Chapter 1

The Young Shulammite Bride and Jerusalem’s Daughters

1 The 1Song of aSongs, which is Solomon’s.

2 “1May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!

For your alove is better than wine.

3 “Your aoils have a pleasing fragrance,

Your bname is like 1purified oil;

Therefore the 2cmaidens love you.

4 “Draw me after you and let us run together!

The aking has brought me into his chambers.”

“1We will rejoice in you and be glad;

We will 2extol your blove more than wine.

Rightly do they love you.”

5 “1I am black but alovely,

O bdaughters of Jerusalem,

Like the ctents of dKedar,

Like the curtains of Solomon.

6 “Do not stare at me because I am 1swarthy,

For the sun has burned me.

My amother’s sons were angry with me;

They made me bcaretaker of the vineyards,

But I have not taken care of my own vineyard.

7 “Tell me, O you awhom my soul loves,

Where do you bpasture your flock,

Where do you make it clie down at noon?

For why should I be like one who 1veils herself

Beside the flocks of your dcompanions?”

Solomon, the Lover, Speaks

8 “1If you yourself do not know,

aMost beautiful among women,

Go forth on the trail of the flock

And pasture your young goats

By the tents of the shepherds.

9 “1To me, amy darling, you are like

My bmare among the chariots of Pharaoh.

10 “Your acheeks are lovely with ornaments,

Your neck with strings of bbeads.”

11 “1We will make for you ornaments of gold

With beads of silver.”

12 “1While the king was at his 2table,

My 3aperfume gave forth its fragrance.

13 “My beloved is to me a pouch of amyrrh

Which lies all night between my breasts.

14 “My beloved is to me a cluster of ahenna blossoms

In the vineyards of bEngedi.”

15 “1, 2aHow beautiful you are, my darling,

2 How beautiful you are!

Your beyes are like doves.”

16 “1, 2How handsome you are, amy beloved,

And so pleasant!

Indeed, our couch is luxuriant!

17 “The beams of our houses are acedars,

Our rafters, 1bcypresses.

Chapter 2

The Bride’s Admiration

1 “1I am the 2arose of bSharon,

The clily of the valleys.”

2 “1Like a lily among the thorns,

So is amy darling among the 2maidens.”

3 “1Like an 2aapple tree among the trees of the forest,

So is my beloved among the 3young men.

In his shade I took great delight and sat down,

And his bfruit was sweet to my 4taste.

4 “He has abrought me to his 1banquet hall,

And his bbanner over me is love.

5 “Sustain me with araisin cakes,

Refresh me with 1bapples,

Because cI am lovesick.

6 “Let ahis left hand be under my head

And ahis right hand bembrace me.”

7 “1I aadjure you, O bdaughters of Jerusalem,

By the cgazelles or by the dhinds of the field,

aThat you do not arouse or awaken my love

Until 2she pleases.”

8 “1Listen! My beloved!

Behold, he is coming,

Climbing aon the mountains,

Leaping on the hills!

9 “My beloved is like a agazelle or a byoung 1stag.

Behold, he is standing behind our wall,

He is looking through the windows,

He is peering cthrough the lattice.

10 “My beloved responded and said to me,

‘aArise, my darling, my beautiful one,

And come along.

11 ‘For behold, the winter is past,

The rain is over and gone.

12 ‘The flowers have already appeared in the land;

The time has arrived for 1pruning the vines,

And the voice of the aturtledove has been heard in our land.

13 ‘The afig tree has ripened its figs,

And the bvines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.

Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,

And come along!’ ”

14 “1O amy dove, bin the clefts of the 2rock,

In the secret place of the steep 3pathway,

Let me see your 4form,

cLet me hear your voice;

For your voice is sweet,

And your 4form is dlovely.”

15 “1aCatch the foxes for us,

The 2little foxes that are ruining the vineyards,

While our bvineyards are in blossom.”

16 “1aMy beloved is mine, and I am his;

He bpastures his flock among the lilies.

17 “aUntil 1the cool of the day when the shadows flee away,

Turn, my beloved, and be like a bgazelle

Or a young stag con the mountains of 2Bether.”

Chapter 3

The Bride’s Troubled Dream

1 “1On my bed night after night I sought him

aWhom my soul loves;

I bsought him but did not find him.

2 ‘1I must arise now and 1go about the city;

In the astreets and in the squares

2I must seek him whom my soul loves.’

I sought him but did not find him.

3 “aThe watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me,

And I said, ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’

4 “aScarcely had I 1left them

When I found him whom my soul loves;

I bheld on to him and would not let him go

Until I had cbrought him to my mother’s house,

And into the room of her who conceived me.”

5 “1I aadjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

By the bgazelles or by the hinds of the field,

That you will not arouse or awaken my love

Until 2she pleases.”

Solomon’s Wedding Day

6 “1, 2aWhat is this coming up from the wilderness

Like bcolumns of smoke,

Perfumed with cmyrrh and dfrankincense,

With all scented powders of the merchant?

7 “Behold, it is the traveling couch of Solomon;

Sixty mighty men around it,

Of the mighty men of Israel.

8 “All of them are wielders of the sword,

aExpert in war;

Each man has his bsword at his side,

Guarding against the 1cterrors of the night.

9 “King Solomon has made for himself a sedan chair

From the timber of Lebanon.

10 “He made its posts of silver,

Its 1back of gold

And its seat of purple fabric,

With its interior lovingly fitted out

By the adaughters of Jerusalem.

11 “Go forth, O adaughters of Zion,

And gaze on King Solomon with the 1crown

With which his mother has crowned him

On the bday of his wedding,

And on the day of his gladness of heart.”

Chapter 4

Solomon’s Love Expressed

1 “1, 2How beautiful ayou are, my darling,

2How beautiful you are!

Your beyes are like doves cbehind your veil;

Your dhair is like a flock of goats

That have descended from Mount eGilead.

2 “Your ateeth are like a flock of newly shorn ewes

Which have come up from their washing,

All of which bear twins,

And not one among them has 1lost her young.

3 “Your lips are like a ascarlet thread,

And your bmouth is lovely.

Your ctemples are like a slice of a pomegranate

Behind your veil.

4 “Your aneck is like the tower of David,

Built 1with rows of stones

On which are bhung a thousand shields,

All the round cshields of the mighty men.

5 “Your atwo breasts are like two fawns,

Twins of a gazelle

Which bfeed among the lilies.

6 “aUntil 1the cool of the day

When the shadows flee away,

I will go my way to the mountain of bmyrrh

And to the hill of bfrankincense.

7 “aYou are altogether beautiful, my darling,

And there is no blemish in you.

8 “Come with me from aLebanon, my bbride,

May you come with me from Lebanon.

1Journey down from the summit of cAmana,

From the summit of dSenir and Hermon,

From the dens of lions,

From the mountains of leopards.

9 “You have made my heart beat faster, amy sister, my bride;

You have made my heart beat faster with a single glance of your eyes,

With a single strand of your bnecklace.

10 “aHow beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!

How much bbetter is your love than wine,

And the cfragrance of your oils

Than all kinds of 1spices!

11 “Your lips, my bride, adrip bhoney;

Honey and milk are under your tongue,

And the fragrance of your garments is like the cfragrance of Lebanon.

12 “A garden locked is my sister, my bride,

A 1rock garden locked, a aspring bsealed up.

13 “Your shoots are an 1aorchard of bpomegranates

With cchoice fruits, dhenna with nard plants,

14 aNard and saffron, calamus and bcinnamon,

With all the trees of cfrankincense,

dMyrrh and aloes, along with all the finest 1spices.

15 “You are a garden spring,

A well of 1afresh water,

And streams flowing from Lebanon.”

16 “1Awake, O north wind,

And come, wind of the south;

Make my agarden breathe out fragrance,

Let its 2spices 3be wafted abroad.

May bmy beloved come into his garden

And eat its cchoice fruits!”

Chapter 5

The Torment of Separation

1 “1I have acome into my garden, bmy sister, my bride;

I have gathered my cmyrrh along with my balsam.

I have eaten my honeycomb 2and my dhoney;

I have edrunk my wine 2and my milk.

Eat, ffriends;

Drink and 3imbibe deeply, O lovers.”

2 “1I was asleep but my heart was awake.

A voice! My beloved was knocking:

‘Open to me, amy sister, my darling,

bMy dove, my perfect one!

For my head is 2drenched with dew,

My clocks with the 3damp of the night.’

3 “I have ataken off my dress,

How can I put it on again?

I have bwashed my feet,

How can I dirty them again?

4 “My beloved extended his hand through the opening,

And my 1afeelings were aroused for him.

5 “I arose to open to my beloved;

And my hands adripped with myrrh,

And my fingers with 1liquid myrrh,

On the handles of the bolt.

6 “I opened to my beloved,

But my beloved had aturned away and had gone!

My 1heart went out to him as he bspoke.

I csearched for him but I did not find him;

I dcalled him but he did not answer me.

7 “The awatchmen who make the rounds in the city found me,

They struck me and wounded me;

The guardsmen of the walls took away my shawl from me.

8 “I aadjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

If you find my beloved,

As to what you will tell him:

For bI am lovesick.”

9 “1, 2What kind of beloved is your beloved,

O amost beautiful among women?

2What kind of beloved is your beloved,

That thus you adjure us?”

Admiration by the Bride

10 “1My beloved is dazzling and aruddy,

2bOutstanding among ten thousand.

11 “His head is like gold, pure gold;

His alocks are like clusters of dates

And black as a raven.

12 “His aeyes are like doves

Beside streams of water,

Bathed in milk,

And 1reposed in their bsetting.

13 “His cheeks are like a abed of balsam,

Banks of sweet-scented herbs;

His lips are blilies

cDripping with liquid myrrh.

14 “His hands are rods of gold

Set with aberyl;

His abdomen is carved ivory

Inlaid with 1bsapphires.

15 “His legs are pillars of alabaster

Set on pedestals of pure gold;

His appearance is like aLebanon

Choice as the bcedars.

16 “His 1amouth is full of sweetness.

And he is wholly bdesirable.

This is my beloved and this is my friend,

O daughters of Jerusalem.”

Chapter 6

Mutual Delight in Each Other

1 “1aWhere has your beloved gone,

O bmost beautiful among women?

Where …