Study Desk

"Give attention to my cry, For I am brought very low; Rescue me from my persecutors, For they are stronger than I.

In your lovingkindness, silence and destroy my enemies And destroy all those who afflict my life, For I am Your servant.

"Counsel is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power and strength are mine.

Who can say, "I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin?"

Surely I am more brutish and stupid than any man, And I do not have the understanding of a man [for I do not know what I do not know].

which I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand [who pleases God], but I have not found [such] a woman among all these [a thousand in my harem].

"I am deeply tanned but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, [I am dark] like the tents of [the Bedouins of] Kedar, Like the [beautiful] curtains of Solomon.

"Do not gaze at me because I am deeply tanned, [I have worked in] the sun; it has left its mark on me. My mother's sons were angry with me; They made me keeper of the vineyards, But my own vineyard (my complexion) I have not kept."

"I am the rose [of the plain] of Sharon, The lily of the valleys [that grows in deep places]."

"Sustain me with raisin cakes, Refresh me with apples, Because I am sick with love.

"My beloved is mine and I am his; He pastures his flock among the lilies.

"I command that you take an oath, O daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, As to what you tell him— [Say that] I am sick from love [sick from being without him]."

"I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine, He who feeds his flock among the lilies."

"Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel, And the flowing hair of your head like purple threads; I, the king, am held captive by your tresses.

"I am my beloved's, And his desire is for me.

"I hate [the hypocrisy of] your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts. They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.

"So now let me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will take away its thorn-hedge, and it will be burned up; I will break down its stone wall and it will be trampled down [by enemies].

Then I said, "Woe is me! For I am ruined, Because I am a man of [ceremonially] unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

The princes of Zoan are complete fools; The counsel of the Pharaoh's wisest advisors has become stupid. How can you say to Pharaoh, "I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings?"