Song of Solomon 1–4

Chapter 1

The Young Shulammite Bride and Jerusalem’s Daughters

¹The 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“^12aHow beautiful you are, my darling,

How beautiful you are!

Your ^beyes are like doves.”

¹⁶“¹²How 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 his right hand ^bembrace me.”

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

By the ^cgazelles or by the ^dhinds of the field,

That 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 form 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 go 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“^12aWhat 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“¹²How beautiful ^ayou are, my darling,

How 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 frankincense.

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,

^14aNard 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!”