The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking like servants upon the earth.

He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh through a wall, a serpent shall bite him.

Whoso heweth out stones shall be hurt therewith; [and] he that cleaveth wood is endangered thereby.

If the iron be blunt, and one do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.

If the serpent bite before it is charmed, then is there no advantage in the charmer.

The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.

The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness; and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.

A fool also multiplieth words: [yet] man knoweth not what shall be; and that which shall be after him, who can tell him?

The labor of fools wearieth every one of them; for he knoweth not how to go to the city.

Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!

Happy art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

By slothfulness the roof sinketh in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaketh.

A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh glad the life; and money answereth all things.

Revile not the king, no, not in thy thought; and revile not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the heavens shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.

Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days.

Give a portion to seven, yea, even unto eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.

If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth; and if a tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there shall it be.

He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.

As thou knowest not what is the way of the wind, [nor] how the bones [do grow] in the womb of her that is with child; even so thou knowest not the work of God who doeth all.

In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand; for thou knowest not which shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

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

Yea, if a man live many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

Remember also thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

before the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars, are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain;

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 those that look out of the windows shall be darkened,

and the doors shall be shut in the street; when the sound of the grinding is low, and one shall rise up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low;

yea, they shall be afraid of [that which is] high, and terrors [shall be] in the way; and the almond-tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because man goeth to his everlasting home, and the mourners go about the streets:

before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern,

and the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it.

Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity.

And further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he pondered, and sought out, [and] set in order many proverbs.

The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written uprightly, [even] words of truth.

The words of the wise are as goads; and as nails well fastened are [the words of] the masters of assemblies, [which] are given from one shepherd.

And furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

[This is] the end of the matter; all hath been heard: Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole [duty] of man.

For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

The Song of songs, which is Solomon’s.

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; For thy love is better than wine.

Thine oils have a goodly fragrance; Thy name is [as] oil poured forth; Therefore do the virgins love thee.

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 make mention of thy love more than of wine: Rightly do they love thee.

I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, As the tents of Kedar, As the curtains of Solomon.

Look not upon me, because I am swarthy, Because the sun hath scorched me. My mother’s sons were incensed against me; They made me keeper of the vineyards; [But] mine own vineyard have I not kept.

Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, Where thou feedest [thy flock], Where thou makest [it] to rest at noon: For why should I be as one that is veiled Beside the flocks of thy companions?

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.

I have compared thee, O my love, To a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots.

Thy cheeks are comely with plaits [of hair], Thy neck with strings of jewels.

We will make thee plaits of gold With studs of silver.

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, So is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, And his fruit was sweet to my taste.

He brought me to the banqueting-house, And his banner over me was love.

Stay ye me with raisins, refresh me with apples; For I am sick from love.

His left hand [is] under my head, And his right hand doth embrace me.

I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the roes, or by the hinds of the field, That ye stir not up, nor awake [my] love, Until he please.

The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh, Leaping upon the mountains, 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;

The fig-tree ripeneth her green figs, 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, That spoil the vineyards; 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; In the streets and in the broad ways 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?

It was but a little that I passed from them, 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, And into the chamber of her that conceived me.

I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the roes, or by the hinds of the field, That ye stir not up, nor awake [my] love, Until he please.

Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness Like pillars of smoke, Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, With all powders of the merchant?

Behold, it is the litter of Solomon; Threescore mighty men are about it, Of the mighty men of Israel.

They all handle the sword, [and] are expert in war: Every man hath his sword upon his thigh, Because of fear in the night.

King Solomon made himself a palanquin Of the wood of Lebanon.

He made the pillars thereof of silver, The bottom thereof of gold, the seat of it of purple, The midst thereof being paved with love, From the daughters of Jerusalem.

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

Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; Thine eyes are [as] doves behind thy veil. Thy hair is as a flock of goats, That lie along the side of mount Gilead.

Thy teeth are like a flock [of ewes] that are [newly] shorn, Which are come up from the washing, Whereof every one hath twins, And none is bereaved among them.

Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, And thy mouth is comely. Thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate Behind thy veil.

Thy neck is like the tower of David Builded for an armory, Whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, All the shields of the mighty men.

Thy two breasts are like two fawns That are twins of a roe, Which feed among the lilies.

Until the day be cool, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, And to the hill of frankincense.

Thou art all fair, my love; And there is no spot in thee.

Come with me from Lebanon, [my] bride, With me from Lebanon: Look from the top of Amana, From the top of Senir and Hermon, From the lions’ dens, From the mountains of the leopards.

Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, [my] bride; Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, With one chain of thy neck.

How fair is thy love, my sister, [my] bride! How much better is thy love than wine! And the fragrance of thine oils than all manner of spices!

Thy lips, O [my] bride, drop [as] the honeycomb: Honey and milk are under thy tongue; And the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.

A garden shut up is my sister, [my] bride; A spring shut up, a fountain sealed.

Thy shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits; Henna with spikenard plants,

Spikenard and saffron, Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; Myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices.

[Thou art] a fountain of gardens, A well of living waters, And flowing streams from Lebanon.

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; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends; Drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.