My beloved is white and ruddy,
The chiefest among ten thousand.
His head is as the most fine gold;
His locks are bushy, and black as a raven.
His eyes are like doves beside the water brooks,
Washed with milk, and fitly set.
His cheeks are as a bed of spices,
As banks of sweet herbs:
His lips are as lilies, dropping liquid myrrh.
His hands are as rings of gold set with beryl:
His body is as ivory work overlaid with sapphires.
His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine

gold:
His aspect is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.
His mouth is most sweet;
Yea, he is altogether lovely.
This is my beloved, and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.

Whither is thy beloved gone,
O thou fairest among women?
Whither hath thy beloved turned him,
That we may seek him with thee?

My beloved is gone down to his garden,
To the beds of spices,
To feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine:
He feedeth his flock among the lilies.

I am my beloved's;
And his desire is toward me.
Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field;
Let us lodge in the villages.
Let us get up early to the vineyards;
Let us see whether the vine hath budded,
And its blossom is open,
And the pomegranates are in flower:
There will I give thee my love.
The mandrakes give forth fragrance;

And at our doors are all manner of precious fruits, new

and old, Which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved. .

Set me as a seal upon thy heart,
As a seal upon thine arm:
For love is strong as death;
Jealously is cruel as Sheol;
The flashes thereof are fashes of fire,
A very flame of Jehovah.
Many waters cannot quench love,
Neither can floods drown it.

LAMENTATIONS

How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people!
She is become as a widow, that was great among the nations!
She that was a princess among the provinces is become

tributary! She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her

cheeks; Among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they are

become her enemies. Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because

of great servitude; She dwelleth among the nations, she findeth no rest: All her persecutors overtook her within the straits. The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the

solemn assembly; All her gates are desolate, her priests do sigh: Her virgins are afflicted, and she herself is in bitterness.

all

ye

pass by ?

Is it nothing to you,

that Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow,

which is brought upon me, Wherewith Jehovah hath afflicted me in the day of his

fierce anger.

I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his

wrath. He hath led me and caused me to walk in darkness, and

not in light. Surely against me he turneth his hand again and again all

the day. My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken

my bones.

He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall

and travail. He hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those that

have been long dead. He hath walled me about, that I cannot go forth; he hath

made my chain heavy. Yea, when I cry, and call for help, he shuttethout my

prayer. He hath walled up my ways with hewn stone; he hath made

my paths crooked. He is unto me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret

places. He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces ; "he

hath made me desolate. He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. Remember mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and

the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is bowed

down within me. This I recall to my mind; therefore have I hope. It is of Jehovah's lovingkindnesses that we are not con

sumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. Jehovah is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope

in him. Jehovah is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul

that seeketh him. It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the

salvation of Jehovah. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone and keep silence, because he hath laid it

upon him.

Let him put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be

hope. Let him give his cheeks to him that smiteth him; let him

be filled full with reproach. For the Lord will not cast off for ever. For though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion ac

cording to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses. For he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of

men.

To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,
To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the

Most High,
To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not.
Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord

commandeth it not? Out of the mouth of the Most High cometh there not evil

and good ? Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the

punishment of his sins ?

Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Jehovah. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the

heavens.

Thou, O Jehovah, abidest for ever;
Thy throne is from generation to generation.
Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever,
And forsake us so long time?
Turn thou us unto thee, O Jehovah, and we shall be turned;
Renew our days as of old.
But thou hast utterly rejected us,
Thou art very wroth against us.

WISDOM LITERATURE