Song of Solomon 1:2–8:14

Young Woman

²Kiss me and kiss me again,

for your love is sweeter than wine.

³How pleasing is your fragrance;

your name is like the spreading fragrance of scented oils.

No wonder all the young women love you!

⁴Take me with you; come, let’s run!

The king has brought me into his bedroom.

Young Women of Jerusalem

How happy we are for you, O king.

We praise your love even more than wine.

Young Woman

How right they are to adore you.

⁵I am dark but beautiful,

O women of Jerusalem—

dark as the tents of Kedar,

dark as the curtains of Solomon’s tents.

⁶Don’t stare at me because I am dark—

the sun has darkened my skin.

My brothers were angry with me;

they forced me to care for their vineyards,

so I couldn’t care for myself—my own vineyard.

⁷Tell me, my love, where are you leading your flock today?

Where will you rest your sheep at noon?

For why should I wander like a prostitute

among your friends and their flocks?

Young Man

⁸If you don’t know, O most beautiful woman,

follow the trail of my flock,

and graze your young goats by the shepherds’ tents.

⁹You are as exciting, my darling,

as a mare among Pharaoh’s stallions.

¹⁰How lovely are your cheeks;

your earrings set them afire!

How lovely is your neck,

enhanced by a string of jewels.

¹¹We will make for you earrings of gold

and beads of silver.

Young Woman

¹²The king is lying on his couch,

enchanted by the fragrance of my perfume.

¹³My lover is like a sachet of myrrh

lying between my breasts.

¹⁴He is like a bouquet of sweet henna blossoms

from the vineyards of En-gedi.

Young Man

¹⁵How beautiful you are, my darling,

how beautiful!

Your eyes are like doves.

Young Woman

¹⁶You are so handsome, my love,

pleasing beyond words!

The soft grass is our bed;

¹⁷fragrant cedar branches are the beams of our house,

and pleasant smelling firs are the rafters.

Chapter 2

Young Woman

¹I am the spring crocus blooming on the Sharon Plain,

the lily of the valley.

Young Man

²Like a lily among thistles

is my darling among young women.

Young Woman

³Like the finest apple tree in the orchard

is my lover among other young men.

I sit in his delightful shade

and taste his delicious fruit.

⁴He escorts me to the banquet hall;

it’s obvious how much he loves me.

⁵Strengthen me with raisin cakes,

refresh me with apples,

for I am weak with love.

⁶His left arm is under my head,

and his right arm embraces me.

⁷Promise me, O women of Jerusalem,

by the gazelles and wild deer,

not to awaken love until the time is right.

⁸Ah, I hear my lover coming!

He is leaping over the mountains,

bounding over the hills.

⁹My lover is like a swift gazelle

or a young stag.

Look, there he is behind the wall,

looking through the window,

peering into the room.

¹⁰My lover said to me,

“Rise up, my darling!

Come away with me, my fair one!

¹¹Look, the winter is past,

and the rains are over and gone.

¹²The flowers are springing up,

the season of singing birds has come,

and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air.

¹³The fig trees are forming young fruit,

and the fragrant grapevines are blossoming.

Rise up, my darling!

Come away with me, my fair one!”

Young Man

¹⁴My dove is hiding behind the rocks,

behind an outcrop on the cliff.

Let me see your face;

let me hear your voice.

For your voice is pleasant,

and your face is lovely.

Young Women of Jerusalem

¹⁵Catch all the foxes,

those little foxes,

before they ruin the vineyard of love,

for the grapevines are blossoming!

Young Woman

¹⁶My lover is mine, and I am his.

He browses among the lilies.

¹⁷Before the dawn breezes blow

and the night shadows flee,

return to me, my love, like a gazelle

or a young stag on the rugged mountains.

Chapter 3

Young Woman

¹One night as I lay in bed, I yearned for my lover.

I yearned for him, but he did not come.

²So I said to myself, “I will get up and roam the city,

searching in all its streets and squares.

I will search for the one I love.”

So I searched everywhere but did not find him.

³The watchmen stopped me as they made their rounds,

and I asked, “Have you seen the one I love?”

⁴Then scarcely had I left them

when I found my love!

I caught and held him tightly,

then I brought him to my mother’s house,

into my mother’s bed, where I had been conceived.

⁵Promise me, O women of Jerusalem,

by the gazelles and wild deer,

not to awaken love until the time is right.

Young Women of Jerusalem

⁶Who is this sweeping in from the wilderness

like a cloud of smoke?

Who is it, fragrant with myrrh and frankincense

and every kind of spice?

⁷Look, it is Solomon’s carriage,

surrounded by sixty heroic men,

the best of Israel’s soldiers.

⁸They are all skilled swordsmen,

experienced warriors.

Each wears a sword on his thigh,

ready to defend the king against an attack in the night.

⁹King Solomon’s carriage is built

of wood imported from Lebanon.

¹⁰Its posts are silver,

its canopy gold;

its cushions are purple.

It was decorated with love

by the young women of Jerusalem.

Young Woman

¹¹Come out to see King Solomon,

young women of Jerusalem.

He wears the crown his mother gave him on his wedding day,

his most joyous day.

Chapter 4

Young Man

¹You are beautiful, my darling,

beautiful beyond words.

Your eyes are like doves

behind your veil.

Your hair falls in waves,

like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.

²Your teeth are as white as sheep,

recently shorn and freshly washed.

Your smile is flawless,

each tooth matched with its twin.

³Your lips are like scarlet ribbon;

your mouth is inviting.

Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates

behind your veil.

⁴Your neck is as beautiful as the tower of David,

jeweled with the shields of a thousand heroes.

⁵Your breasts are like two fawns,

twin fawns of a gazelle grazing among the lilies.

⁶Before the dawn breezes blow

and the night shadows flee,

I will hurry to the mountain of myrrh

and to the hill of frankincense.

⁷You are altogether beautiful, my darling,

beautiful in every way.

⁸Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,

come with me from Lebanon.

Come down from Mount Amana,

from the peaks of Senir and Hermon,

where the lions have their dens

and leopards live among the hills.

⁹You have captured my heart,

my treasure, my bride.

You hold it hostage with one glance of your eyes,

with a single jewel of your necklace.

¹⁰Your love delights me,

my treasure, my bride.

Your love is better than wine,

your perfume more fragrant than spices.

¹¹Your lips are as sweet as nectar, my bride.

Honey and milk are under your tongue.

Your clothes are scented

like the cedars of Lebanon.

¹²You are my private garden, my treasure, my bride,

a secluded spring, a hidden fountain.

¹³Your thighs shelter a paradise of pomegranates

with rare spices—

henna with nard,

¹⁴nard and saffron,

fragrant calamus and cinnamon,

with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes,

and every other lovely spice.

¹⁵You are a garden fountain,

a well of fresh water

streaming down from Lebanon’s mountains.

Young Woman

¹⁶Awake, north wind!

Rise up, south wind!

Blow on my garden

and spread its fragrance all around.

Come into your garden, my love;

taste its finest fruits.

Chapter 5

Young Man

¹I have entered my garden, my treasure, my bride!

I gather myrrh with my spices

and eat honeycomb with my honey.

I drink wine with my milk.

Young Women of Jerusalem

Oh, lover and beloved, eat and drink!

Yes, drink deeply of your love!

Young Woman

²I slept, but my heart was awake,

when I heard my lover knocking and calling:

“Open to me, my treasure, my darling,

my dove, my perfect one.

My head is drenched with dew,

my hair with the dampness of the night.”

³But I responded,

“I have taken off my robe.

Should I get dressed again?

I have washed my feet.

Should I get them soiled?”

⁴My lover tried to unlatch the door,

and my heart thrilled within me.

⁵I jumped up to open the door for my love,

and my hands dripped with perfume.

My fingers dripped with lovely myrrh

as I pulled back the bolt.

⁶I opened to my lover,

but he was gone!

My heart sank.

I searched for him

but could not find him anywhere.

I called to him,

but there was no reply.

⁷The night watchmen found me

as they made their rounds.

They beat and bruised me

and stripped off my veil,

those watchmen on the walls.

⁸Make this promise, O women of Jerusalem—

If you find my lover,

tell him I am weak with love.

Young Women of Jerusalem

⁹Why is your lover better than all others,

O woman of rare beauty?

What makes your lover so special

that we must promise this?

Young Woman

¹⁰My lover is dark and dazzling,

better than ten thousand others!

¹¹His head is finest gold,

his wavy hair is black as a raven.

¹²His eyes sparkle like doves

beside springs of water;

they are set like jewels

washed in milk.

¹³His cheeks are like gardens of spices

giving off fragrance.

His lips are like lilies,

perfumed with myrrh.

¹⁴His arms are like rounded bars of gold,

set with beryl.

His body is like bright ivory,

glowing with lapis lazuli.

¹⁵His legs are like marble pillars

set in sockets of finest gold.

His posture is stately,

like the noble cedars of Lebanon.

¹⁶His mouth is sweetness itself;

he is desirable in every way.

Such, O women of Jerusalem,

is my lover, my friend.

Chapter 6

Young Women of Jerusalem

¹Where has your lover gone,

O woman of rare beauty?

Which way did he turn

so we can help you find him?

Young Woman

²My lover has gone down to his garden,

to his spice beds,

to browse in the gardens

and gather the lilies.

³I am my lover’s, and my lover is mine.

He browses among the lilies.

Young Man

⁴You are beautiful, my darling,

like the lovely city of Tirzah.

Yes, as beautiful as Jerusalem,

as majestic as an army with billowing banners.

⁵Turn your eyes away,

for they overpower me.

Your hair falls in waves,

like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.

⁶Your teeth are as white as sheep

that are freshly washed.

Your smile is flawless,

each tooth matched with its twin.

⁷Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates

behind your veil.

⁸Even among sixty queens

and eighty concubines

and countless young women,

⁹I would still choose my…