The "Highest" Born

BY CARL GUTHERZ, A CONTEMPORARY SWISS-AMERICAN

ARTIST.

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"The Lord shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah."-Psalm 87, 6.

T

HE celebrated verse just quoted is one of those

which caused the Jews to look forward to the birth

of the Messiah in or near Jerusalem. The prophetic passages which lead up to this, are, "The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

"Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.

"I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia. this man was born there.

"And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her.” Thus, indeed, has Jerusalem been "established" forever in men's minds; for in the little outlying town of Bethlehem was the "highest" born. All creation must have watched, as the artist Gutherz has conceived them, watched in breathless awe the moment of that marvellous fulfillment of ancient prophecy.

ECCLESIASTES X- -OF FOLLY

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3 Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom laileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool.

4 If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences.

5 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler:

6 Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.

7 I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.

8 He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.

9 Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby.

10 If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.

11 Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better.1

12 The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.

13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.

14 A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?

15 The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.

16 ¶ Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!

17 Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

18 By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.

19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things.

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Curse not the king, no, not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.

Chapter 11

1 Directions for charity. 7 Death in life, 9 and the day of judgment in the days of youth, are to be thought on.

AST thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.

2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou

knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.

'Revised Version, "If the serpent bite before it be charmed, then is there no advantage in the charmer."

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ECCLESIASTES XII-OF DEATH

3 If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.

4 'He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.

5 As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.

6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

7¶Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun:

8 But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.

9 Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.

Chapter 12

1 The creator is to be remembered in due time. 8 The preacher's care to edify. 13 The fear of God is the chief antidote of vanity.

EMEMBER now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou

shalt say,

have no pleasure in them;

2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:

3 In the day when the keepers of the house1 shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,

4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low;

5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:

6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken,

The figures of speech here are usually referred to the decay of the body with age. The keepers of the house are the hands, the strong men the legs, the grinders the teeth, those that look out of the windows the eyes, and so on. Here as before the silver cord has been supposed to imply the spinal cord, the golden bowl the brain, the pitcher the heart, the wheel the lungs. But it is perhaps better to regard the phrases as a poetic picture. When the silver cord breaks, the lamp falls and its bowl is broken and its light extinguisheda symbol of death.