Song of Solomon 1–8

1This is the greatest song Solomon ever wrote.

A Shulammite woman says to King Solomon,

²“I long for your lips to kiss me!

Your love makes me happier than wine does.

³The lotion you have on pleases me.

Your name is like perfume that is poured out.

No wonder the young women love you!

⁴Take me away with you. Let us hurry!

King Solomon, bring me into your palace.”

The other women say,

“King Solomon, you fill us with joy. You make us happy.

We praise your love more than we praise wine.”

The woman says to the king,

“It is right for them to love you!

⁵“Women of Jerusalem,

my skin is dark but lovely.

It is dark like the tents in Kedar.

It’s like the curtains of Solomon’s tent.

⁶Don’t stare at me because I’m dark.

The sun has made my skin look like this.

My brothers burned with anger against me.

They made me take care of the vineyards.

I haven’t even taken care of my own vineyard.

⁷“King Solomon, I love you.

So tell me where you take care of your flock.

Tell me where you rest your sheep at noon.

Why should I have to act like a prostitute

near the flocks of your friends?”

The other women say,

⁸“You are the most beautiful woman of all.

Don’t you know where to find the king?

Follow the tracks the sheep make.

Take care of your young goats

near the tents of the shepherds.”

King Solomon says to the Shulammite woman,

⁹“You are my love.

You are like a mare that pulls one of Pharaoh’s chariots.

¹⁰Your earrings make your cheeks even more beautiful.

Your strings of jewels make your neck even more lovely.”

The other women say to her,

¹¹“We will make gold earrings for you.

We’ll decorate them with silver.”

The woman says,

¹²“The king was at his table.

My perfume gave off a sweet smell.

¹³The one who loves me is like a small bag of myrrh

resting between my breasts.

¹⁴He is like henna flowers

from the vineyards of En Gedi.”

The king says,

¹⁵“You are so beautiful, my love!

So beautiful!

Your eyes are like doves.”

The woman says,

¹⁶“You are so handsome, my love!

So charming!

The green field is our bed.

¹⁷Cedar trees above us are the beams of our house.

Fir trees overhead are its rafters.

2“I am like a rose on the coast of Sharon.

I’m like a lily in the valleys.”

The king says,

²“My love, among the young women

you are like a lily among thorns.”

The woman says,

³“My love, among the young men

you are like an apple tree among the trees of the forest.

I’m happy to sit in your shade.

Your fruit tastes so sweet to me.

⁴You have taken me to the dinner hall.

Your banner of love is lifted high above me.

⁵Give me some raisins to make me strong.

Give me some apples to make me feel like new again.

Our love has made me weak.

⁶Your left arm is under my head.

Your right arm is around me.

⁷Women of Jerusalem, take an oath and make me a promise.

Let the antelopes and the does serve as witnesses.

Don’t stir up love.

Don’t wake it up until it’s ready.

⁸“Listen! I hear my love!

Look! Here he comes!

He’s leaping across the mountains.

He’s coming over the hills.

⁹The one who loves me is like an antelope or a young deer.

Look! There he stands behind our wall.

He’s gazing through the window.

He’s peering through the screen.

¹⁰He said to me, ‘Rise up, my love.

Come with me, my beautiful one.

¹¹Look! The winter is past.

The rains are over and gone.

¹²Flowers are appearing on the earth.

The season for singing has come.

The cooing of doves

is heard in our land.

¹³The fig trees are producing their early fruit.

The flowers on the vines are giving off their sweet smell.

Rise up and come, my love.

Come with me, my beautiful one.’ ”

The king says,

¹⁴“You are like a dove in an opening in the rocks.

You are like a dove in a hiding place on a mountainside.

Show me your face.

Let me hear your voice.

Your voice is so sweet.

Your face is so lovely.

¹⁵Catch the foxes for us.

Catch the little foxes.

They destroy our vineyards.

The vineyards are in bloom.”

The woman says,

¹⁶“My love belongs to me, and I belong to him.

Like an antelope, he eats among the lilies.

¹⁷Until the day begins

and the shadows fade away,

turn to me, my love.

Be like an antelope

or like a young deer

on the rocky hills.

3“All night long on my bed

I searched for the one my heart loves.

I looked for him but didn’t find him.

²I will get up. I’ll go around in the city.

I’ll look through all of its streets.

I’ll search for the one my heart loves.

So I looked for him but didn’t find him.

³Those on guard duty found me

as they were walking around in the city.

‘Have you seen the one my heart loves?’ I asked.

⁴As soon as I had passed by them

I found the one my heart loves.

I threw my arms around him. I didn’t let him go

until I had brought him to my mother’s house.

I took him to my mother’s room.

⁵Women of Jerusalem, take an oath and make me a promise.

Let the antelopes and the does serve as witnesses.

Don’t stir up love.

Don’t wake it up until it’s ready.”

The other women say,

⁶“Who is this man coming up from the desert

like a column of smoke?

He smells like myrrh and incense

made from all of the spices of the trader.

⁷Look! There’s Solomon’s movable throne.

Sixty soldiers accompany it.

They have been chosen from the best warriors in Israel.

⁸All of them are wearing swords.

They have fought many battles.

Each one has his sword at his side.

Each is prepared for the terrors of the night.

⁹King Solomon made the movable throne for himself.

He made it out of wood from Lebanon.

¹⁰He formed its posts out of silver.

He made its base out of gold.

Its seat was covered with purple cloth.

It was decorated inside with loving care

by the women of Jerusalem.

¹¹Women of Zion, come out.

Look at King Solomon wearing his crown.

His mother placed it on him.

She did it on his wedding day.

His heart was full of joy.”

4The king says to the Shulammite woman,

“You are so beautiful, my love!

So beautiful!

Your eyes behind your veil are like doves.

Your hair flows like a flock of black goats

coming down from Mount Gilead.

²Your teeth are as clean as a flock of sheep.

Their wool has just been clipped.

They have just come up from being washed.

Each of your teeth has its twin.

Not one of them is alone.

³Your lips are like a bright red ribbon.

Your mouth is so lovely.

Your cheeks behind your veil

are like the halves of a pomegranate.

⁴Your neck is strong and beautiful like the tower of David.

That tower is built with beautiful stones.

A thousand shields are hanging on it.

All of them belong to mighty soldiers.

⁵Your two breasts are lovely.

They are like two young antelopes

that eat among the lilies.

⁶I will go to the mountain of myrrh.

I’ll go to the hill of incense.

I’ll stay there until the day begins

and the shadows fade away.

⁷Every part of you is so beautiful, my love.

There is no flaw in you.

⁸“Come with me from Lebanon, my bride.

Come with me from Lebanon.

Come down from the top of Mount Amana.

Come down from the top of Senir.

Come to me from the peak of Mount Hermon.

Leave the dens where the lions live.

Leave the places in the mountains where the leopards stay.

⁹My bride, you have stolen my heart

with one glance of your eyes.

My sister, you have stolen my heart

with one jewel in your necklace.

¹⁰My bride, your love is so delightful.

My sister, your love makes me happier than wine does.

Your perfume smells better than any spice.

¹¹Your lips are as sweet as a honeycomb, my bride.

Milk and honey are under your tongue.

Your clothes smell like the cedar trees in Lebanon.

¹²My bride, you are like a garden that is locked up.

My sister, you are like a spring of water that has a fence around it.

You are like a fountain that is sealed up.

¹³You are like trees whose branches are loaded

with pomegranates, fine fruits, henna and nard,

¹⁴with saffron, cane and cinnamon.

You are like every kind of incense tree.

You have myrrh, aloes

and all of the finest spices.

¹⁵You are like a fountain in a garden.

You are like a well of flowing water

streaming down from Lebanon.”

The woman says,

¹⁶“Wake up, north wind!

Come, south wind!

Blow on my garden.

Then its sweet smell will spread everywhere.

Let my love come into his garden.

Let him taste its fine fruits.”

5The king says,

“My bride, I have come into my garden.

My sister, I’ve gathered my myrrh and my spice.

I’ve eaten my honeycomb and my honey.

I’ve drunk my wine and my milk.”

The other women say to the Shulammite woman and to Solomon,

“Friends, eat and drink.

Lovers, drink all you want.”

The woman says,

²“I slept, but my heart was awake.

Listen! The one who loves me is knocking.

He says, ‘My sister, I love you.

Open up so I can come in.

You are my dove.

You are perfect in every way.

My head is soaked with dew.

The night air has made my hair wet.’

³“But I’ve taken my robe off.

Must I put it on again?

I’ve washed my feet.

Must I get them dirty again?

⁴My love put his hand through the opening.

My heart began to pound for him.

⁵I got up to open the door for my love.

My hands dripped with myrrh.

It flowed from my fingers

onto the handles of the lock.

⁶I opened the door for my love.

But he had left. He was gone.

My heart sank because he had left.

I looked for him but didn’t find him.

I called out to him, but he didn’t answer.

⁷Those on guard duty found me

as they were walking around in the city.

They beat me. They hurt me.

Those on guard duty at the walls

took my coat away from me.

⁸Women of Jerusalem, take an oath and make me a promise.

If you find the one who loves me,

tell him our love has made me weak.”

The other women say,

⁹“You are the most beautiful woman of all.

How is the one you love better than others?

How is he better than anyone else?

Why do you ask us to make you a promise?”

The woman says,

¹⁰“The one who loves me is tanned and handsome.

He’s the finest man among 10,000.

¹¹His head is like the purest gold.

His hair is wavy and as black as a raven.

¹²His eyes are like doves

by streams of water.

They look as if they’ve been washed in milk.

They are set like jewels in his head.

¹³His cheeks are like beds of spice

that give off perfume.

His lips are like lilies

that drip with myrrh.

¹⁴His arms are…