Song of Solomon 3

A Troubled Night

3By ^anight on my bed I sought the one I love;

I sought him, but I did not find him.

²“I will rise now,” I said,

“And go about the city;

In the streets and in the squares

I will seek the one I love.”

I sought him, but I did not find him.

^3bThe watchmen who go about the city found me;

I said,

“Have you seen the one I love?”

⁴Scarcely had I passed by them,

When I found the one I love.

I held him and would not let him go,

Until I had brought him to the ^chouse of my mother,

And into the ¹chamber of her who conceived me.

^5dI ²charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

By the gazelles or by the does of the field,

Do not stir up nor awaken love

Until it pleases.

The Coming of Solomon

^6eWho is this coming out of the wilderness

Like pillars of smoke,

Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,

With all the merchant’s fragrant powders?

⁷Behold, it is Solomon’s couch,

With sixty valiant men around it,

Of the valiant of Israel.

⁸They all hold swords,

Being expert in war.

Every man has his sword on his thigh

Because of fear in the night.

⁹Of the wood of Lebanon

Solomon the King

Made himself a ³palanquin:

¹⁰He made its pillars of silver,

Its support of gold,

Its seat of purple,

Its interior paved with love

By the daughters of Jerusalem.

¹¹Go forth, O daughters of Zion,

And see King Solomon with the crown

With which his mother crowned him

On the day of his wedding,

The day of the gladness of his heart.