<p class="poetry">This alone have I discovered: God made humankind upright,p> <p class="poetry">but they have sought many evil schemes.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Not only that,<n id="1" /> but I have seen the wicked approaching<n id="2" /> and entering the temple,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and as they left the holy temple,<n id="4" /> theyp> <p class="poetry">boasted<n id="5" /> in the city that they had done so.p> <p class="poetry">This also is an enigma.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">when those who keep watch over the house<n id="1" /> begin to tremble,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and the virile men begin to stoop over,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and the grinders<n id="4" /> begin to cease because they grow few,p> <p class="poetry">and those who look through the windows grow dim,<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">Do not stare at me because<n id="1" /> I am dark,p> <p class="poetry">for<n id="2" /> the sun has burned my skin.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">My brothers<n id="4" /> were angry<n id="5" /> with me;p> <p class="poetry">they made me the keeper of the vineyards.p> <p class="poetry">Alas, my own vineyard<n id="6" /> I could not keep!<n id="7" />p>

<t /><p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Lover to His Beloved:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">O my dove,<n id="1" /> in the clefts of the rock,p> <p class="poetry">in the hiding places of the mountain crags,p> <p class="poetry">let me see your face,p> <p class="poetry">let me hear your voice;p> <p class="poetry">for your voice is sweet,p> <p class="poetry">and your face is lovely.p>

<p class="poetry">Come out, O maidens of Zion,p> <p class="poetry">and gaze upon King Solomon!p> <p class="poetry">He is wearing the crown with which his mother crowned himp> <p class="poetry">on his wedding day,p> <p class="poetry">on the most joyous day of his life!<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">But she is unique!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">My dove, my perfect one!p> <p class="poetry">She is the special daughter<n id="2" /> of her mother,p> <p class="poetry">she is the favorite<n id="3" /> of the one who bore her.p> <p class="poetry">The maidens<n id="4" /> saw her and complimented her;<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">the queens and concubines praised her:p>

<p class="poetry">Let us rise early to go to the vineyards,p> <p class="poetry">to see if the vines have budded,p> <p class="poetry">to see if their blossoms have opened,p> <p class="poetry">if the pomegranates are in bloom &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">there I will give you my love.p>

<p class="poetry">They have stringed instruments,<n id="1" /> tambourines, flutes,p> <p class="poetry">and wine at their parties.p> <p class="poetry">So they do not recognize what the <sc>Lordsc> is doing,p> <p class="poetry">they do not perceive what he is bringing about.<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">In the year of King Uzziah&#8217;s death,<n id="1" /> I saw the sovereign master<n id="2" /> seated on a high, elevated throne. The hem of his robe filled the temple.

<p class="poetry">Make the hearts of these people calloused;p> <p class="poetry">make their ears deaf and their eyes blind!p> <p class="poetry">Otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears,p> <p class="poetry">their hearts might understand and they might repent and be healed.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry"><v id="(9:1)" /> The people walking in darknessp> <p class="poetry">see a bright light;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">light shinesp> <p class="poetry">on those who live in a land of deep darkness.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">When the Moabites plead with all their might at their high places,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and enter their temples to pray, their prayers will be ineffective!<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">They will no longer trust in<n id="1" /> the altars their hands made,p> <p class="poetry">or depend on the Asherah poles and incense altars their fingers made.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">For this reason my stomach churns;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">cramps overwhelm mep> <p class="poetry">like the contractions of a woman in labor.p> <p class="poetry">I am disturbed<n id="2" /> by what I hear,p> <p class="poetry">horrified by what I see.p>

<p class="poetry">You made a reservoir between the two wallsp> <p class="poetry">for the water of the old pool &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">but you did not trust in<n id="1" /> the one who made it;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">you did not depend on<n id="3" /> the one who formed it long ago!p>

<p class="poetry">Those who try to hide their plans from the <sc>Lordsc> are as good as dead,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">who do their work in secret and boast,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Who sees us? Who knows what we&#8217;re doing?&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">For when they see their children,p> <p class="poetry">whom I will produce among them,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">they will honor<n id="2" /> my name.p> <p class="poetry">They will honor the Holy One of Jacob;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">they will respect<n id="4" /> the God of Israel.p>

<p class="poetry">The sovereign master<n id="1" /> will give you distress to eatp> <p class="poetry">and suffering to drink;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">but your teachers will no longer be hidden;p> <p class="poetry">your eyes will see them.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> will give a mighty shout<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and intervene in power,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">with furious anger and flaming, destructive fire,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">with a driving rainstorm and hailstones.p>