THE WHOLE CREATION INVOKED TO PRAISE Praise ye Jehovah. JEHOVAH Praise ye Jehovah from the heavens: Praise him in the heights. Praise ye him, all his angels: Praise ye him, all his host. And ye waters that are above the heavens. For he commanded, and they were created. Ye sea-monsters, and all deeps; Creeping things and flying birds; Let them praise the name of Jehovah; For his name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and the heavens. And he hath lifted up the horn of his people, The praise of all his saints; Even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye Jehovah. THE SONG OF SONGS The Song of songs, which is Solomon's. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; The king hath brought me into his chambers; We will be glad and rejoice in thee; We will make mention of thy love more than of wine: Rightly do they love thee. I am black, but comely, As the curtains of Solomon. Look not upon me, because I am swarthy, My mother's sons were incensed against me; Where thou makest it to rest at noon: If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, I have compared thee, O my love, Thy cheeks are comely with plaits of hair, Thy neck with strings of jewels. We will make thee plaits of gold While the king sat at his table, My spikenard sent forth its fragrance. My beloved is unto me as a bundle of myrrh, That lieth betwixt my breasts. My beloved is unto me as a cluster of henna-flowers In the vineyards of En-gedi. Behold, thou art fair, my love; Behold, thou art fair; Thine eyes are as doves. Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: Also our couch is green. The beams of our house are cedars, And our rafters are firs. I am a rose of Sharon, A lily of the valleys. As a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters. As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, I sat down under his shadow with great delight, He brought me to the banqueting-house, Stay ye me with raisins, refresh me with apples; His left hand is under my head, And his right hand doth embrace me. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh, Skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: Behold, he standeth behind our wall; He looketh in at the windows; He glanceth through the lattice. My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past; The rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; The time of the singing of birds is come, And the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land; And the vines are in blossom; They give forth their fragrance, Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, In the covert of the steep place, Let me see thy countenance, Let me hear thy voice; For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. Take us the foxes, the little foxes, For our vineyards are in blossom. My beloved is mine, and I am his: He feedeth his flock among the lilies. Until the day be cool, and the shadows flee away, Turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart Upon the mountains of Bether. By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. I said, I will rise now, and go about the city; I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. The watchmen that go about the city found me; To whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? When I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, Until I had brought him into my mother's house. Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; Blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, And eat his precious fruits. I am come into my garden, my sister, my bride: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; Eat, O friends; Drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. I was asleep, but my heart waked: It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, My locks with the drops of the night. I have put off my garment; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, I rose up to open to my beloved; I opened to my beloved; But my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone. I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer. The watchmen that go about the city found me, They smote me, they wounded me; The keepers of the walls took away my mantle from me. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, If ye find my beloved, That ye tell him, that I am sick from love. What is thy beloved more than another beloved, What is thy beloved more than another beloved, |