Song of Solomon 1:2–8:14

The Bride Confesses Her Love

She¹

²Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!

For your ^blove is better than wine;

³your ^canointing oils are fragrant;

your ^dname is oil poured out;

therefore virgins love you.

^4eDraw me after you; ^flet us run.

^gThe king has brought me into his chambers.

Others

We will ^hexult and rejoice in you;

we will extol ^byour love more than wine;

rightly do they love you.

She

⁵I am very dark, but ⁱlovely,

O ^jdaughters of Jerusalem,

like ^kthe tents of ^lKedar,

like the curtains of Solomon.

⁶Do not gaze at me because I am dark,

because the sun has looked upon me.

My ^mmother’s sons were angry with me;

they made me ⁿkeeper of ^othe vineyards,

but ^pmy own vineyard I have not kept!

⁷Tell me, you ^qwhom my soul loves,

where you ^rpasture your flock,

where you make it ^slie down at noon;

for why should I be like one who veils herself

beside the flocks of your ^tcompanions?

Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other

He

⁸If you do not know,

O ^umost beautiful among women,

follow in the tracks of the flock,

and pasture your young goats

beside the shepherds’ tents.

⁹I compare you, ^vmy love,

to ^wa mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.

^10xYour cheeks are lovely with ornaments,

your neck with strings of jewels.

Others

¹¹We will make for you² ornaments of gold,

studded with silver.

She

¹²While ^ythe king was on his couch,

my ^znard gave forth its fragrance.

¹³My beloved is to me a sachet of ^amyrrh

that lies between my breasts.

¹⁴My beloved is to me a cluster of ^bhenna blossoms

in the vineyards of ^cEngedi.

He

^15dBehold, ^eyou are beautiful, ^fmy love;

behold, you are beautiful;

your ^geyes are doves.

She

¹⁶Behold, you are beautiful, ^hmy beloved, truly ⁱdelightful.

Our couch is green;

¹⁷the beams of our house are ^jcedar;

our rafters are ^jpine.

2I am a rose¹ of Sharon,

^ka lily of the valleys.

He

²As a lily among brambles,

so is ^lmy love among the young women.

She

³As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,

so is my ^mbeloved among the young men.

With great delight I sat ⁿin his shadow,

and his ^ofruit was sweet to my taste.

⁴He ^pbrought me to the banqueting house,²

and his ^qbanner over me was love.

⁵Sustain me with ^rraisins;

refresh me with apples,

^sfor I am sick with love.

⁶His ^tleft hand is under my head,

and his right hand ^uembraces me!

⁷I ^vadjure you,³ O ^wdaughters of Jerusalem,

by ^xthe gazelles or the does of the field,

that you not stir up or awaken love

until it pleases.

The Bride Adores Her Beloved

⁸The voice of my beloved!

Behold, he comes,

leaping ^yover the mountains,

bounding over the hills.

⁹My beloved is like ^za gazelle

or a young stag.

Behold, there he stands

behind our wall,

gazing through the windows,

looking through the lattice.

¹⁰My beloved speaks and says to me:

^a“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,

and come away,

¹¹for behold, the winter is past;

^bthe rain is over and gone.

^12cThe flowers appear on the earth,

the time of singing⁴ has come,

and the voice of ^dthe turtledove

is heard in our land.

^13eThe fig tree ripens its figs,

and ^fthe vines are in blossom;

they give forth fragrance.

^gArise, my love, my beautiful one,

and come away.

¹⁴O my ^hdove, in the ⁱclefts of the rock,

in the crannies of the cliff,

let me see your face,

let me ^jhear your voice,

for your voice is sweet,

and your face is ^klovely.

¹⁵Catch ^lthe foxes⁵ for us,

the little foxes

that spoil the vineyards,

^ffor our vineyards are in blossom.”

^16mMy beloved is mine, and I am his;

he ⁿgrazes⁶ among the lilies.

¹⁷Until ^othe day breathes

and ^pthe shadows flee,

turn, my beloved, be like ^qa gazelle

or a young stag on cleft mountains.⁷

The Bride’s Dream

3On my bed ^rby night

I sought ^shim whom my soul loves;

^tI sought him, but found him not.

²I will rise now and go about the city,

in ^uthe streets and in the squares;

I will seek ^shim whom my soul loves.

I sought him, but found him not.

^3vThe watchmen found me

as they went about in the city.

“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”

⁴Scarcely had I passed them

when I found ^shim whom my soul loves.

I ^wheld him, and would not let him go

until I had ^xbrought him into my mother’s house,

and into the chamber of ^yher who conceived me.

^5zI adjure you, ^aO daughters of Jerusalem,

^bby the gazelles or the does of the field,

that you not stir up or awaken love

until it pleases.

Solomon Arrives for the Wedding

^6cWhat is that coming up from the wilderness

like ^dcolumns of smoke,

perfumed with ^emyrrh and frankincense,

with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?

⁷Behold, it is the litter¹ of Solomon!

Around it are ^fsixty ^gmighty men,

some of the mighty men of Israel,

⁸all of them wearing swords

and expert in war,

each with his ^hsword at his thigh,

against ⁱterror by night.

⁹King Solomon made himself a carriage²

from the wood of Lebanon.

¹⁰He made its posts of silver,

its back of gold, its seat of purple;

its interior was inlaid with love

by ^jthe daughters of Jerusalem.

¹¹Go out, O ^kdaughters of Zion,

and look upon King Solomon,

with the crown with which his mother crowned him

on ^lthe day of his wedding,

on the day of the gladness of his heart.

Solomon Admires His Bride’s Beauty

He

4Behold, ^myou are beautiful, my love,

behold, you are beautiful!

ⁿYour eyes are doves

^obehind your veil.

^pYour hair is like a flock of goats

leaping down ^qthe slopes of Gilead.

²Your ^rteeth are like a flock of shorn ewes

that have come up from the washing,

all of which bear twins,

and not one among them has lost its young.

³Your lips are like ^sa scarlet thread,

and your mouth is ^tlovely.

Your ^ucheeks are like halves of a pomegranate

^obehind your veil.

⁴Your ^vneck is like the tower of David,

built in ^wrows of stone;¹

on it ^xhang a thousand shields,

all of ^ythem shields of warriors.

⁵Your ^ztwo breasts are like two ^afawns,

twins of a gazelle,

that ^bgraze among the lilies.

^6cUntil the day breathes

and the shadows flee,

I will go away to the mountain of ^dmyrrh

and the hill of ^dfrankincense.

^7eYou are altogether beautiful, my love;

there is no ^fflaw in you.

^8gCome with me from ^hLebanon, my ⁱbride;

come with me from ^hLebanon.

Depart² from the peak of Amana,

from the peak of ^jSenir and ^kHermon,

from the dens of lions,

from the mountains of leopards.

⁹You have captivated my heart, my ^lsister, my bride;

you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,

with one ^mjewel of your necklace.

¹⁰How beautiful is your love, my ^lsister, my bride!

How much ⁿbetter is your love than wine,

and ^othe fragrance of your oils than any spice!

¹¹Your ^plips drip nectar, my bride;

^qhoney and milk are under your tongue;

the fragrance of your garments is ^rlike the fragrance of ^hLebanon.

¹²A garden locked is my ^lsister, my bride,

a spring locked, ^sa fountain ^tsealed.

¹³Your shoots are ^uan orchard of pomegranates

with all ^vchoicest fruits,

^whenna with ^xnard,

¹⁴nard and saffron, ^ycalamus and ^ycinnamon,

with all trees of ^zfrankincense,

^amyrrh and ^baloes,

with all ^ychoice spices—

¹⁵a garden fountain, a well of ^cliving water,

and flowing streams from ^hLebanon.

¹⁶Awake, O north wind,

and come, O south wind!

Blow upon my ^dgarden,

let its spices flow.

Together in the Garden of Love

She

^eLet my beloved come to his ^fgarden,

and eat its ^vchoicest fruits.

He

5I ^gcame to my garden, my ^hsister, my bride,

I gathered my ⁱmyrrh with my spice,

I ate my ^jhoneycomb with my honey,

I ^kdrank my wine with my milk.

Others

Eat, ^lfriends, drink,

and be drunk with love!

The Bride Searches for Her Beloved

She

²I slept, but my heart was awake.

A sound! My beloved is ^mknocking.

“Open to me, my ⁿsister, my ^olove,

my ^pdove, my ^qperfect one,

for my head is wet with dew,

my ^rlocks with the drops of the night.”

^3sI had put off my garment;

how could I put it on?

I had ^tbathed my feet;

how could I soil them?

⁴My beloved put his hand to the latch,

and my heart was thrilled within me.

⁵I arose to open to my beloved,

and my hands dripped with myrrh,

my fingers with ^uliquid myrrh,

on the handles of the bolt.

⁶I opened to my beloved,

but my beloved had turned and gone.

My soul failed me when he ^vspoke.

^wI sought him, but found him not;

^xI called him, but he gave no answer.

^7yThe watchmen found me

as they went about in the city;

they beat me, they bruised me,

they took away my veil,

those watchmen of the walls.

⁸I ^zadjure you, O ^adaughters of Jerusalem,

if you find my beloved,

that you tell him

^bI am sick with love.

Others

⁹What is your beloved more than another beloved,

O ^cmost beautiful among women?

What is your beloved more than another beloved,

that you thus ^zadjure us?

The Bride Praises Her Beloved

She

¹⁰My beloved is radiant and ^druddy,

^edistinguished among ten thousand.

¹¹His head is the finest gold;

^fhis locks are wavy,

black as a raven.

¹²His ^geyes are like doves

beside streams of water,

bathed in milk,

sitting beside a full pool.¹

¹³His ⁱcheeks are like ^jbeds of spices,

mounds of sweet-smelling herbs.

His lips are ^klilies,

dripping ^uliquid myrrh.

¹⁴His arms are rods of gold,

set with ^ljewels.

His body is polished ivory,²

bedecked with ^msapphires.³

¹⁵His legs are alabaster columns,

set on bases of gold.

His appearance is like ^oLebanon,

choice as the cedars.

¹⁶His ^pmouth⁴ is most sweet,

and he is altogether desirable.

This is my beloved and this is my friend,

O ^adaughters of Jerusalem.

Others

6Where has your beloved gone,

O ^cmost beautiful among women?

Where has your beloved turned,

that we may seek him with you?

Together in the Garden of Love

She

²My beloved has gone down to his ^qgarden

to ^rthe beds of spices,

to ^sgraze¹ in the gardens

and to gather ^tlilies.

^3uI am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;

he grazes among the lilies.

Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other

He

⁴You are beautiful as ^vTirzah, ^wmy love,

^xlovely as ^yJerusalem,

^zawesome as an army with banners.

⁵Turn away your eyes from me,

for they overwhelm me—

^aYour hair is like a flock of goats

leaping down the slopes of Gilead.

^6bYour teeth are like a flock of ewes

that have come up from the washing;

all of them bear twins;

not one among them has lost its young.

^7cYour cheeks are like…