Non opus dei

Non plus dei

Counting BY MARGARITA ENGLE

Counting

BY MARGARITA ENGLE

Harry Franck, from the United States of America - Census Enumerator

I came to Panama planning to dig

the Eighth Wonder of the World,

but I was told that white men

should never be seen working

with shovels, so I took a police job,

and now I've been transferred

to the census.

I roam the jungle, counting laborers

who live in shanties and those who live

on the run, fugitives who are too angry

to keep working for silver in a system

where they know that others

earn gold.

When islanders see me coming,

they're afraid of trouble, even though

I can't arrest them anymore—now

all I need is a record of their names, ages,

homelands, and colors.

The rules of this census confound me.

I'm expected to count white Jamaicans

as dark and every shade of Spaniard

as semi-white, so that Americans

can pretend

there's only one color

in each country.

How am I supposed to enumerate

this kid with the Cuban accent?

His skin is medium, but his eyes

are green.

And what about that Puerto Rican

scientist, who speaks like a New York

professor,

or the girl who says she doesn't know

where she was born or who her parents

are—she could be part native, or part French,

Jamaican, Chinese ...

She could even be part American,

from people who passed through here

way back

in gold rush days.

Counting feels just as impossible

as turning solid mountains

into a ditch.

Margarita Engle, "Counting (Harry Franck from the United States of America Census Enumerator)" from Silver People: Voices from the Panama Canal.  Copyright © 2014 by Margarita Engle.  Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Source: Silver People: Voices from the Panama Canal (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014)

Longing for Her Beloved

Song of Solomon 8 English Standard Version (ESV)

Longing for Her Beloved

8 Oh that you were like a brother to me
    who nursed at my mother's breasts!
If I found you outside, I would kiss you,
    and none would despise me.
2 I would lead you and bring you
    into the house of my mother—
    she who used to teach me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
    the juice of my pomegranate.
3 His left hand is under my head,
    and his right hand embraces me!
4 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
    that you not stir up or awaken love
    until it pleases.

5 Who is that coming up from the wilderness,
    leaning on her beloved?

Under the apple tree I awakened you.
There your mother was in labor with you;
    there she who bore you was in labor.

6 Set me as a seal upon your heart,
    as a seal upon your arm,
for love is strong as death,
    jealousy[a] is fierce as the grave.[b]
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
    the very flame of the Lord.
7 Many waters cannot quench love,
    neither can floods drown it.
If a man offered for love
    all the wealth of his house,
    he[c] would be utterly despised.

Final Advice

Others

8 We have a little sister,
    and she has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister
    on the day when she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
    we will build on her a battlement of silver,
but if she is a door,
    we will enclose her with boards of cedar.

She

10 I was a wall,
    and my breasts were like towers;
then I was in his eyes
    as one who finds[d] peace.

11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon;
    he let out the vineyard to keepers;
    each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver.
12 My vineyard, my very own, is before me;
    you, O Solomon, may have the thousand,
    and the keepers of the fruit two hundred.

He

13 O you who dwell in the gardens,
    with companions listening for your voice;
    let me hear it.

She

14 Make haste, my beloved,
    and be like a gazelle
or a young stag
    on the mountains of spices.

Footnotes:

1. Song of Solomon 8:6 Or ardor
2. Song of Solomon 8:6 Hebrew as Sheol
3. Song of Solomon 8:7 Or it
4. Song of Solomon 8:10 Or brings out

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

“For then, at that time, when I restore

Joel 4 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

4 (3)  “For then, at that time, when I restore
the fortunes of Y’hudah and Yerushalayim,
2 I will gather all nations and bring them down
to the Valley of Y’hoshafat [Adonai judges].
I will enter into judgment there
for my people, my heritage Isra’el,
whom they scattered among the nations;
then they divided my land.
3 They drew lots for my people,
traded boys for whores,
sold girls for wine to drink.

4 “Moreover, what have you against me,
Tzor, Tzidon, all parts of P’leshet?
Are you paying me back for something I did?
If you’re paying me back for something I did,
then easily, quickly, I’ll pay you back
right on your own head.
5 You took my silver and gold.
You brought my good treasures into your temples.
6 The people of Y’hudah and Yerushalayim
you sold to the Greeks, so that you could remove them
far away from their land.
7 I will rouse them from the place where you sold them
and pay you back right on your own head —
8 I will sell your sons and daughters
to the people of Y’hudah;
and they will sell them to the men of Sh’va,
a nation far off; for Adonai has spoken.

9 “Proclaim this among the nations:
‘Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors!
Let all the fighting men approach and attack.’
10 Hammer your plow-blades into swords
and your pruning-knives into spears.
Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’
11 Hurry, come, you surrounding nations,
gather yourselves together!”

Bring your warriors down, Adonai!

12 “Let the nations be roused and come up
to the Valley of Y’hoshafat [Adonai judges].
For there I will sit to judge
all the surrounding nations.”

13 Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe;
come, and tread, for the winepress is full.
The vats are overflowing,
for their wickedness is great.
14 Such enormous crowds
in the Valley of Decision!
For the Day of Adonai is upon us
in the Valley of Decision!
15 The sun and moon have grown black,
and the stars have stopped shining.
16 Adonai will roar from Tziyon,
he will thunder from Yerushalayim,
the sky and the earth will shake.

But Adonai will be a refuge for his people,
a stronghold for the people of Isra’el.
17 “You will know that I am Adonai your God,
living on Tziyon my holy mountain.”

Then Yerushalayim will be holy,
and foreigners will pass through her no more.
18 Then, when that time comes,
the mountains will drip with sweet wine,
the hills will flow with milk,
all the streambeds of Y’hudah will run with water,
and a spring will flow from the house of Adonai
to water the Sheetim Valley.

19 But Egypt will be desolate
and Edom a desert waste,
because of the violence done to the people of Y’hudah,
because they shed innocent blood in their land.

20 Y’hudah will be inhabited forever,
Yerushalayim through all generations.
21 “I will cleanse them of bloodguilt
which I have not yet cleansed,”
for Adonai is living in Tziyon.

Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved
We do not hate anybody! We are not hateful people!.

Backgammon dice

Write your own song

Rocky mountains

Rocky mountain high

Letter of Jeremiah New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

6 [a] A copy of a letter that Jeremiah sent to those who were to be taken to Babylon as exiles by the king of the Babylonians, to give them the message that God had commanded him.

The People Face a Long Captivity

2 Because of the sins that you have committed before God, you will be taken to Babylon as exiles by Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Babylonians. 3 Therefore when you have come to Babylon you will remain there for many years, for a long time, up to seven generations; after that I will bring you away from there in peace. 4 Now in Babylon you will see gods made of silver and gold and wood, which people carry on their shoulders, and which cause the heathen to fear. 5 So beware of becoming at all like the foreigners or of letting fear for these gods[b] possess you 6 when you see the multitude before and behind them worshiping them. But say in your heart, “It is you, O Lord, whom we must worship.” 7 For my angel is with you, and he is watching over your lives.

The Helplessness of Idols

8 Their tongues are smoothed by the carpenter, and they themselves are overlaid with gold and silver; but they are false and cannot speak. 9 People[c] take gold and make crowns for the heads of their gods, as they might for a girl who loves ornaments. 10 Sometimes the priests secretly take gold and silver from their gods and spend it on themselves, 11 or even give some of it to the prostitutes on the terrace. They deck their gods[d] out with garments like human beings—these gods of silver and gold and wood 12 that cannot save themselves from rust and corrosion. When they have been dressed in purple robes, 13 their faces are wiped because of the dust from the temple, which is thick upon them. 14 One of them holds a scepter, like a district judge, but is unable to destroy anyone who offends it. 15 Another has a dagger in its right hand, and an ax, but cannot defend itself from war and robbers. 16 From this it is evident that they are not gods; so do not fear them.

17 For just as someone’s dish is useless when it is broken, 18 so are their gods when they have been set up in the temples. Their eyes are full of the dust raised by the feet of those who enter. And just as the gates are shut on every side against anyone who has offended a king, as though under sentence of death, so the priests make their temples secure with doors and locks and bars, in order that they may not be plundered by robbers. 19 They light more lamps for them than they light for themselves, though their gods[e] can see none of them. 20 They are[f] just like a beam of the temple, but their hearts, it is said, are eaten away when crawling creatures from the earth devour them and their robes. They do not notice 21 when their faces have been blackened by the smoke of the temple. 22 Bats, swallows, and birds alight on their bodies and heads; and so do cats. 23 From this you will know that they are not gods; so do not fear them.

24 As for the gold that they wear for beauty—it[g] will not shine unless someone wipes off the tarnish; for even when they were being cast, they did not feel it. 25 They are bought without regard to cost, but there is no breath in them. 26 Having no feet, they are carried on the shoulders of others, revealing to humankind their worthlessness. And those who serve them are put to shame 27 because, if any of these gods falls[h] to the ground, they themselves must pick it up. If anyone sets it upright, it cannot move itself; and if it is tipped over, it cannot straighten itself. Gifts are placed before them just as before the dead. 28 The priests sell the sacrifices that are offered to these gods[i] and use the money themselves. Likewise their wives preserve some of the meat[j] with salt, but give none to the poor or helpless. 29 Sacrifices to them may even be touched by women in their periods or at childbirth. Since you know by these things that they are not gods, do not fear them.

30 For how can they be called gods? Women serve meals for gods of silver and gold and wood; 31 and in their temples the priests sit with their clothes torn, their heads and beards shaved, and their heads uncovered. 32 They howl and shout before their gods as some do at a funeral banquet. 33 The priests take some of the clothing of their gods[k] to clothe their wives and children. 34 Whether one does evil to them or good, they will not be able to repay it. They cannot set up a king or depose one. 35 Likewise they are not able to give either wealth or money; if one makes a vow to them and does not keep it, they will not require it. 36 They cannot save anyone from death or rescue the weak from the strong. 37 They cannot restore sight to the blind; they cannot rescue one who is in distress. 38 They cannot take pity on a widow or do good to an orphan. 39 These things that are made of wood and overlaid with gold and silver are like stones from the mountain, and those who serve them will be put to shame. 40 Why then must anyone think that they are gods, or call them gods?

The Foolishness of Worshiping Idols

Besides, even the Chaldeans themselves dishonor them; for when they see someone who cannot speak, they bring Bel and pray that the mute may speak, as though Bel[l] were able to understand! 41 Yet they themselves cannot perceive this and abandon them, for they have no sense. 42 And the women, with cords around them, sit along the passageways, burning bran for incense. 43 When one of them is led off by one of the passers-by and is taken to bed by him, she derides the woman next to her, because she was not as attractive as herself and her cord was not broken. 44 Whatever is done for these idols[m] is false. Why then must anyone think that they are gods, or call them gods?

45 They are made by carpenters and goldsmiths; they can be nothing but what the artisans wish them to be. 46 Those who make them will certainly not live very long themselves; 47 how then can the things that are made by them be gods? They have left only lies and reproach for those who come after. 48 For when war or calamity comes upon them, the priests consult together as to where they can hide themselves and their gods.[n] 49 How then can one fail to see that these are not gods, for they cannot save themselves from war or calamity? 50 Since they are made of wood and overlaid with gold and silver, it will afterward be known that they are false. 51 It will be manifest to all the nations and kings that they are not gods but the work of human hands, and that there is no work of God in them. 52 Who then can fail to know that they are not gods?[o]

53 For they cannot set up a king over a country or give rain to people. 54 They cannot judge their own cause or deliver one who is wronged, for they have no power; 55 they are like crows between heaven and earth. When fire breaks out in a temple of wooden gods overlaid with gold or silver, their priests will flee and escape, but the gods[p] will be burned up like timbers. 56 Besides, they can offer no resistance to king or enemy. Why then must anyone admit or think that they are gods?

57 Gods made of wood and overlaid with silver and gold are unable to save themselves from thieves or robbers. 58 Anyone who can will strip them of their gold and silver and of the robes they wear, and go off with this booty, and they will not be able to help themselves. 59 So it is better to be a king who shows his courage, or a household utensil that serves its owner’s need, than to be these false gods; better even the door of a house that protects its contents, than these false gods; better also a wooden pillar in a palace, than these false gods.

60 For sun and moon and stars are bright, and when sent to do a service, they are obedient. 61 So also the lightning, when it flashes, is widely seen; and the wind likewise blows in every land. 62 When God commands the clouds to go over the whole world, they carry out his command. 63 And the fire sent from above to consume mountains and woods does what it is ordered. But these idols[q] are not to be compared with them in appearance or power. 64 Therefore one must not think that they are gods, nor call them gods, for they are not able either to decide a case or to do good to anyone. 65 Since you know then that they are not gods, do not fear them.

66 They can neither curse nor bless kings; 67 they cannot show signs in the heavens for the nations, or shine like the sun or give light like the moon. 68 The wild animals are better than they are, for they can flee to shelter and help themselves. 69 So we have no evidence whatever that they are gods; therefore do not fear them.

70 Like a scarecrow in a cucumber bed, which guards nothing, so are their gods of wood, overlaid with gold and silver. 71 In the same way, their gods of wood, overlaid with gold and silver, are like a thornbush in a garden on which every bird perches; or like a corpse thrown out in the darkness. 72 From the purple and linen[r] that rot upon them you will know that they are not gods; and they will finally be consumed themselves, and be a reproach in the land. 73 Better, therefore, is someone upright who has no idols; such a person will be far above reproach.

Footnotes:

1. Letter of Jeremiah 1:1 The King James Version (like the Latin Vulgate) prints The Letter of Jeremiah as Chapter 6 of the Book of Baruch, and the chapter and verse numbers are here retained. In the Greek Septuagint, the Letter is separated from Baruch by the Book of Lamentations.
2. Letter of Jeremiah 1:5 Gk for them
3. Letter of Jeremiah 1:9 Gk They
4. Letter of Jeremiah 1:11 Gk them
5. Letter of Jeremiah 1:19 Gk they
6. Letter of Jeremiah 1:20 Gk It is
7. Letter of Jeremiah 1:24 Lat Syr: Gk they
8. Letter of Jeremiah 1:27 Gk if they fall
9. Letter of Jeremiah 1:28 Gk to them
10. Letter of Jeremiah 1:28 Gk of them
11. Letter of Jeremiah 1:33 Gk some of their clothing
12. Letter of Jeremiah 1:40 Gk he
13. Letter of Jeremiah 1:44 Gk them
14. Letter of Jeremiah 1:48 Gk them
15. Letter of Jeremiah 1:52 Meaning of Gk uncertain
16. Letter of Jeremiah 1:55 Gk they
17. Letter of Jeremiah 1:63 Gk these things
18. Letter of Jeremiah 1:72 Cn: Gk marble, Syr silk

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.