My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold,
And my revenue than choice silver.

I walk in the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,

That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance.
And that I may fill their treasuries.

Yahweh made me in the beginning of His way.
Before His works of old.

I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning,
Or ever the earth was.

When there were no depths, I was brought forth;
When there were no fountains, abounding in water.
Before the mountains were settled; before the hills
Was I brought forth,

While as yet He had not made the earth nor the fields,
Nor the beginning of the dust of the world.

When He established the heavens, I was there.
When He set a circle upon the face of the deep,
When He made firm the skies above,

When the fountains of the deep showed their might,
When He gave to the sea His decree,

That the waters should not transgress His command;
When He appointed the foundations of the earth,
Then I was by Him a nursling,

And I was always His delight, playing always before Him,
Playing in His habitable earth;

And my delight was with the sons of men.

Now therefore, ye children, hearken unto me,
For happy are they that keep my ways.

Hear instruction, and be wise and refuse it not.

Happy is the man that hearkeneth to me, watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my desire.
For whoso findeth me, findeth life
And obtaineth favor of Yahweh.

But he that refuseth me wrongeth his own soul;

All they that hate me love death.

(Ch. viii, 1-36)

Wisdom hath builded her house,

She hath hewn out her seven pillars;

She hath prepared her meat, she hath mingled her wine;
She hath also furnished her table.

She hath sent forth her maidens;

She calleth aloud on the highest places of the city:
Whoso is thoughtless, let him turn in hither.

As for him that lacketh understanding, to him she saith:
Come, eat of my bread,

And drink of the wine that I have mingled!
Forsake all thoughtlessness, and live,
And walk in the way of understanding.

He that correcteth a scorner, getteth unto himself shame;
And he that reproveth a wicked man, getteth himself a blot.
Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee;

Reprove a wise man, and he will love thee.

Give to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser;

Teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.

The Fear of Yahweh is the beginning of Wisdom,
And knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
For by me shall thy days be multiplied,
And the years of thy life shall be increased.
If thou art wise, thou art wise for thyself,
And if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.

(Ch. ix, 1-12)

The woman Folly is clamorous;

She is thoughtless, and knoweth nothing,
And she sitteth at the door of her house,
On a seat in the high places of the city

To call to them that pass by, going right on their ways:
"Whoso is thoughtless, let him turn in hither,

And as for him that lacketh understanding, she saith to him: "Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret

Is pleasant."

But she knoweth not that the dead are there,
That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

(Ch. ix, 13-18)

THE POEM OF NAHUM THE ELKOSHITE

UPON THE IMPENDING FALL OF NINEVEH

(Nahum, i, 2-iii, 19)

Yahweh is a jealous God, Yahweh avengeth and is full of wrath.
Yahweh taketh vengeance on His foes,

He reserveth His wrath for His enemies.
Yahweh waiteth long, but, great in power,
He will by no means acquit the guilty.
His path is the whirlwind and the storm,
The clouds are the dust of His feet;
He rebuketh the sea and maketh it dry,
And drieth up all the rivers.

Bashan languisheth and Carmel,
And the flower of Lebanon is withered.

Before Him the mountains quake, and the little hills dissolve;
The earth is upheaved at His presence,

Yea, the world and all that is therein.
Who can stand before His indignation?

Who can abide the fierceness of His anger?
His fury is poured out like fire,

And the rocks are broken asunder before Him.

Good is Yahweh! a refuge in time of trouble;
He knoweth them that put their trust in Him,
But darkness shall pursue His enemies,

And with an overwhelming flood will He make an utter end
Of the place thereof.

What devise ye against Yahweh?

He will put an utter end to it.

Trouble shall not arise a second time.

For though they be tangled up like thorns,

And drenched with copious drinking,

They shall be consumed like stubble that is fully dry.
Out of thee came he forth that deviseth evil,
That counselleth wickedness against Yahweh,
Though they be at peace and many in number,
Yet shall they be shorn, and he shall pass away.
Though I have afflicted thee, O Judah,

I will afflict thee no more, saith Yahweh.
Now will I break his yoke from off thee,
And will burst thy bonds asunder.

Behold on the mountains the feet of him

That bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace!
Keep thy solemn feasts, O Judah! perform thy vow.
For no more shall the wicked molest thee; he is utterly cut off.
Yahweh hath given command concerning thee

That thy name shall be known no more.
Out of the house of thy gods will I destroy
The graven image, the molten image;

Yea, I will make thy grave, for thou art vile.

He that dasheth to pieces cometh up before thy face.
Guard thy defenses, watch the roads,

Make thy loins strong, increase thy powers!
For Yahweh restoreth the pride of Jacob,

Yea, the excellency of Israel.

The shield of his mighty ones is red,

His warriors are dyed in scarlet.

The sheen of the chariots is like fire,

The horses are curbed in the day of preparing;
Along the streets the chariots are raging,

They jostle one another in the broad squares

Their appearance is like torches, they speed like lightning.

He numbers his nobles; they succeed in their onset;
They rush to the wall, they set up their mantelet!
But the gates of the river are opened,

The gate of the palace is in ruins.

The queen is uncovered, she is carried away,
And her maids moan like doves taboring on their breasts.

Nineveh was once like a pool of water;
Now her waters are flowing away.

Stand, stand! they cry, but not one looketh back.
Take ye spoil of silver and spoil of gold

For there is no end to the store,

And the glory of all the infinite wealth of precious things.
She is empty and desolate and waste;

The heart melteth, the knees knock together;

Convulsion is in all loins, and the faces of all grow dark.

Where is the den of the lions and the lair of the young lions, Where the lion and the lioness walked

And the whelps,

And none made them afraid?

The lion tore in pieces enough for his whelps,

For the lioness he strangled the prey,

And he filled his caves with ravin, and his lairs with spoil.

Woe to the city of bloodshed, full of lies and rapine!
Behold, I am against thee, saith Yahweh Sabaoth.

I will burn thy chariots in the smoke;

The sword shall devour the young lions;

I will cut off thy prey from the earth,

And there shall no more be heard the voice of thy messengers.

Woe to the city of bloodshed, full of lies and rapine!
There is no end to the spoil.

Hark, the whip! and hark, the rattling wheels!
The noise of prancing horses, of bounding wheels!
Of horsemen charging with flaming swords
With the lightning of the spear!

There is a multitude of slain, a great number of carcasses.
There is no end to the corpses; they stumble over the bodies.
Because of the multitude of the harlotries

Of the well-favored harlot;

The mistress of whoredoms,

That selleth nations through her whoredoms, and peoples

Through her witchcrafts.

Behold, I am against thee, saith Yahweh Sabaoth,
And I will uncover thy skirts before thy face.

I will show the nations thy nakedness,

And the kingdoms thy disgrace.

I will cast loathsome filth upon thee;

I will make thee vile, and set thee up for a gazing-stock.
All that look upon thee shall flee before thee, saying:
Nineveh is laid waste; who will bemoan her?
Whence shall I seek comforters for thee?

Art thou better than mighty No-Amon
Which lay among many streams?

Waters were round about her, her bulwark was the sea,
Her wall was the sea.

Her strength was Ethiopia and Egypt,

Put with her countless cities, and Libya her help.
Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity;
Her young children were dashed in pieces

At the top of all her streets.

Her captors cast lots for her honored men,

And all her great men were bound in chains.

Thou also shalt be drunken,

Thou too shalt swoon.

Thou too shalt seek a refuge because of the enemy.
All thy strongholds shall be like fig-trees

With first-ripe figs;

If they be shaken the figs shall drop
Into the mouth of the eater.

Behold, thy populace are but women;

Fire hath consumed thy defenses;

The gates of thy land are set wide open to thine enemies.

Draw thee water for the siege, strengthen thy fortresses!
Go into the clay-pits and tread the clay,

Make sure of the brick-moulds!

There the fire will consume thee,
The sword shall cut thee down.

It shall destroy thee, though thou increase and make thyself many,
As doth the canker-worm, or like a swarm of locusts.
Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven;
Thy exalted ones are as the locusts,

Thy captains as swarms of grasshoppers
Which camp in the hedges on a cold day;
But when the sun rises they fly away,
And the place where they are is unknown.

Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria, thy nobles rest.
The people are scattered upon the mountains,
And there is none to recall them.

There is no healing for thy hurt, thy wound is fatal.
All that hear report of thee shall clap their hands over thee;
For upon whom hath not thy wickedness fallen continually?