I. KING SOLOMON"S PRAYER AND BLESSING AT THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE.
_From_ THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS.
_Translated 1611--Revised 1885._
Then Solomon a.s.sembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers" houses of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel a.s.sembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. And they brought up the ark of the LORD, and the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent; even these did the priests and the Levites bring up. And king Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, that were a.s.sembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for mult.i.tude. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto its place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim.
For the cherubim spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and the staves thereof above. There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone which Moses put there at h.o.r.eb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. And it came to pa.s.s, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.
Then spake Solomon, The LORD hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. I have surely built thee an house of habitation, a place for thee to dwell in for ever. And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood. And he said, Blessed be the LORD, the G.o.d of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying, Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel. Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD, the G.o.d of Israel. But the LORD said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house for my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart: nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name. And the LORD hath established his word that he spake; for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD, the G.o.d of Israel. And there have I set a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven: and he said, O LORD, the G.o.d of Israel, there is no G.o.d like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath; who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants, that walk before thee with all their heart: who hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou didst promise him: yea, thou spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. Now therefore, O LORD, the G.o.d of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; if only thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me as thou hast walked before me. Now therefore, O G.o.d of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.
But will G.o.d in very deed dwell on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded! Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my G.o.d, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee this day: that thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place whereof thou hast said, My name shall be there: to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall pray toward this place. And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: yea, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive. If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and he come and swear before thine altar in this house: then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his own head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; if they turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication unto thee in this house: then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers. When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them: then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou teachest them the good way wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance. If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting or mildew, locust or caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be; what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house: then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and render unto every man according to all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;) that they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers. Moreover concerning the stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, when he shall come out of a far country for thy name"s sake; (for they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy mighty hand, and of thy stretched out arm:) when he shall come and pray toward this house; hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all the peoples of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name. If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatsoever way thou shalt send them, and they pray unto the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name: then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive unto the land of the enemy, far off or near; yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captive, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have dealt wickedly; if they return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, which carried them captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause; and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee; and give them compa.s.sion before those who carried them captive, that they may have compa.s.sion on them: for they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron: that thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them whensoever they cry unto thee. For thou didst separate them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord G.o.d.
And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread forth toward heaven. And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. The LORD our G.o.d be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us: that he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our G.o.d day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as every day shall require: that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD, he is G.o.d; there is none else. Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our G.o.d, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day. And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD.
II. INVITATION.
_From_ ISAIAH.
_Translated 1611--Revised 1885._
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David....
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our G.o.d, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, and giveth seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
III. THE TRIAL SCENE IN THE "MERCHANT OF VENICE."[A]
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.--1564-1616.
_Scene_--A Court of Justice. _Present_--THE DUKE, the Magnificoes, ANTONIO, Ba.s.sANIO, GRATIANO, SOLANIO, and others.
_Duke._ What, is Antonio here?
_Antonio._ Ready, so please your grace.
_Duke._ I am sorry for thee: thou art come to answer A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch Uncapable of pity, void and empty From any dram of mercy.
_Antonio._ I have heard Your grace hath ta"en great pains to qualify His rigorous course; but since he stands obdurate, And that no lawful means can carry me Out of his envy"s reach, I do oppose My patience to his fury; and am arm"d To suffer, with a quietness of spirit, The very tyranny and rage of his.
_Duke._ Go one, and call the Jew into the court.
_Solanio._ He"s ready at the door: he comes, my lord.
_Enter_ SHYLOCK.
_Duke._ Make room, and let him stand before our face.-- Shylock, the world thinks, and I think so too, That thou but lead"st this fashion of thy malice To the last hour of act; and then "tis thought Thou"lt show thy mercy and remorse, more strange Than is thy strange apparent cruelty; And where thou now exact"st the penalty,-- Which is a pound of this poor merchant"s flesh,-- Thou wilt not only loose the forfeiture, But, touch"d with human gentleness and love, Forgive a moiety of the princ.i.p.al; Glancing an eye of pity on his losses, That have of late so huddled on his back, Enough to press a royal merchant down And pluck commiseration of his state From bra.s.sy bosoms and rough hearts of flint, From stubborn Turks and Tartars, never train"d To offices of tender courtesy.
We all expect a gentle answer, Jew.
_Shylock._ I have possess"d your grace of what I purpose; And by our holy Sabbath have I sworn To have the due and forfeit of my bond: If you deny it, let the danger light Upon your charter and your city"s freedom.
You"ll ask me, why I rather choose to have A weight of carrion flesh than to receive Three thousand ducats; I"ll not answer that; But, say, it is my humor; is it answer"d?
What if my house be troubled with a rat, And I be pleas"d to give ten thousand ducats To have it ban"d? What, are you answer"d yet?
Some men there are love not a gaping pig; Some, that are mad if they behold a cat; And others, when the bagpipe sings i" the nose, Cannot contain themselves: for affection, Master of pa.s.sion, sways it to the mood Of what it likes, or loathes. Now, for your answer: As there is no firm reason to be render"d, Why he cannot abide a gaping pig; Why he, a harmless necessary cat; Why he, a woollen bagpipe,--but of force Must yield to such inevitable shame As to offend, himself being offended; So can I give no reason, nor I will not, More than a lodg"d hate and a certain loathing I bear Antonio, that I follow thus A losing suit against him. Are you answer"d?
_Ba.s.sanio._ This is no answer, thou unfeeling man, To excuse the current of thy cruelty.
_Shylock._ I am not bound to please thee with my answer.
_Ba.s.sanio._ Do all men kill the things they do not love?
_Shylock._ Hates any man the thing he would not kill?
_Ba.s.sanio._ Every offence is not a hate at first.
_Shylock._ What, would"st thou have a serpent sting thee twice?
_Antonio._ I pray you, think you question with the Jew.
You may as well go stand upon the beach, And bid the main flood bate his usual height; You may as well use question with the wolf, Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb; You may as well forbid the mountain pines To wag their high tops, and to make no noise, When they are fretted with the gusts of heaven; You may as well do anything most hard, As seek to soften that--than which what"s harder?-- His Jewish heart: therefore, I do beseech you, Make no more offers, use no further means, But, with all brief and plain conveniency, Let me have judgment, and the Jew his will.
_Ba.s.sanio._ For thy three thousand ducats here is six.
_Shylock._ If every ducat in six thousand ducats Were in six parts, and every part a ducat, I would not draw them; I would have my bond.
_Duke._ How shalt thou hope for mercy, rend"ring none?
_Shylock._ What judgment shall I dread, doing no wrong?
You have among you many a purchas"d slave, Which, like your a.s.ses, and your dogs, and mules, You use in abject and in slavish parts, Because you bought them: shall I say to you, Let them be free, marry them to your heirs?
Why sweat they under burdens? let their beds Be made as soft as yours, and let their palates Be season"d with such viands? You will answer, "The slaves are ours:" so do I answer you: The pound of flesh, which I demand of him, Is dearly bought; "tis mine, and I will have it: If you deny me, fie upon your law!
There is no force in the decrees of Venice.
I stand for judgment: answer; shall I have it?
_Duke._ Upon my power I may dismiss this court, Unless Bellario, a learned doctor, Whom I have sent for to determine this, Come here to-day.
_Solanio._ My lord, here stays without A messenger with letters from the doctor, New come from Padua.
_Duke._ Bring us the letters; call the messenger.
_Ba.s.sanio._ Good cheer, Antonio! What, man, courage yet!
The Jew shall have my flesh, blood, bones, and all, Ere thou shalt lose for me one drop of blood.
_Antonio._ I am a tainted wether of the flock, Meetest for death: the weakest kind of fruit Drops earliest to the ground, and so let me: You cannot better be employ"d, Ba.s.sanio, Than to live still, and write mine epitaph.