Bible in 90 Days

3 To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven:

² A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted,^(A)

³ A time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up,

⁴ A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

⁵ A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

⁶ A time to get and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to cast away,

⁷ A time to rend and a time to sew, a time to keep silence and a time to speak,^(B)

⁸ A time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.^(C)

⁹ What profit remains for the worker from his toil?

¹⁰ I have seen the painful labor and exertion and miserable business which God has given to the sons of men with which to exercise and busy themselves.

¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy], yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

¹² I know that there is nothing better for them than to be glad and to get and do good as long as they live;

¹³ And also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.

¹⁴ I know that whatever God does, it endures forever; nothing can be added to it nor anything taken from it. And God does it so that men will [reverently] fear Him [revere and worship Him, knowing that He is].^(D)

¹⁵ That which is now already has been, and that which is to be already has been; and God seeks that which has passed by [so that history repeats itself].

¹⁶ Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice there was wickedness, and that in the place of righteousness wickedness was there also.

¹⁷ I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time [appointed] for every matter and purpose and for every work.

¹⁸ I said in my heart regarding the subject of the sons of men, God is trying (separating and sifting) them, that they may see that by themselves [under the sun, without God] they are but like beasts.

¹⁹ For that which befalls the sons of men befalls beasts; even [in the end] one thing befalls them both. As the one dies, so dies the other. Yes, they all have one breath and spirit, so that a ^[a]man has no preeminence over a beast; for all is vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility)!

²⁰ All go to one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

²¹ Who knows the spirit of man, whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the beast, whether it goes downward to the earth?

²² So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for that is his portion. For who shall bring him back to see what will happen after he is gone?

4 Then I returned and considered all the oppressions that are practiced under the sun: And I beheld the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they [too] had no comforter.

² So I praised and thought more fortunate those who have been long dead than the living, who are still alive.

³ But better than them both [I thought] is he who has not yet been born, who has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

⁴ Then I saw that all painful effort in labor and all skill in work comes from man’s rivalry with his neighbor. This is also vanity, a vain striving after the wind and a feeding on it.

⁵ The fool folds his hands together and eats his own flesh [destroying himself by indolence].

⁶ Better is a handful with quietness than both hands full with painful effort, a vain striving after the wind and a feeding on it.

⁷ Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun [in one of its peculiar forms].

⁸ Here is one alone—no one with him; he neither has child nor brother. Yet there is no end to all his labor, neither is his eye satisfied with riches, neither does he ask, For whom do I labor and deprive myself of good? This is also vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility); yes, it is a painful effort and an unhappy business.^(E)

⁹ Two are better than one, because they have a good [more satisfying] reward for their labor;

¹⁰ For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

¹¹ Again, if two lie down together, then they have warmth; but how can one be warm alone?

¹² And though a man might prevail against him who is alone, two will withstand him. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.

¹³ Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who ^[b]no longer knows how to receive counsel (friendly reproof and warning)—

¹⁴ Even though [the youth] comes out of prison to reign, while the other, born a king, becomes needy.

¹⁵ I saw all the living who walk under the sun with the youth who was to stand up in the king’s stead.

¹⁶ There was no end to all the people; he was over all of them. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity (emptiness, falsity, vainglory) and a striving after the wind and a feeding on it.

5 Keep your foot [give your mind to what you are doing] when you go [as Jacob to sacred Bethel] to the house of God. For to draw near to hear and obey is better than to give the sacrifice of fools [carelessly, irreverently] too ignorant to know that they are doing evil.^(F)

² Be not rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be hasty to utter a word before God. For God is in heaven, and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few.

³ For a dream comes with much business and painful effort, and a fool’s voice with many words.

⁴ When you vow a vow or make a pledge to God, do not put off paying it; for God has no pleasure in fools (those who witlessly mock Him). Pay what you vow.^(G)

⁵ It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.^(H)

⁶ Do not allow your mouth to cause your body to sin, and do not say before the messenger [the priest] that it was an error or mistake. Why should God be [made] angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands?^(I)

⁷ For in a multitude of dreams there is futility and worthlessness, and ruin in a flood of words. But [reverently] fear God [revere and worship Him, knowing that He is].

⁸ If you see the oppression of the poor and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in the state or province, do not marvel at the matter. [Be sure that there are those who will attend to it] for a higher [official] than the high is observing, and higher ones are over them.

⁹ Moreover, the profit of the earth is for all; the king himself is served by the field and in all, a king is an advantage to a land with cultivated fields.

¹⁰ He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance with gain. This also is vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility)!

¹¹ When goods increase, they who eat them increase also. And what gain is there to their owner except to see them with his eyes?

¹² The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the fullness of the rich will not let him sleep.

¹³ There is a serious and severe evil which I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt.

¹⁴ But those riches are lost in a bad venture; and he becomes the father of a son, and there is nothing in his hand [with which to support the child].

¹⁵ As [the man] came forth from his mother’s womb, so he will go again, naked as he came; and he will take away nothing for all his labor which he can carry in his hand.

¹⁶ And this also is a serious and severe evil—that in all points as he came, so shall he go; and what gain has he who labors for the wind?^(J)

¹⁷ All his days also he eats in darkness [cheerlessly, with no sweetness and light in them], and much sorrow and sickness and wrath are his.

¹⁸ Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is for one to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in all the labor in which he labors under the sun all the days which God gives him—for this is his [allotted] part.^(K)

¹⁹ Also, every man to whom God has given riches and possessions, and the power to enjoy them and to accept his appointed lot and to rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God [to him].

²⁰ For he shall not much remember [seriously] the days of his life, because God [Himself] answers and corresponds to the joy of his heart [the tranquillity of God is mirrored in him].

6 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavily upon men:

² A man to whom God has given riches, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he might desire, yet God does not give him the power or capacity to enjoy them [things which are gifts from God], but a stranger [in whom he has no interest succeeds him and] consumes and enjoys them. This is vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility); it is a sore affliction!^(L)

³ If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years so that the days of his years are many, but his life is not filled with good, and also he is given no burial [honors nor is laid to rest in the sepulcher of his fathers], I say that [he who had] an untimely birth [resulting in death] is better off than he,^(M)

⁴ For [the untimely one] comes in futility and goes into darkness, and in darkness his name is covered.

⁵ Moreover, he has not seen the sun nor had any knowledge, yet he [the stillborn child] has rest rather than he [who is aware of all that he has missed and all that he would not have had to suffer].

⁶ Even though he lives a thousand years twice over and yet has seen no good and experienced no enjoyment—do not all go to one place [the place of the dead]?

⁷ All the labor of man is for his mouth [for self-preservation and enjoyment], and yet his desire is not satisfied.^(N)

⁸ For what advantage has the wise man over the fool [being worldly-wise is not the secret to happiness]? What advantage has the poor man who has learned how to walk before the living [publicly, with men’s eyes upon him; being poor is not the secret to happiness either]?

⁹ Better is the sight of the eyes [the enjoyment of what is available to one] than the cravings of wandering desire. This is also vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility) and a striving after the wind and a feeding on it!

¹⁰ Whatever [man] is, he has been named that long ago, and it is known that it is man ^[c][Adam]; nor can he contend with Him who is mightier than he [whether God or death].

¹¹ Seeing that there are [all these and] many other things and words that increase the emptiness, falsity, vainglory, and futility [of living], what profit and what outcome is there for man?

¹² For who [^[d]limited to human wisdom] knows what is good for man in his life, all the days of his vain life which he spends as a shadow [going through the motions but accomplishing nothing]? For who can tell a man what will happen [to his work, his treasure, his plans] under the sun after he is gone?

7 A good name is better than precious perfume, and the day of death better than the day of one’s birth.

² It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to heart.

³ Sorrow is better than laughter, for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better and gains gladness.^(O)

⁴ The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth and sensual joy.

⁵ It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools.

⁶ For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility)!

⁷ Surely oppression and extortion make a wise man foolish, and a bribe destroys the understanding and judgment.

⁸ Better is the end of a thing than the beginning of it, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

⁹ Do not be quick in spirit to be angry or vexed, for anger and vexation lodge in the bosom of fools.^(P)

¹⁰ Do not say, Why were the old days better than these? For it is not wise or because of wisdom that you ask this.

¹¹ Wisdom is as good as an inheritance, yes, more excellent it is for those [the living] who see the sun.

¹² For wisdom is a defense even as money is a defense, but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom shields and preserves the life of him who has it.

¹³ Consider the work of God: who can make straight what He has made crooked?

¹⁴ In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider that God has made the one side by side with the other, so that man may not find out anything that shall be after him.

¹⁵ I have seen everything in the days of my vanity (my emptiness, falsity, vainglory, and futility): there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in [spite of] his evildoing.

¹⁶ Be not [morbidly exacting and externally] righteous overmuch, neither strive to make yourself [pretentiously appear] overwise—why should you [get puffed up and] destroy yourself [with presumptuous self-sufficiency]?

¹⁷ [Although all have sinned] be not wicked overmuch or willfully, neither be foolish—why should you die before your time?

¹⁸ It is good that you should take hold of this and from that withdraw not your hand; for he who [reverently] fears and worships God will come forth from them all.

¹⁹ [True] wisdom is a strength to the wise man more than ten rulers or valiant generals who are in the city.^(Q)

²⁰ Surely there is not a righteous man upon earth who does good and never sins.^(R)

²¹ Do not give heed to everything that is said, lest you hear your servant cursing you—

²² For often your own heart knows that you have likewise cursed others.

²³ All this have I tried and proved by wisdom. I said, I will be wise [independently of God]—but it was far from me.

²⁴ That which is is far off, and that which is deep is very deep—who can find it out [true wisdom independent of the fear of God]?^(S)

²⁵ I turned about [penitent] and my heart was set to know and to search out and to seek [true] wisdom and the reason of things, and to know that wickedness is folly and that foolishness is madness [and what had led me into such wickedness and madness].

²⁶ And I found that [of all sinful follies none has been so ruinous in seducing one away from God as idolatrous women] more bitter than death is the woman whose heart is snares and nets and whose hands are bands. Whoever pleases God shall escape from her, but the sinner shall be taken by her.

²⁷ Behold, this I have found, says the Preacher, while weighing one thing after another to find out the right estimate [and the reason]—

²⁸ Which I am still seeking but have not found—one upright man among a thousand have I found, but an upright woman among all those [one thousand in my harem] have I not found.^(T)

²⁹ Behold, this is the only [reason for it that] I have found: God made man upright, but they [men and women] have sought out many devices [for evil].

8 Who is like the wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his countenance is changed.

² I counsel you to keep the king’s command, and that in regard to the oath of God [by which you swore to him loyalty].^(U)

³ Be not panic-stricken and hasty to get out of his presence. Persist not in an evil thing, for he does whatever he pleases.

⁴ For the word of a king is authority and power, and who can say to him, What are you doing?

⁵ Whoever observes the [king’s] command will experience no harm, and a wise man’s mind will know both when and what to do.

⁶ For every purpose and matter has its [right] time and judgment, although the misery and wickedness of man lies heavily upon him [who rebels against the king].

⁷ For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how and when it will be?

⁸ There is no man who has power over the spirit to retain the breath of life, neither has he power over the day of death; and there is no discharge in battle [against death], neither will wickedness deliver those who are its possessors and given to it.

⁹ All this have I seen while applying my mind to every work that is done under the sun. There is a time in which one man has power over another to his own hurt or to the other man’s.

¹⁰ And so I saw the wicked buried—those who had come and gone out of the holy place [but did not thereby escape their doom], and they are [praised and] forgotten in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity (emptiness, falsity, vainglory, and futility)!

¹¹ Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, the hearts of the sons of men are fully set to do evil.

¹² Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and his days [seemingly] are prolonged [in his wickedness], yet surely I know that it will be well with those who [reverently] fear God, who revere and worship Him, realizing His continual presence.^(V)

¹³ But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not [reverently] fear and worship God.^(W)

¹⁴ Here also is a futility that goes on upon the earth: there are righteous men who fare as though they were wicked, and wicked men who fare as though they were righteous. I say that this also is vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility)!

¹⁵ Then I commended enjoyment, because a man has no better thing under the sun [without God] than to eat and to drink and to be joyful, for that will remain with him in his toil through the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.

¹⁶ When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to see the business activity and the painful effort that take place upon the earth—how neither day nor night some men’s eyes sleep—

¹⁷ Then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun—because however much a man may toil in seeking, yet he will not find it out; yes, more than that, though a wise man thinks and claims he knows, yet will he not be able to find it out.^(X)

9 For all this I took to heart, exploring and examining it all, how the righteous (the upright, in right standing with God) and the wise and their works are in the hands of God. Whether it is to be love or hatred no man knows; all that is before them.

² All things come alike to all. There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good and to the clean and to the unclean; to him who sacrifices and to him who does not sacrifice. As is the good man, so is the sinner; and he who swears is as he who fears and shuns an oath.

³ This evil is in all that is done under the sun: one fate comes to all. Also the hearts of men are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

⁴ [There is no exemption] but he who is joined to all the living has hope—for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

⁵ For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; and they have no more reward [here], for the memory of them is forgotten.

⁶ Their love and their hatred and their envy have already perished; neither have they any more a share in anything that is done under the sun.

⁷ Go your way, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart [if you are righteous, wise, and in the hands of God], for God has already accepted your works.

⁸ Let your garments be always white [with purity], and let your head not lack [the] oil [of gladness].

⁹ Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun—all the days of futility. For that is your portion in this life and in your work at which you toil under the sun.

¹⁰ Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol (the place of the dead), where you are going.

¹¹ I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong, neither is bread to the wise nor riches to men of intelligence and understanding nor favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.^(Y)

¹² For man also knows not his time [of death]: as the fishes are taken in an evil net, and as the birds are caught in the snare, so are the sons of men snared in an evil time when [calamity] falls suddenly upon them.

¹³ This [illustration of] wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great to me:

¹⁴ There was a little city with few men in it. And a great king came against it and besieged it and built great bulwarks against it.

¹⁵ But there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no man [seriously] remembered that poor man.

¹⁶ But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heeded.

¹⁷ The words of wise men heard in quiet are better than the shouts of him who rules among fools.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

10 Dead flies cause the ointment of the perfumer to putrefy [and] send forth a vile odor; so does a little folly [in him who is valued for wisdom] outweigh wisdom and honor.

² A wise man’s heart turns him toward his right hand, but a fool’s heart toward his left.^(Z)

³ Even when he who is a fool walks along the road, his heart and understanding fail him, and he says of everyone and to everyone that he is a fool.

⁴ If the temper of the ruler rises up against you, do not leave your place [or show a resisting spirit]; for gentleness and calmness prevent or put a stop to great offenses.

⁵ There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, like an error which proceeds from the ruler:

⁶ Folly is set in great dignity and in high places, and the rich sit in low places.

⁷ I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking like slaves on the earth.

⁸ He who digs a pit [for others] will fall into it, and whoever breaks through a fence or a [stone] wall, a serpent will bite him.^(AA)

⁹ Whoever removes [landmark] stones or hews out [new ones with similar intent] will be hurt with them, and he who fells trees will be endangered by them.^(AB)

¹⁰ If the ax is dull and the man does not whet the edge, he must put forth more strength; but wisdom helps him to succeed.

¹¹ If the serpent bites before it is charmed, then it is no use to call a charmer [and the slanderer is no better than the uncharmed snake].

¹² The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious and win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him.

¹³ The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talk is wicked madness.

¹⁴ A fool also multiplies words, though no man can tell what will be—and what will happen after he is gone, who can tell him?

¹⁵ The labor of fools wearies every one of them, because [he is so ignorant of the ordinary matters that] he does not even know how to get to town.

¹⁶ Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child or a servant and when your officials feast in the morning!

¹⁷ Happy (fortunate and to be envied) are you, O land, when your king is a free man and of noble birth and character and when your officials feast at the proper time—for strength and not for drunkenness!^(AC)

¹⁸ Through indolence the rafters [of state affairs] decay and the roof sinks in, and through idleness of the hands the house leaks.

¹⁹ [Instead of repairing the breaches, the officials] make a feast for laughter, serve wine to cheer life, and [depend on tax] money to answer for all of it.

²⁰ Curse not the king, no, not even in your thoughts, and curse not the rich in your bedchamber, for a bird of the air will carry the voice, and a winged creature will tell the matter.^(AD)

11 Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.

² Give a portion to seven, yes, even [divide it] to eight, for you know not what evil may come upon the earth.

³ If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth; and if a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.

⁴ He who observes the wind [and waits for all conditions to be favorable] will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

⁵ As you know not what is the way of the wind, or how the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a pregnant woman, even so you know not the work of God, Who does all.

⁶ In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening withhold not your hands, for you know not which shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

⁷ Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun.

⁸ Yes, if a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all; yet let him [seriously] remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. All that comes is vanity (emptiness, falsity, vainglory, and futility)!

⁹ Rejoice, O young man, in your adolescence, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your [full-grown] youth. And walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

¹⁰ Therefore remove [the lusts that end in] sorrow and vexation from your heart and mind and put away evil from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity [transitory, idle, empty, and devoid of truth].^(AE)

12 Remember [earnestly] also your Creator [that you are not your own, but His property now] in the days of your youth, before the evil days come or the years draw near when you will say [of physical pleasures], I have no enjoyment in them—^(AF)

² Before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened [sight is impaired], and the clouds [of depression] return after the rain [of tears];

³ In the day when the keepers of the house [the hands and the arms] tremble, and the strong men [the feet and the knees] bow themselves, and the grinders [the molar teeth] cease because they are few, and those who look out of the windows [the eyes] are darkened;

⁴ When the doors [the lips] are shut in the streets and the sound of the grinding [of the teeth] is low, and one rises up at the voice of a bird and the crowing of a cock, and all the daughters of music [the voice and the ear] are brought low;

⁵ Also when [the old] are afraid of danger from that which is high, and fears are in the way, and the almond tree [their white hair] blooms, and the grasshopper [a little thing] is a burden, and desire and appetite fail, because man goes to his everlasting home and the mourners go about the streets or marketplaces.^(AG)

⁶ [Remember your Creator earnestly now] before the silver cord [of life] is snapped apart, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern [and the whole circulatory system of the blood ceases to function];

⁷ Then shall the dust [out of which God made man’s body] return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God Who gave it.

⁸ Vapor of vapors and futility of futilities, says the Preacher. All is futility (emptiness, falsity, vainglory, and transitoriness)!

⁹ And furthermore, because the Preacher was wise, he [Solomon] still taught the people knowledge; and he pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰ The Preacher sought acceptable words, even to write down rightly words of truth or correct sentiment.

¹¹ The words of the wise are like prodding goads, and firmly fixed [in the mind] like nails are the collected sayings which are given [as proceeding] from one Shepherd.^(AH)

¹² But about going further [than the words given by one Shepherd], my son, be warned. Of making many books there is no end [so do not believe everything you read], and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

¹³ All has been heard; the end of the matter is: Fear God [revere and worship Him, knowing that He is] and keep His commandments, for this is the whole of man [the full, original purpose of his creation, the object of God’s providence, the root of character, the foundation of all happiness, the adjustment to all inharmonious circumstances and conditions under the sun] and the whole [duty] for every man.

¹⁴ For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it is good or evil.^(AI)

note: Among the multitudes who read the Bible there are comparatively few who have a clear understanding of the Song of Solomon. Some have thought it to be a collection of songs, but it is more generally understood to be a sort of drama, the positive interpretation of which is impossible because the identity of the speakers and the length of the speeches are not disclosed.

1 The song of songs [the most excellent of them all] which is Solomon’s.^(AJ)

² Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! [she cries. Then, realizing that Solomon has arrived and has heard her speech, she turns to him and adds] For your love is better than wine!

³ [And she continues] The odor of your ointments is fragrant; your name is like perfume poured out. Therefore do the maidens love you.

⁴ Draw me! We will run after you! The king brings me into his apartments! We will be glad and rejoice in you! We will recall [when we were favored with] your love, more fragrant than wine. The upright [are not offended at your choice, but sincerely] love you.

⁵ I am so black; but [you are] lovely and pleasant [the ladies assured her]. O you daughters of Jerusalem, [I am as dark] as the tents of [the Bedouin tribe] Kedar, like the [beautiful] curtains of Solomon!

⁶ [Please] do not look at me, [she said, for] I am swarthy. [I have worked out] in the sun and it has left its mark upon me. My stepbrothers were angry with me, and they made me keeper of the vineyards; but my own vineyard [my complexion] I have not kept.

⁷ [Addressing her shepherd, she said] Tell me, O ^[e]you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon. For why should I [as I think of you] be as a veiled one straying beside the flocks of your companions?^(AK)

⁸ If you do not know [where your lover is], O you fairest among women, run along, follow the tracks of the flock, and [amuse yourself by] pasturing your kids beside the shepherds’ tents.

⁹ O my love [he said as he saw her], you remind me of my [favorite] mare in the chariot spans of Pharaoh.

¹⁰ Your cheeks are comely with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.

¹¹ We will make for you chains and ornaments of gold, studded with silver.

¹² While the king sits at his table [she said], my spikenard [my absent lover] sends forth [his] fragrance [over me].

¹³ My beloved [shepherd] is to me like a [scent] bag of myrrh that lies in my bosom.

¹⁴ My beloved [shepherd] is to me a cluster of henna flowers in the vineyards of En-gedi [famed for its fragrant shrubs].

¹⁵ Behold, you are beautiful, my love! Behold, you are beautiful! You have doves’ eyes.

¹⁶ [She cried] Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved [shepherd], yes, delightful! Our arbor and couch are green and leafy.

¹⁷ The beams of our house are cedars, and our rafters and panels are cypresses or pines.

2 [She said] I am only a little rose or autumn crocus of the plain of Sharon, or a [humble] lily of the valleys [that grows in deep and difficult places].

² But Solomon replied, Like the lily among thorns, so are you, my love, among the daughters.

³ Like an apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved [shepherd] among the sons [cried the girl]! Under his shadow I delighted to sit, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

⁴ He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love [for love waved as a protecting and comforting banner over my head when I was near him].

⁵ Sustain me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am sick with love.

⁶ [I can feel] ^[f]his left hand under my head and his right hand embraces me!^(AL)

⁷ [He said] I charge you, O you daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the hinds of the field [which are free to follow their own instincts] that you not try to stir up or awaken [my] love until it pleases.

⁸ [Vividly she pictured it] The voice of my beloved [shepherd]! Behold, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills.^(AM)

⁹ My beloved is like a gazelle or a young hart. Behold, he stands behind the wall of our house, he looks in through the windows, he glances through the lattice.

¹⁰ My beloved speaks and says to me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

¹¹ For, behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone.

¹² The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing [of birds] has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

¹³ The fig tree puts forth and ripens her green figs, and the vines are in blossom and give forth their fragrance. ^[g]Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

¹⁴ [So I went with him, and when we were climbing the rocky steps up the hillside, my beloved shepherd said to me] O my dove, [while you are here] in the seclusion of the clefts in the solid rock, in the sheltered and secret place of the cliff, let me see your face, ^[h]let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.

¹⁵ [My heart was touched and I fervently sang to him my desire] Take for us the foxes, the ^[i]little foxes that spoil the vineyards [of our love], for our vineyards are in blossom.

¹⁶ [She said distinctly] My beloved is mine and I am his! He pastures his flocks among the lilies.^(AN)

¹⁷ [Then, longingly addressing her absent shepherd, she cried] Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, return hastily, O my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young hart as you cover the mountains [which separate us].

3 In the night I dreamed that I sought the one whom I love. [She said] I looked for him but could not find him.^(AO)

² So I decided to go out into the city, into the streets and broad ways [which are so confusing to a country girl], and seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but I could not find him.

³ The watchmen who go about the city found me, to whom I said, Have you seen him whom my soul loves?

⁴ I had gone but a little way past them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her who conceived me.^(AP)

⁵ I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the hinds of the field that you stir not up nor awaken love until it pleases.

⁶ Who or what is this [she asked] that comes gliding out of the wilderness like stately pillars of smoke perfumed with myrrh, frankincense, and all the fragrant powders of the merchant?

⁷ [Someone answered] Behold, it is the traveling litter (the bridal car) of Solomon. Sixty mighty men are around it, of the mighty men of Israel.

⁸ They all handle the sword and are expert in war; every man has his sword upon his thigh, that fear be not excited in the night.

⁹ King Solomon made himself a car or a palanquin from the [cedar] wood of Lebanon.

¹⁰ He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple, the inside of it lovingly and intricately wrought in needlework by the daughters of Jerusalem.

¹¹ Go forth, O you daughters of Zion, and gaze upon King Solomon wearing the crown with which his mother [Bathsheba] crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of his gladness of heart.

4 How fair you are, my love [he said], how very fair! Your eyes behind your veil [remind me] of those of a dove; your hair [makes me think of the black, wavy fleece] of a flock of [the Arabian] goats which one sees trailing down Mount Gilead [beyond the Jordan on the frontiers of the desert].

² Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes which have come up from the washing, of which all are in pairs, and none is missing among them.

³ Your lips are like a thread of scarlet, and your mouth is lovely. Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil.

⁴ Your neck is like the tower of David, built for an arsenal, whereon hang a thousand bucklers, all of them shields of warriors.

⁵ Your two breasts are like two fawns, like twins of a gazelle that feed among the lilies.

⁶ Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, [in my thoughts] I will get to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense [to him whom my soul adores].

⁷ [He exclaimed] O my love, how beautiful you are! There is no flaw in you!^(AQ)

⁸ Come ^[j]away with me from Lebanon, my [promised] bride, come with me from Lebanon. Depart from the top of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards.^(AR)

⁹ You have ravished my heart and given me courage, my sister, my [promised] bride; you have ravished my heart and given me courage with one look from your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.

¹⁰ How beautiful is your love, my sister, my [promised] bride! How much better is your love than wine! And the fragrance of your ointments than all spices!^(AS)

¹¹ Your lips, O my [promised] bride, drop honey as the honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue. And the odor of your garments is like the odor of Lebanon.

¹² A garden enclosed and barred is my sister, my [promised] bride—a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.

¹³ Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates or a paradise with precious fruits, henna with spikenard plants,^(AT)

¹⁴ Spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes, with all the chief spices.

¹⁵ You are a fountain [springing up] in a garden, a well of living waters, and flowing streams from Lebanon.^(AU)

¹⁶ [You have called me a garden, she said] Oh, I pray that the [cold] ^[k]north wind and the [soft] south wind may blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out [in abundance for you in whom my soul delights]. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat its choicest fruits.

5 I have come into my garden, my sister, my [promised] bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my balsam and spice [from your sweet words I have gathered the richest perfumes and spices]. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends [feast on, O revelers of the palace; you can never make my lover disloyal to me]! Drink, yes, drink abundantly of love, O precious one [for now I know you are mine, irrevocably mine! With his confident words still thrilling her heart, through the lattice she saw her shepherd turn away and disappear into the night].^(AV)

² I went to sleep, but my heart stayed awake. [I dreamed that I heard] the voice of my beloved as he knocked [at the door of my mother’s cottage]. Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my spotless one [he said], for I am wet with the [heavy] night dew; my hair is covered with it.^(AW)

³ [But weary from a day in the vineyards, I had already sought my rest] I had put off my garment—^[l]how could I [again] put it on? I had washed my feet—how could I [again] soil them?^(AX)

⁴ My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my heart was moved for him.

⁵ I rose up to open for my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, and my fingers with liquid [sweet-scented] myrrh, [which he had left] upon the handles of the bolt.

⁶ I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had turned away and withdrawn himself, and was gone! My soul went forth [to him] when he spoke, but it failed me [and now he was gone]! I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.

⁷ The watchmen who go about the city found me. They struck me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took my veil and my mantle from me.

⁸ I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him that I am sick from love [simply sick to be with him].^(AY)

⁹ What is your beloved more than another beloved, O you fairest among women [taunted the ladies]? What is your beloved more than another beloved, that you should give us such a charge?^(AZ)

¹⁰ [She said] My beloved is fair and ruddy, the chief among ten thousand!^(BA)

¹¹ His head is [as precious as] the finest gold; his locks are curly and bushy and black as a raven.

¹² His eyes are like doves beside the water brooks, bathed in milk and fitly set.

¹³ His cheeks are like a bed of spices or balsam, like banks of sweet herbs yielding fragrance. His lips are like bloodred anemones or lilies distilling liquid [sweet-scented] myrrh.

¹⁴ His hands are like rods of gold set with [nails of] beryl or topaz. His body is a figure of bright ivory overlaid with [veins of] sapphires.

¹⁵ His legs are like strong and steady pillars of marble set upon bases of fine gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, excellent, stately, and majestic as the cedars.

¹⁶ His voice and speech are exceedingly sweet; yes, he is altogether lovely [the whole of him delights and is precious]. ^[m]This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem!^(BB)

6 Where has your beloved gone, O you fairest among women? [Again the ladies showed their interest in the remarkable person whom the Shulammite had championed with such unstinted praise; they too wanted to know him, they insisted.] Where is your beloved hiding himself? For we would seek him with you.

² [She replied] My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens and to gather lilies.

³ I am my beloved’s [garden] and my beloved is mine! He feeds among the lilies [which grow there].

⁴ [He said] You are as beautiful as Tirzah [capital of the northern kingdom’s first king], my love, and as comely as Jerusalem, [but you are] as terrible as a bannered host!

⁵ Turn away your [flashing] eyes from me, for they have overcome me! Your hair is like a flock of goats trailing down from Mount Gilead.

⁶ Your teeth are like a flock of ewes coming from their washing, of which all are in pairs, and not one of them is missing.

⁷ Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil.

⁸ There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and virgins without number;

⁹ But my dove, my undefiled and perfect one, stands alone [above them all]; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her who bore her. The daughters saw her and called her blessed and happy, yes, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.^(BC)

¹⁰ [The ladies asked] Who is this that looks forth like the dawn, fair as the moon, clear and pure as the sun, and terrible as a bannered host?

¹¹ [The Shulammite replied] I went down into the nut orchard [one day] to look at the green plants of the valley, to see whether the grapevine had budded and the pomegranates were in flower.

¹² Before I was aware [of what was happening], my desire [to roam about] had brought me into the area of the princes of my people [the king’s retinue].

¹³ [I began to flee, but they called to me] Return, return, O Shulammite; return, return, that we may look upon you! [I replied] What is there for you to see in the [poor little] Shulammite? [And they answered] As upon a dance before two armies or a dance of Mahanaim.

7 [Then her companions began noticing and commenting on the attractiveness of her person] How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O queenly maiden! Your rounded limbs are like jeweled chains, the work of a master hand.

² Your body is like a round goblet in which no mixed wine is wanting. Your abdomen is like a heap of wheat set about with lilies.

³ Your two breasts are like two fawns, the twins of a gazelle.

⁴ Your neck is like a tower of ivory, your eyes like the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath-rabbim. Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon which looks toward Damascus.

⁵ Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel, and the hair of your head like purple. [Then seeing the king watching the girl in absorbed admiration, the speaker added] The king is held captive by its tresses.

⁶ [The king came forward, saying] How fair and how pleasant you are, O love, with your delights!

⁷ Your stature is like that of a palm tree, and your bosom like its clusters [of dates, declared the king].

⁸ I resolve that I will climb the palm tree; I will grasp its branches. Let your breasts be like clusters of the grapevine, and the scent of your breath like apples,

⁹ And your kisses like the best wine—[then the Shulammite interrupted] that goes down smoothly and sweetly for my beloved [shepherd, kisses] gliding over his lips while he sleeps!

¹⁰ [She proudly said] I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me!^(BD)

¹¹ [She said] Come, my beloved! Let us go forth into the field, let us lodge in the villages.^(BE)

¹² Let us go out early to the vineyards and see whether the vines have budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened, and whether the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love.

¹³ The mandrakes give forth fragrance, and over our doors are all manner of choice fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for you, O my beloved!

8 [Looking forward to the shepherd’s arrival, the eager girl pictures their meeting and says] Oh, that you were like my brother, who nursed from the breasts of my mother! If I should find you without, I would kiss you, yes, and none would despise me [for it].^(BF)

² I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother, who would instruct me. I would cause you to drink spiced wine and of the juice of my pomegranates.

³ [Then musingly she added] Oh, that his left hand were under my head and that his right hand embraced me!^(BG)

⁴ I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you never [again attempt to] stir up or awaken love until it pleases.

⁵ Who is this who comes up from the wilderness leaning upon her beloved? [And as they sighted the home of her childhood, the bride said] Under the apple tree I awakened you; there your mother gave you birth, there she was in travail and bore you.

⁶ Set me like a seal upon your heart, like a seal upon your arm; for love is as strong as death, jealousy is as hard and cruel as Sheol (the place of the dead). Its flashes are flashes of fire, a most vehement flame [the very flame of the Lord]!^(BH)

⁷ Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man would offer all the goods of his house for love, he would be utterly scorned and despised.

⁸ [Gathered with her family and the wedding guests in her mother’s cottage, the bride said to her stepbrothers, When I was a little girl, you said] We have a little sister and she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister on the day when she is spoken for in marriage?

⁹ If she is a wall [discreet and womanly], we will build upon her a turret [a dowry] of silver; but if she is a door [bold and flirtatious], we will enclose her with boards of cedar.

¹⁰ [Well] I am a wall [with battlements], and my breasts are like the towers of it. Then was I in [the king’s] eyes as one [to be respected and to be allowed] to find peace.

¹¹ Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard to keepers; everyone was to bring him a thousand pieces of silver for its fruit.

¹² You, O Solomon, can have your thousand [pieces of silver], and those who tend the fruit of it two hundred; but my vineyard, which is mine [with all its radiant joy], is before me!

¹³ O you who dwell in the gardens, your companions have been listening to your voice—now cause me to hear it.

¹⁴ [Joyfully the radiant bride turned to him, the one altogether lovely, the chief among ten thousand to her soul, and with unconcealed eagerness to begin her life of sweet companionship with him, she answered] Make haste, my beloved, and come quickly, like a gazelle or a young hart [and take me to our waiting home] upon the mountains of spices!