Song of Solomon 1:1–6:3
1 The Song of Songs,a which is forb Solomon.
2 Mayc he kiss me ⌊passionately with his lips⌋,d
for your love is better than wine.e
3 As fragrance, ⌊your perfumes⌋f are ⌊delightful⌋;g
your name is poured out ⌊perfume⌋;h
therefore young women love you.
4 Draw me after you, let us run!
May the king bring me into his chambers!i
Let us be joyful and let us rejoice in you;
let us extol your love more than wine.
Rightly do they love you!
5 I am black but beautiful,j ⌊O maidens of Jerusalem⌋,k
like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not gaze at me because I am black, l
because the sun has stared at me.
The sons of my mother were angry with me;
they made me keeper of the vineyards,
but my own “vineyard”m I did not keep.
Dialogue between Shepherdess and Shepherd
7 Tell me, you whom my ⌊heart⌋n loves,
where do you pasture your flock,
where do your sheep lie down at the noon?
⌊For why should I be like⌋o one who is veiledp
beside the flocks of your companions?
8 If you do not know, O fairest among women,
follow ⌊the tracks⌋q of the flock,
and pasture your little lambsr beside the tents of the shepherds.
The Man’s Poetic Praise of His Beloved
9 To a mares among the chariotst of Pharaoh,
I compare you, my beloved.
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments,
your neck with strings of jewels.
11 We will make ornaments of gold for you
with studsu of silver.
The Maiden’s Poetic Praise of Her Beloved
12 While the king was on his couch,
my nard gave its fragrance.
13 My beloved is to me ⌊a pouch⌋v of myrrh,
he spends the nightw between my breasts.
14 My beloved is to me a cluster of blossoms of henna
in the vineyards of En Gedi.
15 Look! You are beautiful, my beloved.
Look! You are beautiful;
your eyes are doves.
16 Look! You are beautiful, my beloved,
truly pleasant.
Truly our couch is ⌊verdant⌋;x
17 the beams of our house are cedar;
our rafter is cypress.
Dialogue between the Maiden and Her Beloved
2 I am a rosea of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.
2 Like a lily among the thorns,b
so is my love among the maidens.
3 As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my beloved among the young men.
In his shade ⌊I sat down with delight⌋,c
and his fruit was sweet to my palate.
4 He brought me to the house of the wine,
and his intention was love toward me.
5 Sustain me with the raisins,
refresh me with the apples,
⌊for I am lovesick⌋.d
Double Refrain: Embrace and Adjuration
6 His left hand is under my head,
and his right hand embracese me.
7 I adjure you, ⌊O maidens of Jerusalem⌋,f
by the gazelles or by the does of the field,
do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases!g
8 The voice of my beloved!
Look! Here ⌊he⌋h comes leaping upon the mountains,
bounding over the hills!
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or ⌊a young stag⌋.i
Look! ⌊He is⌋j standing behind our wall,
gazing ⌊through⌋k the window,
looking ⌊through⌋l the lattice.
10 My beloved answered and said to me,
“⌊Arise⌋,m my beloved! ⌊Come, my beauty⌋!n
11 For look! The winter is over;
⌊the rainy season⌋o ⌊has turned and gone away⌋.p
12 The blossoms ⌊appear⌋q ⌊in the land⌋;r
⌊the time of singings has arrived⌋;t
the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree puts forth her figs,
and the vines are in blossom; they give fragrance.
⌊Arise⌋,u my beloved! ⌊Come, my beauty⌋!”v
14 My dove, in the clefts of the rock,
⌊in the secluded place⌋w x ⌊in the mountain⌋,y z
Let me see your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely.
the little foxes destroying vineyards,
fora our vineyards are in blossom!
16 ⌊My beloved belongs to me and I belong to him⌋;b
he pastures his flock among the lilies.
17 Until the day breathes and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved!
⌊Be like⌋c a gazelled or ⌊young stag⌋e on the cleft mountains.f
The Maiden’s Dream: Seeking and Finding
3 On my bed in the night,
I soughta him whom my ⌊heart⌋b loves.
I sought him, but I did not find him.
2 Now I will arise, and I will go about in the city,
in the streets and in the squares;
I will seek him whom my ⌊heart⌋c loves.
I sought him, but I did not find him.
3 The sentinels who go about in the city found me.
“Have you seen the one whom my ⌊heart⌋d loves?”
4 ⌊Scarcely had I passed⌋e by them
when I found him whom my ⌊heart⌋f loves.
I held him and I would not let him go
until I brought him to the house of my mother,
into the bedroom chamber of she who conceived me.
5 I adjure you, ⌊O maidens of Jerusalem⌋,g
by the gazelles or by the does of the field,
do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases!h
6 What is this coming up from the desert
like a column of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and frankincense
from all the fragrant powders of the merchant?
7 Look! It is Solomon’s ⌊portable couch⌋!i
Sixty mighty men surround ⌊it⌋,j
the mighty men of Israel.
8 All of them ⌊wield swords⌋;k
they are ⌊trained in warfare⌋,l
each with his sword at his thigh
to guard ⌊against terror⌋m in the night.
9 ⌊King Solomon⌋n made for himself a sedan chair
from the wood of Lebanon.
10 He made its column of silver, its backo of gold, its seat of purple;
its interior is inlaid with leatherp by ⌊the maidens of Jerusalem⌋.q
11 Come out and look, ⌊O maidens of Zion⌋,r at ⌊King Solomon⌋,s
at the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
on the day of the joy of his heart!
The Groom’s Praise of His Bride
4 Look! You are beautiful, my beloved!
Look! You are beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
from behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
that move down from the mountains of Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
that came up from the washing,
all of them bearing twins,
and there is none bereaved among them.
3 Your lips are like a thread of crimson,
and your mouth is lovely.
Your temple is like halves of pomegranate
from behind your veil.
4 Your neck is like the tower of David,
built in courses;
a thousand ⌊ornaments⌋a are hung on it,
all the shields of the warriors.
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle that feed among the lilies.
6 Until the day breathes and the shadows flee,
I will go to the mountain of the myrrh,
to the hill of the frankincense.
7 You are completely beautiful, my beloved!
⌊You are flawless⌋!b
The Mountains and Fragrance of Lebanon
8 Comec with me from Lebanon, my bride!
Come with med from Lebanon!
Look from the top of Amana,
from the top of Senir and Hermon,
from the dwelling places of the lions,
from the mountains of leopard.
9 You have stolen (my) heart, my sister bride!
You have stolen my heart with one glance from your eyes,
with one ornament from your necklaces.
10 How beautiful is your love, my sister bride!
How better is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
11 Your lips drip nectar, my bride;
honey and milk are under your lips;
the scent of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon.
The Locked Garden of Delights Is Unlocked
12 A garden locked is my sister bride,
a spring enclosed,e a fountain sealed.
13 Your shootsf are an orchard of pomegranates with ⌊choice fruit⌋,g
henna with nard;
14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon spice with all trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes with all chief spices.
15 A garden fountain, a well of living water,
flowing (streams) from Lebanon.
16 Awake, O north wind! Come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden! Let its fragrancesh waft forth!i
Let my beloved come to his garden,
let him eat his choice fruit!
5 I have come to my garden, my sister bride,
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice,
I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey,
I have drunk my wine with my milk!
Eat, O friends! ⌊Drink and become drunk with love⌋!a
The Maiden’s Dream: Seeking and Not Finding
2 I was asleep butb my heart was awake.
A sound! My beloved knocking!c
“Open to me, my sister, my beloved,
my dove, my perfect one!
For my head is full of dew,
⌊my hair drenched from the moist night air⌋.”d
3 I have taken off my tunic, ⌊must I put it on⌋?e
I have bathed my feet, ⌊must I soil them⌋?f
4 My beloved thrust his hand into the opening,
and my inmost yearned for him.
5 I myself arose to open to my beloved;
my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with liquid myrrh
upon the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened myself to my beloved,
but my beloved had turned and gone;g
my heart sankh when he turned away.i
I sought him, but I did not find him;
I called him, but he did not answer me.
7 The sentinels making rounds in the city found me;
they beat me, they wounded me;
they took my cloakj away from me—
⌊those sentinels on the walls⌋!k
8 I adjure you, ⌊O maidens of Jerusalem⌋,l
if you find my beloved, what will you tell him?
Tell him that I am ⌊lovesick⌋!m
The Maiden’s Praise of Her Beloved
9 ⌊How is your beloved better than another lover⌋,n
O most beautiful among women?
⌊How is your beloved better than another lover⌋, o
that you adjure us thus?
10 My beloved is radiant and ⌊ruddy⌋,p
distinguished ⌊among⌋q ten thousand.
11 His head is gold, refined gold;
his locks are wavy, black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves beside springsr of water,
bathed in milk, ⌊set like mounted jewels⌋.s t
13 His cheeks are like beds of spice, a tower of fragrances;
his lips are lilies dripping liquid myrrh.
14 His arms are ⌊rods⌋u v of gold ⌊engraved with⌋w jewels;
his bellyx is polished ivory covered with sapphires.y
15 His legs are columns of alabaster,z set on bases of gold;
his appearance is like Lebanon, choice as ⌊its cedars⌋.a
16 ⌊His mouth⌋b is sweet,
and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved;
this is my friend, ⌊O young women of Jerusalem⌋.c
6 Where has your beloved gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned
that we may seek him with you?
2 My beloved has gone down to his garden,
to the garden bed of the spice,
to pasture his flock and to gather lilies in the …