Kings greatly to be respected.

CHRIST

CHAP. VIII.

Before cutest C1 True wisdom inspireth modesty. 2 Kings are greatly to be respected. 6 Man's ignorance of futurity. 12 The difference of the good and the wicked in the end, though it be otherwise for a time. 16 The work of God is unsearchable.

a Prov. 17.24.

Worldly things forgotten in death.

CHAP. IX.

Before CHRIST

interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom

+ Heb. maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed.

the

strength.

+ Heb. shall

know.

12
2 I counsel thee to keep the king's commandment,
and that in regard of the oath of God.

3 Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him. 4 Where the word of a king is, there is power; and who may say unto him, What doest thou?

5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing; and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.

106 6 Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him. 7 For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who 10r can tell him when it shall be?

how it b

shall be?

14. 5.

pons.

b

8¶There is no man that hath power over the spirit b Job to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no || discharge in that war; neither Or, casting shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it. off wed-9 All t this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt. 10 And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come -and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done. This is also vanity.

11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

12 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, Psal.37. and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:

14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; d Palm that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked: again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous. I said, that this also is vanity. e Chap. 15 Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry; for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God. giveth him under the sun.

16 ¶ When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth; (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes;)

7/17 Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun; because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it: yea farther, though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.

2 a All things come alike to all: there is one event to 73.12,13. the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good, and Malachi to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

3 This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all; yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.

8 Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.

12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in c Prov. an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them. 13 This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

14 There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:

15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

Observations on wisdom, folly, &c.

CHRIST

Before 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but cir. 977. one sinner destroyeth much good. CHAP. X.

1 Observations on wisdom and folly; 16 on the defects and virtues of governors'; 18 on slothfulness; 19 on money. 20 Men's thoughts of kings ought to be reverent. + Heb. DEAD flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour. 2 A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left.

Flies of death.

8 b He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and b Psalm whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him. 9 Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby. 10 If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.

Exhortations to charitableness.

1 The Creator is to be remembered in due time. 8 The Preacher's care to edify. 13 The general conclusion, That man's chief concern is to fear God, and obey his laws.

Heb. ment; and † a babbler is no better.

the ma

sterof the

c Prov. 10.32.&

с

12 The words of a wise man's mouth are † gratongue cious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. 13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness; and the end of this talk is mischievous madness. 14 A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?

12. 13. + Heb. grace.

+ Heb. his

mouth.

d

15 The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of d Prov. them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city. 16 Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!

25.2.

+ Heb. multiplieth words.

f

17 Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the e Chap. son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for 3.22. & strength, and not for drunkenness !

6.12.

f Isaiah

18 By much slothfulness the building decayeth; 3.4, 5. and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth g Psalm through. 104.16. 19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine + maketh merry: but money answereth all things.

+ Heb. malceth

glad the life.

h Exod. 22.28.

h

20 Curse not the king, no, not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bed-chamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath Or,con- wings shall tell the matter. CHAP. XI.

science.

thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:

3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and || the grinders cease because they are few, and th those that look out of the windows be darkened,

grinders

fail, be 4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when cause they the scund of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up grind at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of little. musick shall be brought low;

5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond-tree shall flourish, and the grashopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:

6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern:

7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was;

b John

6.44.

4 b Draw me, we will run after thee. The King hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee; we will remember thy love more they love than wine: | the upright love thee.

Or,

thee up

rightly.

5¶I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. 6 Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.

7 Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at Or, as noon for why should I be || as one that turneth aside availed by the flocks of thy companions?

one that

Or,

cypress.

с Chap.

41.&

5.12.

Or,

8 If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents. 9 I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots.

10 Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold.

11 We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.

12 While the King sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.

13 A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.

14 My beloved is unto me as a cluster of || camphire in the vineyards of En-gedi.

C

15 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes.

16 Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleapanion sant: also our bed is green.

my com

|| Or,

17 The beams of our house are cedar, and our galleries. rafters of fir.

CHAP. II.

1 The mutual love of Christ and his church. 8 The hope, 10 and calling of the church. 14 Christ's care of the church. 16 The profession of the church, &c. 4M the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. 2 As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

ter, even

CHRIST

3 As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, Before so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under cir.1014. his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet + Heb. I. to my taste.

delighted down,

4 He brought me to the banqueting-house, and and sat his banner over me was love.

& c.

5. Stay me with flagons, † comfort me with apples; + Heb. for I am sick of love.

a

palate.

6 His left hand is under my head, and his right + Heb. hand doth embrace me.

house of wine.

7 +I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, + Heb. by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir straw me not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

with apples.

Heb.

b Chap. 3. 5. &

8 The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh a Chap. leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. 8.3. 9 My beloved is like a roe, or a young hart: be-adjure hold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at you. the windows, † shewing himself through the lattice. 10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, 8. 4. my love, my fair one, and come away: 11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and + Heb. flourish gone; 12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

13 The fig-tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

14 Omy dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy coun tenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely..

15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

Y night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

2 I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

3 The watchmen that go about the city found me; to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?

4 It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.

6 Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and b Chap. frankincense, with all powders of the merchant ?

8.5.

|| Or,

ú bed

a Chap.

7. Behold his bed, which is Solomon's: threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel. 8 They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night.

9 King Solomon made himself || a chariot of the wood of Lebanon.

10 He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem.

11 Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.

a

CHAP. IV.

1 Christ setting forth the graces of the church. 16 The church prayeth to be made fit for his presence. 1.15. & BEHOLD, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast dove's eyes within thy locks: b Chap. thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from mount Gilead.

5. 12.

6. 5.

|| Or, that eat

b

2 Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even of, &c. shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them. 3 Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.

c Chap.

7.3.

d Chap.

2. 17.

Heb.

breathe.

c Ephes. .5.27.

4 Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.

с

5 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.

6 Until the day +break, and the shadows flee away, I will I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.

7 Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee. 8 Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from f Deut. the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards.

3.9.

|| Or,

taken

away my heart.

g Chap.

1.2.

+ Heb. barred.

H Or, cypress.

f

9 Thou hast | ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck.

10 How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!

11 Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honey-comb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.

12 A garden + inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.

13 Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; || camphire, with spikenard; 14 Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:

2 I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of with my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.

3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? 4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved || for him. H 5 I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet- me. smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.

1

8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, † that ye tell him, that I am sick of love. † Heb. 9 What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?

10 My beloved is white and ruddy, † the chiefest Heb. a among ten thousand.

11 His head is as the most fine gold; his locks are bushy, and black as a raven;

+ Heb. fulness, Thi that is, ced, and set as a

14 His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl; fly pla his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires: 15 His legs are as pillars of marble set upon sockets precious of fine gold; his countenance is as Lebanon, excel- stone in lent as the cedars :

alle

How

Thi

the foil of

a ring.

16+His mouth is most sweet; yea, he is altogether || Or, lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, toz O daughters of Jerusalem.

CHAP. VI.

towers of perfumce + Heb. his pa

1 The church professeth her faith in Christ. 4 Christ late. sheweth the graces of the church, 10 and love toward her. WHITHER is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.

4¶ Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners.

5 Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have puffed overcome me: thy hair is b as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead:

me up.

b Chap. 4.1.

6 Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them.

7 As a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks.

8 There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number.

9 My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her: the daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her. 10 Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners ?

11 I went down into the garden of nuts, to see the Heb. 7 fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flouknew not. rished, and the pomegranates budded.

Or, set 12 +Or ever I was aware, my soul || made me like chariots the chariots of Ammi-nadib.

me on the

of my

willing

13 Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, people that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the 10 of Shulamite ? As it were the company || of two armies. CHAP. VII.

Maka கண்

OW beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman:

2 Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth +Heb. not liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies:

mixture.

a Chap.

4.5.

1 Or,

crimson.

+ Heb.

3 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins:

4 Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fish-pools in Heshbon by the gate of Bath-rabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus :

5 Thine head upon thee is like | Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple: the King is held in

bond the galleries:

6 How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!

7 This thy stature is like to a palm-tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes.

6 I said, I will go up to the palm-tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples;

The church's love to Christ.

CHRIST

9 And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine Before for my beloved, that goeth down + sweetly, causing cir. 1014. the lips of those that are asleep to speak.

me.

10 I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward Heb.

11 Come, my beloved, let us let us lodge in the villages:

straight

12 Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see b Chap. if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape † appear, & 16 and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give + Heb. thee my loves.

с

open.

20. 14.

13 The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates c Genes. are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.

7 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.

8 We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?

9 If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver; and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar.

10 I am a wall, and my breasts like towers; then was I in his eyes as one that found † favour.

11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers: every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver.

12 My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep

the fruit thereof two hundred.

13 Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the compa-. nions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it.