ents 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 in to his garden,
And eat his precious fruits.

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WHITHER IS THY BELOVED GONE?

Whither is thy beloved gone,
O thou fairest among women?
Whither hath thy beloved turned him,
That we may seek him with thee?

My beloved is gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices,
To feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine:
He feedeth his flock among the lilies.
I am my beloved's,
And his desire is toward me.
Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field;
Let us lodge in the villages.
Let us get up early to the vineyards;
Let us see whether the vine hath budded, and its blossom be open,
And the pomegranates be in flower:
There will I give thee my love.
The mandrakes give forth fragrance,
And at our doors are all manner of precious fruits, new and old,
Which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.

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LOVE IS STRONG AS DEATH

Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm:
For love is strong as death;
Jealousy is cruel as the grave:
The flashes thereof are flashes of fire,
A very flame of the Lord.
Many waters cannot quench love,
Neither can the floods drown it:
If a man would give all the substance of his house for love,
He would utterly be contemned.

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{241}

SELECTIONS FROM ECCLESIASTES

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ECCLESIASTES

This is, in some respects, the most curious book in the Bible. It has
puzzled many people. Like Proverbs, it is put together without very
much order, but that does not make the greatest puzzle of the book.
The question has been, "What does the author intend to teach?" The
book seems to take a very dark view of life. It almost seems as though
the author thought nothing was worth living for. Over and over he says
that all is vanity; that is, emptiness, nothingness. He questions
whether there is a life