SONG OF SONGS

1 The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.a

Woman

2 Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!

For your caressesA are more delightful than wine.b

3 The fragrance of your perfume is intoxicating;c

your name is perfume poured out.d

No wonder young womenB adore you.

4 Take me with youe—let’s hurry.

Oh, that the king would bringC me to his chambers.

Young Women

We will rejoice and be glad in you;

we will celebrate your caresses more than wine.

Woman

It is only right that they adore you.

5 Daughters of Jerusalem,f

I am dark like the tents of Kedar,g

yet lovelyh like the curtains of Solomon.

6 Do not stare at me because I am dark,

for the sun has gazed on me.

My mother’s sons were angry with me;i

they made me take care of the vineyards.j

I have not taken care of my own vineyard.

7 Tell me, you whom I love:k

Where do you pasture your sheep?l

Where do you let them rest at noon?m

Why should I be like one who veils herselfD

beside the flocks of your companions?n

ManE

8 If you do not know,

most beautiful of women,o

followF the tracks of the flock,

and pasture your young goats

near the shepherds’ tents.

9 I compare you, my darling,p

to aG mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.q

10 Your cheeks are beautiful with jewelry,r

your neck with its necklace.

11 We will make gold jewelry for you,

accented with silver.

Woman

12 While the king is on his couch,H

my perfumeI releases its fragrance.s

13 The one I love is a sachet of myrrh to me,t

spending the night between my breasts.

14 The one I love is a cluster of henna blossoms to me,u

in the vineyards of En-gedi.v

Man

15 How beautiful you are, my darling.

How very beautiful!

Your eyes are doves.w

Woman

16 How handsome you are, my love.x

How delightful!

Our bed is verdant;

17 the beams of our house are cedars,

and our rafters are cypresses.J

2 I am a wildflowerK of Sharon,

a lilyL of the valleys.y

Man

2 Like a lily among thorns,

so is my darling among the young women.

Woman

3 Like an apricotM tree among the trees of the forest,

so is my love among the young men.

I delight to sit in his shade,

and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

4 He brought me to the banquet hall,A,a

and he looked on me with love.B,b

5 Sustain me with raisins;

refresh me with apricots,C

for I am lovesick.c

6 May his left hand be under my head,

and his right arm embrace me.d

7 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you

by the gazelles and the wild does of the field,

do not stir up or awaken love

until the appropriate time.D,e

8 Listen! My love is approaching.

Look! Here he comes,

leaping over the mountains,f

bounding over the hills.

9 My love is like a gazelle

or a young stag.g

See, he is standing behind our wall,

gazing through the windows,

peering through the lattice.

10 My love calls to me:

Man

Arise,h my darling.

Come away, my beautiful one.

11 For now the winter is past;

the rain has ended and gone away.

12 The blossoms appear in the countryside.

The time of singingE has come,

and the turtledove’s cooing is heard in our land.i

13 The fig tree ripens its figs;j

the blossoming vines give off their fragrance.k

Arise, my darling.

Come away, my beautiful one.

14 My dove,l in the clefts of the rock,m

in the crevices of the cliff,

let me see your face,F

let me hear your voice;n

for your voice is sweet,

and your face is lovely.o

WomanG

15 Catch the foxes for usp—

the little foxes that ruin the vineyards—

for our vineyards are in bloom.q

Woman

16 My love is mine and I am his;r

he feeds among the lilies.

17 Until the day breaksH

and the shadows flee,

turn around, my love, and be like a gazelle

or a young stags on the divided mountains.I,t

3 In my bed at nightJ

I sought the one I love;u

I sought him, but did not find him.K,v

2 I will arise now and go about the city,

through the streets and the plazas.w

I will seek the one I love.

I sought him, but did not find him.

3 The guards who go about the city found me.x

I asked them, “Have you seen the one I love?”

4 I had just passed them

when I found the one I love.

I held on to him and would not let him go

until I brought him to my mother’s housey—

to the chamber of the one who conceived me.

5 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you

by the gazelles and the wild does of the field,

do not stir up or awaken love

until the appropriate time.D,z

Narrator

6 Who is thisaa coming up from the wilderness

like columns of smoke,

scented with myrrh and frankincenseab

from every fragrant powder of the merchant?

7 Look! Solomon’s bed

surrounded by sixty warriors

from the mighty men of Israel.

8 All of them are skilled with swords

and trained in warfare.

Each has his sword at his sideac

to guard against the terror of the night.ad

9 King Solomon made a carriage for himself

with wood from Lebanon.

10 He made its posts of silver,

its backA of gold,

and its seat of purple.

Its interior is inlaid with loveB

by the young women of Jerusalem.a

11 Go out, young women of Zion,b

and gaze at King Solomon,

wearing the crown his mother placed on him

on the day of his weddingc—

the day of his heart’s rejoicing.

Man

4 How beautiful you are, my darling.

How very beautiful!

Behind your veil,

your eyes are doves.d

Your hair is like a flock of goats

streaming down Mount Gilead.e

2 Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep

coming up from washing,

each one bearing twins,

and none has lost its young.C,f

3 Your lips are like a scarlet cord,g

and your mouthD is lovely.

Behind your veil,

your browE is like a slice of pomegranate.h

4 Your neck is like the tower of David,i

constructed in layers.

A thousand shields are hung on it—

all of them shields of warriors.

5 Your breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle,j that feed among the lilies.

6 Until the day breaksF

and the shadows flee,k

I will make my way to the mountain of myrrh

and the hill of frankincense.l

7 You are absolutely beautiful,m my darling;

there is no imperfection in you.

8 Come with me from Lebanon,* n my bride;o

come with me from Lebanon!

Descend from the peak of Amana,

from the summit of Senir and Hermon,p

from the dens of the lions,

from the mountains of the leopards.

9 You have captured my heart,q my sister,r my bride.

You have captured my heart with one glance of your eyes,

with one jewel of your necklace.

10 How delightful your caresses are, my sister, my bride.

Your caresses are much better than wine,s

and the fragrance of your perfume than any balsam.

11 Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride.t

Honey and milku are under your tongue.

The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

12 My sister, my bride, you are a locked garden—

a locked gardenH and a sealed spring.v

13 Your branches are a paradiseI of pomegranates

with choicest fruits;w

henna with nard,

14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,x

with all the trees of frankincense,y

myrrh and aloes,z

with all the best spices.

15 You are a garden spring,

a well of flowing wateraa

streaming from Lebanon.

Woman

16 Awaken,ab north wind;

come, south wind.

Blow on my garden,

and spread the fragrance of its spices.

Let my love come to his garden

and eat its choicest fruits.ac

Man

5 I have come to my garden—my sister, my bride.

I gatherJ my myrrh with my spices.

I eat my honeycomb with my honey.

I drink my wine with my milk.

Narrator

Eat, friends!

Drink, be intoxicated with caresses!K,ad

Woman

2 I was sleeping, but my heart was awake.

A sound! My love was knocking!a

Man

Open to me, my sister, my darling,

my dove, my perfect one.

For my head is drenched with dew,

my hair with droplets of the night.

Woman

3 I have taken off my clothing.b

How can I put it back on?

I have washed my feet.

How can I get them dirty?

4 My love thrust his hand through the opening,

and my feelings were stirred for him.

5 I rose to open for my love.

My hands dripped with myrrh,c

my fingers with flowing myrrh

on the handles of the bolt.

6 I opened to my love,

but my love had turned and gone away.

My heart sankA because he had left.B

I sought him, but did not find him.d

I called him, but he did not answer.

7 The guards who go about the city found me.e

They beat and wounded me;

they took my cloakC from me—

the guardians of the walls.f

8 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you,g

if you find my love,

tell him that I am lovesick.h

Young Women

9 What makes the one you love better than another,

most beautiful of women?i

What makes him better than another,

that you would give us this charge?

Woman

10 My love is fit and strong,D,j

notable among ten thousand.k

11 His head is purest gold.

His hair is wavyE,l

and black as a raven.

12 His eyes are like dovesm

beside flowing streams,

washed in milk

and set like jewels.F

13 His cheeksn are like beds of spice,

mounds ofG perfume.

His lips are lilies,

dripping with flowing myrrh.o

14 His armsH are rods of gold

set* with beryl.p

His bodyJ is an ivory panel

covered with lapis lazuli.q

15 His legs are alabaster pillars

set on pedestals of pure gold.

His presence is like Lebanon,r

as majestic as the cedars.s

16 His mouth is sweetness.

He is absolutely desirable.t

This is my love, and this is my friend,

young women of Jerusalem.

Young Women

6 Where has your love gone,

most beautiful of women?

Which way has heK turned?

We will seek him with you.

Woman

2 My love has gone down to his garden,u

to beds of spice,v

to feed in the gardensw

and gather lilies.x

3 I am my love’s and my love is mine;y

he feeds among the lilies.

Man

4 You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,

lovely as Jerusalem,

awe-inspiring as an army with banners.z

5 Turn your eyes away from me,

for they captivate me.aa

Your hair is like a flock of goats

streaming down from Gilead.ab

6 Your teeth are like a flock of ewes

coming up from washing,

each one having a twin,

and not one missing.L,ac

7 Behind your veil,ad

your browM is like a slice of pomegranate.

8 There are sixty queens

and eighty concubinesae

and young women* without number.

9 But my dove,a my virtuous one, is unique;b

she is the favorite of her mother,

perfect to the one who gave her birth.

Women see her and declare her fortunate;c

queens and concubines also, …