(18) He that will now sleep, let him sleep still; and he that will awake and trim his lamp, let him awake still: Behold the Bridegroom cometh, and he that is awake and is ready accompanieth him into the eternal heavenly wedding: But he that sleepeth at his coming, he sleepeth for ever, eternally in the dark prison of fierceness or wrath.

(78) Behold, I tell thee a mystery: The time is already that the Bridegroom crowneth his bride!

(70) This is the gracious, amiable, blessed BRIDE, which rejoiceth in her BRIDEGROOM; herein is love, joy and delight; here is light and brightness or clarity; here is a pleasant and lovely smell; here is a friendly and sweet taste.

A horse brings forth a horse, a human brings forth humans, a deity brings forth deities. So also bridegrooms and brides come from the [bridegroom and bride]. No Jews…from Greeks…from Jews…to Christians. [There was another generation of people], and these [blessed people] were called the chosen spiritual ones, true humankind, the child of humankind, and the offspring of the child of humankind. This true generation is renowned in the world, and this is where the attendants of the bridal chamber are.

(4) Then he raised his eyes and saw a man. He said to the harlot: "Shamhat, have that man go away! Why has he come'? I will call out his name! The harlot called out to the man and went over to him and spoke with him. "Young man, where are you hurrying! Why this arduous pace! The young man spoke, saying to Enkidu: "They have invited me to a wedding, as is the custom of the people.... the selection(!) of brides(!).. I have heaped up tasty delights for the wedding on the ceremonial(!) platter. For the King of Broad-Marted Uruk, open is the veil(!) of the people for choosing (a girl). For Gilgamesh, the King of Broad-Marted Uruk, open is the veil(?) of the people for choosing. He will have intercourse with the 'destined wife,' he first, the husband afterward.

(1) Then, by the will of the father, the bridegroom came down to her in the bridal chamber, which had been prepared. And he decorated the chamber.

No [one can] know when [a husband] and wife have sex except those two, for marriage in this world is a mystery for those married. If defiled marriage is hidden, how much more is undefiled marriage a true mystery! It is not fleshly but pure. It belongs not to desire but to will. It belongs not to darkness or night but to the day and the light. If marriage is exposed, it has become prostitution, and the bride plays the harlot not only if she is impregnated by another man but even if she slips out of her bedchamber and is seen. Let her show herself only to her father and her mother, the friend of the bridegroom, and the attendants of the bridegroom. They are allowed to enter the bridal chamber every day. But let the others yearn just to hear her voice and enjoy the fragrance of her ointment, and let them feed on the crumbs that fall from the table, like dogs. Bridegrooms and brides belong to the bridal chamber. No one can see a bridegroom or a bride except by becoming one.

(4) Then she will begin to rage at herself like a woman in labor, writhing and screaming in the hour of delivery. But since she is female, she is powerless by herself to inseminate a child. So the father sent her from heaven her man, her brother, the firstborn. The bridegroom came down to the bride. She gave up her former whoring and cleansed herself of the pollution of adulterers, and she was renewed to be a bride. She cleansed herself in the bridal chamber. She filled it with perfume and sat there waiting for the true groom. She no longer goes about the marketplace, copulating with whomever she desires, but she waits for him, saying, "When will he come?" And she feared him, not knowing what he looked like. She no longer remembers, since she fell from her father's house long ago.

(3) Where are your bridegrooms that you keep forever' Where is your 'Little Shepherd' bird that went up over you! See here now, I will recite the list of your lovers. Of the shoulder (?)... his hand, Tammuz, the lover of your earliest youth, for him you have ordained lamentations year upon year! You loved the colorful 'Little Shepherd' bird and then hit him, breaking his wing, so now he stands in the forest crying 'My Wing'! You loved the supremely mighty lion, yet you dug for him seven and again seven pits. You loved the stallion, famed in battle, yet you ordained for him the whip, the goad, and the lash, ordained for him to gallop for seven and seven hours, ordained for him drinking from muddled waters,' you ordained far his mother Silili to wail continually. You loved the Shepherd, the Master Herder, who continually presented you with bread baked in embers, and who daily slaughtered for you a kid.

(131) Now here stands the beauteous bride: what shall I write of her now? was she not a Prince of God, as also the most beautiful, moreover, in God's love also, and as a dear son of the creatures? Of the horrible, proud, and henceforth doleful lamentable Beginning of Sin. The highest Depth. Observe here:

(7) As he entered the forest surrounding his little house, it seemed to C.R.C. that all Nature had joyously prepared for the wedding. As he proceeded singing merrily, he came to a green heath in which stood three great cedars, one bearing a tablet with an inscription describing the four paths that led to the palace of the King: the first short and dangerous, the second circuitous, the third a pleasant and royal road, and the fourth suitable only for incorruptible bodies. Weary and perplexed, C.R.C. decided to rest and, cutting a slice of bread, was about to partake thereof when a white dove begged it from him. The dove was at once attacked by a raven, and in his efforts to separate the birds C.R.C. unknowingly ran a considerable distance along one of the four paths--that leading southward. A terrific wind preventing him from retracing his steps, the wedding guest resigned himself to the loss of his bread and continued along the road until he espied in the distance a great gate. The sun being low, he hastened towards the portal, upon which, among other figures, was a tablet bearing the words Procul hinc procul ite profani.

(115) Beloved Mind, we write no Conceits and Tales, it is in Earnest, and it is as much as our Bodies and Souls are worth; we must give a strict Account of it, as being the Talent that is committed to us. If any will be i scandalized at it, let them take Heed what they do; truly it is high Time to awake from Sleep, for the Bridegroom comes.

(104) They said [to Jesus], "Come, let us pray today and let us fast." Jesus said, "What is the sin that I have committed, or wherein have I been defeated? But when the bridegroom leaves the bridal chamber, then let them fast and pray."

(91) Behold, the spirit will here present a little before thy eyes what manner of love, humility and courteous friendliness there is in thee, thou fair angelical bride; behold, I pray thee, thy fair attire, What great joy may thy bridegroom take in thee, thou beloved angel, that dancest daily with the devil! I.

(80) But from whence cometh the Bridegroom? From the midst or centre, where the heat generateth the light, and goeth towards the north into the astringent quality; there the light grows bright.

(175) O ye watchmen of Israel! why do ye sleep? Awake from the sleep of whoredom, and dress or trim your lamps: The Bridegroom cometh, sound your trumpets.

(5) And first, and near the ending of these words, "Sperent in te" from over us was heard, To which responsive answered all the carols. Thereafterward a light among them brightened, So that, if Cancer one such crystal had, Winter would have a month of one sole day. And as uprises, goes, and enters the dance A winsome maiden, only to do honour To the new bride, and not from any failing, Even thus did I behold the brightened splendour Approach the two, who in a wheel revolved As was beseeming to their ardent love. Into the song and music there it entered; And fixed on them my Lady kept her look, Even as a bride silent and motionless. "This is the one who lay upon the breast Of him our Pelican; and this is he To the great office from the cross elected." My Lady thus; but therefore none the more Did move her sight from its attentive gaze Before or afterward these words of hers. Even as a man who gazes, and endeavours To see the eclipsing of the sun a little, And who, by seeing, sightless doth become,

(178) O thou fair world, how does heaven complain of thee? How dost thou trouble the elements? O wickedness and malice! when wilt thou leave, and give over? Awaken! awaken! and bring forth, thou sorrowful woman; behold thy Bridegroom cometh, and requireth fruit at thy hands: Why dost thou sleep? Behold, he knocketh!

(161) There the Bridegroom kisseth his bride: O gracious amiable blessedness and great love! how sweet art thou? How friendly and courteous art thou? How pleasant and lovely is thy relish and taste? How ravishingly sweet dost thou smell? O noble light and bright glory, who can apprehend thy exceeding beauty? How comely adorned is thy love? How curious and dainty are thy colours? And all this eternally! Who can express it?

(42) There then says the Bridegroom, Come! On the other Hand, says the poor Soul, / cannot yet, my Lamp is not yet trimmed. Nevertheless it holds the Saviour fast by the Thread [of Faith,] and sets its Imagination [or Desire] (through the Thread of Faith and Confidence) further into the Heart of God; where then at last it is ransomed out of the Putrefaction, through the Passion of Christ.