BON’S BOOK OF PRAISE.
ESK.
1. These are the words of Bon: Thou, O Jehovih! Who can fashion Thee with words, orshow Thy immensity? Where stood Thy feet in the time of Creation or rested Thy hand!
2. Thou Present and Afar! Thou Who art older than time, O Jehovih! Thou Dealer inworlds; where can I write the wonder of Thy name!
3. O That I had a standing place to see Thee! That I could come to an understanding withMy Creator! To find wisdom for my song; a dialogue in the words of the Almighty!
4. Sing to Him, O Yavist, thou farthest star, and thy boundless firmament! AndNeopodis, ye brightest shining heavens, which He created. Give the boundary ofJehovih's Person, O thou universe!
5. Thou that made me! By Thy sweet breath overspread the world with life andsong. How shall I render Thee praise; in Thy glory make my speech acceptable!
6. Who hath considered the All Light, or found the Cause of the brightness of the sun,Thy great symbol? Or the power of Thy hand that stood him in the midst of heaven?
7. Or knoweth the times of Thy labor and the birth of thy worlds? Or counteth thestars Thou hast created! Yea, or knoweth the history of the least of all of them?
8. O that I could fashion a thought of Thy greatness; or conceive the breadth of Thy arms! Thou Whole Compriser! Thou All Perfect, Jehovih!
TEK.
1. Sing unto the All Giver, Jehovih! Praise Him, O all ye people, with great rejoicing. And all ye living that dwell on the face of the earth.
2. And ye young that are skipping and playing; and ye birds that carol to the Almighty. His seed is sown abroad. His fruit springeth from stones that are moldered to dust.
3. In the waters of the earth, and in the air above the earth, Jehovih hath spoken: Comeforth and live, O ye that swim, and ye that fly in the air. The Great Spirit hath touched thefountains of the deep.
4. The air of heaven is peopled with His breath. The song of everything that livethproclaimeth Thee, Jehovih. Thou Person of all persons.
5. O that I could sum up the multitude of their songs and rejoicings. What a world oftestimony in Thy praise! All my life I would sing them over and over.
6. Thou Quickener unto life. Thou All Father. Who hath counted Thy inventions and themultiplicity of Thy living creatures?
7. Open the way, O earth, for the songs of His beloved; give ear and rejoice becauseof the glee of His household. They shall dance forever before the Almighty.
8. Stir them up with love and caresses, O Father! Show them the splendor of Thycreations, perfect in the glow of Thy firelight.
SAM.
1. O Thou, Jehovih, give me words rich in Thy praise; my soul is like a fountainspringing up out of the earth.
2. I would look upon Thee; into Thy face, O my Creator, who taketh away my breath bythe awe of Thy countenance.
3. Thou, who fashioned the broad earth and the high heavens! O, the works of Thy hand,Jehovih!
4. Where shall I start with my song unto Thee; or find words to laud the Almighty?
5. Proclaim His Unity, O my beloved; proclaim Him, in one breath, together, O all yepeople. Jehovih! Jehovih!
6. O that I could magnify words to Thy Omnipotence, or hold up the perfection of ThyPerson in fine speech!
7. But I am as one distracted by the over-whelming scene. My words cripple and haltcontinually before Thy surprising creations.
8. O that I could find a starting point; or knew a way to make rhymes and meters withoutrules, like the works of Jehovih!
SAR.
1. Almighty! Almighty! Love Abounding! Who gathered up the dust of the earth, as awind, with judgment and forethought; and sorted the substance thereof and shaped it.
2. None but Thee, Jehovih, looked on or knew Thy proceedings. And to one Thousaidst: Be thou a beast of the field; and to another: Be thou a serpent; and to another: Bethou a wild beast of the forest.
3. And they ran forth at Thy command, every one to his place, rejoicing in the work ofThy hand. And I looked thereon, O Thou Almighty! What work of perfection in each,even to the flesh and bones.
4. But Thou turnedst mine eyes inward, and I saw the wisdom of the serpent and thebeast; and the thoughts and desires of their understanding, how perfectly Thou hast madethem.
5. I saw the love Thou gavest each unto its own kind; yea, even the serpent gathered upher young, because of her love, to shield them from harm.
6. O that I could find the first Cause of the judgment of every living thing! To come closeto the Almighty; to question Him!
7. Thou Who shapedst a moiety of earth, and said: Be thou a bird, with feathers! Fly andsing! And it went forth, upward in the air of heaven, rejoicing in Thy name, Jehovih!
8. To another: Be thou an eagle; in ice and snow freeze not; above the clouds proclaimthe Almighty!
UNH.
1. Sing unto Jehovih, O all ye living! Proclaim His love, which He gave unto all! Everyone, that lovest to live on, to die not.
2. O the weeping and wailing, when thy kin goeth down in death! Thy call unto theAlmighty to prolong yet a while the time of thy love! or to hear the song of him that isdead!
3. In Jehovih's praise is the wail of thy anguish; thy great sorrow, the love ofthe Almighty; the fountain of song and paradise. Sing on, O earth, Jehovih, forever!
4. O that I could answer them, Jehovih! that I could show them Thy fullness, whichencompasseth the universe! To show them the testimonies of the thread of Thy love!
5. I will have my discourse with Thee, Thou Ever Present! In the harmony of Thyloves will I immerse my soul! Thou, the Fountain and Source of my contemplation.
6. Thou, Who art all; my Creator, Who gavest me judgment and perception to search intothe magnitude of Thy creations.
7. Who shall frame a song, or find words to laud the Almighty! Thou art the Throne andthe Empire. Thy footstool, the sun and moon and stars!
8. O that I may prolong my vision of Thee, and pursue the thread of Thy creations tothe fountain-head. Thou, without a boundary, where all things utter Thy praise forever!
YOKE.
1. Sing unto Him, O ye mountains; and send unto Him the sound of rippling waters, O yevalleys!
2. And all ye singing winds of heaven! Ye whistling wind, on the high mountains, andthou whispering breeze on the plain!
3. Praise Him, thou lightning, and thou peal of thunder! Rend ye the air of heaven inJehovih's praise!
4. Sing to Him, thou surging river, and thou moaning sea of waters! He playeth as on theharp, with the dumb elements.
5. His strains are mighty! His tunes are the hum and whir of falling waters. Sing toJehovih, O ye great water-falls!
6. Chant ye everlastingly, and write His name in the bow that perisheth not, forever.
7. He that tuneth the forests to sing in the clouds; that stringeth His instrument withhemlock and pine and cedar.
8. Who maketh the forests beat time to His strains. Praise ye Jehovih, forever and ever.
RAK.
1. Praise Jehovih, the Almighty! Praise Him, O thou sea of lands. Ye boundless prairies,that stretch out to the horizon, to the rising sun and to the setting thereof in a sea of fire.
2. Praise Jehovih, the Almighty. Praise Him, O ye towering mountains, ye mightywalls of heaven! And thou everlasting snow, shining like diamonds in the sun.
3. Praise Jehovih, the Almighty! Praise Him, O ye colors that overspread the heavens. Ye clouds of purple and yellow and burning gold, and in flames of fire.
4. Praise Jehovih, the Almighty! Praise Him, O ye green meadows and ye waving fieldsof wheat and corn. And ye ripened harvests that beckon and wave like sheets of gold.
5. Praise Jehovih, the Almighty! Praise Him, O ye far-off Blue Mountains, and ye defiantBlack Hills. In somber hue and silent majesty, proclaim Him! Eternity! Eternity!
6. Praise Jehovih, the Almighty! Praise Him, O ye Rocky Mountains. In the longwall of your mightiness proclaim the power of His hand and great majesty!
7. Praise Jehovih, the Almighty! Praise Him, O ye Sierra Nevadas. In youreverlasting snow and mighty forests. Your fearful hanging rocks, above the clouds!
8. Praise Jehovih, the Almighty! Praise Him, O ye great rivers, that gallop down from theAlleghanies, the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevadas; that travel so far to the mightyoceans.
OTE.
1. Proclaim Him, O ye Andes and Cordilleras, stretching avast and on high, yemonuments of the Almighty!
2. Praise His majesty, O ye Himal Layas, and ye Akai Shine, ye foot-prints of Jehovih!
3. Praise His greatness, O ye Thia Shan, and ye Tapa Ling, that feed the Pacific, theDaughter of Jehovih.
4. Sing unto Him, O all ye mountains of the earth; proclaim His power, which stood youup by the touch of his hand.
TAUG.
1. Where is a God like unto Thee, Jehovih? Whose kaleidoscope is millions of suns!
2. Whose breath blew upon thee, O earth! And thy voice joined in the songs of the stars!
3. Whose breath blew upon thee, O Earth! And thy firewas congealed,and the heat run low!
4. Praise thou the All Person, Whose mighty hand stayed the fire! And cooled the flamingearth.
VED.
1. Sing to the Almighty, ye heirs of Zarathustra, whose flesh was the food of lions.
2. Sing to the Creator, Zarathustra's Almighty, the Eolin that spake in the wind.
3. Sing to the followers of the Great Spirit! The Zarathustrians who forfeited their fleshand blood for Him.
4. Sound loud His name, the E-O-Ih of the Zarathustrians, that sang Him on high!
