The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
The cords of Sheol were round about me:
The snares of death came upon me.
In my distress I called upon the LORD,
Yea, I called unto my God:
And he heard my voice out of his temple,
And my cry came into his ears.
Then the earth shook and trembled,
The foundations of heaven moved
And were shaken, because he was wroth.
There went up a smoke out of his nostrils,
And fire out of his mouth devoured:
Coals were kindled by it.
He bowed the heavens also, and came down;
And thick darkness was under his feet.
And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly:
Yea, he was seen upon the wings of the wind.
And he made darkness pavilions round about him,
Gathering of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
At the brightness before him coals of fire were kindled
The LORD thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered his voice.
And he sent out arrows, and scattered them;
Lightning, and discomfited them.
Then the channels of the sea appeared,
The foundations of the world were laid bare,
By the rebuke of the LORD,
At the blast of the breath of his nostrils
He sent from on high, he took me;
He drew me out of many waters;
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From them that hated me;
For they were too mighty for me.
They came upon me in the day of my calamity:
But the LORD was my stay.
He brought me forth also into a large place:
He delivered me, because he delighted in me.
The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness:
According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
For I have kept the ways of the LORD,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
For all his judgements were before me:
And as for his statutes, I did not depart from them.
I was also perfect toward him,
And I kept myself from mine iniquity.
Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness;
According to my cleanness in his eyesight.
With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful,
With the perfect man thou wilt shew thyself perfect;
With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure;
And with the perverse thou wilt shew thyself froward.
And the afflicted people thou wilt save:
But thine eyes are upon the haughty,
That thou mayest bring them down.
For thou art my lamp, O LORD:
And the LORD will lighten my darkness.
For by thee I run upon a troop:
By my God do I leap over a wall.
As for God, his way is perfect:
The word of the LORD is tried;
He is a shield unto all them that trust in him.
For who is God, save the LORD?
And who is a rock, save our God?
God is my strong fortress:
And he guideth the perfect in his way.
He maketh his feet like hinds' feet:
And setteth me upon my high places.
He teacheth my hands to war;
So that mine arms do bend a bow of brass.
Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation:
And thy gentleness hath made me great.
Thou hast enlarged my steps under me,
And my feet have not slipped.
I have pursued mine enemies,
And destroyed them;
Neither did I turn again till they were consumed.
And I have consumed them,
And smitten them through that they cannot arise:
Yea, they are fallen under my feet.
For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle:
Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.
Thou hast also made mine enemies turn their backs unto me,
That I might cut off them that hate me.
They looked, but there was none to save;
Even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.
Then did I beat them small as the dust of the earth,
I did stamp them as the mire of the streets, and did spread
them abroad.
Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people;
Thou hast kept me to be the head of the nations:
A people whom I have not known shall serve me.
The strangers shall submit themselves unto me:
As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me.
The strangers shall fade away,
And shall come trembling out of their close places.
The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock;
And exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation:
Even the God that executeth vengeance for me,
And bringeth down peoples under me,
And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies:
Yea, thou liftest me up above them that rise up against me:
Thou deliverest me from the violent man.
Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the nations,
And will sing praises unto thy name.
Great deliverance giveth he to his king:
And sheweth lovingkindness to his anointed,
To David and to his seed, for evermore.
VII
THE BRIDE'S REMINISCENCES
A Lyric Idyl
The Interrupted Visit
THE BRIDE
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 sheweth himself 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 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."
VOICES OF THE BROTHERS (_heard interrupting_)
"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 break, and the shadows flee away,_
_Turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart_
_Upon the mountains of separation._
The Happy Dream
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, and by the hinds of the field,_
_That ye stir not up, nor awaken love,_
_Until it please._
VIII
THE BATTLE OF CARCHEMISH
1
Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle;
Harness the horses, and get up ye horsemen, and stand forth with your
helmets;
Furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail.
Wherefore have I seen it? they are dismayed,
And are turned backward, and their mighty ones are beaten down,
And are fled apace, and look not back.
Terror is on every side, saith the LORD,
Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape:
In the north by the river Euphrates have they stumbled and fallen.
2
Who is this that riseth up like the Nile,
Whose waters toss themselves like the rivers?
Egypt riseth up like the Nile,
And his waters toss themselves like the rivers;
And he saith, I will rise up, I will cover the earth;
I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.
Go up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men go forth:
Cush and Put, that handle the shield;
And the Ludim, that handle and bend the bow.
For that day is a day of the Lord, the LORD of hosts,
A day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries:
And the sword shall devour and be satiate,
And shall drink its fill of their blood:
For the Lord, the LORD of hosts hath a sacrifice
In the north country by the river Euphrates.
3
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt:
In vain dost thou use many medicines;
There is no healing for thee.
The nations have heard of thy shame, and the earth is full of thy cry:
For the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty,
They are fallen both of them together.
IX
A SONG OF ZION REDEEMED
1
Arise, shine; for thy light is come,
And the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
And gross darkness the peoples:
But the LORD shall arise upon thee,
And his glory shall be seen upon thee.
2
And nations shall come to thy light,
And kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Lift up thine eyes round about, and see:
They all gather themselves together, they come to thee:
Thy sons shall come from far,
And thy daughters shall be carried in the arms.
Then thou shalt see and be lightened,
And thine heart shall tremble and be enlarged;
Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned unto thee,
The wealth of the nations shall come unto thee.
The multitude of camels shall cover thee,
The dromedaries of Midian and Ephah;
They all shall come from Sheba, they shall bring gold and frankincense,
And shall proclaim the praises of the LORD.
All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee,
The rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee;
They shall come up with acceptance on mine altar,
And I will beautify the house of my glory.
3
Who are these that fly as a cloud,
And as the doves to their windows?
Surely the isles shall wait for me,
And the ships of Tarshish first,
To bring thy sons from far,
Their silver and their gold with them,
For the name of the LORD thy God,
And for the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.
And strangers shall build up thy walls,
And their kings shall minister unto thee:
For in my wrath I smote thee,
But in my favour have I had mercy on thee.
Thy gates also shall be open continually,
They shall not be shut day nor night;
That men may bring unto thee the wealth of the nations,
And their kings led with them:
For that nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish;
Yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.
The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee,
The fir tree, the pine, and the box tree together;
To beautify the place of my sanctuary,
And I will make the place of my feet glorious.
And the sons of them that afflicted thee
Shall come bending unto thee;
And all they that despised thee
Shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet.
4
And they shall call thee the City of the LORD,
The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated,
So that no man passed through thee,
I will make thee an eternal excellency,
A joy of many generations.
Thou shalt also suck the milk of the nations,
And shalt suck the breast of kings:
And thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy saviour,
And thy redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
For brass I will bring gold,
And for iron I will bring silver,
And for wood brass,
And for stones iron.
I will also make thy officers peace,
And thine exactors righteousness;
Violence shall no more be heard in thy land,
Desolation nor destruction within thy borders;
But thou shalt call thy walls Salvation,
And thy gates Praise.
5
The sun shall be no more thy light by day,
Neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee:
But the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light,
And thy God thy glory.
Thy sun shall no more go down,
Neither shall thy moon withdraw itself:
For the LORD shall be thine everlasting light,
And the days of thy mourning shall be ended.
Thy people also shall be all righteous,
They shall inherit the land for ever;
The branch of my planting,
The work of my hands,
That I may be glorified.
The little one shall become a thousand,
And the small one a strong nation:
I the LORD will hasten it in its time.
X
ISAIAH'S
DOOM OF BABYLON
Set ye up an ensign upon the bare mountain, lift up the voice unto them,
wave the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. I have
commanded my consecrated ones, yea, I have called my mighty men for mine
anger, even them that exult in my majesty.
The noise of a multitude in the mountains,
Like as of a great people!
The noise of a tumult
Of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together!
The LORD of HOSTS
Mustereth the HOST for the battle;
They come from a far country,
From the uttermost part of heaven:
Even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation,
To destroy the whole land.
Howl ye, for the Day of the LORD is at hand:
As destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
Therefore shall all hands be feeble, and every heart of man shall melt:
and they shall be dismayed; pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them;
they shall be in pain as a woman in travail; they shall be amazed one at
another; their faces shall be faces of flame.
Behold, the Day of the LORD cometh,
Cruel, with wrath and fierce anger;
To make the land a desolation,
And to destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give
their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon
shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for
their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the
arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the
terrible. I will make a man more rare than fine gold, even a man than
the pure gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens to tremble,
and the earth shall be shaken out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD
of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. And it shall come to pass,
that as the chased roe, and as sheep that no man gathereth, they shall
turn every man to his own people, and shall flee every man to his own
land. Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one
that is taken shall fall by the sword. Their infants also shall be
dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and
their wives ravished. Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them,
which shall not regard silver, and as for gold, they shall not delight
in it. And their bows shall dash the young men in pieces; and they shall
have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare
children.
And BABYLON,
The glory of kingdoms,
The beauty of the Chaldeans' pride,
Shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
It shall never be inhabited,
Neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation;
Neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there;
Neither shall shepherds make their flocks to lie down there.
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there;
And their houses shall be full of doleful creatures;
And ostriches shall dwell there,
And satyrs shall dance there.
And wolves shall cry in their castles,
And jackals in the pleasant palaces:
And her time is near to come,
And her days shall not be prolonged.
For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel,
and set them in their own land: and the stranger shall join himself with
them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the peoples shall
take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall
possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and for handmaids; and
they shall take them captive, whose captives they were; and they shall
rule over their oppressors. And it shall come to pass in the day that
the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy trouble, and
from the hard service wherein thou wast made to serve, that thou shalt
take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say:
How hath the oppressor ceased!
The golden city ceased!
The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked,
The sceptre of the rulers;
He that smote the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke,
That ruled the nations in anger,
Is persecuted,
And none hindereth!
The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet:
They break forth into singing:
Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee,
And the cedars of Lebanon:
'Since thou art laid down,
No feller is come up against us.'
Hell from beneath is moved for thee,
To meet thee at thy coming:
It stirreth up the dead for thee,
Even all the chief ones of the earth;
It hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations,
All they shall answer and say unto thee:
'Art thou also become weak as we?
Art thou become like unto us?'
Thy pomp is brought down to hell,
And the noise of thy viols:
The worm is spread under thee,
And worms cover thee.
How art thou fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, son of the morning
How art thou cut down to the ground,
Which didst lay low the nations!
And thou saidst in thine heart, 'I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
And I will sit upon the mount of congregation,
In the uttermost parts of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will be like the Most High.'
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell,
To the uttermost parts of the pit.
They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee,
They shall consider thee:
'Is this the man that made the earth to tremble,
That did shake kingdoms;
That made the world as a wilderness, and overthrew the cities thereof,
That let not loose his prisoners to their home?'
All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory,
Every one in his own house:
But thou art cast forth away from thy sepulchre,
Like an abominable branch,
As the raiment of those that are slain,
That are thrust through with the sword,
That go down to the stones of the pit;
As a carcase trodden under foot.
Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast
destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people; the seed of evil-doers
shall not be named for ever. Prepare ye slaughter for his children for
the iniquity of their fathers; that they rise not up, and possess the
earth, and fill the face of the world with cities. And I will rise up
against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon name and
remnant, and son and son's son, saith the LORD. I will also make it a
possession for the porcupine, and pools of water: and I will sweep it
with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.
XI
NAHUM'S DOOM OF NINEVEH
1
The LORD is a jealous God and avengeth; the LORD avengeth and is full of
wrath; the LORD taketh vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth
wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power,
and will by no means clear the guilty: the LORD hath his way in the
whirlwind and in the storm, and 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 languisheth.
The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt; and the earth is
upheaved at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.
Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the
fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks
are broken asunder by him.
The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth
them that put their trust in him.
But with an overrunning flood he will make a full end of the place
thereof, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
2
What do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make a full end: affliction
shall not rise up the second time. For though they be like tangled
thorns, and be drenched as it were in their drink, they shall be
devoured utterly as dry stubble. There is one gone forth out of thee,
that imagineth evil against the LORD, that counselleth wickedness. Thus
saith the LORD: Though they be in full strength, and likewise many, even
so shall they be cut down, and he shall pass away.
Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. And now will
I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.
And the LORD hath given commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy
name be sown; out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven
image and the molten image; I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.
3
Behold, upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace! Keep thy feasts, O Judah, perform thy vows: for
the wicked one shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.
He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face:
Keep the munition; watch the way;
Make thy loins strong,
Fortify thy power mightily.
For the LORD bringeth again the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency
of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine
branches.
The shield of his mighty men is made red:
The valiant men are in scarlet:
The chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation,
And the spears are shaken terribly.
The chariots rage in the streets,
They justle one against another in the broad ways:
The appearance of them is like torches,
They run like the lightnings.
He remembereth his worthies:
They stumble in their march;
They make haste to the wall thereof,
And the mantelet is prepared.
The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved:
And Huzzab is uncovered; she is carried away;
And her handmaids mourn as with the voice of doves,
Tabering upon their breasts.
But Nineveh hath been from of old like a pool of water;
Yet they flee away:
'Stand, stand'--
But none looketh back.
Take ye the spoil of silver,
Take the spoil of gold;
For there is none end of the store,
The glory of all pleasant furniture.
She is empty, and void, and waste:
And the heart melteth, and the knees smite together;
And anguish is in all loins,
And the faces of them all are waxed pale.
4
Where is the den of the lions,
And the feeding place of the young lions,
Where the lion and the lioness walked,
The lion's whelp, and none made them afraid?
The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps,
And strangled for his lionesses;
And filled his caves with prey,
And his dens with ravin.
5
Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her
chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I
will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers
shall no more be heard.
Woe to the bloody city!
It is all full of lies and rapine;
The prey departeth not.
The noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of wheels;
And pransing horses, and jumping chariots;
The horseman mounting, and the flashing sword, and the glittering spear;
And a multitude of slain, and a great heap of carcases:
And there is none end of the corpses;
They stumble upon their corpses:
Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favoured harlot,
The mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms,
And families through her witchcrafts.
Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will discover
thy skirts upon thy face; and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and
the kingdoms thy shame. And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and
make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock. And it shall come to
pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say:
6
Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her?
Whence shall I seek comforters for thee?
Art thou better than No-amon, that was situate among the rivers,
That had the waters round about her;
Whose rampart was the sea,
And her wall was of the sea?
Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite;
Put and Lubim were thy helpers:
Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity:
Her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the
streets;
And they cast lots for her honourable men,
And all her great men were bound in chains:
Thou also shalt be drunken, thou shalt be hid;
Thou also shalt seek a strong hold because of the enemy.
All thy fortresses shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs:
If they be shaken,
They fall into the mouth of the eater.
Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women;
The gates of thy land are set wide open unto thine enemies;
The fire hath devoured thy bars.
Draw the water for the siege;
Strengthen thy fortresses:
Go into the clay, and tread the mortar, make strong the brickkiln:
There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off.
It shall devour thee like the cankerworm:
Make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locust;
Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven:
The cankerworm spreadeth himself, and flieth away.
Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy marshals as the swarms of
grasshoppers,
Which camp in the hedges in the cold day,
But when the sun ariseth they flee away,
And their place is not known where they are.
7
Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria,
Thy worthies are at rest:
Thy people are scattered upon the mountains,
And there is none to gather them.
There is no assuaging of thy hurt;
Thy wound is grievous:
All that hear the bruit of thee clap the hands over thee:
For upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?
RHAPSODY
OR
PROPHETIC DRAMA
JEREMIAH'S RHAPSODY OF THE DROUGHT
Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they sit in black upon
the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
And their nobles send their little ones to the waters: they come to the
pits, and find no water; they return with their vessels empty: they are
ashamed and confounded, and cover their heads.
Because of the ground which is chapt, for that no rain hath been in the
land, the plowmen are ashamed, they cover their heads.
Yea, the hind also in the field calveth, and forsaketh her young,
because there is no grass. And the wild asses stand on the bare heights,
they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail, because there is no
herbage.
REPENTENT ISRAEL
Though our iniquities testify against us, work thou for thy name's sake,
O LORD: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee. O
thou hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in the time of trouble, why
shouldest thou be as a sojourner in the land, and as a wayfaring man
that turneth aside to tarry for a night? Why shouldest thou be as a man
astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the
midst of us, and we are called by thy name: leave us not.
THE PROPHET
Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Even so have they loved to wander;
they have not refrained their feet: therefore the LORD doth not accept
them; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.
THE LORD (to the Prophet)
Pray not for this people for their good. When they fast, I will not hear
their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and oblation, I will not
accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine,
and by the pestilence.
THE PROPHET
Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the
sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace
in this place.
THE LORD