10 Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench;
so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
2 A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right,
but a fool’s heart to the left.
3 Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense,
and he says to everyone that he is a fool.
4 If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place,
for calmness1 will lay great offenses to rest.
5 eThere is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were an error proceeding from the ruler: 6 folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place. 7 I have seen fslaves on horses, and princes walking on the ground like slaves.
8 He who digs a pit will gfall into it,
and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall.
9 He who quarries stones is hurt by them,
and he who splits logs is endangered by them.
10 If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge,
he must use more strength,
but wisdom helps one to succeed.2
11 If the serpent bites before it is charmed,
there is no advantage to the charmer.
12 The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor,3
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 evil madness.
14 A fool hmultiplies words,
though ino man knows what is to be,
and jwho can tell him what will be after him?
15 The toil of a fool wearies him,
for he does not know the way to the city.
16 Woe to you, O land, kwhen your king is a child,
and your princes feast in the morning!
17 Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility,
and your princes lfeast at the proper time,
for strength, and not for drunkenness!
18 mThrough sloth the roof sinks in,
and through indolence the house leaks.
19 Bread is made for laughter,
and nwine gladdens life,
and money answers everything.
20 Even in your thoughts, do not ocurse the king,
nor in your bedroom curse the rich,
for a bird of the air will carry your voice,
or some winged creature tell the matter.
Cast Your Bread upon the Waters
11 Cast your bread upon the waters,
for you will find it after many days.
2 Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,
for you pknow not what disaster may happen on earth.
3 If the clouds are full of rain,
they empty themselves on the earth,
and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,
in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.
4 He who observes the wind will not sow,
and he who regards the clouds will not reap.
5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb1 of a woman with child, so you do not know the qwork of God who makes everything.
6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.
7 Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes rto see the sun.
8 So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the sdays of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.2
9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the tsight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into ujudgment.
10 Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain3 from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.
Remember Your Creator in Your Youth
12 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near vof which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3 in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, 4 and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low— 5 they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,1 and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets— 6 before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and the wdust returns to the earth as it was, and the xspirit returns to God who gave it. 8 yVanity2 of vanities, says the zPreacher; all is vanity.
Fear God and Keep His Commandments
9 Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many aproverbs with great care. 10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.
11 bThe words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one cShepherd. 12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and dmuch study is a weariness of the flesh.
13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. eFear God and keep his commandments, for fthis is the whole duty of man.3 14 For gGod will bring every deed into judgment, with4 every secret thing, hwhether good or evil.
The Song of Solomon
1 The aSong of Songs, which is Solomon’s.
The Bride Confesses Her Love
She1
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is bbetter than wine;
3 your anointing oils are fragrant;
your name is oil poured out;
therefore virgins love you.
4 cDraw me after you; let us run.
The king has dbrought me into his chambers.
Others
We will exult and rejoice in you;
we will extol your love more than wine;
rightly do they love you.
She
5 I am very dark, but lovely,
O edaughters of Jerusalem,
like the ftents of Kedar,
like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not gaze at me because I am dark,
because the sun has looked upon me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
they made me gkeeper of the vineyards,
but hmy own vineyard I have not kept!
7 Tell me, you iwhom my soul loves,
where you pasture your flock,
where you make it lie down at noon;
for why should I be like one who veils herself
beside the flocks of your jcompanions?
Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other
He
8 If you do not know,
kO most beautiful among women,
follow in the tracks of the flock,
and pasture your young goats
beside the shepherds’ tents.
9 I compare you, lmy love,
to a mare among Pharaoh’s mchariots.
10 Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
your neck with strings of jewels.
Others
11 We will make for you2 ornaments of gold,
studded with silver.
She
12 While the king was on his couch,
my nnard gave forth its fragrance.
13 My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh
that lies between my breasts.
14 My beloved is to me a cluster of ohenna blossoms
in the vineyards of Engedi.
He
15 pBehold, qyou are beautiful, my love;
behold, you are beautiful;
ryour eyes are doves.
She
16 Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightful.
Our couch is green;
17 the beams of our house are cedar;
our rafters are pine.
a lily of the valleys.
He
2 As a lily among brambles,
so is tmy love among the young women.
She
3 As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
so is umy beloved among the young men.
With great delight I sat in his shadow,
and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4 He vbrought me to the banqueting house,2
and his wbanner over me was love.
5 Sustain me with raisins;
refresh me with apples,
for xI am sick with love.
6 yHis left hand is under my head,
and his right hand embraces me!
7 zI adjure you,3 O adaughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.
The Bride Adores Her Beloved
8 The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he comes,
leaping over the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9 My beloved is blike a gazelle
or a young stag.
Behold, there he stands
behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
looking through the lattice.
10 My beloved speaks and says to me:
“Arise, my love, my beautiful 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 singing4 has come,
and the voice of the turtledove
is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree ripens its figs,
and the vines are in cblossom;
they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away.
14 O dmy dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the crannies of the cliff,
let me see your face,
elet me hear your voice,
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.
15 Catch the foxes5 for us,
the little foxes
that spoil the vineyards,
for our vineyards are in blossom.”
16 fMy beloved is mine, and I am his;
17 hUntil the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle
or a young stag on cleft mountains.7
