I enlargedmy works:I builthousesfor myself, I plantedvineyardsfor myself;
They said,"Come,let us buildfor ourselves a city,and a towerwhose top[will reach] into heaven,and let us makefor ourselves a name,otherwisewe will be scatteredabroad overthe faceof the wholeearth."
Now Absalomin his lifetimehad takenand setup for himself a pillarwhichis in the King'sValley,for he said,"I havenosonto preservemy name."So he namedthe pillarafterhis own name,and it is calledAbsalom'sMonumentto thisday.
"[Let there be] a treatybetweenyou and me, [as] betweenmy fatherand your father.Behold,I have sentyou a presentof silverand gold;go,breakyour treatywith Baashakingof Israelso that he will withdrawfrom me."
Now it cameabout when Solomonhad finishedbuildingthe houseof the LORD,and the king'shouse,and allthat Solomondesiredto do,
Shimeithe Ramathitehad chargeof the vineyards;and Zabdithe Shiphmitehad chargeof the produce of the vineyards[stored] in the winecellars.
He builttowersin the wildernessand hewedmanycisterns,for he hadmuchlivestock,both in the lowlandand in the plain.[He also had] plowmenand vinedressersin the hillcountryand the fertilefields,for he lovedthe soil.
Then SolomonbroughtPharaoh'sdaughterup from the cityof Davidto the housewhichhe had builtfor her, for he said,"My wifeshall not dwellin the houseof Davidkingof Israel,becausethe placesare holywherethe arkof the LORDhas entered."
Their innerthoughtis [that] their housesare forever[And] their dwellingplacesto allgenerations;They have calledtheir landsafter their own names.
"My belovedis to me a clusterof hennablossoms In the vineyardsof Engedi."
"Let us riseearly[and go] to the vineyards;Let us seewhetherthe vinehas budded[And its] blossomshave opened,[And whether] the pomegranateshave bloomed.ThereI will giveyou my love.
Let me singnowfor my well-belovedA songof my belovedconcerning His vineyard.My well-belovedhada vineyardon a fertilehill.
"The kingreflectedand said,'Is thisnot Babylonthe great,whichI myselfhave builtas a royalresidenceby the mightof my powerand for the gloryof my majesty?'
