheir hand, to restore him to his father. And it came to pass, when\nJoseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph of his coat,\nthe coat of many colours that was on him; and they took him, and cast\nhim into the pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. And\nthey sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked,\nand, behold, a travelling company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with\ntheir camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down\nto Egypt. And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay\nour brother and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the\nIshmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother,\nour flesh. And his brethren hearkened unto him. And there passed by\nMidianites, merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the\npit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And\nthey brought Joseph into Egypt. And Reuben returned unto the pit; and,\nbehold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. And he\nreturned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither\nshall I go? And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a he-goat, and\ndipped the coat in the blood; and they sent the coat of many colours,\nand they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know\nnow whether it be thy son's coat or not. And he knew it, and said, It is\nmy son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt\ntorn in pieces. And Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his\nloins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his\ndaughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he\nsaid, For I will go down to the grave to my son mourning. And his father\nwept for him. And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an\nofficer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard.\n\nAnd Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of\nPharaoh's, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hand\nof the Ishmaelites, which had brought him down thither. And the LORD was\nwith Joseph and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his\nmaster the Egyptian. And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and\nthat the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph\nfound grace in his sight, and he ministered unto him: and he made him\noverseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. And\nit came to pass from the time that he made him overseer in his house,\nand over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for\nJoseph's sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had,\nin the house and in the field. And he left all that he had in Joseph's\nhand; and he knew not aught that was with him, save the bread which he\ndid eat.\n\nAnd Joseph was comely and well favoured. And it came to pass after these\nthings, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said,\nLie with me. But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my\nmaster knoweth not what is with me in the house, and he hath put all\nthat he hath into my hand; there is none greater in this house than I;\nneither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art\nhis wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?\nAnd it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he\nhearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her. And it came to\npass about this time, that he went into the house to do his work; and\nthere was none of the men of the house there within. And she caught him\nby his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her\nhand, and fled, and got him out. And it came to pass, when she saw that\nhe had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth, that she called\nunto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath\nbrought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with\nme, and I cried with a loud voice: and it came to pass, when he heard\nthat I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and\nfled, and got him out. And she laid up his garment by her, until his\nmaster came home. And she spake unto him according to these words,\nsaying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in\nunto me to mock me: and it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and\ncried, that he left his garment by me, and fled out. And it came to\npass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto\nhim, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was\nkindled. And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, the\nplace where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the\nprison. But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed kindness unto him, and\ngave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper\nof the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in\nthe prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. The\nkeeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand,\nbecause the LORD was with him; and that which he did, the LORD made it\nto prosper.\n\nAnd it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of\nEgypt and his baker offended their lord the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh\nwas wroth against his two officers, against the chief of the butlers,\nand against the chief of the bakers. And he put them in ward in the\nhouse of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where\nJoseph was bound. And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them,\nand he ministered unto them: and they continued a season in ward. And\nthey dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream, in one night,\neach man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and\nthe baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison. And\nJoseph came in unto them in the morning, and saw them, and, behold, they\nwere sad. And he asked Pharaoh's officers that were with him in ward in\nhis master's house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly today? And they\nsaid unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can\ninterpret it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong\nto God? tell it me, I pray you. And the chief butler told his dream to\nJoseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me; and\nin the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and its\nblossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes:\nand Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes, and pressed\nthem into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand. And\nJoseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: the three\nbranches are three days; within yet three days shall Pharaoh lift up\nthine head, and restore thee unto thine office: and thou shalt give\nPharaoh's cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his\nbutler. But have me in thy remembrance when it shall be well with thee,\nand shew kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto\nPharaoh, and bring me out of this house: for indeed I was stolen away\nout of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that\nthey should put me into the dungeon. When the chief baker saw that the\ninterpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream,\nand, behold, three baskets of white bread were on my head: and in the\nuppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and\nthe birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head. And Joseph\nanswered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: the three baskets\nare three days; within yet three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head\nfrom off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat\nthy flesh from off thee. And it came to pass the third day, which was\nPharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he\nlifted up the head of the chief butler and the head of the chief baker\namong his servants. And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership\nagain; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand: but he hanged the chief\nbaker: as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet did not the chief butler\nremember Joseph, but forgat him.\n\nAnd it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed:\nand, behold, he stood by the river. And, behold, there came up out of\nthe river seven kine, well favoured and fatfleshed; and they fed in the\nreed-grass. And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the\nriver, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon\nthe brink of the river. And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did\neat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke. And he\nslept and dreamed a second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up\nupon one stalk, rank and good. And, behold, seven ears, thin and blasted\nwith the east wind, sprung up after them. And the thin ears swallowed up\nthe seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a\ndream. And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled;\nand he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise\nmen thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that\ncould interpret them unto Pharaoh. Then spake the chief butler unto\nPharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day: Pharaoh was wroth\nwith his servants, and put me in ward in the house of the captain of the\nguard, me and the chief baker: and we dreamed a dream in one night, I\nand he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his\ndream. And there was with us there a young man, an Hebrew, servant to\nthe captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our\ndreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret. And it came\nto pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he restored unto mine\noffice, and him he hanged.\n\nThen Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of\nthe dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in\nunto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and\nthere is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that\nwhen thou hearest a dream thou canst interpret it. And Joseph answered\nPharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of\npeace. And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon\nthe brink of the river: and, behold, there came up out of the river\nseven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in the\nreed-grass: and, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and\nvery ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land\nof Egypt for badness: and the lean and ill favoured kine did eat up the\nfirst seven fat kine: and when they had eaten them up, it could not be\nknown that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at\nthe beginning. So I awoke. And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven\nears came up upon one stalk, full and good: and, behold, seven ears,\nwithered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:\nand the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears: and I told it unto\nthe magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me. And\nJoseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: what God is about\nto do he hath declared unto Pharaoh. The seven good kine are seven\nyears; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. And\nthe seven lean and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven\nyears, and also the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind; they\nshall be seven years of famine, That is the thing which I spake unto\nPharaoh: what God is about to do he hath shewed unto Pharaoh. Behold,\nthere come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:\nand there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the\nplenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall\nconsume the land; and the plenty shall not be known in the land by\nreason of that famine which followeth; for it shall be very grievous.\nAnd for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice, it is because the\nthing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. Now\ntherefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over\nthe land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers\nover the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the\nseven plenteous years. And let them gather all the food of these good\nyears that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh for food in\nthe cities, and let them keep it. And the food shall be for a store to\nthe land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land\nof Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.\n\nAnd the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all\nhis servants. And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one\nas this, a man in whom the spirit of God is? And Pharaoh said unto\nJoseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so\ndiscreet and wise as thou: thou shalt be over my house, and according\nunto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be\ngreater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee\nover all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his signet ring from\nhis hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of\nfine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; and he made him to ride\nin the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the\nknee: and he set him over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto\nJoseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or\nhis foot in all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh called Joseph's name\nZaphenath-paneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of\nPoti-phera priest of On. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.\n\nAnd Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of\nEgypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went\nthroughout all the land of Egypt. And in the seven plenteous years the\nearth brought forth by handfuls. And he gathered up all the food of the\nseven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the\ncities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he\nup in the same. And Joseph laid up corn as the sand of the sea, very\nmuch, until he left numbering; for it was without number.\n\nAnd unto Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, which\nAsenath the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On bare unto him. And\nJoseph called the name of the first born 'Manasseh': For, said he, God\nhath 'made me forget' all my toil, and all my father's house. And the\nname of the second called he 'Ephraim': For God hath made me 'fruitful'\nin the land of my affliction.\n\nAnd the seven years of plenty, that was in the land of Egypt, came to an\nend. And the seven years of famine began to come, according as Joseph\nhad said: and there was famine in all lands; but in all the land of\nEgypt there was bread. And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the\npeople cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the\nEgyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do. And the famine was\nover all the face of the earth: and Joseph opened all the storehouses,\nand sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine was sore in the land of\nEgypt. And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn;\nbecause the famine was sore in all the earth.\n\nNow Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, and Jacob said unto his\nsons, Why do ye look one upon another? And he said, Behold, I have heard\nthat there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from\nthence; that we may live, and not die. And Joseph's ten brethren went\ndown to buy corn from Egypt. But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent\nnot with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall\nhim. And the sons of Israel came to buy among those that came: for the\nfamine was in the land of Canaan. And Joseph was the governor over the\nland; he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's\nbrethren came, and bowed down themselves to him with their faces to the\nearth. And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself\nstrange unto them, and spake roughly with them; and he said unto them,\nWhence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. And\nJoseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. And Joseph remembered\nthe dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies;\nto see the nakedness of the land ye are come. And they said unto him,\nNay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. We are all one\nman's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies. And he said unto\nthem, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. And they\nsaid, We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the\nland of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father,\nand one is not. And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto\nyou, saying, Ye are spies: hereby ye shall be proved: by the life of\nPharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come\nhither. Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be\nbound, that your words may be proved, whether there be truth in you: or\nelse by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies. And he put them all\ntogether into ward three days.\n\nAnd Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear\nGod: if ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in your\nprison house; but go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses: and\nbring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified,\nand ye shall not die. And they did so. And they said one to another, We\nare verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of\nhis soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this\ndistress come upon us. And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not\nunto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear?\ntherefore also, behold, his blood is required. And they knew not that\nJoseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them. And\nhe turned himself about from them, and wept; and he returned to them,\nand spake to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before\ntheir eyes. Then Joseph commanded to fill their vessels with corn, and\nto restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision\nfor the way: and thus was it done unto them. And they laded their asses\nwith their corn, and departed thence. And as one of them opened his sack\nto give his ass provender in the lodging place, he espied his money;\nand, behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. And he said unto his\nbrethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack: and\ntheir heart failed them, and they turned trembling one to another,\nsaying, What is this that God hath done unto us?\n\nAnd they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told\nhim all that had befallen them: saying, The man, the lord of the land,\nspake roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country. And we said\nunto him, We are true men; we are no spies: we be twelve brethren, sons\nof our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father\nin the land of Canaan. And the man, the lord of the land, said unto us,\nHereby shall I know that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren\nwith me, and take corn for the famine of your houses, and go your way:\nand bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are\nno spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your brother,\nand ye shall traffick in the land. And it came to pass as they emptied\ntheir sacks, that, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack:\nand when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were\nafraid. And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my\nchildren: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin\naway: all these things are against me. And Reuben spake unto his father,\nsaying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into\nmy hand, and I will bring him to thee again. And he said, My son shall\nnot go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left: if\nmischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring\ndown my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.\n\nAnd the famine was sore in the land. And it came to pass, when they had\neaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said\nunto them, Go again, buy us a little food. And Judah spake unto him,\nsaying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see\nmy face, except your brother be with you. If thou wilt send our brother\nwith us, we will go down and buy thee food: but if thou wilt not send\nhim, we will not go down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my\nface, except your brother be with you. And Israel said, Wherefore dealt\nye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother? And\nthey said, The man asked straitly concerning ourselves, and concerning\nour kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother?\nand we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we in any\nwise know that he would say, Bring your brother down? And Judah said\nunto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go;\nthat we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little\nones. I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I\nbring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the\nblame for ever: for except we had lingered, surely we had now returned a\nsecond time. And their father Israel said unto them, If it be so now, do\nthis; take of the choice fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry\ndown the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spicery and\nmyrrh, nuts, and almonds: and take double money in your hand; and the\nmoney that was returned in the mouth of your sacks carry again in your\nhand; peradventure it was an oversight: take also your brother, and\narise, go again unto the man: and God Almighty give you mercy before the\nman, that he may release unto you your other brother and Benjamin. And\nif I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.\n\nAnd the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand,\nand Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before\nJoseph. And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward\nof his house, Bring the men into the house, and slay, and make ready;\nfor the men shall dine with me at noon. And the man did as Joseph bade;\nand the man brought the men into Joseph's house. And the men were\nafraid, because they were brought into Joseph's house; and they said,\nBecause of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time\nare we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon\nus, and take us for bondmen, and our asses. And they came near to the\nsteward of Joseph's house, and they spake unto him at the door of the\nhouse, and said, Oh my lord, we came indeed down at the first time to\nbuy food: and it came to pass, when we came to the lodging place, that\nwe opened our sacks, and, behold, every man's money was in the mouth of\nhis sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our\nhand. And other money have we brought down in our hand to buy food: we\nknow not who put our money in our sacks. And he said, Peace be to you,\nfear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure\nin your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them.\nAnd the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water,\nand they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender.\n\nAnd they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they\nheard that they should eat bread there. And when Joseph came home, they\nbrought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and\nbowed down themselves to him to the earth. And he asked them of their\nwelfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is\nhe yet alive? And they said, Thy servant our father is well, he is yet\nalive. And they bowed the head, and made obeisance. And he lifted up his\neyes, and saw Benjamin his brother, his mother's son, and said, Is this\nyour youngest brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be\ngracious unto thee, my son. And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did\nyearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into\nhis chamber, and wept there. And he washed his face, and came out; and\nhe refrained himself, and said, Set on bread. And they set on for him by\nhimself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did\neat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread\nwith the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians. And\nthey sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the\nyoungest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one with\nanother. And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but\nBenjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank\nand were merry with him.\n\nAnd he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men's sacks\nwith food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his\nsack's mouth. And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the\nyoungest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that\nJoseph had spoken. As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent\naway, they and their asses. And when they were gone out of the city, and\nwere not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the\nmen; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye\nrewarded evil for good? Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and\nwhereby he indeed divineth? ye have done evil in so doing. And he\novertook them, and he spake unto them these words. And they said unto\nhim, Wherefore speaketh my lord such words as these? God forbid that thy\nservants should do such a thing. Behold, the money, which we found in\nour sacks' mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan:\nhow then should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or gold? With\nwhomsoever of thy servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be\nmy lord's bondmen. And he said, Now also let it be according unto your\nwords: he with whom it is found shall be my bondman; and ye shall be\nblameless. Then they hasted, and took down every man his sack to the\nground, and opened every man his sack. And he searched, and began at the\neldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin's\nsack. Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and\nreturned to the city.\n\nAnd Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house; and he was yet there:\nand they fell before him on the ground. And Joseph said unto them, What\ndeed is this that ye have done? know ye not that such a man as I can\nindeed divine? And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what\nshall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the\niniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord's bondmen, both we, and\nhe also in whose hand the cup is found. And he said, God forbid that I\nshould do so: the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my\nbondman; but as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.\n\nThen Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I\npray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn\nagainst thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh. My lord asked his\nservants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother? And we said unto my\nlord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little\none; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and\nhis father loveth him. And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down\nunto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him. And we said unto my lord,\nThe lad cannot leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his\nfather would die. And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your\nyoungest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more. And\nit came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him\nthe words of my lord. And our father said, Go again, buy us a little\nfood. And we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with\nus, then will we go down: for we may not see the man's face, except our\nyoungest brother be with us. And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye\nknow that my wife bare me two sons: and the one went out from me, and I\nsaid, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I have not seen him since: and if\nye take this one also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring\ndown my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. Now therefore when I come\nto thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his\nlife is bound up in the lad's life; it shall come to pass, when he seeth\nthat the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servants shall\nbring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the\ngrave. For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying,\nIf I bring him not unto thee, then shall I bear the blame to my father\nfor ever. Now therefore, let thy servant, I pray thee, abide instead of\nthe lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.\nFor how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest I\nsee the evil that shall come on my father.\n\nThen Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him;\nand he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man\nwith him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept\naloud: and the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard. And\nJoseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And\nhis brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his\npresence. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray\nyou. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother whom ye\nsold into Egypt. And now be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that\nye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For\nthese two years hath the famine been in the land: and there are yet five\nyears in the which there shall be neither plowing nor harvest. And God\nsent me before you to preserve you a remnant in the earth, and to save\nyou alive by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me\nhither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of\nall his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Haste ye, and go up\nto my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made\nme lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not: and thou shalt dwell\nin the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy\nchildren, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds,\nand all that thou hast: and there will I nourish thee; for there are yet\nfive years of famine; lest thou come to poverty, thou, and thy\nhousehold, and all that thou hast. And, behold, your eyes see, and the\neyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.\nAnd ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye\nhave seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither. And he\nfell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon\nhis neck. And he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after\nthat his brethren talked with him.\n\nAnd the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's\nbrethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. And\nPharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your\nbeasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan; and take your father\nand your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of\nthe land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. Now thou art\ncommanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your\nlittle ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Also\nregard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.\nAnd the sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to\nthe commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. To all\nof them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave\nthree hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment. And to his\nfather he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things\nof Egypt, and ten she-asses, laden with corn and bread and victual for\nhis father by the way. So he sent his brethren away, and they departed:\nand he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way.\n\nAnd they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto\nJacob their father. And they told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and\nhe is ruler over all the land of Egypt. And his heart fainted, for he\nbelieved them not. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he\nhad said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to\ncarry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: and Israel said, It\nis enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I\ndie.\n\nAnd Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to\nBeer-sheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. And\nGod spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob,\nJacob. And he said, Here am I. And he said, I am God, the God of thy\nfather: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a\ngreat nation: I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also\nsurely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine\neyes. And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba: and the sons of Israel carried\nJacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the\nwagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. And they took their cattle,\nand their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came\ninto Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him: his sons, and his sons'\nsons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed\nbrought he with him into Egypt.\n\nAnd he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to shew the way before him\nunto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. And Joseph made\nready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen; and\nhe presented himself unto him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his\nneck a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I\nhave seen thy face, that thou art yet alive. And Joseph said unto his\nbrethren, and unto his father's house, I will go up, and tell Pharaoh,\nand will say unto him, My brethren, and my father's house, which were in\nthe land of Canaan, are come unto me; and the men are shepherds, for\nthey have been keepers of cattle; and they have brought their flocks,\nand their herds, and all that they have. And it shall come to pass, when\nPharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation? that ye\nshall say, Thy servants have been keepers of cattle from our youth even\nuntil now, both we, and our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of\nGoshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.\n\nThen Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my\nbrethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are\ncome out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of\nGoshen. And from among his brethren he took five men, and presented them\nunto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your\noccupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both\nwe, and our fathers. And they said unto Pharaoh, To sojourn in the land\nare we come; for there is no pasture for thy servants' flocks; for the\nfamine is sore in the land of Canaan: now, therefore, we pray thee, let\nthy servants dwell in the land of Goshen. And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph,\nsaying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee: the land of\nEgypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and thy\nbrethren to dwell: in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou\nknowest any able men among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.\nAnd Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and\nJacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How many are the\ndays of the years of thy life? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of\nthe years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil\nhave been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained\nunto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of\ntheir pilgrimage. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the\npresence of Pharaoh. And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and\ngave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in\nthe land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph nourished his\nfather, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread,\naccording to their families.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nTHE WITNESS OF BALAAM TO ISRAEL\n\n\nAnd Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the\nAmorites. And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were\nmany: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. And\nMoab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this multitude lick up\nall that is round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field.\nAnd Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. And he sent\nmessengers unto Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the\nRiver, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying,\nBehold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the\nface of the earth, and they abide over against me: come now therefore, I\npray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me:\nperadventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may\ndrive them out of the land: for I know that he whom thou blessest is\nblessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed. And the elders of Moab and\nthe elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their\nhand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.\nAnd he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word\nagain, as the LORD shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode\nwith Balaam. And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with\nthee? And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab,\nhath sent unto me, saying, Behold, the people that is come out of Egypt,\nit covereth the face of the earth: now, come curse me them; peradventure\nI shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out. And God\nsaid unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the\npeople: for they are blessed. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and\nsaid unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the LORD\nrefuseth to give me leave to go with you.\n\nAnd the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said,\nBalaam refuseth to come with us. And Balak sent yet again princes, more,\nand more honourable than they. And they came to Balaam, and said to him,\nThus saith Balak, the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder\nthee from coming unto me: for I will promote thee unto very great\nhonour, and whatsoever thou sayest unto me I will do: come therefore, I\npray thee, curse me this people. And Balaam answered and said unto the\nservants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and\ngold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or\nmore. Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I\nmay know what the LORD will speak unto me more. And God came unto Balaam\nat night, and said unto him, If the men be come to call thee, rise up,\ngo with them; but only the word which I speak unto thee, that shalt thou\ndo.\n\nAnd Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with\nthe princes of Moab. And God's anger was kindled because he went: and\nthe angel of the LORD placed himself in the way for an adversary against\nhim. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.\nAnd the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, with his\nsword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and\nwent into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.\nThen the angel of the LORD stood in a hollow way between the vineyards,\na fence being on this side, and a fence on that side. And the ass saw\nthe angel of the LORD, and she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed\nBalaam's foot against the wall: and he smote her again. And the angel of\nthe LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to\nturn either to the right hand or to the left. And the ass saw the angel\nof the LORD, and she lay down under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was\nkindled, and he smote the ass with his staff. And the LORD opened the\nmouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee,\nthat thou hast smitten me these three times? And Balaam said unto the\nass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine\nhand, for now I had killed thee. And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I\nthine ass, upon which thou hast ridden all thy life long unto this day?\nwas I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay. Then the LORD\nopened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in\nthe way, with his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed his head, and\nfell on his face. And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore\nhast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I am come forth\nfor an adversary, because thy way is perverse before me: and the ass saw\nme, and turned aside before me these three times: unless she had turned\naside from me, surely now I had even slain thee, and saved her alive.\nAnd Balaam said unto the angel of the LORD, I have sinned; for I knew\nnot that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it\ndisplease thee, I will get me back again. And the angel of the LORD said\nunto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto\nthee, that thou shalt speak.\n\nSo Balaam went with the princes of Balak. And when Balak heard that\nBalaam was come, he went out to meet him unto the city of Moab, which is\non the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost part of the border. And\nBalak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee?\nwherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee\nto honour? And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I\nnow any power at all to speak anything? the word that God putteth in my\nmouth, that shall I speak.\n\nAnd Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kiriath-huzoth. And Balak\nsacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that\nwere with him. And it came to pass in the morning, that Balak took\nBalaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, and he saw from\nthence the utmost part of the people. And Balaam said unto Balak, Build\nme here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.\nAnd Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on\nevery altar a bullock and a ram. And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by\nthy burnt offering, and I will go; peradventure the LORD will come to\nmeet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to a\nbare height. And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared\nthe seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock and a ram on every\naltar. And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto\nBalak, and thus thou shalt speak. And he returned unto him, and, lo, he\nstood by his burnt offering, he, and all the princes of Moab. And he\ntook up his parable, and said:\n\n From Aram hath Balak brought me,\n The king of Moab from the mountains of the East:\n Come, curse me Jacob,\n And come, defy Israel.\n How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?\n And how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?\n For from the top of the rocks I see him,\n And from the hills I behold him:\n Lo, it is a people that dwell alone,\n And shall not be reckoned among the nations.\n Who can count the dust of Jacob,\n Or number the fourth part of Israel?\n Let me die the death of the righteous,\n And let my last end be like his!\n\nAnd Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to\ncurse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether. And\nhe answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD\nputteth in my mouth?\n\nAnd Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place,\nfrom whence thou mayest see them; thou shalt see but the utmost part of\nthem, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence. And he\ntook him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven\naltars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar. And he said\nunto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the LORD\nyonder. And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said,\nReturn unto Balak, and thus shalt thou speak. And he came to him, and,\nlo, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him.\nAnd Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken? And he took up his\nparable, and said:\n\n Rise up, Balak, and hear;\n Hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:\n God is not a man, that he should lie;\n Neither the son of man, that he should repent:\n Hath he said, and shall he not do it?\n Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?\n Behold, I have received commandment to bless:\n And he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.\n He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob,\n Neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel:\n The LORD his God is with him,\n And the shout of a king is among them.\n God bringeth them forth out of Egypt;\n He hath as it were the strength of the wild-ox.\n Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob,\n Neither is there any divination against Israel:\n Now shall it be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!\n Behold, the people riseth up as a lioness,\n And as a lion doth he lift himself up:\n He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey,\n And drink the blood of the slain.\n\nAnd Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at\nall. But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying,\nAll that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?\n\nAnd Balak said unto Balaam, Come now, I will take thee unto another\nplace; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them\nfrom thence. And Balak took Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh\ndown upon the desert. And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven\naltars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams. And Balak did\nas Balaam had said, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.\nAnd when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he went\nnot, as at the other times, to meet with enchantments, but he set his\nface toward the wilderness. And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw\nIsrael dwelling according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came\nupon him. And he took up his parable, and said:\n\n Balaam the son of Beor saith,\n And the man whose eye is opened saith:\n He saith, which heareth the words of God,\n Which seeth the vision of the Almighty,\n Falling down, and having his eyes open:\n\n How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob,\n Thy tabernacles, O Israel!\n As valleys are they spread forth,\n As gardens by the river side,\n As lign-aloes which the LORD hath planted,\n As cedar trees beside the waters.\n Water shall flow from his buckets,\n And his seed shall be in many waters,\n And his king shall be higher than Agag,\n And his kingdom shall be exalted.\n God bringeth him forth out of Egypt;\n He hath as it were the strength of the wild-ox:\n He shall eat up the nations his adversaries,\n And shall break their bones in pieces,\n And smite them through with his arrows.\n He couched, he lay down as a lion,\n And as a lioness; who shall rouse him up?\n Blessed be every one that blesseth thee,\n And cursed be every one that curseth thee.\n\nAnd Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands\ntogether: and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine\nenemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three\ntimes. Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee\nunto great honour; but, lo, the LORD hath kept thee back from honour.\nAnd Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy messengers which\nthou sentest unto me, saying, If Balak would give me his house full of\nsilver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD, to do either\ngood or bad of mine own mind; what the LORD speaketh, that will I speak?\nAnd now, behold, I go unto my people: come, and I will advertise thee\nwhat this people shall do to thy people in the latter days. And he took\nup his parable, and said:\n\n Balaam the son of Beor saith,\n And the man whose eye is opened saith:\n He saith, which heareth the words of God,\n And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High,\n Which seeth the vision of the Almighty,\n Falling down, and having his eyes open:\n\n I see him, but not now:\n I behold him, but not nigh:\n There shall come forth a star out of Jacob,\n And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel,\n And shall smite through the corners of Moab,\n And break down all the sons of tumult.\n And Edom shall be a possession,\n Seir also shall be a possession, which were his enemies;\n While Israel doeth valiantly.\n And out of Jacob shall one have dominion,\n And shall destroy the remnant from the city.\n\nAnd he looked on Amalek, and took up his parable, and said:\n\n Amalek was the first of the nations;\n But his latter end shall come to destruction.\n\nAnd he looked on the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said:\n\n Strong is thy dwelling place,\n And thy nest is set in the rock.\n Nevertheless Kain shall be wasted,\n Until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.\n\nAnd he took up his parable, and said:\n\n Alas, who shall live when God doeth this?\n But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim,\n And they shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber,\n And he also shall come to destruction.\n\nAnd Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place: and Balak also\nwent his way.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nTHE CROWNING OF ABIMELECH\n\n\nAnd Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. And\nGideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many\nwives. And his concubine that was in Sechem, she also bare him a son,\nand he called his name Abimelech. And Gideon the son of Joash died in a\ngood old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in\nOphrah of the Abiezrites.\n\nAnd it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of\nIsrael turned again, and went a whoring after the Baalim, and made\nBaal-berith their god. And the children of Israel remembered not the\nLORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their\nenemies on every side: neither shewed they kindness to the house of\nJerubbaal, who is Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had\nshewed unto Israel.\n\nAnd Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother's\nbrethren, and spake with them, and with all the family of the house of\nhis mother's father, saying, Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the\nmen of Shechem, Whether is better for you, that all the sons of\nJerubbaal, which are threescore and ten persons, rule over you, or that\none rule over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.\nAnd his mother's brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of\nShechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech;\nfor they said, He is our brother. And they gave him threescore and ten\npieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith, wherewith Abimelech\nhired vain and light fellows, which followed him. And he went unto his\nfather's house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal,\nbeing threescore and ten persons, upon one stone: but Jotham the\nyoungest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself.\n\nAnd all the men of Shechem assembled themselves together, and all the\nhouse of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the\npillar that was in Shechem. And when they told it to Jotham, he went and\nstood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried,\nand said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may\nhearken unto you. The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over\nthem; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. But the\nolive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me\nthey honour God and man, and go to wave to and fro over the trees? And\nthe trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us. But the\nfig tree said unto them, Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit,\nand go to wave to and fro over the trees? And the trees said unto the\nvine, Come thou, and reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should\nI leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to wave to and fro\nover the trees? Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and\nreign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye\nanoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and\nif not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of\nLebanon. Now therefore, if ye have dealt truly and uprightly, in that ye\nhave made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and\nhis house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his\nhands;--for my father fought for you, and adventured his life, and\ndelivered you out of the hand of Midian: and ye are risen up against my\nfather's house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten\npersons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his\nmaidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your\nbrother;--if ye then have dealt truly and uprightly with Jerubbaal and\nwith his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also\nrejoice in you: but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour\nthe men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from\nthe men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.\nAnd Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for\nfear of Abimelech his brother.\n\nAnd Abimelech was prince over Israel three years. And God sent an evil\nspirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem\ndealt treacherously with Abimelech: that the violence done to the\nthreescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and that their blood\nmight be laid upon Abimelech their brother, which slew them, and upon\nthe men of Shechem, which strengthened his hands to slay his brethren.\nAnd the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him on the tops of the\nmountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it\nwas told Abimelech.\n\nAnd Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to\nShechem: and the men of Shechem put their trust in him. And they went\nout into the field, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes,\nand held festival, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and\ndrink, and cursed Abimelech. And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is\nAbimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? is not he the\nson of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? serve ye the men of Hamor the\nfather of Shechem; but why should we serve him? And would to God this\npeople were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And he said to\nAbimelech, Increase thine army, and come out. And when Zebul the ruler\nof the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was\nkindled. And he sent messengers unto Abimelech craftily, saying, Behold,\nGaal the son of Ebed and his brethren are come to Shechem; and, behold,\nthey constrain the city to take part against thee. Now therefore, up by\nnight, thou and the people that is with thee, and lie in wait in the\nfield: and it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up,\nthou shalt rise early, and set upon the city: and, behold, when he and\nthe people that is with him come out against thee, then mayest thou do\nto them as thou shalt find occasion.\n\nAnd Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night,\nand they laid wait against Shechem in four companies. And Gaal the son\nof Ebed went out, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and\nAbimelech rose up, and the people that were with him, from the\nambushment. And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold,\nthere come people down from the tops of the mountains. And Zebul said\nunto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.\nAnd Gaal spake again and said, See, there come people down by the middle\nof the land, and one company cometh by the way of the oak of Meonenim.\nThen said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy mouth, that thou saidst, Who\nis Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that thou\nhast despised? go out now, I pray, and fight with them. And Gaal went\nout before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. And Abimelech\nchased him, and he fled before him, and there fell many wounded, even\nunto the entering of the gate. And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul\ndrave out Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem.\nAnd it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into the\nfield; and they told Abimelech. And he took the people, and divided them\ninto three companies, and laid wait in the field; and he looked, and,\nbehold, the people came forth out of the city; and he rose up against\nthem, and smote them. And Abimelech, and the companies that were with\nhim, rushed forward, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city:\nand the two companies rushed upon all that were in the field, and smote\nthem. And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took\nthe city, and slew the people that was therein: and he beat down the\ncity, and sowed it with salt.\n\nAnd when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard thereof, they entered\ninto the hold of the house of Elberith. And it was told Abimelech that\nall the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. And\nAbimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were\nwith him; and Abimelech took an ax in his hand, and cut down a bough\nfrom the trees, and took it up, and laid it on his shoulder: and he said\nunto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste,\nand do as I have done. And all the people likewise cut down every man\nhis bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the\nhold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died\nalso, about a thousand men and women.\n\nThen went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took\nit. But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all\nthe men and women, and all they of the city, and shut themselves in, and\ngat them up to the roof of the tower. And Abimelech came unto the tower,\nand fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn\nit with fire. And a certain woman cast an upper millstone upon\nAbimelech's head, and brake his skull. Then he called hastily unto the\nyoung man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and kill\nme, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust\nhim through, and he died. And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech\nwas dead, they departed every man unto his place. Thus God requited the\nwickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his\nseventy brethren: and all the wickedness of the men of Shechem did God\nrequite upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son\nof Jerubbaal.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nSAMSON'S WEDDING FEAST\n\n\nAnd Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the\ndaughters of the Philistines. And he came up, and told his father and\nhis mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of\nthe Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife. Then his father\nand his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters\nof thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife\nof the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get\nher for me; for she pleaseth me well. But his father and his mother knew\nnot that it was of the LORD; for he sought an occasion against the\nPhilistines. Now at that time the Philistines had rule over Israel. Then\nwent Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnah, and came to\nthe vineyards of Timnah: and, behold, a young lion roared against him.\nAnd the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he\nwould have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not\nhis father or his mother what he had done. And he went down and talked\nwith the woman; and she pleased Samson well. And after a while he\nreturned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the\nlion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion,\nand honey. And he took it into his hands, and went on, eating as he\nwent, and he came to his father and mother, and gave unto them, and they\ndid eat: but he told them not that he had taken the honey out of the\nbody of the lion. And his father went down unto the woman: and Samson\nmade there a feast: for so used the young men to do. And it came to\npass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with\nhim. And Samson said unto them, Let me now put forth a riddle unto you:\nif ye can declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it\nout, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of\nraiment: but if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty\nlinen garments and thirty changes of raiment. And they said unto him,\nPut forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. And he said unto them,\n\n Out of the eater came forth meat,\n And out of the strong came forth sweetness.\n\nAnd they could not in three days declare the riddle. And it came to pass\non the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice thy\nhusband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and\nthy father's house with fire: have ye called us to impoverish us? is it\nnot so? And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate\nme, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of\nmy people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have\nnot told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell thee? And she wept\nbefore him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass\non the seventh day, that he told her, because she pressed him sore: and\nshe told the riddle to the children of her people. And the men of the\ncity said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down:\n\n What is sweeter than honey?\n And what is stronger than a lion?\n\nAnd he said unto them:\n\n If ye had not plowed with my heifer,\n Ye had not found out my riddle.\n\nAnd the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he went down to\nAshkelon, and smote thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave\nthe changes of raiment unto them that declared the riddle. And his anger\nwas kindled, and he went up to his father's house. But Samson's wife was\ngiven to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.\n\nBut it came to pass after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, that\nSamson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife\ninto the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in. And her\nfather said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her;\ntherefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer\nthan she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her. And Samson said unto\nthem, This time shall I be blameless in regard of the Philistines, when\nI do them a mischief. And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes,\nand took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the\nmidst between every two tails. And when he had set the brands on fire,\nhe let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up\nboth the shocks and the standing corn, and also the oliveyards. Then the\nPhilistines said, Who hath done this? And they said, Samson, the son in\nlaw of the Timnite, because he hath taken his wife, and given her to his\ncompanion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father\nwith fire. And Samson said unto them, If ye do after this manner, surely\nI will be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. And he smote them\nhip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the\ncleft of the rock of Etam.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nTHE EXPEDITION AGAINST ELISHA\n\n\nNow the king of Syria warred against Israel: and he took counsel with\nhis servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp. And the\nman of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass\nnot such a place; for thither the Syrians are coming down. And the king\nof Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him\nof; and he saved himself there, not once nor twice. And the heart of the\nking of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his\nservants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for\nthe king of Israel? And one of his servants said, Nay, my lord, O king:\nbut Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel\nthe words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber. And he said, Go and see\nwhere he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying,\nBehold, he is in Dothan. Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots,\nand a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.\nAnd when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth,\nbehold, an host with horses and chariots was round about the city. And\nhis servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he\nanswered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be\nwith them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his\neyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man;\nand he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of\nfire round about Elisha. And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed\nunto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness.\nAnd he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. And\nElisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city:\nfollow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. And he led them\nto Samaria. And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that\nElisha said, LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And\nthe LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the\nmidst of Samaria. And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw\nthem, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them? And he\nanswered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou\nhast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water\nbefore them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. And he\nprepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he\nsent them away, and they went to their master. And the bands of Syria\ncame no more into the land of Israel.\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nTHE DREAM OF THE TREE CUT DOWN\n\n\n'Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all the peoples, nations, and languages,\nthat dwell in all the earth: peace be multiplied unto you. It hath\nseemed good unto me to shew the signs and wonders that the Most High God\nhath wrought toward me. How great are his signs! and how mighty are his\nwonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from\ngeneration to generation.\n\n'I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my\npalace. I saw a dream which made me afraid; and the thoughts upon my bed\nand the visions of my head troubled me. Therefore made I a decree to\nbring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make\nknown unto me the interpretation of the dream. Then came in the\nmagicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I\ntold the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the\ninterpretation thereof. But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose\nname was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is\nthe spirit of the holy gods: and I told the dream before him, saying, O\nBelteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of\nthe holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the\nvisions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.\n\n'Thus were the visions of my head upon my bed: I saw, and behold a tree\nin the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. The tree\ngrew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven and the\nsight thereof to the end of all the earth. The leaves thereof were fair,\nand the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of\nthe field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the\nbranches thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. I saw in the visions of\nmy head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down\nfrom heaven. He cried aloud, and said thus: \"Hew down the tree, and cut\noff his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the\nbeasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches.\nNevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a\nband of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be\nwet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in\nthe grass of the earth: let his heart be changed from man's, and let a\nbeast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him. The\nsentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of\nthe holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the Most High\nruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and\nsetteth up over it the lowest of men.\" This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar\nhave seen: and thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation,\nforasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known\nunto me the interpretation; but thou art able, for the spirit of the\nholy gods is in thee.\n\n'Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for a while, and\nhis thoughts troubled him. The king answered and said, Belteshazzar, let\nnot the dream, or the interpretation, trouble thee. Belteshazzar\nanswered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the\ninterpretation thereof to thine adversaries. The tree that thou sawest,\nwhich grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and\nthe sight thereof to all the earth; whose leaves were fair, and the\nfruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts\nof the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had\ntheir habitation; it is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong:\nfor thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion\nto the end of the earth. And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy\none coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew down the tree, and destroy\nit; nevertheless leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even\nwith a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let\nit be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts\nof the field, till seven times pass over him; this is the\ninterpretation, O king, and it is the decree of the Most High, which is\ncome upon my lord the king: that thou shalt be driven from men, and thy\ndwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and thou shalt be made\nto eat grass as oxen, and shalt be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven\ntimes shall pass over thee; till thou know that the Most High ruleth in\nthe kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And whereas\nthey commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall\nbe sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do\nrule. Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and\nbreak off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing\nmercy to the poor; if there may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.\n\n'All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months\nhe was walking in the royal palace of Babylon. The king spake and said,\nIs not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling\nplace, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty? While\nthe word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven,\nsaying: \"O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken: the kingdom is\ndeparted from thee. And thou shalt be driven from men, and thy dwelling\nshall be with the beasts of the field; thou shalt be made to eat grass\nas oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee; until thou know that the\nMost High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he\nwill.\" The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he\nwas driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet\nwith the dew of heaven, till his hair was grown like eagles' feathers,\nand his nails like birds' claws. And at the end of the days I\nNebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding\nreturned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and\nhonoured him that liveth for ever; for his dominion is an everlasting\ndominion, and his kingdom from generation to generation: and all the\ninhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according\nto his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the\nearth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? At\nthe same time mine understanding returned unto me; and for the glory of\nmy kingdom, my majesty and brightness returned unto me; and my\ncounsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my\nkingdom, and excellent greatness was added unto me.\n\n'Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven;\nfor all his works are truth, and his ways judgement: and those that walk\nin pride he is able to abase.'\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nBELSHAZZAR'S FEAST\n\n\nBelshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and\ndrank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine,\ncommanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar\nhis father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the\nking and his lords, his wives and his concubines, might drink therein.\nThen they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple\nof the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king and his lords,\nhis wives and his concubines, drank in them. They drank wine, and\npraised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and\nof stone. In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man's hand, and\nwrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the\nking's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then\nthe king's countenance was changed in him, and his thoughts troubled\nhim; and the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one\nagainst another. The king cried aloud to bring in the enchanters, the\nChaldeans, and the soothsayers. The king spake and said to the wise men\nof Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the\ninterpretation thereof, shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain\nof gold about his neck, and shall rule as one of three in the kingdom.\nThen came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the\nwriting, nor make known to the king the interpretation. Then was king\nBelshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and\nhis lords were perplexed.\n\nNow the queen by reason of the words of the king and his lords came into\nthe banquet house: the queen spake and said: O king, live for ever; let\nnot thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed: there\nis a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in\nthe days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the\nwisdom of the gods, was found in him: and the king Nebuchadnezzar thy\nfather, the king, I say, thy father, made him master of the magicians,\nenchanters, Chaldeans, and soothsayers; forasmuch as an excellent\nspirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and\nshewing of dark sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the\nsame Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called,\nand he will shew the interpretation.\n\nThen was Daniel brought in before the king. The king spake and said unto\nDaniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the\ncaptivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Judah? I have\nheard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light\nand understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee. And now the\nwise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me, that they\nshould read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation\nthereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing. But I\nhave heard of thee, that thou canst give interpretations, and dissolve\ndoubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the\ninterpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with purple, and have a\nchain of gold about thy neck, and shalt rule as one of three in the\nkingdom. Then Daniel answered and said before the king: Let thy gifts be\nto thyself, and give thy rewards to another; nevertheless I will read\nthe writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation. O\nthou king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father the kingdom,\nand greatness, and glory, and majesty: and because of the greatness that\nhe gave him, all the peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared\nbefore him: whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive; and\nwhom he would he raised up, and whom he would he put down. But when his\nheart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened that he dealt proudly,\nhe was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:\nand he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the\nbeasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses; he was fed with grass\nlike oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven: until he knew\nthat the Most High God ruleth in the kingdom of men, and that he setteth\nup over it whomsoever he will. And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not\nhumbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this: but hast lifted up\nthyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of\nhis house before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy wives and thy\nconcubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of\nsilver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor\nhear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are\nall thy ways, hast thou not glorified: then was the part of the hand\nsent from before him, and this writing was inscribed. And this is the\nwriting that was inscribed[2]:\n\n M U P\n E L H\n N E A\n E K R\n M E S\n E T I\n N E N\n\n[Footnote 2: Daniel reads down, up, down: instead of across.]\n\nThis is the interpretation of the thing:\n\n\n MENE\n\n God hath NUMBERED thy kingdom:\n And brought it to an end!\n\n TEKEL\n\n Thou art WEIGHED in the balances:\n And art found wanting!\n\n PERES\n\n Thy kingdom is DIVIDED:\n And given to the Medes and Persians!\n\nThen commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put\na chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him,\nthat he should rule as one of three in the kingdom. In that night\nBelshazzar the Chaldean king was slain. And Darius the Mede received the\nkingdom, being about threescore and two years old.\n\n\n\n\nORATORY\n\nI\n\nTHE ORATION OF MOSES\n\nAT THE REHEARSAL OF THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE\n\n\nAnd it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the\nvoice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments which I\ncommand thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above\nall the nations of the earth: and all these blessings shall come upon\nthee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the\nLORD thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou\nbe in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit\nof thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine,\nand the young of thy flock. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy\nkneadingtrough. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed\nshalt thou be when thou goest out. The LORD shall cause thine enemies\nthat rise up against thee to be smitten before thee: they shall come out\nagainst thee one way, and shall flee before thee seven ways. The LORD\nshall command the blessing upon thee in thy barns, and in all that thou\nputtest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the\nLORD thy God giveth thee. The LORD shall establish thee for an holy\npeople unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee; if thou shalt keep the\ncommandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. And all the\npeoples of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the\nLORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. And the LORD shall make thee\nplenteous for good, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy\ncattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware\nunto thy fathers to give thee. The LORD shall open unto thee his good\ntreasury the heaven to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to\nbless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations,\nand thou shalt not borrow. And the LORD shall make thee the head, and\nnot the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be\nbeneath; if thou shalt hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy\nGod, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them; and shalt\nnot turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to\nthe right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.\n\nBut it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of\nthe LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes\nwhich I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon\nthee, and overtake thee. Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed\nshalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy\nkneadingtrough. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of\nthy ground, the increase of thy kine, and the young of thy flock. Cursed\nshalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou\ngoest out. The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, discomfiture, and\nrebuke, in all that thou puttest thine hand unto for to do, until thou\nbe destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the evil of thy\ndoings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. The LORD shall make the\npestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the\nland, whither thou goest in to possess it. The LORD shall smite thee\nwith consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with fiery\nheat, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they\nshall pursue thee until thou perish. And thy heaven that is over thy\nhead shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. The\nLORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall\nit come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed. The LORD shall cause\nthee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way\nagainst them, and shalt flee seven ways before them: and thou shalt be\ntossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth. And thy carcase\nshall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the\nearth, and there shall be none to fray them away. The LORD shall smite\nthee with the boil of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scurvy,\nand with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. The LORD shall\nsmite thee with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of\nheart: and thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in\ndarkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only\noppressed and spoiled alway, and there shall be none to save thee. Thou\nshalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt\nbuild an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a\nvineyard, and shalt not use the fruit thereof. Thine ox shall be slain\nbefore thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shalt be\nviolently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to\nthee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have\nnone to save thee. Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto\nanother people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for\nthem all the day: and there shall be nought in the power of thine hand.\nThe fruit of thy ground, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou\nknowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:\nso that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt\nsee. The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a\nsore boil, whereof thou canst not be healed, from the sole of thy foot\nunto the crown of thy head. The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king\nwhich thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which thou hast not known,\nthou nor thy fathers; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and\nstone. And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword,\namong all the peoples whither the LORD shall lead thee away. Thou shalt\ncarry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather little in; for the\nlocust shall consume it. Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but\nthou shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the\nworm shall eat them. Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy\nborders, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive\nshall cast its fruit. Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but they\nshall not be thine; for they shall go into captivity. All thy trees and\nthe fruit of thy ground shall the locust possess. The stranger that is\nin the midst of thee shall mount up above thee higher and higher; and\nthou shalt come down lower and lower. He shall lend to thee, and thou\nshalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.\n\nAnd all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and\novertake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto\nthe voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes\nwhich he commanded thee: and they shall be upon thee for a sign, and for\na wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. Because thou servedst not the LORD\nthy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the\nabundance of all things: therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which\nthe LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in\nnakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron\nupon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. The LORD shall bring a\nnation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle\nflieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; a nation of\nfierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor\nshew favour to the young: and he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and\nthe fruit of thy ground, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not\nleave thee corn, wine, or oil, the increase of thy kine, or the young of\nthy flock, until he have caused thee to perish. And he shall besiege\nthee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down,\nwherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege\nthee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God\nhath given thee. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the\nflesh of thy sons and of thy daughters which the LORD thy God hath given\nthee; in the siege and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall\nstraiten thee. The man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his\neye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom,\nand toward the remnant of his children which he hath remaining: so that\nhe will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he\nshall eat, because he hath nothing left him; in the siege and in the\nstraitness, wherewith thine enemy shall straiten thee in all thy gates.\nThe tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to\nset the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and\ntenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and\ntoward her son, and toward her daughter; and toward her young one that\ncometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she\nshall bear; for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly: in\nthe siege and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall straiten\nthee in thy gates.\n\nIf thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are\nwritten in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful\nname, THE LORD THY GOD; then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful,\nand the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long\ncontinuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. And he will\nbring upon thee again all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid\nof; and they shall cleave unto thee. Also every sickness, and every\nplague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD\nbring upon thee until thou be destroyed. And ye shall be left few in\nnumber, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because\nthou didst not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. And it shall\ncome to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to\nmultiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to cause you to perish,\nand to destroy you; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither\nthou goest in to possess it. And the LORD shall scatter thee among all\npeoples, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the\nearth; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which thou hast not known,\nthou nor thy fathers, even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt\nthou find no ease, and there shall be no rest for the sole of thy foot:\nbut the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of\neyes, and pining of soul: and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee;\nand thou shalt fear night and day, and shalt have none assurance of thy\nlife: in the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even\nthou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart\nwhich thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt\nsee. And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the\nway whereof I said unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there\nye shall sell yourselves unto your enemies for bondmen and for\nbondwomen: and no man shall buy you.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nA DISCOURSE ON\n\nIMMORTALITY AND THE COVENANT WITH DEATH\n\n\nCourt not death in the error of your life;\nNeither draw upon yourselves destruction by the works of your hands.\n\nBecause God made not death: neither delighteth he when the living\nperish. For he created all things that they might have being; and the\ngenerative powers of the world are healthsome, and there is no poison of\ndestruction in them, nor hath Hades royal dominion upon earth: for\nrighteousness is immortal. But ungodly men by their hands and their\nwords called death unto them; deeming him a friend they consumed away,\nand they made a covenant with him because they are worthy to be of his\nportion.\n\nFor they said within themselves, reasoning not aright: \"Short and\nsorrowful is our life; and there is no healing when a man cometh to his\nend, and none was ever known that gave release from Hades. Because by\nmere chance were we born, and hereafter we shall be as though we had\nnever been; because the breath in our nostrils is smoke, and while our\nheart beateth reason is a spark, which being extinguished, the body\nshall be turned into ashes, and the spirit shall be dispersed as thin\nair. And our name shall be forgotten in time, and no man shall remember\nour works; and our life shall pass away as the traces of a cloud, and\nshall be scattered as is a mist, when it is chased by the beams of the\nsun, and overcome by the heat thereof. For our allotted time is the\npassing of a shadow, and our end retreateth not; because it is fast\nsealed, and none turneth it back. Come therefore and let us enjoy the\ngood things that now are; and let us use the creation with all our soul\nas youth's possession. Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and\nperfumes, and let no flower of spring pass us by; let us crown ourselves\nwith rosebuds before they be withered; let none of us go without his\nshare in our proud revelry; everywhere let us leave tokens of our mirth:\nbecause this is our portion, and our lot is this. Let us oppress the\nrighteous poor: let us not spare the widow, nor reverence the hairs of\nthe old man gray for length of years, but let our strength be to us a\nlaw of righteousness; for that which is weak is found to be of no\nservice. But let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is of\ndisservice to us, and is contrary to our works, and upbraideth us with\nsins against the law, and layeth to our charge sins against our\ndiscipline. He professeth to have knowledge of God, and nameth himself\nservant of the Lord. He became to us a reproof of our thoughts. He is\ngrievous unto us even to behold, because his life is unlike other men's,\nand his paths are of strange fashion. We were accounted of him as base\nmetal, and he abstaineth from our ways as from uncleannesses. The latter\nend of the righteous he calleth happy; and he vaunteth that God is his\nfather. Let us see if his words be true, and let us try what shall\nbefall in the ending of his life: for if the righteous man is God's son,\nhe will uphold him, and he will deliver him out of the hand of his\nadversaries. With outrage and torture let us put him to the test, that\nwe may learn his gentleness, and may prove his patience under wrong. Let\nus condemn him to a shameful death; for he shall be visited according to\nhis words.\"\n\nThus reasoned they, and they were led astray. For their wickedness\nblinded them; and they knew not the mysteries of God, neither hoped they\nfor wages of holiness, nor did they judge that there is a prize for\nblameless souls. Because God created man for incorruption, and made him\nan image of his own proper being; but by the envy of the devil death\nentered into the world, and they that are of his portion make trial\nthereof.\n\nBut the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment\nshall touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died;\nand their departure was accounted to be their hurt, and their journeying\naway from us to be their ruin: but they are in peace. For even if in\nthe sight of men they be punished, their hope is full of immortality;\nand having borne a little chastening, they shall receive great good.\nBecause God made trial of them, and found them worthy of himself; as\ngold in the furnace he proved them, and as a whole burnt offering he\naccepted them. And in the time of their visitation they shall shine\nforth, and as sparks among stubble they shall run to and fro. They shall\njudge nations, and have dominion over peoples; and the Lord shall reign\nover them for evermore. They that trust on him shall understand truth,\nand the faithful shall abide with him in love: because grace and mercy\nare to his chosen.\n\nBut the ungodly shall be requited even as they reasoned, they which\nlightly regarded the righteous man, and revolted from the Lord: for he\nthat setteth at nought wisdom and discipline is miserable. And void is\ntheir hope and their toils unprofitable, and useless are their works.\nTheir wives are foolish, and wicked are their children; accursed is\ntheir begetting.[3] For good labours have fruit of great renown; and the\nroot of understanding cannot fail. But children of adulterers shall not\ncome to maturity, and the seed of an unlawful bed shall vanish away.\nFor if they live long they shall be held in no account, and at the last\ntheir old age shall be without honour; and if they die quickly they\nshall have no hope, nor in the day of decision shall they have\nconsolation. For the end of an unrighteous generation is alway grievous.\nBetter than this is childlessness with virtue. For in the memory of\nvirtue is immortality, because it is recognised both before God and\nbefore men; when it is present men imitate it, and they long after it\nwhen it is departed; and throughout all time it marcheth crowned in\ntriumph, victorious in the strife for the prizes that are undefiled. But\nthe multiplying brood of the ungodly shall be of no profit, and with\nbastard slips they shall not strike deep root, nor shall they establish\na sure hold. For even if these put forth boughs and flourish for a\nseason, yet, standing unsure, they shall be shaken by the wind, and by\nthe violence of winds they shall be rooted out. Their branches shall be\nbroken off before they come to maturity; and their fruit shall be\nuseless, never ripe to eat, and fit for nothing. For children unlawfully\nbegotten are witnesses of wickedness against parents when God searcheth\nthem out.\n\n[Footnote 3: Because happy is the barren that is indefiled, she who hath\nnot conceived in transgression; she shall have fruit when God visiteth\nsouls. And happy is the eunuch which hath wrought no lawless deed with\nhis hands, nor imagined wicked things against the Lord; for there shall\nbe given him for his faithfulness a peculiar favour, and a lot in the\nsanctuary of the Lord more delightsome than wife or children.]\n\nBut a righteous man, though he die before his time, shall be at rest.\nFor honourable old age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor\nis its measure given by number of years: but understanding is gray hairs\nunto men, and an unspotted life is ripe old age. Being found well\npleasing unto God he was beloved of him, and while living among sinners\nhe was translated. He was caught away lest wickedness should change his\nunderstanding, or guile deceive his soul; for the bewitching of\nnaughtiness bedimmeth the things which are good, and the giddy whirl of\ndesire perverteth an innocent mind. Being made perfect in a little while\nhe fulfilled long years: for his soul was pleasing unto the Lord;\ntherefore hasted he out of the midst of wickedness.\n\nBut as for the peoples, seeing and understanding not, neither laying\nthis to heart, that grace and mercy are with his chosen, and that he\nvisiteth his holy ones:[4] they shall see, and they shall despise; but\nthem the Lord shall laugh to scorn. And after this they shall become a\ndishonoured carcase, and a reproach among the dead for ever. Because he\nshall dash them speechless to the ground, and shall shake them from the\nfoundations, and they shall lie utterly waste, and they shall be in\nanguish, and their memory shall perish. They shall come, when their sins\nare reckoned up, with coward fear; and their lawless deeds shall convict\nthem to their face. Then shall the righteous man stand in great boldness\nbefore the face of them that afflicted him, and them that make his\nlabours of no account. When they see it, they shall be troubled with\nterrible fear, and shall be amazed at the marvel of God's salvation.\n\n[Footnote 4: But a righteous man that is dead shall condemn the ungodly\nthat are living, and youth that is quickly perfected the many years of\nan unrighteous man's old age; for the ungodly shall see a wise man's\nend, and shall not understand what the Lord purposed concerning him, and\nfor what he safely kept him.]\n\nThey shall say within themselves, repenting, and for distress of spirit\nshall they groan: \"This was he whom aforetime we had in derision, and\nmade a parable of reproach; we fools accounted his life madness and his\nend without honour. How was he numbered among sons of God? and how is\nhis lot among saints? Verily we went astray from the way of truth; and\nthe light of righteousness shined not for us, and the sun rose not for\nus. We took our fill of the paths of lawlessness and destruction, and we\njourneyed through trackless deserts; but the way of the Lord we knew\nnot. What did our arrogancy profit us? and what good have riches and\nvaunting brought us? Those things all passed away as a shadow, and as a\nmessage that runneth by; as a ship passing through the billowy water,\nwhereof, when it is gone by, there is no trace to be found, neither\npathway of its keel in the billows; or as when a bird flieth through the\nair, no token of her passage is found, but the lightwind, lashed with\nthe stroke of her pinions, and rent asunder with the violent rush of the\nmoving wings, is passed through, and afterwards no sign of her coming is\nfound therein; or as when an arrow is shot at a mark, the air disparted\ncloseth up again immediately, so that men know not where it passed\nthrough: so we also, as soon as we were born, ceased to be; and of\nvirtue we had no sign to shew, but in our wickedness we were utterly\nconsumed.\"\n\nBecause the hope of the ungodly man is as chaff carried by the wind, and\nas foam vanishing before a tempest; and is scattered as smoke is\nscattered by the wind; and passeth by as the remembrance of a guest that\ntarrieth but a day. But the righteous live for ever, and in the Lord is\ntheir reward, and the care for them with the Most High. Therefore shall\nthey receive the crown of royal dignity and the diadem of beauty from\nthe Lord's hand; because with his right hand shall he cover them, and\nwith his arm shall he shield them. He shall take his jealousy as\ncomplete armour, and shall make the whole creation his weapons for\nvengeance on his enemies; he shall put on righteousness as a\nbreastplate, and shall array himself with judgement unfeigned as with a\nhelmet: he shall take holiness as an invincible shield, and he shall\nsharpen stern wrath for a sword. And the world shall go forth with him\nto fight against his insensate foes. Shafts of lightning shall fly with\ntrue aim, and from the clouds, as from a well-drawn bow, shall they leap\nto the mark; and as from an engine of war shall be hurled hailstones\nfull of wrath; the water of the sea shall be angered against them, and\nrivers shall sternly overwhelm them; a mighty blast shall encounter\nthem, and as a tempest shall it winnow them away. And so shall\nlawlessness make all the land desolate, and their evil-doing shall\noverturn the thrones of princes.\n\nHear therefore, ye kings, and understand; learn, ye judges of the ends\nof the earth; give ear, ye that have dominion over much people, and make\nyour boast in multitudes of nations. Because your dominion was given you\nfrom the Lord, and your sovereignty from the Most High, who shall search\nout your works, and shall make inquisition of your counsels; because\nbeing officers of his kingdom ye did not judge aright, neither kept ye\nlaw, nor walked after the counsel of God. Awfully and swiftly shall he\ncome upon you, because a stern judgement befalleth them that be in high\nplace: for the man of low estate may be pardoned in mercy, but mighty\nmen shall be searched out mightily. For the Sovereign Lord of all will\nnot refrain himself for any man's person, neither will he reverence\ngreatness, because it is he that made both small and great. And alike he\ntaketh thought for all; but strict is the scrutiny that cometh upon the\npowerful. Unto you, therefore, O princes, are my words, that ye may\nlearn wisdom and fall not from the right way. For they that have kept\nholily the things that are holy shall themselves be hallowed; and they\nthat have been taught them shall find what to answer. Set your desire\ntherefore on my words; long for them, and ye shall be trained by their\ndiscipline.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nISAIAH'S DISCOURSE\n\nTHE GREAT ARRAIGNMENT\n\n\nHear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD hath spoken: I have\nnourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.\n\nThe ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth\nnot know, my people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden\nwith iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that deal corruptly: they\nhave forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they\nare estranged and gone backward. Why will ye be still stricken, that ye\nrevolt more and more? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.\nFrom the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in\nit; but wounds, and bruises, and festering sores: they have not been\nclosed, neither bound up, neither mollified with oil. Your country is\ndesolate; your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers devour\nit in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. And\nthe daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a lodge in a\ngarden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Except the LORD of hosts had\nleft unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, we\nshould have been like unto Gomorrah.\n\nHear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of\nour God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your\nsacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of\nrams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of\nbullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. When ye come to appear before me,\nwho hath required this at your hand, to trample my courts? Bring no more\nvain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; new moon and sabbath,\nthe calling of assemblies,--I cannot away with iniquity and the solemn\nmeeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they\nare a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth\nyour hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many\nprayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.\n\nWash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before\nmine eyes; cease to do evil: learn to do well; seek judgement, relieve\nthe oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and\nlet us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet,\nthey shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they\nshall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good\nof the land: but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the\nsword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.\n\nHow is the faithful city become an harlot! she that was full of\njudgement! righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. Thy silver is\nbecome dross, thy wine mixed with water. Thy princes are rebellious, and\ncompanions of thieves; every one loveth gifts, and followeth after\nrewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the\nwidow come unto them. Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the\nMighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge\nme of mine enemies: and I will turn my hand upon thee, and throughly\npurge away thy dross, and will take away all thy alloy: and I will\nrestore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the\nbeginning: afterward thou shalt be called The city of righteousness, the\nfaithful city. Zion shall be redeemed with judgement, and her converts\nwith righteousness. But the destruction of the transgressors and the\nsinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be\nconsumed. For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired,\nand ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. For ye\nshall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no\nwater. And the strong shall be as tow, and his work as a spark; and they\nshall both burn together, and none shall quench them.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nISAIAH'S DISCOURSE\n\nTHE COVENANT WITH DEATH\n\n\nWoe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading\nflower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley of\nthem that are overcome with wine! Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and\nstrong one; as a tempest of hail, a destroying storm, as a tempest of\nmighty waters overflowing, shall he cast down to the earth with the\nhand. The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden\nunder foot: and the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on\nthe head of the fat valley, shall be as the firstripe fig before the\nsummer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his\nhand he eateth it up.\n\nIn that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a\ndiadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people: and for a spirit of\njudgement to him that sitteth in judgement, and for strength to them\nthat turn back the battle at the gate.\n\nBut these also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are\ngone astray; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink,\nthey are swallowed up of wine, they are gone astray through strong\ndrink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgement. For all tables\nare full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place\nclean.--'Whom will he teach knowledge? and whom will he make to\nunderstand the message? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn\nfrom the breasts? For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept;\nline upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little.'--Nay,\nbut by men of strange lips and with another tongue will he speak to this\npeople: to whom he said, This is the rest, give ye rest to him that is\nweary; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. Therefore\nshall the word of the LORD be unto them precept upon precept, precept\nupon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a\nlittle; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared,\nand taken. Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that\nrule this people which is in Jerusalem: Because ye have said, We have\nmade a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the\noverflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for\nwe have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:\ntherefore thus saith the LORD God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a\nfoundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone of sure\nfoundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. And I will make\njudgement the line, and righteousness the plummet: and the hail shall\nsweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding\nplace. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your\nagreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall\npass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. As often as it\npasseth through, it shall take you; for morning by morning shall it pass\nthrough, by day and by night: and it shall be nought but terror to\nunderstand the message. For the bed is shorter than that a man can\nstretch himself on it; and the covering narrower than that he can wrap\nhimself in it. For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall\nbe wroth as in the valley of Gibeon; that he may do his work, his\nstrange work, and bring to pass his act, his strange act. Now therefore\nbe ye not scorners, lest your bands be made strong: for a consummation,\nand that determined, have I heard from the Lord, the LORD of hosts, upon\nthe whole earth.\n\nGive ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech. Doth the\nplowman plow continually to sow? doth he continually open and break the\nclods of his ground? When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he\nnot cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and put in the\nwheat in rows and the barley in the appointed place and the spelt in the\nborder thereof? For his God doth instruct him aright, and doth teach\nhim. For the fitches are not threshed with a sharp threshing instrument,\nneither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches\nare beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod. Is bread corn\ncrushed? Nay, he will not ever be threshing it, and driving his cart\nwheels and his horses over it; he doth not crush it. This also cometh\nforth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and\nexcellent in wisdom.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nISAIAH'S DISCOURSE\n\nTHE UTTER DESTRUCTION AND THE GREAT RESTORATION\n\n\n1\n\nCome near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples: let the earth\nhear, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all things that come forth\nof it. For the LORD hath indignation against all the nations, and fury\nagainst all their host: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath\ndelivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and\nthe stink of their carcases shall come up, and the mountains shall be\nmelted with their blood. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved,\nand the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host\nshall fade away, as the leaf fadeth from off the vine, and as a fading\nleaf from the fig tree. For my sword hath drunk its fill in heaven:\nbehold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my curse,\nto judgement. The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat\nwith fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the\nkidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great\nslaughter in the land of Edom. And the wild-oxen shall come down with\nthem, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be drunken\nwith blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. For it is the day of\nthe LORD'S vengeance, the year of recompence in the controversy of Zion.\nAnd the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof\ninto brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It\nshall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for\never: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass\nthrough it for ever and ever. But the pelican and the porcupine shall\npossess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell therein: and he shall\nstretch over it the line of confusion, and the plummet of emptiness.\nThey shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be\nthere; and all her princes shall be nothing. And thorns shall come up in\nher palaces, nettles and thistles in the fortresses thereof: and it\nshall be an habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches. And the wild\nbeasts of the desert shall meet with the wolves, and the satyr shall cry\nto his fellow; yea, the night-monster shall settle there, and shall find\nher a place of rest. There shall the arrowsnake make her nest, and lay,\nand hatch, and gather under her shadow: yea, there shall the kites be\ngathered, every one with her mate.\n\n Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read:\n No one of these shall be missing,\n None shall want her mate:\n For my mouth it hath commanded,\n And his spirit it hath gathered them.\n\nAnd he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto\nthem by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to\ngeneration shall they dwell therein.\n\n2\n\nThe wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad; and the desert\nshall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and\nrejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given\nunto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon: they shall see the glory\nof the LORD, the excellency of our God.\n\n Strengthen ye the weak hands,\n And confirm the feeble knees;\n Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not:\n Behold, your God will come with vengeance,\n With the recompence of God he will come and save you.\n\nThen the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf\nshall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the\ntongue of the dumb shall sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break\nout, and streams in the desert. And the glowing sand shall become a\npool, and the thirsty ground springs of water: in the habitation of\njackals, where they lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And an\nhighway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of\nholiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those:\nthe wayfaring men, yea fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be\nthere, nor shall any ravenous beast go up thereon, they shall not be\nfound there; but the redeemed shall walk there: and the ransomed of the\nLORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy\nshall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and\nsorrow and sighing shall flee away.\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nEZEKIEL'S DISCOURSE\n\nTHE SWORD OF THE LORD\n\n\n1\n\nAnd the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face\ntoward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy\nagainst the land of Israel; and say to the land of Israel, Thus saith\nthe LORD: Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my SWORD out\nof its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.\nSeeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked,\ntherefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh\nfrom the south to the north: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD\nhave drawn forth my sword out of its sheath; it shall not return any\nmore. Sigh therefore, thou son of man; with the breaking of thy loins\nand with bitterness shalt thou sigh before their eyes. And it shall be,\nwhen they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt say,\nBecause of the tidings, for it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and\nall hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees\nshall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and it shall be done, saith\nthe Lord GOD.\n\n2\n\nAnd the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy, and\nsay, Thus saith the LORD: Say,\n\n A sword,\n A sword,\n It is sharpened,\n And also furbished:\n It is sharpened that it may make a slaughter;\n It is furbished that it may be as lightning!\n\n'Shall we then make mirth? The Rod of my son, it contemneth every tree.'\n\n And it is given to be furbished\n That it may be handled:\n The sword, it is sharpened, yea it is furbished,\n To give it into the hand of the slayer.\n\nCry and howl, son of man: for it is upon my people, it is upon all the\nprinces of Israel: they are delivered over to the sword with my people:\nsmite therefore upon thy thigh. For there is a trial; and what if even\nthe Rod that contemneth shall be no more? saith the Lord GOD. Thou\ntherefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together.\n\n And let the sword be doubled the third time;\n The sword of the deadly wounded:\n It is the sword of the great one that is deadly wounded\n Which compasseth them about.\n\n I have set the point of the sword against all their gates,\n That their heart may melt,\n And their stumblings be multiplied:\n Ah! it is made as lightning!\n It is pointed for slaughter--\n Gather thee together, go to the right;\n Set thyself in array, go to the left--\n Whithersoever thy face is set.\n\nI will also smite mine hands together, and I will satisfy my fury: I the\nLORD have spoken it.\n\n3\n\nThe word of the LORD came unto me again, saying, Also, thou son of man,\nappoint thee two ways that the sword of the king of Babylon may come;\nthey twain shall come forth out of one land: and mark out a place, mark\nit out at the head of the way to the city. Thou shall appoint a way, for\nthe sword to come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in\nJerusalem the defenced. For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of\nthe way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shook the\narrows to and fro, he consulted the teraphim, he looked in the liver. In\nhis right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams,\nto open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting,\nto set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounts, to build\nforts. And it shall be unto them as a vain divination in their sight,\nwhich have sworn oaths unto them: but he bringeth iniquity to\nremembrance, that they may be taken. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD:\nBecause ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your\ntransgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do\nappear; because that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with\nthe hand. And thou, O deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel,\nwhose day is come, in the time of the iniquity of the end; thus saith\nthe Lord GOD: Remove the mitre, and take off the crown: this shall be no\nmore the same: exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high. I\nwill overturn, overturn, overturn it: this also shall be no more, until\nhe come whose right it is; and I will give it him.\n\n4\n\nAnd thou, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD\nconcerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach; and say\nthou:\n\n 'A sword, a sword is drawn,\n For the slaughter it is furbished:\n To cause it to devour,\n That it may be as lightning:'\n\nwhiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine lies unto thee, to\nlay thee upon the necks of the wicked that are deadly wounded, whose day\nis come, in the time of the punishment of the end. (Cause it to return\ninto its sheath.) In the place where thou wast created, in the land of\nthy birth, will I judge thee. And I will pour out mine indignation upon\nthee; I will blow upon thee with the fire of my wrath: and I will\ndeliver thee into the hand of brutish men, skilful to destroy. Thou\nshalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the\nland; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the LORD have spoken it.\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nEZEKIEL'S DISCOURSE\n\nWRECK OF THE GOODLY SHIP TYRE\n\n\nThe word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, And thou, son of man,\ntake up a lamentation for Tyre; and say unto Tyre, O thou that dwellest\nat the entry of the sea, which art the merchant of the peoples unto many\nisles: thus saith the Lord GOD: Thou, O Tyre, hast said, I am perfect in\nbeauty. Thy borders are in the heart of the seas, thy builders have\nperfected thy beauty. They have made all thy planks of fir trees from\nSenir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make a mast for thee. Of\nthe oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; they have made thy benches\nof ivory inlaid in boxwood, from the isles of Kittim. Of fine linen with\nbroidered work from Egypt was thy sail, that it might be to thee for an\nensign; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was thine awning. The\ninhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy rowers: thy wise men, O Tyre,\nwere in thee, they were thy pilots. The ancients of Gebal and the wise\nmen thereof were in thee thy calkers: all the ships of the sea with\ntheir mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise. Persia and Lud\nand Put were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and\nhelmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness. The men of Arvad with\nthine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadim were in thy\ntowers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have\nperfected thy beauty. Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the\nmultitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they\ntraded for thy wares. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy\ntraffickers: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass for thy\nmerchandise. They of the house of Togarmah traded for thy wares with\nhorses and war-horses and mules. The men of Dedan were thy traffickers:\nmany isles were the mart of thine hand: they brought thee in exchange\nhorns of ivory and ebony. Syria was thy merchant by reason of the\nmultitude of thy handyworks: they traded for thy wares with emeralds,\npurple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and rubies.\nJudah, and the land of Israel, they were thy traffickers: they traded\nfor thy merchandise wheat of Minnith, and pannag, and honey, and oil,\nand balm. Damascus was thy merchant for the multitude of thy handyworks,\nby reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with the wine of\nHelbon, and white wool. Vedan and Javan traded with yarn for thy wares:\nbright iron, cassia, and calamus, were among thy merchandise. Dedan was\nthy trafficker in precious cloths for riding. Arabia, and all the\nprinces of Kedar, they were the merchants of thy hand; in lambs, and\nrams, and goats, in these were they thy merchants. The traffickers of\nSheba and Raamah, they were thy traffickers: they traded for thy wares\nwith chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold. Haran\nand Canneh and Eden, the traffickers of Sheba, Asshur and Chilmad, were\nthy traffickers. These were thy traffickers in choice wares, in\nwrappings of blue and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel,\nbound with cords and made of cedar, among thy merchandise. The ships of\nTarshish were thy caravans for thy merchandise: and thou wast\nreplenished, and made very glorious in the heart of the seas.\n\nThy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath\nbroken thee in the heart of the seas. Thy riches, and thy wares, thy\nmerchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the\noccupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee,\nwith all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the\nheart of the seas in the day of thy ruin. At the sound of the cry of thy\npilots the suburbs shall shake. And all that handle the oar, the\nmariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their\nships, they shall stand upon the land, and shall cause their voice to\nbe heard over thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon\ntheir heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes: and they shall\nmake themselves bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they\nshall weep for thee in bitterness of soul with bitter mourning. And in\ntheir wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over\nthee, saying, 'Who is there like Tyre, like her that is brought to\nsilence in the midst of the sea?' When thy wares went forth out of the\nseas, thou filledst many peoples; thou didst enrich the kings of the\nearth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise. In the\ntime that thou wast broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, thy\nmerchandise and all thy company did fall in the midst of thee. All the\ninhabitants of the isles are astonished at thee, and their kings are\nhorribly afraid, they are troubled in their countenance. The merchants\namong the peoples hiss at thee; thou art become a terror, and thou shalt\nnever be any more.\n\n\n\n\nVIII\n\nPROPHETIC SENTENCES\n\n\nThus saith the LORD: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither\nlet the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his\nriches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth,\nand knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness,\njudgement, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I\ndelight, saith the LORD.\n\n * *\n *\n\nThere is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is\ngreat in might. Who would not fear thee, O King of the nations? for to\nthee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the\nnations, and in all their royal estate, there is none like unto thee,\nbut they are together brutish and foolish.\n\n * *\n *\n\nThus saith the LORD: Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh\nflesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. For he shall be\nlike the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but\nshall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not\ninhabited.\n\nBlessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD\nis. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth\nout his roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat cometh, but his\nleaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought,\nneither shall cease from yielding fruit.\n\n * *\n *\n\nThe New Covenant\n\nBehold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant\nwith the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to\nthe covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them\nby the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant\nthey brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD. But\nthis is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after\nthose days, saith the LORD; I will put my law in their inward parts, and\nin their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall\nbe my people: and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and\nevery man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know\nme, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD:\nfor I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no\nmore.\n\n\n\n\n\nWISDOM\n\nWISDOM BREVITIES\n\n\n The liberal soul shall be made fat:\n And he that watereth shall be watered also himself.\n\n * *\n *\n\n Where no oxen are, the crib is clean:\n But much increase is by the strength of the ox.\n\n * *\n *\n\n He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty;\n And he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.\n\n * *\n *\n\n It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer:\n But when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.\n\n * *\n *\n\n The words of a whisperer are as dainty morsels,\n And they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.\n\n * *\n *\n\n Boast not thyself of tomorrow;\n For thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.\n\n * *\n *\n\n As vinegar to the teeth,\n And as smoke to the eyes,\n So is the sluggard to them that send him.\n\n * *\n *\n\n All the brethren of the poor do hate him:\n How much more do his friends go far from him!\n He pursueth them with words, but they are gone.\n\n * *\n *\n\n The getting of treasures by a lying tongue\n Is a vapour driven to and fro;\n They that seek them seek death.\n\n * *\n *\n\n As one that taketh off a garment in cold weather,\n And as vinegar upon nitre,\n So is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.\n\n * *\n *\n\n Wrath is cruel,\n And anger is outrageous:\n But who is able to stand before jealousy?\n\n * *\n *\n\n The fining pot is for silver,\n And the furnace for gold:\n And a man is tried by his praise.\n\n * *\n *\n\nTransitoriness of Riches\n\nAn Epigram\n\n Weary not thyself to be rich;\n Cease from thine own wisdom;\n Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not?\n For riches certainly make themselves wings,\n Like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.\n\n * *\n *\n\nHospitality of the Evil Eye\n\nAn Epigram\n\n Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye,\n Neither desire thou his dainties;\n For as one that reckoneth within himself, so is he:\n Eat and drink, saith he to thee;\n But his heart is not with thee.\n The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up,\n And lose thy sweet words.\n\n * *\n *\nA Maxim\n\n My son, if thou comest to serve the Lord,\n Prepare thy soul for temptation.\n\nSet thy heart aright, and constantly endure, and make not haste in time\nof calamity. Cleave unto him, and depart not, that thou mayest be\nincreased at thy latter end. Accept whatsoever is brought upon thee, and\nbe longsuffering when thou passest into humiliation. For gold is tried\nin the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation. Put thy\ntrust in him, and he will help thee: order thy ways aright, and set thy\nhope on him.\n * *\n *\n\nThree Temperance Maxims\n\n Go not after thy lusts;\n And refrain thyself from thine appetites.\n\nIf thou give fully to thy soul the delight of her desire, she will make\nthee the laughingstock of thine enemies.\n\n Make not merry in much luxury;\n Neither be tied to the expense thereof.\n\nBe not made a beggar by banqueting upon borrowing, when thou hast\nnothing in thy purse. A workman that is a drunkard shall not become\nrich.\n\n He that despiseth small things\n Shall fall by little and little.\n\nWine and women will make men of understanding to fall away: and he that\ncleaveth to harlots will be the more reckless. Moths and worms shall\nhave him to heritage; and a reckless soul shall be taken away.\n\n\n\n\nESSAYS\n\ni\n\nWisdom's Way with her Children\n\n\nWisdom exalteth her sons, and taketh hold of them that seek her. He that\nloveth her loveth life; and they that seek to her early shall be filled\nwith gladness. He that holdeth her fast shall inherit glory; and where\nhe entereth, the Lord will bless. They that do her service shall\nminister to the Holy One; and them that love her the Lord doth love. He\nthat giveth ear unto her shall judge the nations; and he that giveth\nheed unto her shall dwell securely. If he trust her, he shall inherit\nher; and his generations shall have her in possession. For at the first\nshe will walk with him in crooked ways, and will bring fear and dread\nupon him, and torment him with her discipline, until she may trust his\nsoul, and try him by her judgements: then will she return again the\nstraight way unto him, and will gladden him, and reveal to him her\nsecrets. If he go astray, she will forsake him, and give him over to his\nfall.\n\n\n\n\nii\n\nProsperity and Adversity are from the Lord\n\n\nThere is one that toileth, and laboureth, and maketh haste, and is so\nmuch the more behind. There is one that is sluggish, and hath need of\nhelp, lacking in strength, and that aboundeth in poverty; and the eyes\nof the Lord looked upon him for good, and he set him up from his low\nestate, and lifted up his head; and many marvelled at him. Good things\nand evil, life and death, poverty and riches, are from the Lord. The\ngift of the Lord remaineth with the godly, and his good pleasure shall\nprosper for ever. There is that waxeth rich by his wariness and\npinching, and this is the portion of his reward: when he saith, I have\nfound rest, and now will I eat of my goods--yet he knoweth not what time\nshall pass, and he shall leave them to others, and die. Be stedfast in\nthy covenant, and be conversant therein, and wax old in thy work. Marvel\nnot at the works of a sinner, but trust the Lord, and abide in thy\nlabour; for it is an easy thing in the sight of the Lord swiftly on the\nsudden to make a poor man rich. The blessing of the Lord is in the\nreward of the godly; and in an hour that cometh swiftly he maketh his\nblessing to flourish. Say not, What use is there of me? And what from\nhenceforth shall my good things be? Say not, I have sufficient, and\nfrom henceforth what harm shall happen unto me? In the day of good\nthings there is a forgetfulness of evil things; and in the day of evil\nthings a man will not remember things that are good. For it is an easy\nthing in the sight of the Lord to reward a man in the day of death\naccording to his ways. The affliction of an hour causeth forgetfulness\nof delight; and in the last end of a man is the revelation of his deeds.\nCall no man blessed before his death; and a man shall be known in his\nchildren.\n\n\n\n\niii\n\nAgainst Gossip\n\n\nHe that is hasty to trust is lightminded; and he that sinneth shall\noffend against his own soul. He that maketh merry in his heart shall be\ncondemned: and he that hateth talk hath the less wickedness. Never\nrepeat what is told thee, and thou shalt fare never the worse. Whether\nit be of friend or foe, tell it not; and unless it is a sin to thee,\nreveal it not: for he hath heard thee, and observed thee, and when the\ntime cometh he will hate thee. Hast thou heard a word? let it die with\nthee: be of good courage, it will not burst thee. A fool will travail in\npain with a word, as a woman in labour with a child. As an arrow that\nsticketh in the flesh of the thigh, so is a word in a fool's belly.\nReprove a friend: it may be he did it not, and if he did something, that\nhe may do it no more. Reprove thy neighbour: it may be he said it not,\nand if he hath said it, that he may not say it again. Reprove a friend,\nfor many times there is slander; and trust not every word. There is one\nthat slippeth, and not from the heart; and who is he that hath not\nsinned with his tongue? Reprove thy neighbour before thou threaten him;\nand give place to the law of the Most High.\n\n\n\n\niv\n\nOn the Tongue\n\n\nIf thou blow a spark, it shall burn; and if thou spit upon it, it shall\nbe quenched: and both these shall come out of thy mouth. Curse the\nwhisperer and double-tongued: for he hath destroyed many that were at\npeace. A third person's tongue hath shaken many, and dispersed them from\nnation to nation; and it hath pulled down strong cities, and overthrown\nthe houses of great men. A third person's tongue hath cast out brave\nwomen, and deprived them of their labours. He that hearkeneth unto it\nshall not find rest, nor shall he dwell quietly. The stroke of a whip\nmaketh a mark in the flesh; but the stroke of a tongue will break\nbones. Many have fallen by the edge of the sword; yet not so many as\nthey that have fallen because of the tongue. Happy is he that is\nsheltered from it, that hath not passed through the wrath thereof; that\nhath not drawn its yoke, and hath not been bound with its bands. For the\nyoke thereof is a yoke of iron, and the bands thereof are bands of\nbrass. The death thereof is an evil death; and Hades were better than\nit. It shall not have rule over godly men; and they shall not be burned\nin its flame. They that forsake the Lord shall fall into it; and it\nshall burn among them, and shall not be quenched: it shall be sent forth\nupon them as a lion, and as a leopard it shall destroy them. Look that\nthou hedge thy possession about with thorns; bind up thy silver and thy\ngold; and make a balance and a weight for thy words; and make a door and\na bar for thy mouth. Take heed lest thou slip therein; lest thou fall\nbefore one that lieth in wait.\n\n\n\n\nv\n\nChoice of Company\n\n\nBring not every man into thine house; for many are the plots of the\ndeceitful man. As a decoy partridge in a cage, so is the heart of a\nproud man; and as one that is a spy, he looketh upon thy falling. For he\nlieth in wait to turn things that are good into evil; and in things\nthat are praiseworthy he will lay blame. From a spark of fire a heap of\nmany coals is kindled; and a sinful man lieth in wait for blood. Take\nheed of an evil-doer, for he contriveth wicked things; lest haply he\nbring upon thee blame for ever. Receive a stranger into thine house, and\nhe will distract thee with brawls, and estrange thee from thine own.\n\nIf thou do good, know to whom thou doest it; and thy good deeds shall\nhave thanks. Do good to a godly man, and thou shalt find a recompense;\nand if not from him, yet from the Most High. There shall no good come to\nhim that continueth to do evil, nor to him that giveth no alms. Give to\nthe godly man and help not the sinner. Do good to one that is lowly, and\ngive not to an ungodly man; keep back his bread, and give it not to him,\nlest he overmaster thee thereby; for thou shalt receive twice as much\nevil for all the good thou shalt have done unto him. For the Most High\nalso hateth sinners, and will repay vengeance unto the ungodly. Give to\nthe good man, and help not the sinner.\n\nA man's friend will not be fully tried in prosperity; and his enemy will\nnot be hidden in adversity. In a man's prosperity his enemies are\ngrieved; and in his adversity even his friend will be separated from\nhim. Never trust thine enemy, for like as the brass rusteth, so is his\nwickedness: though he humble himself, and go crouching, yet take good\nheed, and beware of him, and thou shalt be unto him as one that hath\nwiped a mirror, and thou shalt know that he hath not utterly rusted it.\nSet him not by thee, lest he overthrow thee and stand in thy place; let\nhim not sit on thy right hand, lest he seek to take thy seat, and at the\nlast thou acknowledge my words, and be pricked with my sayings. Who will\npity a charmer that is bitten with a serpent? or any that come nigh wild\nbeasts? Even so who will pity him that goeth to a sinner, and is mingled\nwith him in his sins? For a while he will abide with thee, and if thou\ngive way, he will not hold out. And the enemy will speak sweetly with\nhis lips, and in his heart take counsel how to overthrow thee into a\npit; the enemy will weep with his eyes, and if he find opportunity, he\nwill not be satiated with blood. If adversity meet thee, thou shalt find\nhim there before thee; and as though he would help thee, he will trip up\nthy heel. He will shake his head, and clap his hands, and whisper much,\nand change his countenance.\n\nHe that toucheth pitch shall be defiled; and he that hath fellowship\nwith a proud man shall become like unto him. Take not up a burden above\nthy strength; and have no fellowship with one that is mightier and\nricher than thyself. What fellowship shall the earthen pot have with the\nkettle? this shall smite, and that shall be dashed in pieces. The rich\nman doeth a wrong, and he threateneth withal: the poor is wronged, and\nhe shall entreat withal. If thou be profitable, he will make\nmerchandise of thee; and if thou be in want, he will forsake thee. If\nthou have substance, he will live with thee; and he will make thee bare,\nand will not be sorry. Hath he had need of thee? then he will deceive\nthee, and smile upon thee, and give thee hope: he will speak thee fair,\nand say, What needest thou? and he will shame thee by his meats, until\nhe have made thee bare twice or thrice. And at the last he will laugh\nthee to scorn; afterward will he see thee, and will forsake thee, and\nshake his head at thee. Beware that thou be not deceived, and brought\nlow in thy mirth. If a mighty man invite thee, be retiring, and so much\nthe more will he invite thee. Press not upon him, lest thou be thrust\nback; and stand not far off, lest thou be forgotten. Affect not to speak\nwith him as an equal, and believe not his many words: for with much talk\nwill he try thee, and in a smiling manner will search thee out. He that\nkeepeth not to himself words spoken is unmerciful; and he will not spare\nto hurt and to bind. Keep them to thyself, and take earnest heed, for\nthou walkest in peril of thy falling.\n\nEvery living creature loveth his like, and every man loveth his\nneighbour. All flesh consorteth according to kind, and a man will cleave\nto his like. What fellowship shall the wolf have with the lamb? so is\nthe sinner unto the godly. What peace is there between the hyena and the\ndog? and what peace between the rich man and the poor? Wild asses are\nthe prey of lions in the wilderness; so poor men are pasture for the\nrich. Lowliness is an abomination to a proud man; so a poor man is an\nabomination to the rich. A rich man when he is shaken is held up of his\nfriends; but one of low degree being down is thrust away also by his\nfriends. When a rich man is fallen, there are many helpers; he speaketh\nthings not to be spoken, and men justify him: a man of low degree\nfalleth, and men rebuke him withal; he uttereth wisdom, and no place is\nallowed him. A rich man speaketh, and all keep silence; and what he\nsaith they extol to the clouds: a poor man speaketh, and they say, Who\nis this? and if he stumble, they will help to overthrow him. Riches are\ngood that have no sin; and poverty is evil in the mouth of the ungodly.\n\n\n\n\nvi\n\nThe Wisdom of Business and the Wisdom of Leisure\n\n\nThe wisdom of the scribe cometh by opportunity of leisure; and he that\nhath little business shall become wise. How shall he become wise that\nholdeth the plow, that glorieth in the shaft of the goad, that driveth\noxen, and is occupied in their labours, and whose discourse is of the\nstock of bulls? He will set his heart upon turning his furrows; and his\nwakefulness is to give his heifers their fodder. So is every artificer\nand workmaster, that passeth his time by night as by day; they that cut\ngravings of signets, and his diligence is to make great variety; he will\nset his heart to preserve likeness in his portraiture, and will be\nwakeful to finish his work. So is the smith sitting by the anvil, and\nconsidering the unwrought iron; the vapour of the fire will waste his\nflesh, and in the heat of the furnace will he wrestle with his work; the\nnoise of the hammer will be ever in his ear, and his eyes are upon the\npattern of the vessel; he will set his heart upon perfecting his works,\nand he will be wakeful to adorn them perfectly. So is the potter sitting\nat his work, and turning the wheel about with his feet, who is alway\nanxiously set at his work, and all his handywork is by number; he will\nfashion the clay with his arm, and will bend its strength in front of\nhis feet; he will apply his heart to finish the glazing, and he will be\nwakeful to make clean the furnace. All these put their trust in their\nhands; and each becometh wise in his own work. Without these shall not a\ncity be inhabited, and men shall not sojourn nor walk up and down\ntherein. They shall not be sought for in the council of the people, and\nin the assembly they shall not mount on high, they shall not sit on the\nseat of the judge, and they shall not understand the covenant of\njudgement; neither shall they declare instruction and judgement, and\nwhere parables are they shall not be found. But they will maintain the\nfabric of the world; and in the handywork of their craft is their\nprayer.\n\nNot so he that hath applied his soul, and meditateth in the law of the\nMost High. He will seek out the wisdom of all of the ancients, and will\nbe occupied in prophecies. He will keep the discourse of the men of\nrenown, and will enter in amidst the subtilties of parables. He will\nseek out the hidden meaning of proverbs, and be conversant in the dark\nsayings of parables. He will serve among great men, and appear before\nhim that ruleth. He will travel through the land of strange nations; for\nhe hath tried good things and evil among men. He will apply his heart to\nresort early to the Lord that made him, and will make supplication\nbefore the Most High, and will open his mouth in prayer, and will make\nsupplication for his sins. If the great Lord will, he shall be filled\nwith the spirit of understanding: he shall pour forth the words of his\nwisdom, and in prayer give thanks unto the Lord. He shall direct his\ncounsel and knowledge, and in his secrets shall he meditate. He shall\nshew forth the instruction which he hath been taught, and shall glory in\nthe law of the covenant of the Lord. Many shall commend his\nunderstanding, and so long as the world endureth, it shall not be\nblotted out; his memorial shall not depart, and his name shall live from\ngeneration to generation; nations shall declare his wisdom, and the\ncongregation shall tell out his praise. If he continue, he shall leave a\ngreater name than a thousand: and if he die, he addeth thereto.\n\n\n\n\nvii\n\nLife as a Joy shadowed by the Judgment\n\nAn Essay with a Sonnet\n\n\nTruly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to\nbehold the sun. Yea, if a man live many years, let him rejoice in them\nall; and remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that\ncometh is vanity. Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart\ncheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine\nheart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these\nthings God will bring thee into judgement. Therefore remove sorrow from\nthy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for youth and the prime of\nlife are vanity.\n\nThe Coming of the Evil Days\n\n Remember also thy Creator in the days of thy youth:\n\n Or ever the evil days come,\n And the years draw nigh,\n When thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them:\n\n Or ever the sun.\n And the light,\n And the moon,\n And the stars,\n Be darkened,\n And the clouds return after the rain:\n In the days when the keepers of the house shall tremble,\n And the strong men shall bow themselves,\n And the grinders cease because they are few,\n And those that look out of the windows be darkened,\n And the doors shall be shut in the street;\n\n When the sound of the grinding is low,\n And one shall rise up at the voice of a bird,\n And all the daughters of music shall be brought low;\n\n Yea, they shall be afraid of that which is high.\n And terrors shall be in the way;\n\n And the almond tree shall blossom,\n And the grasshopper shall be a burden,\n And the caperberry shall burst:\n\n Because man goeth to his long home,\n And the mourners go about the streets:\n\n Or ever the silver cord be loosed,\n Or the golden bowl be broken,\n Or the pitcher be broken at the fountain,\n Or the wheel broken at the cistern:\n\n And the dust return to the earth,\n As it was;\n And the spirit return unto God\n Who gave it.\n\n\n\n\nSONNETS[5]\n\n[Footnote 5: For the difference of form between the Hebrew and the\nmodern sonnet see Notes, page 255.]\n\ni\n\nThe Sluggard\n\n\n Go to the ant, thou Sluggard;\n Consider her ways, and be wise:\n Which having no chief,\n Overseer,\n Or ruler,\n Provideth her meat in the summer,\n And gathereth her food in the harvest.\n\n How long wilt thou sleep, O Sluggard?\n When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?\n \"Yet a little sleep,\n A little slumber,\n A little folding of the hands to sleep\"--\n So shall thy poverty come as a robber,\n And thy want as an armed man!\n\n\n\n\nii\n\nThe Mourning for the Fool\n\n\n Weep for the dead,\n For light hath failed him;\n And weep for a fool,\n For understanding hath failed him:\n\n Weep more sweetly for the dead,\n Because he hath found rest;\n But the life of the fool\n Is worse than death.\n\nSeven days are the days of mourning for the dead: But for a fool and an\nungodly man, all the days of his life.\n\n\n\n\niii\n\nThe Two Paths\n\n\n Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings;\n And the years of thy life shall be many.\n I have taught thee in the way of wisdom;\n I have led thee in paths of uprightness.\n When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened;\n And if thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.\n Take fast hold of instruction;\n Let her not go:\n Keep her;\n For she is thy life.\n\n Enter not into the path of the wicked,\n And walk not in the way of evil men.\n Avoid it,\n Pass not by it;\n Turn from it,\n And pass on.\n For they sleep not, except they have done mischief;\n And their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.\n For they eat the bread of wickedness,\n And drink the wine of violence.\n\n But the path of the righteous is as the light of dawn,\n That shineth more and more unto the perfect day.\n The way of the wicked is as darkness:\n They know not at what they stumble.\n\n\n\n\niv\n\nThe Creator has made Wisdom the Supreme Prize\n\n\n My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD;\n Neither be weary of his reproof:\n For whom the LORD loveth he reproveth;\n Even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.\n\n Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,\n And the man that getteth understanding.\n For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver,\n And the gain thereof than fine gold.\n She is more precious than rubies:\n And none of the things thou canst desire are to be compared unto her.\n\n Length of days is in her right hand;\n In her left hand are riches and honour.\n Her ways are ways of pleasantness,\n And all her paths are peace.\n She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her:\n And happy is every one that retaineth her.\n\n The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;\n By understanding he established the heavens.\n By his knowledge the depths were broken up,\n And the skies drop down the dew.\n\n\n\n\nv\n\nWatchfulness of Lips and Heart\n\n\n Who shall set a watch over my mouth,\n And a seal of shrewdness upon my lips,\n That I fall not from it,\n And that my tongue destroy me not?\n\n O Lord, Father and Master of my life,\n Abandon me not to their counsel:\n Suffer me not to fall by them.\n\n Who will set scourges over my thought,\n And a discipline of wisdom over mine heart?\n That they spare me not for mine ignorances,\n And my heart pass not by their sins:\n That mine ignorances be not multiplied,\n And my sins abound not;\n And I shall fall before mine adversaries,\n And mine enemy rejoice over me?\n\n O Lord, Father and God of my life,\n Give me not a proud look,\n And turn away concupiscence from me.\n Let not greediness and chambering overtake me,\n And give me not over to a shameless mind.\n\n\n\n\nvi\n\nWisdom and the Fear of the Lord\n\n\n All wisdom cometh from the Lord,\n And is with him for ever.\n The sand of the seas,\n And the drops of rain,\n And the days of eternity, who shall number?\n The height of the heaven,\n And the breadth of the earth, and the deep,\n And wisdom, who shall search them out?\n Wisdom hath been created before all things,\n And the understanding of prudence from everlasting.\n\n To whom hath the root of wisdom been revealed?\n And who hath known her shrewd counsels?\n There is one wise,\n Greatly to be feared,\n The Lord sitting upon his throne:\n He created her,\n And saw, and numbered her,\n And poured her out upon all his works.\n She is with all flesh according to his gift;\n And he gave her freely to them that love him.\n\n The fear of the Lord\n Is glory and exultation,\n And gladness, and a crown of rejoicing.\n\n The fear of the Lord\n Shall delight the heart,\n And shall give gladness, and joy, and length of days.\n\n Whoso feareth the Lord,\n It shall go well with him at the last,\n And in the day of his death he shall be blessed.\n\n To fear the Lord\n Is the beginning of wisdom;\n And it was created together with the faithful in the womb.\n With men she laid an eternal foundation;\n And with their seed shall she be had in trust.\n\n To fear the Lord\n Is the fulness of wisdom;\n And she satiateth men with her fruits.\n She shall fill all her house with desirable things,\n And her garners with her produce.\n\n The fear of the Lord\n Is the crown of wisdom,\n Making peace and perfect health to flourish.\n He both saw and numbered her;\n He rained down skill and knowledge of understanding,\n And exalted the honour of them that hold her fast.\n\n To fear the Lord\n Is the root of wisdom;\n And her branches are length of days.\n\n\n\n\nvii\n\nWisdom and the Strange Woman\n\n\n1\n\n My son, keep my words,\n And lay up my commandments with thee.\n Keep my commandments, and live;\n And my law, as the apple of thine eye.\n Bind them upon thy fingers;\n Write them upon the table of thine heart.\n Say unto Wisdom, Thou art my sister;\n And call Understanding thy kinswoman:\n That they may keep thee from the Strange Woman,\n From the stranger which flattereth with her words.\n\n2\n\n For at the window of my house\n I looked forth through my lattice;\n And I beheld among the simple ones,\n I discerned among the youths,\n A young man,\n Void of understanding,\n\n Passing through the street near her corner,\n And he went the way to her house;\n In the twilight, in the evening of the day,\n In the blackness of night and the darkness;\n And behold, there met him a Woman\n With the attire of an harlot, and wily of heart.\n\n She is clamorous and wilful;\n Her feet abide not in her house;\n Now she is in the streets, now in the broad places,\n And lieth in wait at every corner.\n So she caught him, and kissed him,\n With an impudent face she said unto him:\n\n \"Sacrifices of peace offerings are with me;\n This day have I paid my vows;\n Therefore came I forth to meet thee,\n Diligently to seek thy face,\n And I have found thee.\n I have spread my couch with carpets of tapestry,\n With striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt;\n I have perfumed my bed\n With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.\n Come, let us take our fill of love\n Until the morning;\n Let us solace ourselves with loves;\n For the goodman is not at home,\n He is gone a long journey:\n He hath taken a bag of money with him;\n He will come home at the full moon.\"\n\n With her much fair speech she causeth him to yield,\n With the flattering of her lips she forceth him away.\n\n He goeth after her straightway,\n As an ox goeth to the slaughter,\n Or as one in fetters to the correction of the fool;\n Till an arrow strike through his liver;\n As a bird hasteth to the snare,\n And knoweth not that it is for his life.\n\n3\n\n Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me,\n And attend to the words of my mouth.\n Let not thine heart decline to her ways,\n Go not astray in her paths.\n For she hath cast down many wounded:\n Yea, all her slain are a mighty host.\n Her house is the way to Sheol,\n Going down to the chambers of death.\n\n4\n\n Doth not Wisdom cry,\n And Understanding put forth her voice?\n In the top of high places by the way,\n Where the paths meet,\n She standeth;\n Beside the gates, at the entry of the city,\n At the coming in at the doors,\n She crieth aloud:\n\n Unto you, O men, I call;\n And my voice is to the sons of men.\n O ye simple, understand subtilty;\n And ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.\n Hear, for I will speak excellent things;\n And the opening of my lips shall be right things.\n For my mouth shall utter truth;\n And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.\n\n All the words of my mouth are righteousness;\n There is nothing crooked or perverse in them.\n They are all plain to him that understandeth,\n And right to them that find knowledge\n Receive my instruction, and not silver;\n And knowledge rather than choice gold.\n For wisdom is better than rubies;\n And all the things that may be desired are not to be compared unto her.\n\n5\n\n I Wisdom have made subtilty my dwelling,\n And find out knowledge and discretion.\n\n The fear of the LORD is to hate evil;\n Pride and arrogancy,\n And the evil way,\n And the froward mouth, do I hate.\n\n Counsel is mine,\n And sound knowledge;\n I am understanding,\n I have might.\n\n By me kings reign,\n And princes decree justice;\n By me princes rule,\n And nobles, even all the judges of the earth.\n\n I love them that love me;\n And those that seek me diligently shall find me.\n\n Riches and honour are with me;\n Durable riches and righteousness;\n My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold;\n And my revenue than choice silver.\n\n I walk in the way of righteousness,\n In the midst of the paths of judgement:\n That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance,\n And that I may fill their treasuries.\n\n6\n\n The LORD formed me in the beginning of his way,\n Before his works of old.\n\n I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning,\n Or ever the earth was.\n When there were no depths, I was brought forth,\n When there were no fountains abounding with water.\n\n Before the mountains were settled,\n Before the hills, was I brought forth:\n While as yet he had not made the earth,\n Nor the fields,\n Nor the beginning of the dust of the world.\n\n When he established the heavens, I was there:\n When he set a circle upon the face of the deep:\n When he made firm the skies above:\n When the fountains of the deep became strong:\n When he gave to the sea its bound,\n That the waters should not transgress his commandment:\n\n When he marked out the foundations of the earth,\n Then I was by him,\n As a master workman,\n And I was daily his delight,\n Sporting always before him;\n Sporting in his habitable earth;\n And my delight was with the sons of men.\n\n7\n\n Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me:\n For blessed are they that keep my ways.\n Hear instruction, and be wise,\n And refuse it not.\n Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates,\n Waiting at the posts of my doors.\n For whoso findeth me findeth life,\n And shall obtain favour of the LORD;\n But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul;\n All they that hate me love death.\n\n\n\n\nLYRICS\n\nI\n\nAN ELEGY OF A BROKEN HEART\n\n\n1\n\n Let the day perish wherein I was born;\n And the night which said, There is a man child conceived!\n\n Let that day be darkness;\n Let not God regard it from above,\n Neither let the light shine upon it!\n Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own;\n Let a cloud dwell upon it;\n Let all that maketh black the day terrify it!\n\n As for that night, let thick darkness seize upon it;\n Let it not rejoice among the days of the year;\n Let it not come into the number of the months!\n Lo, let that night be barren;\n Let no joyful voice come therein!\n Let them curse it that curse the day,\n Who are ready to rouse up leviathan!\n Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark!\n Let it look for light, but have none;\n Neither let it behold the eyelids of the morning:\n\n Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb,\n Nor hid trouble from mine eyes!\n\n2\n\n Why died I not from the womb?\n Why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?\n Why did the knees receive me?\n Or why the breasts, that I should suck?\n\n For now should I have lien down and been quiet;\n I should have slept; then had I been at rest,\n With kings and counsellors of the earth,\n Which built solitary piles for themselves;\n Or with princes that had gold,\n Who filled their houses with silver;\n Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been;\n As infants which never saw light.\n There the wicked cease from troubling;\n And there the weary be at rest.\n There the prisoners are at ease together;\n They hear not the voice of the taskmaster.\n The small and great are there;\n And the servant is free from his master.\n Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery,\n And life unto the bitter in soul?\n Which long for death, but it cometh not;\n And dig for it more than for hid treasures;\n Which rejoice exceedingly,\n And are glad when they can find the grave.\n Why is light given to a man whose way is hid,\n And whom God hath hedged in?\n For my sighing cometh before I eat,\n And my roarings are poured out like water.\n For the thing which I fear cometh upon me,\n And that which I am afraid of cometh unto me.\n I am not at ease, neither am I quiet,\n Neither have I rest: but trouble cometh!\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nTHE CREATOR'S JOY IN HIS CREATION\n\n\n Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?\n ----Declare, if thou hast understanding----\n Who determined the measures thereof, if thou knowest?\n Or who stretched the line upon it?\n Whereupon were the foundations thereof fastened?\n Or who laid the corner stone thereof;\n When the morning stars sang together,\n And all the sons of God shouted for joy?\n Or who shut up the sea with doors,\n When it brake forth, and issued out of the womb;\n When I made the cloud the garment thereof,\n And thick darkness a swaddling band for it,\n And prescribed for it my decree,\n And set bars and doors,\n And said, \"Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further;\n And here shall thy proud waves be stayed?\"\n Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days began,\n And caused the dayspring to know its place;\n That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,\n And the wicked be shaken out of it?\n It is changed as clay under the seal;\n And all things stand forth as a garment:\n And from the wicked their light is withholden,\n And the high arm is broken.\n Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?\n Or hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep?\n Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee?\n Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?\n Hast thou comprehended the breadth of the earth?\n ----Declare, if thou knowest it all----\n Where is the way to the dwelling of light,\n And as for darkness, where is the place thereof;\n That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof,\n And that thou shouldest discern the paths to the house thereof?\n ----Doubtless, thou knowest, for thou wast then born,\n And the number of thy days is great!----\n Hast thou entered the treasuries of the snow,\n Or hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail,\n Which I have reserved against the time of trouble,\n Against the day of battle and war?\n By what way is the light parted,\n Or the east wind scattered upon the earth?\n Who hath cleft a channel for the waterflood,\n Or a way for the lightning of the thunder;\n To cause it to rain on a land where no man is;\n On the wilderness, wherein there is no man;\n To satisfy the waste and desolate ground;\n And to cause the tender grass to spring forth?\n Hath the rain a father?\n Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?\n Out of whose womb came the ice?\n And the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?\n The waters are hidden as with stone,\n And the face of the deep is frozen.\n Canst thou bind the cluster of the Pleiades,\n Or loose the bands of Orion?\n Canst thou lead forth the signs of the Zodiac in their season?\n Or canst thou guide the Bear with her train?\n Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens?\n Canst thou establish the dominion thereof in the earth?\n Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds,\n That abundance of waters may cover thee?\n Canst thou send forth lightnings, that they may go,\n And say unto thee, Here we are?\n Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts?\n Or who hath given understanding to the mind?\n Who can number the clouds by wisdom?\n Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven,\n When the dust runneth into a mass,\n And the clods cleave fast together?\n Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lioness?\n Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,\n When they couch in their dens,\n And abide in the covert to lie in wait?\n Who provideth for the raven his food,\n When his young ones cry unto God,\n And wander for lack of meat?\n Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth?\n Or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?\n Canst thou number the months that they fulfil?\n Or knowest thou the time when they bring forth?\n They bow themselves, they bring forth their young,\n They cast out their sorrows.\n Their young ones are in good liking,\n They grow up in the open field;\n They go forth, and return not again.\n Who hath sent out the wild ass free?\n Or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass?\n Whose house I have made the wilderness,\n And the salt land his dwelling place;\n He scorneth the tumult of the city,\n Neither heareth he the shoutings of the driver.\n The range of the mountains is his pasture,\n And he searcheth after every green thing.\n Will the wild-ox be content to serve thee?\n Or will he abide by thy crib?\n Canst thou bind the wild-ox with his band in the furrow?\n Or will he harrow the valleys after thee?\n Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great?\n Or wilt thou leave to him thy labour?\n Wilt thou confide in him, that he will bring home thy seed,\n And gather the corn of thy threshing-floor?\n The wing of the ostrich rejoiceth;\n But are her pinions and feathers kindly?\n For she leaveth her eggs on the earth,\n And warmeth them in the dust,\n And forgetteth that the foot may crush them,\n Or that the wild beast may trample them.\n She is hardened against her young ones, as if they were not hers:\n Though her labour be in vain, she is without fear;\n Because God hath deprived her of wisdom,\n Neither hath he imparted to her understanding.\n What time she lifteth up herself on high,\n She scorneth the horse and his rider.\n Hast thou given the horse his might?\n Hast thou clothed his neck with the quivering mane?\n Hast thou made him to leap as a locust?\n The glory of his snorting is terrible.\n He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength:\n He goeth out to meet the armed men.\n He mocketh at fear and is not dismayed;\n Neither turneth he back from the sword.\n The quiver rattleth against him,\n The flashing spear and the javelin.\n He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage;\n Neither standeth he still at the voice of the trumpet.\n As oft as the trumpet soundeth he saith, Aha!\n And he smelleth the battle afar off,\n The thunder of the captains, and the shouting.\n Doth the hawk soar by thy wisdom,\n And stretch her wings toward the south?\n Doth the eagle mount up at thy command,\n And make her nest on high?\n She dwelleth on the rock, and hath her lodging there,\n Upon the crag of the rock and the strong hold.\n From thence she spieth out the prey;\n Her eyes behold it afar off.\n Her young ones also suck up blood:\n And where the slain are, there is she.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nSONG OF MOSES AND MIRIAM\n\n\nTUTTI\n\n _I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously:_\n _The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea._\n The LORD is my strength and song,\n And he is become my salvation:\n This is my God, and I will praise him;\n My father's God, and I will exalt him.\n\n1\n\nMEN\n\n The LORD is a man of war:\n The LORD is his name.\n Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea:\n And his chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea.\n The deeps cover them:\n They went down into the depths like a stone.\n\nWOMEN\n\n _Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously:_\n _The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea._\n\n2\n\nMEN\n\n Thy right hand, O LORD, is glorious in power,\n Thy right hand, O LORD, dasheth in pieces the enemy.\n And in the greatness of thine excellency thou overthrowest them that\n rise up against thee:\n Thou sendest forth thy wrath, it consumeth them as stubble.\n And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were piled up,\n The floods stood upright as an heap;\n The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea.\n The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil:\n My lust shall be satisfied upon them;\n I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.\n Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them:\n They sank as lead in the mighty waters.\n\n\nWOMEN\n\n _Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously:_\n _The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea._\n\n3\n\nMEN\n\n Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods?\n Who is like thee, glorious in holiness,\n Fearful in praises, doing wonders?\n Thou stretchedst out thy right hand,\n The earth swallowed them.\n Thou in thy mercy hast led the people which thou hast redeemed:\n Thou hast guided them in thy strength to thy holy habitation.\n The peoples have heard, they tremble:\n Pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia.\n Then were the dukes of Edom amazed;\n The mighty men of Moab, trembling taketh hold upon them:\n All the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away.\n Terror and dread falleth upon them;\n By the greatness of thine arm they are as still as a stone;\n Till thy people pass over, O LORD,\n Till the people pass over which thou hast purchased.\n Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine\n inheritance,\n The place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in,\n The sanctuary, O LORD, which thy hands have established.\n The LORD shall reign for ever and ever.\n\nWOMEN\n\n _Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously:_\n _The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea._\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nDEBORAH'S SONG\n\n\n _Men._ _For that the leaders took the lead in Israel--_\n\n _Women._ _For that the people offered themselves willingly--_\n\n _Tutti._ _Bless ye the LORD!_\n\n\nPRELUDE\n\n _Men._ Hear, O ye kings--\n\n _Women._ Give ear, O ye princes--\n\n _Men._ I, even I, will sing unto the LORD--\n\n _Women._ I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel.\n\n _Tutti._ Lord, when thou wentest forth out of Seir,\n When thou marchedst out of the field of Edom,\n The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped,\n Yea, the clouds dropped water.\n The mountains flowed down at the presence of the LORD,\n Even yon Sinai at the presence of the LORD, the God\n of Israel.\n\n\n1. THE DESOLATION\n\n _Men._ In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath,\n In the days of Jael,\n The highways were unoccupied,\n And the travellers walked through byways;\n The rulers ceased in Israel,\n They ceased--\n\n _Women._ Until that I, Deborah, arose,\n That I arose a mother in Israel.\n They chose new gods;\n Then was war in the gates:\n Was there a shield or spear seen\n Among forty thousand in Israel?\n\n _Men._ _My heart is toward the governors of Israel--_\n\n _Women._ _Ye that offered yourselves willingly among the people--_\n\n _Tutti._ _Bless ye the LORD!_\n\n _Men._ _Tell of it, ye that ride on white asses,_\n _Ye that sit on rich carpets,_\n _And ye that walk by the way:--_\n\n _Women._ _Far from the noise of archers,_\n _In the places of drawing water:--_\n\n _Tutti._ _There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD,_\n _Even the righteous acts of his rule in Israel._\n\n\n2. THE MUSTER\n\n _Tutti._ Then the people of the LORD went down to the gates--\n\n (_Men._ _Awake, awake, Deborah,_\n _Awake, awake, utter a song:--_\n\n _Women._ _Arise, Barak,_\n _And lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam._)\n\n _Tutti._ Then came down a remnant of the nobles,\n The people of the LORD came down for me against the mighty.\n\n _Women._ Out of Ephraim came down they whose root is in Amalek--\n\n _Men._ After thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples--\n\n _Women._ Out of Machir came down governors--\n\n _Men._ And out of Zebulun they that handle the marshal's staff\n\n _Women._ And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah--\n\n _Men._ As was Issachar, so was Barak:\n\n _Tutti._ Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet.\n\n _Men._ By the watercourses of Reuben\n There were great resolves of heart.\n\n _Women._ Why satest thou among the sheepfolds,\n To hear the pipings for the flocks?\n\n _Men._ At the watercourses of Reuben\n There were great searchings of heart!\n\n _Women._ Gilead abode beyond Jordan--\n\n _Men._ And Dan, why did he remain in ships?--\n\n _Women._ Asher sat still at the haven of the sea,\n And abode by his creeks.\n\n _Men._ Zebulun was a people that jeoparded their lives\n unto the death,\n And Naphtali upon the high places of the field.\n\n\n3. THE BATTLE AND ROUT\n\n _Strophe_\n\n _Men._ The kings came and fought;\n Then fought the kings of Canaan,\n In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo:--\n They took no gain of money!\n\n _Antistrophe_\n\n _Women._ They fought from heaven,\n The stars in their courses fought against Sisera.\n The river Kishon swept them away,--\n That ancient river, the river Kishon!\n\n _Strophe_\n\n _Men._ O my soul, march on with strength!\n Then did the horsehoofs stamp\n By reason of the pransings,\n The pransings of their strong ones.\n\n _Antistrophe_\n\n _Women._ Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD,\n Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof;\n Because they came not to the help of the LORD,\n To the help of the LORD against the mighty!\n\n\n4. THE RETRIBUTION\n\n _Strophe_\n\n _Men._ Blessed above women shall Jael be, the wife of Heber\n the Kenite,\n Blessed shall she be above women in the tent!\n He asked water, and she gave him milk;\n She brought him butter in a lordly dish.\n She put her hand to the nail,\n And her right hand to the workman's hammer;\n And with the hammer she smote Sisera.\n She smote through his head,\n Yea, she pierced and struck through his temples.\n At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay:\n At her feet he bowed, he fell:\n Where he bowed, there he fell down dead!\n\n _Antistrophe_\n\n _Women._ Through the window she looked forth, and cried,\n The mother of Sisera, through the lattice,\n \"Why is his chariot so long in coming?\n Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?\"\n Her wise ladies answered her,\n Yea, she returned answer to herself,\n \"Have they not found,\n Have they not divided the spoil?\n A damsel, two damsels to every man;\n To Sisera a spoil of divers colours,\n A spoil of divers colours of embroidery,\n Of divers colours of embroidery on both\n sides, on the necks of the spoil!\"\n\n _Tutti._ So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD:\n But let them that love him be as the sun\n when he goeth forth in his might!\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nDAVID'S LAMENT\n\n\n Thy glory, O Israel,\n Is slain upon thy high places!\n How are the mighty--\n Fallen!\n\n Tell it not in Gath,\n Publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon;\n Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,\n Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.\n\n Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew nor rain upon you,\n Neither fields of offerings:\n For there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away,\n The shield of Saul, as of one not anointed with oil.\n\n From the blood of the slain,\n From the fat of the mighty,\n The bow of Jonathan turned not back,\n And the sword of Saul returned not empty.\n Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives,\n And in their death they were not divided;\n They were swifter than eagles,\n They were stronger than lions.\n\n Ye daughters of Israel,\n Weep over Saul,\n Who clothed you in scarlet delicately,\n Who put ornaments of gold upon your apparel.\n\n How are the mighty--\n Fallen in the midst of the battle!\n O Jonathan,\n Slain upon thy high places,\n\n I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan:\n Very pleasant hast thou been unto me:\n Thy love to me was wonderful,\n Passing the love of women.\n\n How are the mighty--\n Fallen!\n And the weapons of war--\n Perished!\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nDAVID'S SONG OF VICTORY\n\n\n The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, even mine;\n The God of my rock, in him will I trust;\n My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge;\n My saviour, thou savest me from violence.\n I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised:\n So shall I be saved from mine enemies.\n\n For the waves of death compassed me,\n The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.\n The cords of Sheol were round about me:\n The snares of death came upon me.\n In my distress I called upon the LORD,\n Yea, I called unto my God:\n And he heard my voice out of his temple,\n And my cry came into his ears.\n Then the earth shook and trembled,\n The foundations of heaven moved\n And were shaken, because he was wroth.\n There went up a smoke out of his nostrils,\n And fire out of his mouth devoured:\n Coals were kindled by it.\n He bowed the heavens also, and came down;\n And thick darkness was under his feet.\n And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly:\n Yea, he was seen upon the wings of the wind.\n And he made darkness pavilions round about him,\n Gathering of waters, thick clouds of the skies.\n At the brightness before him coals of fire were kindled\n The LORD thundered from heaven,\n And the Most High uttered his voice.\n And he sent out arrows, and scattered them;\n Lightning, and discomfited them.\n Then the channels of the sea appeared,\n The foundations of the world were laid bare,\n By the rebuke of the LORD,\n At the blast of the breath of his nostrils\n He sent from on high, he took me;\n He drew me out of many waters;\n He delivered me from my strong enemy,\n From them that hated me;\n For they were too mighty for me.\n They came upon me in the day of my calamity:\n But the LORD was my stay.\n He brought me forth also into a large place:\n He delivered me, because he delighted in me.\n The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness:\n According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.\n For I have kept the ways of the LORD,\n And have not wickedly departed from my God.\n For all his judgements were before me:\n And as for his statutes, I did not depart from them.\n I was also perfect toward him,\n And I kept myself from mine iniquity.\n Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness;\n According to my cleanness in his eyesight.\n With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful,\n With the perfect man thou wilt shew thyself perfect;\n With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure;\n And with the perverse thou wilt shew thyself froward.\n And the afflicted people thou wilt save:\n But thine eyes are upon the haughty,\n That thou mayest bring them down.\n\n For thou art my lamp, O LORD:\n And the LORD will lighten my darkness.\n For by thee I run upon a troop:\n By my God do I leap over a wall.\n As for God, his way is perfect:\n The word of the LORD is tried;\n He is a shield unto all them that trust in him.\n For who is God, save the LORD?\n And who is a rock, save our God?\n God is my strong fortress:\n And he guideth the perfect in his way.\n He maketh his feet like hinds' feet:\n And setteth me upon my high places.\n He teacheth my hands to war;\n So that mine arms do bend a bow of brass.\n Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation:\n And thy gentleness hath made me great.\n Thou hast enlarged my steps under me,\n And my feet have not slipped.\n I have pursued mine enemies,\n And destroyed them;\n Neither did I turn again till they were consumed.\n And I have consumed them,\n And smitten them through that they cannot arise:\n Yea, they are fallen under my feet.\n For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle:\n Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.\n Thou hast also made mine enemies turn their backs unto me,\n That I might cut off them that hate me.\n They looked, but there was none to save;\n Even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.\n Then did I beat them small as the dust of the earth,\n I did stamp them as the mire of the streets, and did spread\n them abroad.\n Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people;\n Thou hast kept me to be the head of the nations:\n A people whom I have not known shall serve me.\n The strangers shall submit themselves unto me:\n As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me.\n The strangers shall fade away,\n And shall come trembling out of their close places.\n\n The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock;\n And exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation:\n Even the God that executeth vengeance for me,\n And bringeth down peoples under me,\n And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies:\n Yea, thou liftest me up above them that rise up against me:\n Thou deliverest me from the violent man.\n Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the nations,\n And will sing praises unto thy name.\n Great deliverance giveth he to his king:\n And sheweth lovingkindness to his anointed,\n To David and to his seed, for evermore.\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nTHE BRIDE'S REMINISCENCES\n\nA Lyric Idyl\n\nThe Interrupted Visit\n\n\nTHE BRIDE\n\n The voice of my beloved! behold he cometh,\n Leaping upon the mountains,\n Skipping upon the hills.\n My beloved is like a roe or a young hart:\n Behold, he standeth behind our wall,\n He looketh in at the windows,\n He sheweth himself through the lattice.\n My beloved spake, and said unto me:\n \"Rise up, my love, my fair one,\n And come away.\n\n For, lo, the winter is past,\n The rain is over and gone;\n The flowers appear on the earth;\n The time of the singing of birds is come,\n And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;\n The fig tree ripeneth her green figs,\n And the vines are in blossom,\n They give forth their fragrance.\n Arise, my love, my fair one,\n And come away.\n\n O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock,\n In the covert of the steep place,\n Let me see thy countenance,\n Let me hear thy voice;\n\n For sweet is thy voice,\n And thy countenance is comely.\"\n\nVOICES OF THE BROTHERS (_heard interrupting_)\n\n \"Take us the foxes,\n The little foxes that spoil the vineyards;\n For our vineyards are in blossom.\"\n\n * *\n *\n\n _My beloved is mine, and I am his:_\n _He feedeth his flock among the lilies._\n _Until the day break, and the shadows flee away,_\n _Turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart_\n _Upon the mountains of separation._\n\nThe Happy Dream\n\n By night, on my bed, I sought him whom my soul loveth:\n I sought him, but I found him not.\n I said, I will rise now, and go about the city,\n In the streets and in the broad ways,\n I will seek him whom my soul loveth:\n I sought him, but I found him not.\n\n The watchmen that go about the city found me:\n To whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?\n It was but a little that I passed from them,\n When I found him whom my soul loveth:\n I held him, and would not let him go,\n Until I had brought him into my mother's house,\n And into the chamber of her that conceived me.\n\n * *\n *\n\n _I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,_\n _By the roes, and by the hinds of the field,_\n _That ye stir not up, nor awaken love,_\n _Until it please._\n\n\n\n\nVIII\n\nTHE BATTLE OF CARCHEMISH\n\n\n1\n\n Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle;\n Harness the horses, and get up ye horsemen, and stand forth with your\n helmets;\n Furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail.\n\n Wherefore have I seen it? they are dismayed,\n And are turned backward, and their mighty ones are beaten down,\n And are fled apace, and look not back.\n\n Terror is on every side, saith the LORD,\n Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape:\n In the north by the river Euphrates have they stumbled and fallen.\n\n2\n\n Who is this that riseth up like the Nile,\n Whose waters toss themselves like the rivers?\n Egypt riseth up like the Nile,\n And his waters toss themselves like the rivers;\n And he saith, I will rise up, I will cover the earth;\n I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.\n\n Go up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men go forth:\n Cush and Put, that handle the shield;\n And the Ludim, that handle and bend the bow.\n\n For that day is a day of the Lord, the LORD of hosts,\n A day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries:\n And the sword shall devour and be satiate,\n And shall drink its fill of their blood:\n For the Lord, the LORD of hosts hath a sacrifice\n In the north country by the river Euphrates.\n\n3\n\n Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt:\n In vain dost thou use many medicines;\n There is no healing for thee.\n\n The nations have heard of thy shame, and the earth is full of thy cry:\n For the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty,\n They are fallen both of them together.\n\n\n\n\nIX\n\nA SONG OF ZION REDEEMED\n\n\n1\n\n Arise, shine; for thy light is come,\n And the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.\n\n For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,\n And gross darkness the peoples:\n But the LORD shall arise upon thee,\n And his glory shall be seen upon thee.\n\n2\n\n And nations shall come to thy light,\n And kings to the brightness of thy rising.\n\n Lift up thine eyes round about, and see:\n They all gather themselves together, they come to thee:\n Thy sons shall come from far,\n And thy daughters shall be carried in the arms.\n\n Then thou shalt see and be lightened,\n And thine heart shall tremble and be enlarged;\n Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned unto thee,\n The wealth of the nations shall come unto thee.\n\n The multitude of camels shall cover thee,\n The dromedaries of Midian and Ephah;\n They all shall come from Sheba, they shall bring gold and frankincense,\n And shall proclaim the praises of the LORD.\n\n All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee,\n The rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee;\n They shall come up with acceptance on mine altar,\n And I will beautify the house of my glory.\n\n3\n\n Who are these that fly as a cloud,\n And as the doves to their windows?\n\n Surely the isles shall wait for me,\n And the ships of Tarshish first,\n To bring thy sons from far,\n Their silver and their gold with them,\n For the name of the LORD thy God,\n And for the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.\n And strangers shall build up thy walls,\n And their kings shall minister unto thee:\n For in my wrath I smote thee,\n But in my favour have I had mercy on thee.\n\n Thy gates also shall be open continually,\n They shall not be shut day nor night;\n That men may bring unto thee the wealth of the nations,\n And their kings led with them:\n For that nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish;\n Yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.\n\n The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee,\n The fir tree, the pine, and the box tree together;\n To beautify the place of my sanctuary,\n And I will make the place of my feet glorious.\n\n And the sons of them that afflicted thee\n Shall come bending unto thee;\n And all they that despised thee\n Shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet.\n\n4\n\n And they shall call thee the City of the LORD,\n The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.\n Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated,\n So that no man passed through thee,\n I will make thee an eternal excellency,\n A joy of many generations.\n\n Thou shalt also suck the milk of the nations,\n And shalt suck the breast of kings:\n And thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy saviour,\n And thy redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.\n\n For brass I will bring gold,\n And for iron I will bring silver,\n And for wood brass,\n And for stones iron.\n\n I will also make thy officers peace,\n And thine exactors righteousness;\n Violence shall no more be heard in thy land,\n Desolation nor destruction within thy borders;\n But thou shalt call thy walls Salvation,\n And thy gates Praise.\n\n5\n\n The sun shall be no more thy light by day,\n Neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee:\n But the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light,\n And thy God thy glory.\n Thy sun shall no more go down,\n Neither shall thy moon withdraw itself:\n For the LORD shall be thine everlasting light,\n And the days of thy mourning shall be ended.\n\n Thy people also shall be all righteous,\n They shall inherit the land for ever;\n The branch of my planting,\n The work of my hands,\n That I may be glorified.\n The little one shall become a thousand,\n And the small one a strong nation:\n I the LORD will hasten it in its time.\n\n\n\n\nX\n\nISAIAH'S\n\nDOOM OF BABYLON\n\n\nSet ye up an ensign upon the bare mountain, lift up the voice unto them,\nwave the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. I have\ncommanded my consecrated ones, yea, I have called my mighty men for mine\nanger, even them that exult in my majesty.\n\n The noise of a multitude in the mountains,\n Like as of a great people!\n The noise of a tumult\n Of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together!\n\n The LORD of HOSTS\n Mustereth the HOST for the battle;\n They come from a far country,\n From the uttermost part of heaven:\n\n Even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation,\n To destroy the whole land.\n Howl ye, for the Day of the LORD is at hand:\n As destruction from the Almighty shall it come.\n\nTherefore shall all hands be feeble, and every heart of man shall melt:\nand they shall be dismayed; pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them;\nthey shall be in pain as a woman in travail; they shall be amazed one at\nanother; their faces shall be faces of flame.\n\n Behold, the Day of the LORD cometh,\n Cruel, with wrath and fierce anger;\n To make the land a desolation,\n And to destroy the sinners thereof out of it.\n\nFor the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give\ntheir light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon\nshall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for\ntheir evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the\narrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the\nterrible. I will make a man more rare than fine gold, even a man than\nthe pure gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens to tremble,\nand the earth shall be shaken out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD\nof hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. And it shall come to pass,\nthat as the chased roe, and as sheep that no man gathereth, they shall\nturn every man to his own people, and shall flee every man to his own\nland. Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one\nthat is taken shall fall by the sword. Their infants also shall be\ndashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and\ntheir wives ravished. Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them,\nwhich shall not regard silver, and as for gold, they shall not delight\nin it. And their bows shall dash the young men in pieces; and they shall\nhave no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare\nchildren.\n\n And BABYLON,\n The glory of kingdoms,\n The beauty of the Chaldeans' pride,\n Shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.\n\n It shall never be inhabited,\n Neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation;\n Neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there;\n Neither shall shepherds make their flocks to lie down there.\n\n But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there;\n And their houses shall be full of doleful creatures;\n And ostriches shall dwell there,\n And satyrs shall dance there.\n\n And wolves shall cry in their castles,\n And jackals in the pleasant palaces:\n And her time is near to come,\n And her days shall not be prolonged.\n\nFor the LORD will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel,\nand set them in their own land: and the stranger shall join himself with\nthem, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the peoples shall\ntake them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall\npossess them in the land of the LORD for servants and for handmaids; and\nthey shall take them captive, whose captives they were; and they shall\nrule over their oppressors. And it shall come to pass in the day that\nthe LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy trouble, and\nfrom the hard service wherein thou wast made to serve, that thou shalt\ntake up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say:\n\n How hath the oppressor ceased!\n The golden city ceased!\n The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked,\n The sceptre of the rulers;\n He that smote the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke,\n That ruled the nations in anger,\n Is persecuted,\n And none hindereth!\n The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet:\n They break forth into singing:\n Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee,\n And the cedars of Lebanon:\n 'Since thou art laid down,\n No feller is come up against us.'\n\n Hell from beneath is moved for thee,\n To meet thee at thy coming:\n It stirreth up the dead for thee,\n Even all the chief ones of the earth;\n It hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations,\n All they shall answer and say unto thee:\n 'Art thou also become weak as we?\n Art thou become like unto us?'\n Thy pomp is brought down to hell,\n And the noise of thy viols:\n The worm is spread under thee,\n And worms cover thee.\n\n How art thou fallen from heaven,\n O Day Star, son of the morning\n How art thou cut down to the ground,\n Which didst lay low the nations!\n And thou saidst in thine heart, 'I will ascend into heaven,\n I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;\n And I will sit upon the mount of congregation,\n In the uttermost parts of the north:\n I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;\n I will be like the Most High.'\n Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell,\n To the uttermost parts of the pit.\n\n They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee,\n They shall consider thee:\n 'Is this the man that made the earth to tremble,\n That did shake kingdoms;\n That made the world as a wilderness, and overthrew the cities thereof,\n That let not loose his prisoners to their home?'\n All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory,\n Every one in his own house:\n But thou art cast forth away from thy sepulchre,\n Like an abominable branch,\n As the raiment of those that are slain,\n That are thrust through with the sword,\n That go down to the stones of the pit;\n As a carcase trodden under foot.\n\nThou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast\ndestroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people; the seed of evil-doers\nshall not be named for ever. Prepare ye slaughter for his children for\nthe iniquity of their fathers; that they rise not up, and possess the\nearth, and fill the face of the world with cities. And I will rise up\nagainst them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon name and\nremnant, and son and son's son, saith the LORD. I will also make it a\npossession for the porcupine, and pools of water: and I will sweep it\nwith the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.\n\n\n\n\nXI\n\nNAHUM'S DOOM OF NINEVEH\n\n\n1\n\nThe LORD is a jealous God and avengeth; the LORD avengeth and is full of\nwrath; the LORD taketh vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth\nwrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power,\nand will by no means clear the guilty: the LORD hath his way in the\nwhirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He\nrebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers:\nBashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.\nThe mountains quake at him, and the hills melt; and the earth is\nupheaved at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.\nWho can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the\nfierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks\nare broken asunder by him.\n\nThe LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth\nthem that put their trust in him.\n\nBut with an overrunning flood he will make a full end of the place\nthereof, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.\n\n2\n\nWhat do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make a full end: affliction\nshall not rise up the second time. For though they be like tangled\nthorns, and be drenched as it were in their drink, they shall be\ndevoured utterly as dry stubble. There is one gone forth out of thee,\nthat imagineth evil against the LORD, that counselleth wickedness. Thus\nsaith the LORD: Though they be in full strength, and likewise many, even\nso shall they be cut down, and he shall pass away.\n\nThough I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. And now will\nI break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.\n\nAnd the LORD hath given commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy\nname be sown; out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven\nimage and the molten image; I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.\n\n3\n\nBehold, upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,\nthat publisheth peace! Keep thy feasts, O Judah, perform thy vows: for\nthe wicked one shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.\n\n He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face:\n Keep the munition; watch the way;\n Make thy loins strong,\n Fortify thy power mightily.\n\nFor the LORD bringeth again the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency\nof Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine\nbranches.\n\n The shield of his mighty men is made red:\n The valiant men are in scarlet:\n The chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation,\n And the spears are shaken terribly.\n\n The chariots rage in the streets,\n They justle one against another in the broad ways:\n The appearance of them is like torches,\n They run like the lightnings.\n\n He remembereth his worthies:\n They stumble in their march;\n They make haste to the wall thereof,\n And the mantelet is prepared.\n\n The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved:\n And Huzzab is uncovered; she is carried away;\n And her handmaids mourn as with the voice of doves,\n Tabering upon their breasts.\n\n But Nineveh hath been from of old like a pool of water;\n Yet they flee away:\n 'Stand, stand'--\n But none looketh back.\n\n Take ye the spoil of silver,\n Take the spoil of gold;\n For there is none end of the store,\n The glory of all pleasant furniture.\n\n She is empty, and void, and waste:\n And the heart melteth, and the knees smite together;\n And anguish is in all loins,\n And the faces of them all are waxed pale.\n\n4\n\n Where is the den of the lions,\n And the feeding place of the young lions,\n Where the lion and the lioness walked,\n The lion's whelp, and none made them afraid?\n\n The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps,\n And strangled for his lionesses;\n And filled his caves with prey,\n And his dens with ravin.\n\n5\n\nBehold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her\nchariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I\nwill cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers\nshall no more be heard.\n\n Woe to the bloody city!\n It is all full of lies and rapine;\n The prey departeth not.\n\n The noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of wheels;\n And pransing horses, and jumping chariots;\n The horseman mounting, and the flashing sword, and the glittering spear;\n\n And a multitude of slain, and a great heap of carcases:\n And there is none end of the corpses;\n They stumble upon their corpses:\n\n Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favoured harlot,\n The mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms,\n And families through her witchcrafts.\n\nBehold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will discover\nthy skirts upon thy face; and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and\nthe kingdoms thy shame. And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and\nmake thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock. And it shall come to\npass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say:\n\n6\n\n Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her?\n Whence shall I seek comforters for thee?\n\n Art thou better than No-amon, that was situate among the rivers,\n That had the waters round about her;\n Whose rampart was the sea,\n And her wall was of the sea?\n\n Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite;\n Put and Lubim were thy helpers:\n Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity:\n Her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the\n streets;\n\n And they cast lots for her honourable men,\n And all her great men were bound in chains:\n Thou also shalt be drunken, thou shalt be hid;\n Thou also shalt seek a strong hold because of the enemy.\n\n All thy fortresses shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs:\n If they be shaken,\n They fall into the mouth of the eater.\n\n Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women;\n The gates of thy land are set wide open unto thine enemies;\n The fire hath devoured thy bars.\n\n Draw the water for the siege;\n Strengthen thy fortresses:\n Go into the clay, and tread the mortar, make strong the brickkiln:\n There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off.\n\n It shall devour thee like the cankerworm:\n Make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locust;\n Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven:\n The cankerworm spreadeth himself, and flieth away.\n\n Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy marshals as the swarms of\n grasshoppers,\n Which camp in the hedges in the cold day,\n But when the sun ariseth they flee away,\n And their place is not known where they are.\n\n7\n\n Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria,\n Thy worthies are at rest:\n Thy people are scattered upon the mountains,\n And there is none to gather them.\n\n There is no assuaging of thy hurt;\n Thy wound is grievous:\n All that hear the bruit of thee clap the hands over thee:\n For upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?\n\n\n\n\nRHAPSODY\n\nOR\n\nPROPHETIC DRAMA\n\nJEREMIAH'S RHAPSODY OF THE DROUGHT\n\n\nJudah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they sit in black upon\nthe ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.\n\nAnd their nobles send their little ones to the waters: they come to the\npits, and find no water; they return with their vessels empty: they are\nashamed and confounded, and cover their heads.\n\nBecause of the ground which is chapt, for that no rain hath been in the\nland, the plowmen are ashamed, they cover their heads.\n\nYea, the hind also in the field calveth, and forsaketh her young,\nbecause there is no grass. And the wild asses stand on the bare heights,\nthey pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail, because there is no\nherbage.\n\nREPENTENT ISRAEL\n\nThough our iniquities testify against us, work thou for thy name's sake,\nO LORD: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee. O\nthou hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in the time of trouble, why\nshouldest thou be as a sojourner in the land, and as a wayfaring man\nthat turneth aside to tarry for a night? Why shouldest thou be as a man\nastonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the\nmidst of us, and we are called by thy name: leave us not.\n\nTHE PROPHET\n\nThus saith the LORD unto this people, Even so have they loved to wander;\nthey have not refrained their feet: therefore the LORD doth not accept\nthem; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.\n\nTHE LORD (to the Prophet)\n\nPray not for this people for their good. When they fast, I will not hear\ntheir cry; and when they offer burnt offering and oblation, I will not\naccept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine,\nand by the pestilence.\n\nTHE PROPHET\n\nAh, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the\nsword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace\nin this place.\n\nTHE LORD\n\nThe prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I\ncommanded them, neither spake I unto them; they prophesy unto you a\nlying vision, and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of\ntheir own heart. Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets\nthat prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and\nfamine shall not be in this land: By sword and famine shall those\nprophets be consumed. And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast\nout in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and\nthey shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons,\nnor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them. And\nthou shalt say this word unto them, 'Let mine eyes run down with tears\nnight and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my\npeople is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous wound. If I\ngo forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I\nenter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! for\nboth the prophet and the priest go about in the land and have no\nknowledge.'\n\nREPENTENT ISRAEL\n\nHast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul loathed Zion? why hast\nthou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? We looked for peace,\nbut no good came; and for a time of healing, and behold dismay! We\nacknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers:\nfor we have sinned against thee. Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake;\ndo not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy\ncovenant with us. Are there any among the vanities of the heathen that\ncan cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD\nour God? therefore we will wait upon thee; for thou hast made all these\nthings.\n\nTHE LORD (to the Prophet)\n\nThough Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward\nthis people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. And it\nshall come to pass, when they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth?\nthen thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD: Such as are for death,\nto death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are\nfor the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to\ncaptivity. And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord: the\nsword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and\nthe beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy. And I will cause them\nto be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth, because of\nManasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in\nJerusalem. For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall\nbemoan thee? or who shall turn aside to ask of thy welfare? Thou hast\nrejected me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore have I\nstretched out my hand against thee, and destroyed thee; I am weary with\nrepenting. And I have fanned them with a fan in the gates of the land; I\nhave bereaved them of children, I have destroyed my people; they have\nnot returned from their ways. Their widows are increased to me above the\nsand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of the\nyoung men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused anguish and terrors to\nfall upon her suddenly. She that hath borne seven languisheth; she hath\ngiven up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day; she hath\nbeen ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to\nthe sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.\n\nTHE PROPHET\n\nWoe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man\nof contention to the whole earth! I have not lent on usury, neither have\nmen lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.\n\nTHE LORD (to the Prophet)\n\nVerily I will strengthen thee for good; verily I will cause the enemy to\nmake supplication unto thee in the time of evil and in the time of\naffliction.\n\nTHE LORD (to the People)\n\nCan one break iron, even iron from the north, and brass? Thy substance\nand thy treasures will I give for a spoil without price, and that for\nall thy sins, even in all thy borders. And I will make thee to serve\nthine enemies in a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in\nmine anger, which shall burn upon you.\n\nREPENTENT ISRAEL\n\nO LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and avenge me of my\npersecutors: take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy\nsake I have suffered reproach. Thy words were found, and I did eat them;\nand thy words were unto me a joy and the rejoicing of mine heart: for I\nam called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts. I sat not in the assembly of\nthem that make merry, nor rejoiced: I sat alone because of thy hand; for\nthou hast filled me with indignation. Why is my pain perpetual, and my\nwound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou indeed be unto\nme as a deceitful brook, as waters that fail?\n\nTHE LORD\n\nTherefore thus saith the LORD: If thou return, then will I bring thee\nagain, that thou mayest stand before me; and if thou take forth the\nprecious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: they shall return\nunto thee, but thou shalt not return unto them.\n\nEPILOGUE (to the Prophet)\n\nAnd I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall; and they\nshall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I\nam with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD. And I\nwill deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee\nout of the hand of the terrible.\n\n\n\n\nHABAKKUK'S RHAPSODY OF THE CHALDEANS\n\n\ni\n\nThe Mystery\n\nTHE PROPHET\n\nO LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto\nthee of violence, and thou wilt not save. Why dost thou shew me\niniquity, and cause me to look upon perverseness? for spoiling and\nviolence are before me: and there is strife, and contention riseth up.\nTherefore the law is slacked, and judgement doth never go forth: for the\nwicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore judgement goeth forth\nperverted.\n\nTHE LORD\n\nBehold ye among the nations, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I\nwork a work in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told\nyou. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation;\nwhich march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places\nthat are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful: their judgement\nand their dignity proceed from themselves. Their horses also are swifter\nthan leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves; and their\nhorsemen bear themselves proudly: yea, their horsemen come from far;\nthey fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour. They come all of them for\nviolence; their faces are set eagerly as the east wind; and they gather\ncaptives as the sand. Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a\nderision unto him: he derideth every strong hold; for he heapeth up\ndust, and taketh it. Then shall he sweep by as a wind, and shall pass\nover, and be guilty: even he whose might is his god.\n\nTHE PROPHET\n\nArt not thou from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? thou diest\nnot. O LORD, thou hast ordained him for judgement; and thou, O Rock,\nhast established him for correction. Thou that art of purer eyes than to\nbehold evil, and that canst not look on perverseness, wherefore lookest\nthou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy peace when the\nwicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he; and makest\nmen as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler\nover them? He taketh up all of them with the angle, he catcheth them in\nhis net, and gathereth them in his drag: therefore he rejoiceth and is\nglad. Therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto\nhis drag; because by them his portion is fat, and his meat plenteous.\nShall he therefore empty his net, and not spare to slay the nations\ncontinually?\n\nii\n\nThe Solution\n\nTHE PROPHET\n\nI will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will look\nforth to see what he will speak by me, and what I shall answer\nconcerning my complaint.\n\nTHE LORD\n\nWrite the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that\nreadeth it. For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hasteth\ntoward the end, and shall not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because\nit will surely come, it will not delay. Behold, his soul is puffed up,\nit is not upright in him: but the just shall live in his faithfulness.\nYea, moreover, wine is a treacherous dealer, a haughty man, and that\nkeepeth not at home; who enlargeth his desire as hell, and he is as\ndeath, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and\nheapeth unto him all peoples. Shall not all these take up a parable\nagainst him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say:\n\nDoom of the Chaldeans\n\n1\n\n Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his,\n --How long?--\n And that ladeth himself with pledges!\n\nShall they not rise up suddenly that shall exact usury of thee, and\nawake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?\nBecause thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the peoples\nshall spoil thee; because of men's blood, and for the violence done to\nthe land, to the city, and to all that dwell therein.\n\n2\n\n Woe to him that getteth an evil gain for his house,\n That he may set his nest on high,\n That he may be delivered from the hand of evil!\n\nThou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many peoples, and\nhast sinned against thy soul. For the stone shall cry out of the wall,\nand the beam out of the timber shall answer it.\n\n3\n\n Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood,\n And stablisheth a city by iniquity!\n\nBehold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the peoples labour for the\nfire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity? For the earth shall\nbe filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters\ncover the sea.\n\n4\n\n Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink,\n That addest thy venom thereto,\n And makest him drunken also,\n That thou mayest look on their nakedness!\n\nThou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and be as one\nuncircumcised. The cup of the LORD'S right hand shall be turned unto\nthee, and foul shame shall be upon thy glory. For the violence done to\nLebanon shall cover thee, and the destruction of the beasts which made\nthem afraid; because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the\nland, to the city, and to all that dwell therein.\n\n5\n\nWhat profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it;\nthe molten image, and the teacher of lies, that the maker of his work\ntrusteth therein, to make dumb idols?--\n\n Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake;\n To the dumb stone, Arise!\n\nShall this teach? Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and\nthere is no breath at all in the midst of it. But the LORD is in his\nholy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him!\n\niii\n\nJehovah come to Judgment\n\n Prelude\n\n O LORD, I have heard the report of thee, and am afraid:\n O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years,\n In the midst of the years make it known:\n In wrath remember mercy!\n\n Strophe\n\n God cometh from Teman,\n And the Holy One from Mount Paran.\n His glory covereth the heavens,\n And the earth is full of his praise.\n And his brightness is as the light;\n He hath rays coming forth from his hand;\n And there is the hiding of his power.\n Before him goeth the pestilence,\n And fiery bolts go forth at his feet.\n He standeth and shaketh the earth;\n He beholdeth, and driveth asunder the nations:\n And the eternal mountains are scattered,\n The everlasting hills do bow;\n His ways are everlasting.\n I see the tents of Cushan in affliction;\n The curtains of the land of Midian do tremble.\n\n Antistrophe\n\n Is the LORD displeased against the rivers?\n Is thine anger against the rivers, or thy wrath against the sea,\n That thou dost ride upon thine horses,\n Upon thy chariots of salvation?\n Thy bow is made quite bare,\n Sworn are the chastisements of thy word.\n Thou dost cleave the earth with rivers;\n The mountains see thee and are afraid;\n The tempest of waters passeth by;\n The deep uttereth his voice,\n And lifteth up his hands on high;\n The sun and moon stand still in their habitation\n At the light of thine arrows as they go,\n At the shining of thy glittering spear.\n Thou dost march through the land in indignation,\n Thou dost thresh the nations in anger.\n\n Epode\n\n Thou art come for the salvation of thy people,\n For the salvation of thine anointed:\n Thou dost smite off the head from the house of the wicked,\n Laying bare the foundation even unto the neck.\n Thou dost pierce with his own staves the head of his warriors:\n (They came as a whirlwind to scatter me,\n Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly:)\n Thou dost tread the sea with thine horses, the surge of mighty waters.\n\n Postlude\n\n I heard, and my belly trembled,\n My lips quivered at the voice;\n Rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in my place:\n That I should rest waiting for the day of trouble,\n When he that shall invade them in troops cometh up against the people.\n For though the fig tree shall not blossom,\n Neither shall fruit be in the vines;\n The labour of the olive shall fail,\n And the fields shall yield no meat;\n The flock shall be cut off from the fold,\n And there shall be no herd in the stalls:\n Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,\n I will joy in the God of my salvation.\n Jehovah, the Lord, is my strength,\n And he maketh my feet like hinds' feet,\n And will make me to walk upon mine high places.\n\n\n\n\nJOEL'S RHAPSODY OF THE LOCUST PLAGUE\n\n\ni\n\nThe Land Desolate and Mourning\n\nOLD MEN\n\n Hear this, ye old men,\n And give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land!\n Hath this been in your days,\n Or in the days of your fathers?\n Tell ye your children of it,\n And let your children tell their children,\n And their children another generation.\n That which the palmerworm hath left\n Hath the locust eaten;\n And that which the locust hath left\n Hath the cankerworm eaten;\n And that which the cankerworm hath left\n Hath the caterpillar eaten.\n\nREVELLERS\n\n Awake, ye drunkards, and weep,\n And howl, all ye drinkers of wine,\n Because of the sweet wine;\n For it is cut off from your mouth!\n For a nation is come up upon my land,\n Strong, and without number;\n His teeth are the teeth of a lion,\n And he hath the jaw teeth of a great lion.\n He hath laid my vine waste,\n And barked my fig tree:\n He hath made it clean bare, and cast it away;\n The branches thereof are made white.\n\nPRIESTS\n\n Lament like a virgin\n Girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth!\n The meal offering and the drink offering\n Is cut off from the house of the LORD:\n The priests, the LORD'S ministers, mourn.\n The field is wasted,\n The land mourneth;\n For the corn is wasted,\n The new wine is dried up,\n The oil languisheth.\n\nHUSBANDMEN\n\n Be ashamed, O ye husbandmen,\n Howl, O ye vinedressers,\n For the wheat, and for the barley;\n For the harvest of the field is perished!\n The vine is withered,\n And the fig tree languisheth;\n The pomegranate tree,\n The palm tree also, and the apple tree,\n Even all the trees of the field are withered:\n For joy is withered away from the sons of men.\n\nPRIESTS\n\n Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests;\n Howl, ye ministers of the altar;\n Come, lie all night in sackcloth,\n Ye ministers of my God:\n For the meal offering and the drink offering\n Is withholden from the house of your God!\n\nTHE WHOLE PEOPLE\n\nSanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the old men and all the\ninhabitants of the land unto the house of the LORD your God, and cry\nunto the LORD:\n\n Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand!\n And as destruction from the Almighty shall it come.\n Is not the meat cut off before our eyes,\n Yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?\n\n The seeds rot under their clods:\n The garners are laid desolate,\n The barns are broken down;\n For the corn is withered.\n\n How do the beasts groan!\n The herds of cattle are perplexed,\n Because they have no pasture;\n Yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.\n\n O LORD, to thee do I cry:\n For the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness,\n And the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.\n Yea, the beasts of the field pant unto thee:\n For the water brooks are dried up,\n And the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.\n\nii\n\nThe Judgment Advancing\n\n Blow ye the trumpet in Zion,\n And sound an alarm in my holy mountain;\n Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble!\n\nFor the Day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of\ndarkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the dawn\nspread upon the mountains; a great people and a strong, there hath not\nbeen ever the like, neither shall be any more after them, even to the\nyears of many generations!\n\n A fire devoureth before them;\n And behind them a flame burneth:\n The land is as the garden of Eden before them,\n And behind them a desolate wilderness!\n\nYea, and none hath escaped them. The appearance of them is as the\nappearance of horses; and as horsemen, so do they run. Like the noise of\nchariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, like the noise of a\nflame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in\nbattle array.\n\n At their presence the peoples are in anguish:\n All faces are waxed pale:\n They run like mighty men;\n They climb the wall like men of war;\n And they march every one on his ways.\n\nAnd they break not their ranks: neither doth one thrust another; they\nmarch every one in his path: and they burst through the weapons, and\nbreak not off their course.\n\n They leap upon the city;\n They run upon the wall;\n They climb up into the houses;\n They enter in at the windows like a thief.\n The earth quaketh before them;\n The heavens tremble:\n The sun and the moon are darkened,\n And the stars withdraw their shining.\n\nAnd the LORD uttereth his voice before his army; for his camp is very\ngreat; for he is strong that executeth his word: for the Day of the LORD\nis great and very terrible; and who can abide it?\n\niii\n\nRepentance at the Last Moment\n\nTHE LORD\n\nYet even now, saith the LORD, turn ye unto me with all your heart, and\nwith fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart,\nand not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is\ngracious and full of compassion, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy,\nand repenteth him of the evil.\n\nTHE PEOPLE\n\nWho knoweth whether he will not turn and repent, and leave a blessing\nbehind him, even a meal offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your\nGod?\n\n Blow the trumpet in Zion,\n Sanctify a fast,\n Call a solemn assembly:\n Gather the people,\n Sanctify the congregation,\n Assemble the old men,\n Gather the children, and those that suck the breasts:\n Let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber,\n And the bride out of her closet.\n\nLet the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and\nthe altar, and let them say:\n\nPRIESTS\n\n Spare thy people, O LORD,\n And give not thine heritage to reproach,\n That the nations should use a byword against them,\n Wherefore should they say among the peoples,\n Where is their God?\n\niv\n\nRelief and Restoration\n\nThen was the LORD jealous for his land, and had pity on his people.\n\nTHE LORD\n\nBehold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be\nsatisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the\nnations: but I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will\ndrive him into a land barren and desolate, his forepart into the eastern\nsea, and his hinder part into the western sea; and his stink shall come\nup, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.\n\nFear not, O land, be glad and rejoice; for the LORD hath done great\nthings. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field; for the pastures of the\nwilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and\nthe vine do yield their strength. Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and\nrejoice in the LORD your God: for he giveth you the former rain in just\nmeasure, and he causeth to come down for you the rain, the former rain\nand the latter rain, in the first month. And the floors shall be full of\nwheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will\nrestore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm,\nand the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent\namong you. And ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and shall praise\nthe name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and\nmy people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the\nmidst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and there is none\nelse: and my people shall never be ashamed.\n\nv\n\nAfterward\n\nTHE LORD\n\nAnd it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon\nall flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men\nshall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the\nservants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.\n\nAnd I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and\nfire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and\nthe moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come.\nAnd it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the\nLORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall\nbe those that escape, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the\nLORD doth call. For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I\nshall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather\nall nations, and will bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat[6];\nand I will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage\nIsrael, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.\nAnd they have cast lots for my people: and have given a boy for an\nharlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink. Yea, and what\nare ye to me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the regions of Philistia? will\nye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily\nwill I return your recompence upon your own head. Forasmuch as ye have\ntaken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my\ngoodly pleasant things; the children also of Judah and the children of\nJerusalem have ye sold unto the sons of the Grecians, that ye might\nremove them far from their border: behold, I will stir them up out of\nthe place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence\nupon your own head; and I will sell your sons and your daughters into\nthe hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the men\nof Sheba, to a nation far off: for the LORD hath spoken it.\n\n[Footnote 6: The LORD'S Decision.]\n\nvi\n\nAdvance to the Valley of Decision\n\nTHE LORD\n\nProclaim ye this among the nations; prepare war: stir up the mighty men;\nlet all the men of war draw near, let them come up. Beat your plowshares\ninto swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am\nstrong.\n\nVOICES\n\nHaste ye, and come, all ye nations round about, and gather yourselves\ntogether. Thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.\n\nTHE LORD\n\nLet the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the Valley of\n'Jehoshaphat': for there will I 'sit to judge' all the nations round\nabout.\n\nTHE LORD (to his Hosts)\n\nPut ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, tread ye; for the\nwinepress is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.\n\nTHE PROPHETIC SPECTATOR\n\nMultitudes, multitudes in the Valley of Decision! for the Day of the\nLORD is near in the Valley of Decision. The sun and the moon are\ndarkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. And the LORD shall roar\nfrom Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the\nearth shall shake: but the LORD will be a refuge unto his people, and a\nstrong hold to the children of Israel.\n\nvii\n\nThe Holy Mountain and Eternal Peace\n\nTHE LORD\n\nSo shall ye know that I am the LORD your God, dwelling in Zion my holy\nmountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers\npass through her any more. And it shall come to pass in that day, that\nthe mountains shall drop down sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with\nmilk, and all the brooks of Judah shall flow with waters; and a fountain\nshall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the Valley of\nAcacias. Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate\nwilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because\nthey have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall be\ninhabited for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. And I\nwill cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth\nin Zion.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HURT OF THE DAUGHTER OF MY PEOPLE\n\nA Rhapsodic Discourse of Jeremiah\n\n\nThus saith the LORD: Shall men fall, and not rise up again? shall one\nturn away, and not return? Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden\nback by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to\nreturn. I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man\nrepenteth him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one\nturneth to his course, as a horse that rusheth headlong in the battle.\nYea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle\nand the swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my\npeople know not the ordinance of the LORD. How do ye say, We are wise,\nand the law of the LORD is with us? But, behold, the false pen of the\nscribes hath wrought falsely. The wise men are ashamed, they are\ndismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and\nwhat manner of wisdom is in them? Therefore will I give their wives unto\nothers, and their fields to them that shall possess them: for every one\nfrom the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the\nprophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. And they have\nhealed the hurt of the daughter of my people lightly, saying, Peace,\npeace; when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed\nabomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they\nblush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of\ntheir visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD. I will utterly\nconsume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor\nfigs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I\nhave given them shall pass away from them.\n\nTHE PEOPLE\n\nWhy do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the\ndefenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath\nput us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have\nsinned against the LORD. We looked for peace, but no good came; and for\na time of healing, and behold dismay! The snorting of his horses is\nheard from Dan: at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones the\nwhole land trembleth; for they are come, and have devoured the land and\nall that is in it; the city and those that dwell therein.\n\nTHE LORD\n\nFor, behold, I will send serpents, basilisks, among you, which will not\nbe charmed; and they shall bite you, saith the LORD.\n\nTHE PROPHET\n\nOh that I could comfort myself against sorrow! my heart is faint within\nme. Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a\nland that is very far off--\n\nTHE PEOPLE\n\nIs not the LORD in Zion? is not her King in her?\n\nTHE LORD\n\nWhy have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with\nstrange vanities?\n\nTHE PEOPLE\n\nThe harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved!\n\nTHE PROPHET\n\nFor the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt: I am black;\nastonishment hath taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead? is there\nno physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my\npeople recovered? Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain\nof tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter\nof my people! Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of\nwayfaring men; that I might leave my people and go from them! for they\nbe all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. And they bend their\ntongue as it were their bow for falsehood; and they are grown strong in\nthe land, but not for truth.\n\nTHE LORD\n\nFor they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the\nLORD. Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any\nbrother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour\nwill go about with slanders. And they will deceive every one his\nneighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue\nto speak lies; they weary themselves to commit iniquity. Thine\nhabitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know\nme, saith the LORD. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I\nwill melt them, and try them; for how else should I do, because of the\ndaughter of my people? Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaketh\ndeceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in\nhis heart he layeth wait for him. Shall I not visit them for these\nthings? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as\nthis?\n\n\n\n\nTHE LORD'S CONTROVERSY BEFORE THE MOUNTAINS\n\nA Dramatic Morceau of Micah\n\n\nTHE LORD\n\nArise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy\nvoice. Hear, O ye mountains, the LORD'S controversy, and ye enduring\nfoundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with his\npeople, and he will plead with Israel.\n\nO my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied\nthee? testify against me. For I brought thee up out of the land of\nEgypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage; and I sent before\nthee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember now what Balak king\nof Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him;\nremember from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteous acts\nof the LORD.\n\nTHE PEOPLE\n\nWherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high\nGod? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year\nold? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten\nthousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my\ntransgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?\n\nTHE MOUNTAINS\n\nHe hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require\nof thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with\nthy God?\n\n\n\n\nA CRY OF COMFORT FOR JERUSALEM\n\nPrelude to the Rhapsody of 'Zion Redeemed'\n\n\nJEHOVAH\n\nComfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably\nto Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that\nher iniquity is pardoned; that she hath received of the LORD'S hand\ndouble for all her sins.\n\n[Voices carry on the tidings across the desert to Jerusalem\n\nA VOICE OF ONE CRYING\n\n Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of the LORD,\n Make straight in the desert a high way for our God.\n Every valley shall be exalted,\n And every mountain and hill shall be made low:\n And the crooked shall be made straight,\n And the rough places plain:\n And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,\n And all flesh shall see it together:\n For the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.\n\nA SECOND VOICE (in the distance)\n\n Cry!\n\nA DESPAIRING VOICE\n\n What shall I cry?\n All flesh is grass,\n And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:\n The grass withereth,\n The flower fadeth,\n Because the breath of the LORD bloweth upon it:\n Surely the people is grass!\n\nTHE SECOND VOICE\n\n The grass withereth,\n The flower fadeth:\n But the word of our God shall stand for ever.\n\nFOURTH VOICE (still more distant)\n\n O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion,\n Get thee up into the high mountain;\n O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem,\n Lift up thy voice with strength;\n Lift it up, be not afraid;\n Say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!\n\nFIFTH VOICE\n\n Behold, the Lord GOD will come as a mighty one,\n And his arm shall rule for him:\n Behold, his reward is with him,\n And his recompence before him.\n He shall feed his flock like a shepherd,\n He shall gather the lambs in his arm,\n And carry them in his bosom,\n And shall gently lead those that give suck.\n\n\n\n\nZION AWAKENED\n\n(Being Vision III of the Rhapsody of 'Zion Redeemed')\n\n\nAppeals to Zion\n\nJEHOVAH\n\nHearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the\nLORD: look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit\nwhence ye were digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah\nthat bare you: for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him,\nand made him many.\n\nFor the LORD hath comforted Zion: he hath comforted all her waste\nplaces, and hath made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the\ngarden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein,\nthanksgiving, and the voice of melody.\n\n(No response)\n\nJEHOVAH\n\nAttend unto me, O my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation; for a\nlaw shall go forth from me, and I will make my judgement to rest for a\nlight of the peoples. My righteousness is near, my salvation is gone\nforth, and mine arms shall judge the peoples; the isles shall wait for\nme, and on mine arm shall they trust.\n\nLift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for\nthe heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old\nlike a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner:\nbut my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be\nabolished.\n\n(No response)\n\nJEHOVAH\n\nHearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart\nis my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye dismayed at\ntheir revilings.\n\nFor the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat\nthem like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation\nunto all generations.\n\n(No response)\n\nTHE CELESTIAL HOSTS\n\n Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD;\n Awake, as in the days of old,\n The generations of ancient times!\n Art thou not it that cut Rahab in pieces,\n That pierced the dragon?\n Art thou not it which dried up the sea,\n The waters of the great deep;\n That made the depths of the sea\n A way for the redeemed to pass over?\n\n And the ransomed of the LORD shall return,\n And come with singing unto Zion;\n And everlasting joy shall be upon their heads:\n They shall obtain gladness and joy,\n And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.\n\nJEHOVAH\n\nI, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou art afraid\nof man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as\ngrass; and hast forgotten the LORD thy Maker, that stretched forth the\nheavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and fearest continually\nall the day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he maketh ready\nto destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor? The captive exile\nshall speedily be loosed; and he shall not die and go down into the pit,\nneither shall his bread fail.\n\nFor I am the LORD thy God, which stilleth the sea, when the waves\nthereof roar: the LORD of hosts is his name. And I have put my words in\nthy mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may\nplant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto\nZion, Thou art my people.\n\n(No response)\n\nTHE CELESTIAL HOSTS\n\n Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem,\n Which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury;\n Thou hast drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it.\n\n There is none to guide her\n Among all the sons whom she hath brought forth;\n Neither is there any that taketh her by the hand\n Of all the sons that she hath brought up.\n\n These two things are befallen thee;\n Who shall bemoan thee?\n Desolation and destruction,\n And the famine, and the sword,\n How shall I comfort thee?\n\n Thy sons have fainted,\n They lie at the top of all the streets,\n As an antelope in a net;\n They are full of the fury of the LORD,\n The rebuke of thy God.\n\nJEHOVAH\n\nTherefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:\nThus saith thy Lord, the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of\nhis people: Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of\nstaggering, even the bowl of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more\ndrink it again: and I will put it into the hand of them that afflict\nthee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and\nthou hast laid thy back as the ground, and as the street, to them that\ngo over.\n\n(No response)\n\nTHE CELESTIAL HOSTS\n\n Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion;\n Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city:\n For henceforth there shall no more come into thee the\n uncircumcised and the unclean.\n\n Shake thyself from the dust;\n Arise, sit thee down, O Jerusalem:\n Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.\n\nJEHOVAH\n\nFor thus saith the LORD, Ye were sold for nought, and ye shall be\nredeemed without money. For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went down\nat the first into Egypt to sojourn there: and the Assyrian oppressed\nthem without cause. Now therefore, what do I here, saith the LORD,\nseeing that my people is taken away for nought? They that rule over them\ndo howl, saith the LORD, and my name continually all the day is\nblasphemed. Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall\nknow in that day that I am he that doth speak: Behold it is I!\n\nii\n\nThe Awakening\n\nCHORUS OF WATCHMEN\n\n How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him\n That bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace,\n That bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation:\n That saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!\n\n The voice of thy Watchmen! they lift up the voice,\n Together do they sing,\n For they shall see, eye to eye,\n How the LORD returneth to Zion.\n\n Break forth into joy, sing together,\n Ye waste places of Jerusalem:\n For the LORD hath comforted his people,\n He hath redeemed Jerusalem.\n\n The LORD hath made bare his holy arm\n In the eyes of all the nations;\n And all the ends of the earth\n Shall see the salvation of our God.\n\n Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence,\n Touch no unclean thing;\n Go ye out of the midst of her;\n Be ye clean, ye that bear the vessels of the LORD.\n\n For ye shall not go out in haste,\n Neither shall ye go by flight;\n For the LORD will go before you,\n And the God of Israel will be your rearward.\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\nThe Metrical System of Biblical Verse\n\n\nIn the strictest sense the term 'metrical' is not applicable to Biblical\nverse, since this is constituted, not by any numbering of syllables, but\nby the parallelism of whole clauses.\n\n The LORD of Hosts is with us,\n The God of Jacob is our refuge.\n\nThis is verse, not in virtue of any particular number of syllables in\nthe lines, but because the second line is felt to run parallel with the\nfirst. This principle of parallelism of clauses underlies the whole of\nversification in Scriptural literature. As however the different modes\nof combination and variation of these parallel lines in Biblical poetry\ncorrespond, to a large extent, with those of metrical lines in other\nlanguages, it is convenient to speak of the principles governing them as\na 'metrical system.'\n\nOne consequence however of the difference between Biblical and other\nverse should always be borne in mind. The parallelism of clauses, which\nmakes the foundation of Hebrew verse, is also a thing proper to\noratorical prose in all languages. Accordingly in Hebrew prose and verse\noverlap: the extremes of either (e.g. Psalms and Chronicles) are\nstrongly contrasted, but there is a middle style which can be presented\nin either form. Hence there is nothing strange in the fact that the same\npassage of Scripture may be presented by one editor as prose and by\nanother as verse, according to the purpose of each arrangement. [For\nexample: the Oration on Immortality (page 75), which for a specimen of\noratory is here arranged as prose, is printed as verse in the Revised\nVersion of the Apocrypha.]\n\n1. The simplest type of parallelism in Biblical literature may be called\n'Antique Rhythm.' It is the metre of most of the traditional poetry\npreserved in the historic books of Scripture. Its unit consists in a\ncouplet, of which either member may be strengthened by a parallel line,\nbut not both.\n\n Let me die the death of the righteous.\n And let my last end be like his!\n\n He saith, which heareth the words of God,\n Which seeth the vision of the Almighty,\n Falling down, and having his eyes open.\n\n He shall eat up the nations his adversaries,\n And shall break their bones in pieces,\n And smite them through with his arrows.\n\nSuch a unit may be called a 'strain.' It will be seen in the examples\nthat the first strain is a simple couplet, the second has its first line\nstrengthened, the last has its second line strengthened. This power of\noccasionally strengthening either line of a couplet by an additional\nline gives the Antique Rhythm a flexibility suited to spontaneous\ncomposition. A similar device is found in connection with the\ntraditional ballad poetry of England, of which such collections as The\nPercy Reliques are accidentally preserved specimens. While the regular\nmetre of such ballads is a four-line stanza, yet a few poems, such as\nthe Ballad of Sir Cauline, show some stanzas with individual lines\nstrengthened:\n\n Fair Christabel, that lady mild,\n Was had forth of her tower;\n But ever she droopeth in her mind,\n As nipt by an ungentle wind\n Doth some pale lily flower.\n\nThe poetry of the historic books mostly takes the form of aggregations\nof such 'strains' of Antique Rhythm, with no further structure.\nOccasionally such a poem will fall into verse paragraphs or 'strophes'\n[to be distinguished from the antistrophic system presently to be\ndescribed]: an example is David's Song of Victory (see note on page\n266). [For a combination of Antique Rhythm and the Antistrophic system,\nsee note to vii on page 267.]\n\n2. The metre of Wisdom verse is highly elaborate: we find here, not only\nthe parallelism of successive clauses, but the 'high parallelism' which\ncorrelates all parts of a whole poem with one another. Two types may be\ndistinguished: the Stanza structure and the Antistrophic structure.\n\nStanzas are familiar to the English reader: in Biblical poetry groups of\nthree lines, or four lines, etc., recur in succession: a simple example\nis the Chorus of Watchmen (on page 236).\n\nThe Antistrophic system is familiar to students of Greek, as the\nmetrical form of tragic choral odes. In this case the stanzas run in\npairs, strophe and antistrophe, the theory being that the antistrophe\nexactly repeats the metrical form of its strophe; if another strophe\nfollows the form may altogether change, but the changed form will be\nrepeated in the corresponding antistrophe. [This may be expressed by the\nformula a a', b b', c c', etc.] Besides the pair of strophes there may\nbe an introduction, or conclusion, or both. No. i of the Sonnets (on\npage 125) is an example of a poem consisting simply of strophe and\nantistrophe; No. iii (page 126) has also a conclusion.[7]\n\n[Footnote 7: The term strophe is the Greek for 'turning': the system is\nderived from the dance performance of Greek odes, according to which the\nchorus danced from the altar to the end of the orchestra in one stanza,\nthen 'turned,' and _retraced their steps_ for the antistrophe or\n'answering' stanza. The term strophe has come to be used also for verse\nparagraphs where there is no antistrophic arrangement. (See page 266,\nnote on vi.)]\n\nBoth in the case of the Stanza structure and the Antistrophic structure\nthere are various modifications and elaborations--duplication,\ninversion, interruption, etc.: these it will be sufficient to explain in\nconnection with the examples in which they are found.\n\n3. The metre of Lyrics is in the main the same as that of Wisdom poetry.\nBut in the strictest kinds of lyrics the structure is further determined\nby the musical performance. A lyric may be a solo, or the matter may be\narranged for 'antiphonal' performance between different performers, e.g.\nchoruses of Men and of Women. Antiphonal and antistrophic structure go\neasily together: see Deborah's Song, page 152. The musical performance\nalso introduces the 'refrain,' a passage recurring (with or without\nchanges for musical effect): for example see The Song of Moses and\nMiriam (page 149).\n\n4. A characteristic metrical system in Biblical verse is the 'Doom\nform.' Here the thread of the poem is in what, for form and spirit, may\nbe called prose; but this prose is interrupted at intervals by lyric\nverse, celebrating or realising what the prose brings forward. This is\nchiefly found in prophecies of 'doom,' or denunciation of the foes of\nIsrael (hence the name): the prose is a Divine word of denunciation, the\nlyrics are mostly impersonal celebrations of what the Divine speaker\nsays. The form is easily collected from examples; see pages 175-181.\n\nSTORY\n\nStory as a form of literature differs from History by its appeal to the\nimagination and emotions, whereas History addresses itself to our sense\nof record and scientific explanation. It is of no consequence whether\nthe matter of the story be historic fact or invention; in the one case\nthe writer selects, in the other case he frames, such details as will\nhave the desired effect in presenting the story to the mind of the\nreader. The stories of the Bible are scattered through the history, of\nwhich they form a part; thus a reader of the Bible in its ordinary\nversions may be required at any moment to alter the character of his\nattention without anything to warn him of the change. In the Modern\nReader's Bible (volumes Genesis, The Exodus, The Judges, The Kings) the\nstories are separated from the surrounding matter by titles. Selections\nof these stories enter into the present volume.\n\n/i. Joseph and his Brethren./ This is one of the most elaborate and\nartistically beautiful stories in all literature. It emphasises an\nimportant place in the Biblical history, Joseph being a link between the\nChildren of Israel and the world empire of Egypt. Among elements of\nstory beauty note the personality of Joseph, its attractiveness wherever\nhe goes and its gradual maturing. Note also the sketches of varied life\nwhich make a background to the story as it moves along--glimpses of\nshepherd life, of caravan trading, of palace life in Egypt. But the main\ninterest will be the 'plot'--the technical term for the harmony that\nbinds the different parts of a story into one whole. In the present case\nthere are three 'motives' underlying the plot. (1) What has been called\nthe 'oracular action': the interest of mystic dream oracles gradually\nbecoming clear as the oracles are fulfilled. (2) The development of an\nironic situation--Joseph recognising his brethren but not recognised by\nthem: once developed this situation is prolonged to the utmost by the\nhero's conflict of feelings, between resentment and family affection.\n(3) Beneath all other motives is the providential overruling of human\nevents for high purposes (compare page 27).\n\n/ii. The Witness of Balaam./ The place of this story in the main history\nis indicated by its title: the 'Exodus' is the period of development for\nIsrael from a family to a nation, and towards the close of the period\nBalaam, an outsider, bears witness in spite of himself to the growing\nnumbers of the nation and to its glorious future.--In literary form it\nis a 'mixed epic' or 'canti-fable': a story in prose that breaks into\nverse at appropriate places. (Compare the expression _took up his\nparable_: the parable is an undefined term for a more specialised\nliterary form occurring in the course of more general literature, such\nas a fable in the midst of a discourse, or a poem in the midst of\nprose.)--Its interest rests partly upon the conception of the 'Blessing\nand the Curse': there is the superstitious idea of the efficacy of these\nin the minds of Balak and his people, while the true Blessing comes from\nthe prophetic vision accorded to Balaam by God. [Compare 'The Stolen\nBlessing' in the Genesis volume.] In character Balaam is a sincere\nworshipper of Jehovah outside the ranks of Jehovah's people, who however\nfrom interested motives conforms to the heathen world around him as far\nas he can. [Outside this story the general history shows him as yielding\nat last to material interest and acting as tempter to Israel: compare\nRevelation, chapter ii. 14.]--The third paragraph (page 34) is the\nfamous story of Balaam's Ass. It is the opinion of some that this is a\nfable interwoven with the main story: it is in favour of this view that\nthe following paragraph, _So Balaam went with the princes of Balak_,\netc., seems the natural continuation of the second paragraph; while the\n_princes of Balak_ are ignored in the story of the Ass.\n\n/iii. The Crowning of Abimelech./ This occupies an important place in\nthe general history. Originally Israel is ruled only by the invisible\nJehovah; gradually the secularising forces around lead to the\ninstitution of visible kings. This story is the first attempt at\ncrowning a king, the work of a faction, with civil war and ruin as a\nresult.--It is a story of war and adventure. [Compare the Raid on\nMichmash, or The Feud of Saul and David in the Judges volume.]--Its\ninterest also rests upon the bitter fable of Jotham in scorn of\nkingship: the fable has the effect of a curse since it is literally\nfulfilled.\n\n/iv. Samson's Wedding Feast./ This illustrates a variety of story called\n'Idyl': the word is almost equivalent to 'trifle,' and the term is\napplied to incidents of love or domestic life in contradistinction to\ngraver matters of history. [Three Idyl Stories (Ruth, Esther, Tobit) are\ncontained in the Biblical Idyls volume of this series.]--Characteristic\nof such a story is the game of riddles; the original riddle, answer, and\nrejoinder are all in single couplets.--It is not a pure idyl; feats of\nhero strength form another interest, as with other stories of Samson.\n\n/v-vii./ These are Prophetic Stories. As the secularising tendency in\nIsrael towards visible kings prevails against the original conception of\na spiritual rule by an invisible God there arises an order of\n'prophets,' who stand forth as representatives of the invisible Jehovah,\nand are thus often in opposition to the external government. So in the\nhistory of The Kings stories of these prophets, with their miraculous\npowers, take the place of the stories of heroes and their feats in\nearlier parts of the history. During the captivity in Babylon, Daniel in\na similar way represents the Hebrew God against the king and hierarchy\nof Babylon.\n\n/vii. Page 63./ I have followed a tradition that the mystic writing on\nthe wall was interpreted by Daniel reading downward instead of across\n[or rather, down, up, down: the form of writing known as boustrophedon,\nthat is, the way an ox turns in a furrow]. If the handwriting was in an\nunknown alphabet Daniel must have said so, or why should his\ninterpretation be accepted at once? But if the characters were those to\nwhich the beholders were accustomed, but arranged in an unthought-of\ndirection, it is easy to realise the puzzle of the audience and the\ninstantaneous acceptance of the solution.\n\n\nORATORY\n\n/i. The Oration of Moses at the Rehearsal of the Blessing and the\nCurse./ The Book of Deuteronomy, from which this is taken, is a\ncollection of the Orations and Songs of Moses, constituting his Farewell\nto the People of Israel. The general subject both of the oratory and\nsong is the Covenant between Jehovah and his people, now for the first\ntime committed to writing, and entrusted by the retiring leader of\nIsrael to the Levites and Elders. The third of these orations is\nconnected with a ceremonial occasion. An ordinance has been made for the\nceremony of 'The Blessing and the Curse' to be an institution of the\npromised land: representatives of the Blessing are to stand on one\nmountain and representatives of the Curse on the opposite slope, the\nwhole ritual solemnly enforcing the sanctity of the Covenant. At present\nhowever the people are on the wilderness side of Jordan; accordingly\nMoses arranges a _Rehearsal_ of this ceremony, on ground resembling the\nvalley between Ebal and Gerizim. This rehearsal is allowed to proceed to\na certain point when Moses stops it, and takes the subject of the\nblessings and curses into his own hands. Hence the abrupt commencement\nof this oration.--As elements of oratorical beauty note (1) the\ninterweaving and parallelism of sentences, (2) the terrific crescendo\nand climax of denunciation. The oration must be spoken to get the full\neffect.\n\n/ii. Immortality and the Covenant with Death./ This is an example of the\nWritten Address, Oratory that is not intended to be spoken. It is one of\na series of imaginary addresses by King Solomon to the other rulers of\nthe nations, constituting a work entitled 'The Wisdom of Solomon' (in\nvolume 3 of the present series).--The author's style is distinguished by\na peculiar order of thought, according to which some of the leading\npoints of his argument take the form of digressions. The thought of this\ndiscourse is that death is no part of the natural order of the universe,\nbut is introduced into the world by the wickedness of men. The author\nimagines a monologue of the wicked, led by despair of aught beyond the\ngrave to a life of luxury and oppression. Another imaginary monologue\nexpresses the feelings of the same wicked men as they awaken from death\nto the life beyond. But as a digression between these two monologues the\nauthor places his reflections on the 'hopes of the ungodly,' that is,\nthe substitutes in earlier thought for the grand conception of a life\nbeyond death. These substitutes are (1) the living over again in\nposterity, (2) long life in this world. With regard to the first he\nargues that the brood of the ungodly is unstable and accursed: better is\nchildlessness with virtue. As to the hopes of long life, he argues that\nthe old age of the wicked is without honour; whereas a life cut short\nmay be a life perfected.\n\n/iii-vii./ These are Prophetic Discourses. Considered as part of the\nliterature of Oratory these Prophetic Discourses hold an intermediate\nposition between the spoken and the written address. What appears as a\ndiscourse in the books of the prophets is probably not the exact report\nof a speech, but the substance of a speech, or of several similar\nspeeches, worked up again into the style of a written address.\n\n/iii. The Great Arraignment./ This discourse of Isaiah takes the\nform of a theme (God's arraignment of his people as rebels) treated\nin four paragraphs: the prophet's remonstrance--repentance by\noblations--repentance of life--corruption redeemed with judgment.\n\n/iv. The Covenant with Death./ The phrase Covenant with Death in the\ntitle of this discourse of Isaiah has a different meaning from the same\nphrase in the title of another discourse (ii). In the latter it meant a\nsupposed invitation to Death to come as a friend, by those who were 'of\nhis portion'; in the present case it means an agreement with Death to\npass by the supposed speaker while he visits others.--This discourse\nillustrates what is a characteristic feature of Hebrew literature--the\n'pendulum structure,' by which the thought alternates in successive\nparagraphs between one and the other of two contrasting themes, in this\ncase between Judgment and Salvation. The prophet is writing for the\nsouthern kingdom of Judah. Commencing with the rival kingdom of northern\nIsrael he denounces drunken Ephraim, and how its crown of pride shall be\ntrodden down (Judgment). But (Salvation) there shall be a crown of glory\nfor the residue. Now he proceeds to Judgment upon Judah: the drunken\nrulers who trust to a refuge of lies, which the overflowing scourge\nshall sweep away. But there is Salvation for the patient. This comfort\nis imparted in agricultural images: the cruel plowing does not go on for\never, the gentle sowing comes; there are sharp threshing instruments\n[for the guilty], the gentle threshing with the rod for the precious\ncummin; and even the threshing is not to crush, but to make corn fit for\nbread.\n\n/v. The Utter Destruction and the Great Restoration./ A discourse made\nby companion pictures linked together by two parallel passages, each a\nparenthetic quintet, interrupting the pictorial description, which is\nafterwards resumed, with words emphasising the prophecy as a whole:\n_Seek ye out of the book of the LORD and read_ [how all these woes shall\ncome to pass] ... _Strengthen ye the weak hands_ [with these glorious\npromises].--Note that Edom is only mentioned as typical of the foes of\nIsrael in general, the pictures being of universal destruction and\nrestoration. There is a similar use of Egypt and Edom as types of all\nthe foes of Israel in another discourse (page 220).\n\n/vi. The Sword of the LORD./ This is an illustration of a very peculiar\nform of discourse, which is without parallel in modern literature.\nEzekiel is the great representative of 'Emblem Prophecy,' that is,\ndiscourses which have for texts some symbolic action or piece of dumb\nshow. But in extreme examples of Emblem Prophecy, like the present,\nsymbolism pervades the whole of the discourse: attitude, gesture,\nvisible emblem, sustained dumb show, song, are all mingled together and\ncombined with oratory.--The discourse falls into four parts. (1) At the\nopening, the prophet sets his face toward Jerusalem: there is no\nsymbolic action beyond this. (2) But as the address progresses, he\nsuddenly draws forth a sword: this is the sword of the Lord which is to\ngo forth out of its sheath against all flesh, and it will not return any\nmore. Suddenly, the dramatic speaker has identified himself with the\nvictims of this Divine sword: _Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the\nbreaking of thy loins_, etc. Now the theme of the sword is resumed, and\nwith it mingles what is evidently some military strain or folk-lore\nsong, of which the augmenting lines suggest the gathering spirit of\ncombat: _A sword, a sword, it is sharpened, and also furbished_, etc.\nFor a single moment the other side is presented--a people careless and\nsecure: _the Rod of my son_ [they say] _it contemneth every tree_. But\nthe impending destruction continues to gather force: _And it is given to\nbe furbished that it may be handled_, etc. There is a sudden change, and\ncries and howls proclaim how the sword has fallen upon the people, and\nthe _Rod that contemneth_ is no more. The emblematic movement seems to\nbecome more and more rapid [through three verses of the song: _And let\nthe sword be doubled the third time_, etc.].--(3) A total change here\nensues. The sword now becomes emblematic of the sword of Babylon; and\nthe imaginary picture is that of the conqueror arriving at the junction\nof the ways and deciding by his omens to proceed against Jerusalem.--(4)\nOnce more there is a total change: the sword now stands for Israel's\nenemies, the children of Ammon, and the verse conveys their boasting.\nBut suddenly the prophetic speaker plunges the sword into its sheath: so\nis symbolically introduced the fate of Ammon to return to the land of\nhis birth and perish there.\n\n/vii. Wreck of the Goodly Ship Tyre./ This illustrates a characteristic\nof Ezekiel's style by which, in place of visible symbolism, illustrated\nby the last example, a single image is sustained through the whole of a\ndiscourse. In the present case it is the image of a ship. Tyre was the\ngreat maritime city of antiquity: its grandeur is conveyed under the\nimage of a ship which all the nations of the known world combine to\nbuild and load; the judgment is the wrecking of this goodly ship.\n\n/viii./ Amongst other things the prophetic books contain 'Sentences,'\nthat is, brief sayings of prophets, each like an epigram, complete in\nitself. These no doubt passed from mouth to mouth like proverbs, and\nwere collected by the prophets. The examples in this section are from\nthe Book of Jeremiah.\n\n\nWISDOM\n\n'Wisdom' is the name given to the department of Biblical literature\nwhich corresponds to Philosophy in modern literature. It is however\nalways philosophy in application to human life and conduct.\n\nThe starting-point of Wisdom literature is the /Unit Proverb/, which is\na unit of thought in a unit of form. The unit of form is the couplet or\ntriplet of verse: see above, page 242. Examples are given on pages\n107-9. It will be seen that this Unit Proverb is a meeting-point of\nprose and verse literature: its form is verse, its matter (philosophy)\nbelongs to the literature of prose. Accordingly it is natural that the\nmore extended forms of Wisdom literature should take two directions: one\non the side of verse, the other on the side of prose.\n\n/Epigrams/ and /Maxims/: examples of these are found on pages 109-11.\nThe Epigram is a verse saying, of a few lines in length, in which two\nlines (not necessarily consecutive) are capable of standing by\nthemselves as a unit proverb. In the examples given the two lines in\neach epigram that stand out on the left may be read as a proverb\ncomplete in itself. Such a germ proverb is the text of the epigram, the\nremaining lines serve to expand this text. The corresponding prose form\nis the Maxim, a unit proverb text with a brief prose comment.\n\n/Essays./ A more extended form of Wisdom literature, on the side of\nprose, is the Essay. The word has various uses: the Scriptural essays\nare not of the modern type (like those of Macaulay or Emerson), but of\nthe antique type like the essays of Bacon. The title of an essay\nsuggests a theme, on which the rest is a prose comment. (Pages 112-24.)\n\nVerse compositions consisting of comments upon themes are in this series\ncalled /Sonnets/. In general literature the idea underlying the Sonnet\nis the adaptation of the matter to the outer form, as if a poet's\nthought were poured into special moulds. In English and Italian sonnets\nthere is only one such form or mould--a sequence of 14 lines divided\naccording to a particular plan; the matter of these sonnets must be\ncondensed or expanded to suit this plan. The nearest approach to this in\nScriptural literature is the Fixed or Number Sonnet: the opening of this\nsuggests a number scheme, to which the rest conforms.\n\n There be three things which are too wonderful for me,\n Yea, four which I know not:\n The way of an Eagle in the air;\n The way of a Serpent upon a rock;\n The way of a Ship in the midst of the sea;\n And the way of a Man with a Maid.\n\nThe examples quoted in the present volume are different. They may be\ncalled 'Free Sonnets': the moulding in these is to nothing more\nrestricted than 'high parallelism,' that is, not the parallelism binding\nsuccessive lines into a stanza, but the bond which may correlate the\nmost distant parts of a poem into a single scheme. The scheme of\nparallelism for each sonnet will be given in a separate note.\n\nEssays\n\n/ii./ This essay touches upon what was the great difficulty to early\nHebrew thinkers: the visible prosperity of the wicked, which seemed to\nthem contrary to their conception of 'judgment' or righteous providence.\nThe author in this essay endeavours to meet the difficulty by two\nthoughts: (1) how a change of fate at the very end of life may make all\nthe difference; (2) how the punishment may come in the next\ngeneration.--A resemblance will be noted at one point to a parable of\nthe New Testament.\n\n/v./ An essay on the Choice of Company, in five paragraphs: The danger\nof unknown company in a house--the good only are proper objects of\ncharity--friendship not trustworthy until tested by adversity--the\nhumble can only be defiled by contact with the proud--like will to like,\nand riches cannot consort with poverty.\n\n/vi./ This essay is founded upon the old conception of society by which\nthe educated formed a separate class--here called 'the scribes.'\nTranslated into modern ideas of life the argument would be that no life\nin any social station must be without leisure, and on such leisure\nself-culture depends.\n\n/vii./ This section makes a transitional stage to the next division of\nour selections, as it consists of an Essay containing a Sonnet.\n\nThe argument of the whole is that Life is a thing of joy, tempered by\nthe sense of responsibility. The latter idea is conveyed by the word\n'judgment,' which throughout the Old Testament stands for the\nirreconcilable antagonism between good and evil, and the certain\noverthrow of evil: the recognition of this makes action responsible.\nWith this limitation, the author urges that the very shortness of life\nand youth is so much incentive to make joyful what days are allowed.\n\nThe scheme of high parallelism [see above, page 256] in this sonnet is\nthe 'pendulum structure': the alternation of successive lines between\ntwo thoughts is conveyed to the eye by the indenting of the lines. The\nmiddle lines put symbolic descriptions of old age; the lines indented on\nthe left drop the symbolism and speak in plain terms. [The lines\nindented on the right are subordinate clauses.]\n\nThe matter of the sonnet is a tour-de-force of symbolism, under which\nare veiled the symptoms of senile decay followed by death. It is very\nlikely that some of the symbols may be lost; but it is not difficult to\nsee, without straining, a possible interpretation for each; and some of\nthem have passed into traditional use. The poetic beauty of the passage\nis marvellous.\n\n_Or ever the sun, and the light ... be darkened_: in view of the opening\nwords of the preceding essay, which take the 'light' and 'sun' as\nsymbols of the whole happiness of conscious existence, it is clear that\nthe darkening of this light is the gradual failing of the joy of\nliving.--_And the clouds return after the rain_: an exquisite symbol,\nclosely akin to the last. In youth we may overstrain and disturb our\nhealth, but we soon rally; these are storms that quickly clear up. In\nage the rallying power is gone: \"the clouds return after the\nrain.\"--_The keepers of the house shall tremble_: Cheyne understands of\nthe hands and arms, the trembling of which is a natural accompaniment of\nold age.--_The strong men shall bow themselves_: the stooping frame; the\nplural is merely by attraction to 'keepers.'--_The grinders cease\nbecause they are few_: obviously of the teeth.--_Those that look out of\nthe windows be darkened_: the eyes becoming dim.--_The doors shall be\nshut in the street_: the general connection of ideas makes it inevitable\nthat the 'folding-doors' should be the jaws; clenched jaws are so marked\na feature in the skull that it is not difficult to associate them with\nthe picture of old age.--_When the sound of the grinding is low, and one\nshall rise up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of music\nshall be brought low_: these must be taken together: appetite, speech,\nand sleep are all feeble. Grinding must be interpreted as grinders in\nthe previous part of the sonnet: the loud or low sound of such grinding\nmay fitly typify the eagerness of appetite or the reverse. The early\nwaking or short sleeping of old age is well known. _The daughters of\nmusic_ are the tones of the voice.--_They shall be afraid of that which\nis high, and terrors shall be in the way_: the gait of old age is,\nthrough physical feebleness, much what the gait of a person terrified is\nfor other reasons.--_The almond tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper\nshall be a burden, and the caperberry shall burst_: the three are linked\ntogether as being images from natural objects, not because of their\nsymbolising similar things. _The blossoming of the almond tree_ probably\nrefers to the sparse white hairs of age. The name of this tree in Hebrew\nis founded on the fact that it is the first to blossom; though not\nstrictly white, its blossoms may be called whitish: the whitish\nblossoms, solitary while all is bare around, just yield the image\nrequired. The grasshopper is evidently a symbol for a small object,\nwhich is nevertheless heavy to feeble age. _The caperberry shall burst_:\nthe last stage of its decay: the failing powers at last give way. And\nthen follows the dropping of the symbolism: \"Man goeth to his long\nhome.\"\n\nSo far we have had symbols for failure of powers; now for actual death\nand dissolution. _Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl\nbe broken_: a symbol from the house-lamp of gold, suspended by a silver\ncord, suddenly slipping its cord and breaking, its light becoming\nextinguished. For bowl in this sense compare Zechariah, chapter iv. 2,\n3.--_Or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at\nthe cistern_: these are exquisite symbols for the sudden and violent\ncessation of every-day functions. Compare the popular proverb: \"The\npitcher goes to the well once too often.\"--_And the spirit return unto\nGod who gave it_: this by analogy with the previous line must be\ninterpreted to mean no more than that the man becomes just what he was\nbefore he was born.\n\n\nSonnets\n\n/i. The Sluggard./ The metrical scheme of this sonnet is simple: a\nstrophe balanced by an antistrophe. [See above, page 244.]\n\n/ii. The Mourning for the Fool./ Metrical scheme: a brief strophe and\nantistrophe and conclusion.\n\n/iii. The Two Paths./ Strophe, the way of wisdom; antistrophe, the path\nof the wicked; conclusion, union of the two in a common image.\n\n/iv. The Creator has made Wisdom the Supreme Prize./ The metrical scheme\nof this sonnet is an example of 'antistrophic inversion': that is, two\nstrophes followed by their antistrophes, but the antistrophe to the\nsecond strophe precedes the antistrophe to the first. [This is sometimes\nexpressed by the formula a b b a; or (reckoning the number of lines in\neach strophe) 4, 6; 6, 4.] The printing makes this clear to the\neye.--The unity of thought in the sonnet is the conception of Wisdom as\na prize. The middle strophe and antistrophe describe the richness of\nthis prize; the opening strophe makes 'chastening' the cost at which it\nis obtained by the individual from the Lord; and the corresponding\nantistrophe (at the end) explains the reason for this costliness--wisdom\nwas the instrument by which the whole universe was created.\n\n/v. Watchfulness of Lips and Heart./ A Prayer in sonnet form. The\nmetrical scheme is an illustration of 'duplication' applied to\nantistrophic structure: a quatrain question (strophe 1) has a couplet\nanswer (strophe 2); then the quatrain is duplicated into an octet\n(antistrophe 1), and the answer is duplicated into a quatrain\n(antistrophe 2). [The lines of invocation are not counted in strophe and\nantistrophe 2.]\n\n/vi. Wisdom and the Fear of the Lord./ This is one of the most elaborate\nsonnets: its metrical scheme combines antistrophic and stanza structure\n(above, page 243). There is first a strophe with its antistrophe; then a\nseries of stanzas; but these stanzas illustrate the metrical device of\n'augmenting,' for they increase, as the thought gathers strength, from 3\nlines to 5 lines and 6 lines.\n\n/vii. Wisdom and the Strange Woman./ This is at once the foremost of\nwisdom poems in its thought, and the most elaborate in sonnet structure:\nhere, as always, the structure is an exact reflection of the thought.\n\nThe metrical scheme shows stanza structure throughout. The poem falls\ninto seven sections. In sections 1, 3, 4, 7, which contain the thread of\nargument, we find octet and ten-line stanzas. Section 2, which breaks\noff from the argument to give a picture of temptation, changes to sextet\nstanzas. Sections 5 and 6, the monologue of Wisdom, are cast in\nquatrains, but as the monologue crescendoes to its climax the quatrains\n'augment' to 5, 6, 7 lines. There is further the artistic device of\n'interruption': the regular flow of stanzas is broken at critical points\nby single couplets (like musical rhythm interrupted by recitative);\nagain in section 2 the actual speech of the temptress is an irregular\nmass of lines outside the stanza structure, and this break in the flow\nof lines has a fine effect.\n\nThe thought of the poem is in the highest degree grand and bold.\nScriptural philosophy loves to celebrate under the name 'Wisdom' the\nunion of all things, whether of the external universe or of the\nspiritual life, in one Divine harmony. In this poem this Wisdom is to be\npersonified, and to proclaim her attractions. But the poet prepares the\nway by contrast with the spirit of temptation, also personified in\nfemale form practising her allurements. This is displayed in a boldly\ndrawn picture; and then the poet, with the words _Doth not Wisdom cry?_\nsuddenly turns round and presents 'Wisdom' as the temptress to good.\n\n\nLYRICS\n\n/i-ii./ These two selections are from the Book of Job. This consists of\nmatter mainly philosophic worked up into an elaborate poem in which all\nliterary forms--epic, lyric, drama, rhetoric, etc.--are blended in a way\nunparalleled in modern literature. Hence the form of these two pieces is\nintermediate between wisdom sonnets and the lyrical poems that follow.\n\n/i. An Elegy of a Broken Heart./ In the Book of Job this intervenes\nbetween the Story Prologue, which is prose, and the main body of the\npoem, which takes a dramatic form. Job breaks the silence to dilate,\nwith lyrical elaboration, upon the situation of utter ruin which is to\nbe the starting-point of the dramatic discussion. Hence the title of the\nsection in the whole poem of Job is 'Job's Curse': but it admits of\nbeing separated from the action of the drama as an independent poem,\nwith some such title as I have given it.--In metrical scheme it falls\ninto two sections. Section 1 is an example of 'interruption' (compare\nnote to vii of the sonnets). It will be seen that the last two lines\ncontinue the sentence begun by the first two lines, making with them a\nquatrain: between come masses of parallel lines interrupting with a\ntour-de-force of execration. Section 2 is made up of introductory\nquatrain, strophe, and antistrophe.\n\n/ii. The Creator's Joy in his Creation./ This selection from Job is a\npart of the 'Divine Intervention,' which may be read as a complete poem.\nThat drama introduces the Voice of God out of the whirlwind as taking a\npart in the dialogue. The link between the Divine Intervention as a\nwhole and the general argument is the impossibility of any mortal\ngrasping the mysteries of the universe, which mysteries enfold the\nglories of nature as well as the dark ways of providence which Job and\nhis friends have been discussing. As a part of this general thought the\nportion here cited works out the idea of the Creator's joy in his\ncreation--a joyous sympathy with the infinities of great and small\nthroughout the universe. It might be an expansion of the words in the\nstory of the creation: \"And God saw everything that he had made, and,\nbehold, it was very good.\"--The metrical scheme of this poem is a\nvariation of the 'pendulum structure.' [Page 251.] It may be called a\n'triple pendulum,' or alternation between three notes: one note is made\nby the startling questions of nature mysteries, another (lines indented\nto the right) exquisitely pictures the details of these wonders of\nnature, while for a third (lines still more to the right) there is a\nword of challenge to Job to answer.\n\n/iii-v./ These three selections are lyrics in the strictest sense.\nOriginally all poetry is of the form technically called 'Ballad-Dance,'\nthat is, verse combined with musical accompaniment and dancing. When\nthis primitive poetry branches out into other forms, lyric is the form\nwhich retains most of the musical element. The poems here cited are\nlyrics in the strict sense that their structure is determined by the\nmode of their musical performance. This is seen by the 'antiphonal'\ndistribution of the matter, for example, between choruses of men and\nwomen, and by the recurrence of passages ('refrains').\n\n/iii. Song of Moses and Miriam./ This is arranged for a Chorus of Men,\ntaking the successive sections of the song, and a Chorus of Women,\nsinging the refrain. The metre is Antique Rhythm (above, page 242): the\nsuccessive strophes augment with the growing fulness of the theme. The\nfirst strophe (after the prelude) simply states the fact of the\ndeliverance; the second pictures it in detail, the third meditates on\nthe consequences to the furthest future.\n\n/iv. Deborah's Song./ This also is arranged for a Chorus of Men, led by\nBarak, and a Chorus of Women, led by Deborah. It is in Antique Rhythm\n(above, page 242). Its structure is antiphonal as between Men, Women,\nand the two combined. The structure is further elaborated by\n'interruption' [passages printed in italics], where the singers\nencourage one another.\n\nTo appreciate the matter of the song it should be compared with the\ndescription of the incident in plain historic prose (Judges, chapter\niv). It is not difficult to make out from this narrative (1) that Heber\nthe Kenite, Jael's husband, was acting as a spy against his allies of\nIsrael, and betraying their movements to the tyrant. Jael's act was\ntreachery in retaliation for the treachery on the other side by her\nhusband. This explains the exultation over her deed in Deborah's Song.\n(2) This treachery of Heber had upset the plans of Deborah and Barak:\nhelpless against the iron chariots, their only hope had been to assemble\nsecretly on the heights of Kedesh and attempt a surprise. But while the\narmy of Sisera, warned by Heber, were awaiting them on the plains of\nEsdraelon, a sudden thunder storm with rain (commemorated in the Song)\nconverted the whole plain into a morass. The army of Barak fell on the\nfoe while their horses were struggling in the mud, and extirpated them\nat a blow.\n\n/V. David's Lament./ This simple elegy is cast in quatrain stanzas. Its\nonly elaboration is an augmenting refrain. This beautiful refrain seems\nto rest for its effect upon the bringing together of two ideas, like a\ncrescendo and decrescendo in music: How are the mighty fallen! This\nfragmentary refrain as it appears at the beginning is enlarged at the\npassage from the section on Saul to that on Jonathan, and still further\nenlarged at the close of the whole.\n\n/vi. David's Song of Victory./ This is in Antique Rhythm: its structure\nis 'strophic' (above, page 243). There is an introduction and\nconclusion, and three unequal strophes: the first pictures the\ndeliverance, the second meditates on the principle involved (deliverance\nof the righteous), the third extends the confidence thus produced to the\nwhole past and future. The most notable artistic effect is the sudden\nchange at the prayer of the afflicted one: all nature is convulsed as\nthe Almighty rushes to the rescue.\n\n/vii. The Bride's Reminiscences./ This is introduced as an example of\nthe Lyric Idyl. The term 'idyl' has been explained above (page 248, note\nto iv): such idyls may be either narrated as stories, or brought out\nlyrically or dramatically, as in the present case. It is one of a series\nof lyric idyls making up the poem of Solomon's Song. The story\nunderlying this poem has been variously interpreted; the interpretation\nfollowed in this series (Biblical Idyls volume) is that King Solomon,\nvisiting his vineyards on Mount Lebanon, has come by surprise upon a\nbeautiful Shulammite maiden. As she flies from the royal suite he seeks\nher in shepherd disguise and wins her love, then he brings her as queen\nto his palace. The present selection is Idyl II of the series, and\ncontains two of the Bride's Reminiscences of this courtship. The first\nis of a visit by the disguised king on a fair spring morning, and how\nthe lovers were interrupted by the harsh voices of the Bride's Brothers\ncrying out that the foxes were in the vineyards. The second is a dream\nof losing and finding her lover. [The passages in italics are not spoken\nby the Bride, but are the poet's interludes, dividing the different\nsections of the poem.]--Metrical scheme. The idyls are a combination of\nAntique Rhythm and Antistrophic structure: but the parallelism of\nstrophe and antistrophe must be reckoned in strains, not in lines (see\nabove, page 242): thus we have four strains balanced by four, then two\nby two; then (in the Dream) three by three. [The refrains are outside\nthe metrical scheme.]\n\n/viii, ix./ These are songs from the books of the prophets.\n\n/viii. The Battle of Carchemish./ This is a War Ballad, in triplet\nstanzas with 'duplication.' The battle celebrated was a turning-point in\nhistory, settling for ever the supremacy of the Babylonian over the\nEgyptian empire: these were the two world empires between which parties\nin the nation of Israel fluctuated, the whole strength of Jeremiah and\nthe prophetic party being thrown against Egypt.\n\n/ix./ This /Song of Zion Redeemed/ forms a section of the Isaiahan\n'Rhapsody of Zion Redeemed' [chapters xl-lxvi]. It is in stanzas of 4,\nor occasionally 6 and 8 lines, the flow interrupted by couplets,\nespecially at the beginning of the sections. Compare above, page 262,\nnote to /vii/ (Sonnets).\n\n/x, xi./ These are illustrations of a characteristic feature of\nBiblical poetry--the 'Doom form.' See above, page 245.\n\n/x. Isaiah's Doom of Babylon./ The structure is made up of the Divine\nword of the overthrow of Babylon [prose passages] interrupted at\nintervals by [impersonal] songs, realising or celebrating what the\nDivine word brings forward. The last of these verse interruptions is a\nfully developed Ode on Fallen Babylon. The structural form of this ode\nis antistrophic inversion (7, 6; 6, 7), like that of No. /iv/ of the\nSonnets (above, page 260). Another effect in this ode is the Taunt or\nDirge Song.--_My consecrated ones ... them that exult in my majesty._\nThe Divine voice is heard calling to God's 'hosts,' the idea suggested\nby the title 'Jehovah Sabaoth.' Compare Joel, chapter iii. 11 and 13;\nPsalm ciii. 20, 21.--_I will sit upon the mount of congregation in the\nuttermost parts of the north_: the north is regularly in Scripture the\nquarter from which Divine judgment is looked for (e.g. Ezekiel, chapter\ni. 4; Jeremiah vi. i; Job xxxvii. 22).\n\n/xi. Nahum's Doom of Nineveh./ This is a Doom Prophecy directed against\nNineveh, partly in the structure called above 'doom form,' partly in\nother forms. It falls into seven sections. Sections 1 and 2 are\nmeditations in pendulum form (above, page 251), the paragraphs\nalternating between judgment and salvation. Section 3 is in doom form:\nthe Divine announcement of doom is interrupted by lyric realisation of\nthe sudden attack upon Nineveh in the midst of its careless security.\nSection 4 is a brief lyric triumph over Nineveh overthrown. Section 5\nresumes the doom form: the Divine denunciation interrupted by lyric\nrealisation of Nineveh in its pride. With section 6 this passes into a\nTaunt Song (as in example /x/). The seventh section is a brief lyric\nmeditation upon Nineveh overthrown and desolate.\n\n\n\n\nRHAPSODY\n\nThis has been explained in the Introduction (pages xii-xiii) as a term\napplied to a highly characteristic form of prophetic literature,\namounting to spiritual drama: actual dramatic dialogue and action being\ncombined with other literary modes of expression to produce the general\neffect of dramatic realisation and movement. Some of the examples\n(I-III) are complete rhapsodies; IV is a discourse that becomes\nrhapsodic at its conclusion; V is a rhapsodic morceau, a single thought\ncast in this literary form; VI and VII are integral portions of one of\nthe long rhapsodies.\n\n/I. Rhapsody of the Drought./ This is a simple and clear example of\nrhapsodic writing. It opens with scenic description of the drought; the\nrest is dialogue between God, Repentant Israel, and the Prophet. The\naction of the rhapsody consists in the gradual effect of intercession:\nGod at first refuses so much as to answer the sinful People, and speaks\nonly through the Prophet; at last he answers the People directly, but\nonly to threaten; finally he shows mercy to the repentant remnant.\n\n/II. Habakkuk's Rhapsody of the Chaldeans./ This is a thoroughly typical\nand a splendid specimen of the rhapsody as a form of literature, (1) The\nhistoric situation is the appearance of the Chaldeans as a conquering\npower trampling down surrounding nations. This suggests the thought of\njudgment upon unpunished sin in Israel. But the Prophet feels a\ndifficulty: how can a righteous God use a godless people as an\ninstrument for the punishment of wickedness that is less than its own?\nThe elaboration of this spiritual problem, in dramatic dialogue between\nGod and the Prophet, makes the first section of the rhapsody.--(2) The\nDivine solution of this problem comes under the image of intoxication:\nthe haughty career of the Chaldean is no more than the drunkard's\nreeling which precedes his fall. But as the idea of the fall of the\nChaldean is reached there is a sudden change from dialogue to the doom\nform. This Doom of the Chaldeans has five stanzas of the usual\ncombination between prose and verse: the prose is Divine denunciation,\nthe verse passages are the imagined triumphing of the down-trodden\nnations over their fallen oppressor. Four of the stanzas express the\nfall of the Chaldean in four images: his uninterrupted career has been a\nheaping up of usury, but the exactor shall come; it has been building a\nhouse of refuge, but shame has been built into its walls; it has been\nbuilding a huge city only to make a bigger bonfire to the glory of the\navenging God; it has been giving drink to behold shame, but the drink of\nshame shall be given to the oppressor. The fifth stanza goes to the root\nof the matter: the Chaldean has trusted to senseless idols: Jehovah is\nthe true teacher.--(3) So far the overthrow of the Chaldeans has been\npresented as a thing of the distant future; in the third section it is\nrealised as visibly present: thus the movement of the rhapsody has been\nsteadily advancing from the first forming of a problem to the climax of\nits solution. The literary form now changes to that of an Ode, realising\nthe idea of Jehovah come to judgment. The prelude and postlude express\nthe Prophet's feelings at the vision he hears and sees; the body of the\node realises the theophany itself. [Strophe, All nature convulsed as God\ncomes; antistrophe, Is it against nature that the coming is directed?\nconclusion, Nay, but God comes to deliver his people. Compare Psalm\ncxiv.]\n\n/Page 205./ _I have heard the report of thee._ This _report_, and so\n_the voice_ in the second line of the postlude, refer to the voice\nsupposed to sing what makes the body of the ode. This is the voice of\nIsrael, heard in the vision describing the advent of Jehovah.--_O LORD\nrevive thy work in the midst of the years_: compare on page 202 _though\nit tarry, wait for it_: the Prophet prays God to interpose before it is\ntoo late.\n\n/Page 207./ _I trembled in my place_, etc. The Prophet has a strange\nmingling of different feelings: terror at the vision of Jehovah's\nadvent, though it be for his deliverance, and confidence, as a result of\nthis vision, in the midst of desolation.\n\n/III. Joel's Rhapsody of the Locust Plague./ This rhapsody may be\nfounded on an historic plague of locusts, but the notion is idealised\ninto mystic forces of destruction. Nothing else in the historic\nsituation has any bearing on the rhapsody, it is ideal all through:\ndesolation because of sin, and 'judgment,' in the double sense of first\na judgment on Israel that is turned by repentance to purification, then\na judgment as between Israel and the nations. As arranged in the text\nthe movement of this rhapsody explains itself.\n\n/VI./ This selection is the Prelude to the elaborate 'Rhapsody of Zion\nRedeemed' [Isaiah volume, pages 127-209]. Like the overture of many\nmodern musical compositions, this Prelude is a lyric anticipation or\nforeshadowing of the whole work. A word of comfort for Jerusalem is\nspoken by God, and Voices are heard carrying the glad tidings on the way\ntowards Jerusalem. The words spoken by these voices are anticipations of\nsubsequent parts of the rhapsody.\n\n/VII./ This selection is the third Act or 'Vision' of the same rhapsody.\nIt brings out in dramatic realisation the Awakening of Zion. Successive\nappeals are made by Jehovah to Zion without response. The Celestial\nHosts join in the appeal: still without response from Zion. At last the\nawakening of Zion is brought out by the Chorus of Zion's Watchmen\nrecognising the advent of the messengers who bring the glad tidings\n(compare the Prelude), and calling upon the city to awake and rejoice.\n\n\n\n\nREFERENCE TABLE\n\nThe Volumes of the Modern Reader's Bible referred to in the Table are as\nfollows:\n\n Wisdom Series: four volumes\n The Proverbs\n Ecclesiasticus\n Ecclesiastes and The Wisdom of Solomon\n The Book of Job\n\n Deuteronomy\n\n Biblical Idyls\n\n History Series: five volumes\n Genesis\n The Exodus\n The Judges\n The Kings\n The Chronicles\n\n Prophecy Series: four volumes\n Isaiah\n Jeremiah\n Ezekiel\n Daniel and the Minor Prophets\n\nREFERENCE TABLE\n\nTo connect the Selections with the Volumes of the Modern Reader's Bible\nand with the Chapters and Verses of the Ordinary Versions\n\nModern Reader's Authorised or Revised\n Bible Version\n\nVolume Page Book Chapter Verse\n STORY\n\nGenesis 107 I Joseph and his Brethren Genesis XXXVII 1\nThe Exodus 250 II The Witness of Balaam\n to Israel Numbers XXII 2\nThe Judges 105 III The Crowning of\n Abimelech Judges VIII 29\nThe Judges 122 IV Samson's Wedding Feast Judges XIV 1\nThe Kings 189 V The Expedition against\n Elisha II Kings VI 8\nMinor Prophets 15 VI The Dream of the Tree\n cut down Daniel IV 1\nMinor Prophets 20 VII Belshazzar's Feast Daniel V 1\n\n ORATORY\n\nDeuteronomy 91 I The Oration of Moses at\n the Rehearsal of the\n Blessing and the Curse Deuteronomy XXVIII 1\nEcclesiastes, 71 II A Discourse on\n etc. Immortality and the Wisdom\n Covenant with Death of Solomon I 12\nIsaiah 7 III Isaiah: The Great\n Arraignment Isaiah I 2\nIsaiah 93 IV Isaiah: The Covenant\n with Death Isaiah XXVIII 1\nIsaiah 109 V Isaiah: The Utter\n Destruction and the Great\n Restoration Isaiah XXXIV 1\nEzekiel 79 VI Ezekiel: The Sword of\n the Lord Ezekiel XXI 1\nEzekiel 104 VII Ezekiel: Wreck of the Ezekiel XXVII 1\n Goodly Ship Tyre,\n\n VIII Prophetic Sentences\nJeremiah 41 Thus saith the Lord: Let\n not the wise Jeremiah IX 23\nJeremiah 43 There is none like unto\n thee Jeremiah X 6\nJeremiah 71 Thus saith the Lord:\n Cursed Jeremiah XVII 5\nJeremiah 127 Behold, the days come Jeremiah XXXI 31\n\n WISDOM\n\n Wisdom Brevities\n\nProverbs 48 The liberal soul Proverbs XI 25\nProverbs 59 Where no oxen are Proverbs XIV 4\nProverbs 75 He that is slow to anger Proverbs XVI 32\nProverbs 91 It is naught Proverbs XX 14\nProverbs 132 The words of a whisperer Proverbs XXVI 22\nProverbs 133 Boast not thyself Proverbs XXVII 1\nProverbs 43 As vinegar to the teeth Proverbs X 26\nProverbs 85 All the brethren Proverbs XIX 7\nProverbs 94 The getting of treasures Proverbs XXI 6\nProverbs 128 As one that taketh off Proverbs XXV 20\nProverbs 134 Wrath is cruel Proverbs XXVII 4\nProverbs 136 The fining pot Proverbs XXVII 21\nProverbs 108 Epigram: Transitoriness\n of Riches, Proverbs XXIII 4\nProverbs 109 Epigram: Hospitality of\n the Evil Eye Proverbs XXIII 6\nEcclesiasticus 16 Maxim: My son, if thou\n comest Ecclesiasticus II 1\nEcclesiasticus 57 Three Temperance Maxims Ecclesiasticus XVIII 30\n\n Essays\n\nEcclesiasticus 22 i Wisdom's Way with her\n Children Ecclesiasticus IV 11\nEcclesiasticus 40 ii Prosperity and\n Adversity are from\n the Lord Ecclesiasticus XI 11\nEcclesiasticus 58 iii Against Gossip Ecclesiasticus XIX 4\nEcclesiasticus 94 iv On the Tongue Ecclesiasticus XXVIII 12\nEcclesiasticus 42 v Choice of Company Ecclesiasticus XI 29\nEcclesiasticus 129 vi The Wisdom of Business\n and the Wisdom of\n Leisure Ecclesiasticus XXXVIII 24\nEcclesiastes,\n etc. 55 vii Life as a Joy\n shadowed by the Judgment Ecclesiastes XI 7\n\n Sonnets\n\nProverbs 23 i The Sluggard Proverbs VI 6\nEcclesiasticus 70 ii Mourning for the Fool Ecclesiasticus XXII 11\nProverbs 18 iii The Two Paths Proverbs IV 10\nProverbs 13 iv The Creator has made\n Wisdom the Supreme\n Prize Proverbs III 11\nEcclesiasticus 72 v Watchfulness of Lips\n and Heart Ecclesiasticus XXII 27\nEcclesiasticus 13 vi Wisdom and the Fear\n of the Lord Ecclesiasticus I 1\nProverbs 27 vii Wisdom and the\n Strange Woman Proverbs VII 1\n\n LYRICS\n\nJob 15 I An Elegy of a Broken\n Heart Job III 3\nJob 107 II The Creator's Joy in\n his Creation Job XXXVIII 4\nThe Exodus 43 III The Song of Moses\n and Miriam Exodus XV 1\nThe Judges 88 IV Deborah's Song Judges V 2\nThe Judges 244 V David's Lament II Samuel I 19\nThe Kings 67 VI David's Song of Victory II Samuel XXII 2\nBib. Idyls 13 VII The Bride's\n Reminiscences Song of Songs II 8\nJeremiah 175 VIII Jeremiah: The Battle\n of Carchemish Jeremiah XLVI 3\nIsaiah 190 IX A Song of Zion Redeemed Isaiah LX 1\nIsaiah 49 X Isaiah: Doom of Babylon Isaiah XIII 2\nMinor Prophets 147 XI Nahum: Doom of Nineveh Nahum I 2\n\n RHAPSODY\n\nJeremiah 61 I Rhapsody of the Drought Jeremiah XIV 2\nMinor Prophets 157 II Rhapsody of the\n Chaldeans Habakkuk I 2\nMinor Prophets 77 III Rhapsody of the\n Locust Plague Joel I 2\nJeremiah 35 IV The Hurt of the Daughter\n of my People Jeremiah VIII 4\nMinor Prophets 140 V The Lord's Controversy\n before the Mountains Micah VI 1\nIsaiah 131 VI Prelude to the Rhapsody\n of Zion Redeemed Isaiah XL 1\nIsaiah 165 VII Zion Awakened Isaiah LI 1\n\n\n\n\nSmall 18mo. Cloth extra, 50 cents each; Leather, 60 cents.\n\nThe Modern Reader's Bible.\n\nA Series of Books from the Sacred Scriptures,\npresented in Modern Literary Form,\n\nBY\n\nRICHARD G. MOULTON,\n\nM.A. (Camb.), Ph.D. (Penn.),\n\nProfessor of Literature in English in the University of Chicago.\n\nPRESS COMMENTS.\n\nThe Outlook, New York.\n\n\"The effect of these changes back to the original forms under which the\nsacred writings first appeared will be, for the vast majority of\nreaders, a surprise and delight; they will feel as if they had come upon\nnew spiritual and intellectual treasures, and they will appreciate for\nthe first time how much the Bible has suffered from the hands of those\nwho have treated it without reference to its literary quality. In view\nof the significance and possible results of Professor Moulton's\nundertaking, it is not too much to pronounce it one of the most\nimportant spiritual and literary events of the times. It is part of the\nrenaissance of Biblical study; but it may mean, and in our judgment it\ndoes mean, the renewal of a fresh and deep impression of the beauty and\npower of the supreme spiritual writing of the world.\"\n\nPresbyterian and Reformed Review.\n\n\"Unquestionably here is a task worth carrying out: and it is to be said\nat once that Dr. Moulton has carried it out with great skill and\nhelpfulness. Both the introduction and the notes are distinct\ncontributions to the better understanding and higher appreciation of the\nliterary character, features and beauties of the Biblical books\ntreated.\"\n\nTHE MACMILLAN COMPANY\n\n66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK\n\nWISDOM SERIES\n\nIN FOUR VOLUMES\n\nTHE PROVERBS\n\n A Miscellany of Sayings and Poems embodying Isolated Observations\n of Life.\n\nECCLESIASTICUS\n\n A Miscellany including longer compositions, still embodying only\n Isolated Observations of Life.\n\nECCLESIASTES--WISDOM OF SOLOMON\n\n Each is a Series of Connected Writings embodying, from different\n standpoints, a Solution of the Whole Mystery of Life.\n\nTHE BOOK OF JOB\n\n A Dramatic Poem in which are embodied Varying Solutions of the\n Mystery of Life.\n\nDEUTERONOMY\n\n The Orations and Songs of Moses, constituting his Farewell to the\n People of Israel.\n\nBIBLICAL IDYLS\n\n The Lyric Idyl of Solomon's Song, and the Epic Idyls of Ruth,\n Esther, and Tobit.\n\nTHE PSALMS (Two Volumes)\n\n Containing the whole of The Psalms and also the Book of\n Lamentations.\n\nSELECT MASTERPIECES OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE\n\nHISTORY SERIES\n\nIN FIVE VOLUMES\n\nGENESIS\n\n Bible History, Part I: Formation of the Chosen Nation.\n\nTHE EXODUS\n\n Bible History, Part II: Migration of the Chosen Nation to the Land\n of Promise.--Book of Exodus, with Leviticus and Numbers.\n\nTHE JUDGES\n\n Bible History, Part III: The Chosen Nation in its Efforts towards\n Secular Government.--Books of Joshua, Judges, I Samuel.\n\nTHE KINGS\n\n Bible History, Part IV: The Chosen Nation under a Secular\n Government side by side with a Theocracy.--Books of II Samuel, I\n and II Kings.\n\nTHE CHRONICLES\n\n Ecclesiastical History of the Chosen Nation.--Books of Chronicles,\n Ezra, Nehemiah.\n\nPROPHECY SERIES\n\nIN FOUR VOLUMES\n\nISAIAH\n\n The vision of Isaiah, the Son of Amoz, which he saw concerning\n Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and\n Hezekiah, Kings of Judah.\n\nEZEKIEL\n\n The prophetic works of Ezekiel.\n\nJEREMIAH\n\n The words of Jeremiah, the Son of Hilkiah, to whom the Word of the\n Lord came in the days of Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah, Kings of\n Judah.\n\nDANIEL AND THE MINOR PROPHETS\n\n Containing The Book of Daniel, The Prophecy of Hosea, The Prophecy\n of Joel, The Book of Amos, The Vision of Obadiah, The Book of\n Jonah, The Prophecy of Micah, The Oracle Concerning Nineveh and the\n Book of Nahum, The Oracle which Habakkuk did see, The Prophecy of\n Zephaniah, The Book of Haggai, The Book of Zechariah, and other\n anonymous prophecies.\n\nNEW TESTAMENT SERIES\n\nIN FOUR VOLUMES\n\nST. MATTHEW, ST. MARK, and the GENERAL EPISTLES\n\n Containing The Gospel according to St. Matthew, The Gospel\n according to St. Mark, an Epistle to the Hebrews, The Epistle of\n St. James, The Epistles of St. Peter, and The Epistle of St. Jude.\n\nST. LUKE and ST. PAUL (Two Volumes)\n\n Containing The Gospel of St. Luke, The Acts of the Apostles, with\n the Pauline Epistles introduced at the several points of the\n history to which they are usually referred. An opportunity will\n thus be afforded of studying, without the interruption of comment\n or discussion, the continuous History of the New Testament Church\n as presented by itself.\n\nST. JOHN\n\n Containing the Gospel, Epistles, and Revelation of St. John.\n\n\nTHE MACMILLAN COMPANY\n\n66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK","title":"Select Masterpieces of Biblical Literature","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":59351}