c. 950 BC | Jerusalem

Treasure on Earth

The joints of thy thighs are like jewels.

How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter! 
the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, 
the work of the hands of a cunning workman.
Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: 
thy belly is like a heap of wheat set about with lilies.
Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.
Thy neck is as a tower of ivory:
thy eyes like the fish pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim:
thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus.
Thy head upon thee is like Carmel, 
and the hair of thy head like purple; 
the king is held in the galleries.
How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!
This thy stature is like to a palm tree, 
and thy breasts to clusters of grapes.
I said, “I will go up to the palm tree, 
I will take hold of the boughs thereof”: 
now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, 
and the smell of thy nose like apples;
and the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, 
that goeth down sweetly,
causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak.

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 if the vine flourish, 
whether the tender grape appear, 
and the pomegranates bud forth: 
there will I give thee my loves.
The mandrakes give a smell, 
and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, 
which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.   

Frontispiece for 1612-13 King James Bible.
Contributor

The Bible

The Bible is the body of sacred texts of Judaism and Christianity, consisting of the Old Testament, which makes up the whole of the Hebrew Bible and a large portion of the Christian Bible, and the smaller New Testament, which is canonical only to Christians. It has played a central role in the history and culture of the Western world, as it was the earliest book printed from movable type—the famed Gutenberg Bible of 1455—and it has served as a source of inspiration for countless works of art, music, and literature. The King James Bible of 1611, generally accepted as the standard English translation from its creation to the early twentieth century, consists of 66 books, 1,189 chapters, over 31,000 verses, and over 788,000 words. The Bible is widely considered the best selling book of all time, and over 100 million Bibles are sold or given away each year. It has been completely translated into more than 500 languages and partially translated into nearly 1,300.