Title

1 The Song of Songs,a which is forb Solomon.

The Maiden’s Soliloquy

2 Mayc he kiss me ⌊passionately with his lips⌋,d

for your love is better than wine.e

3 As fragrance, ⌊your perfumes⌋f are ⌊delightful⌋;g

your name is poured out ⌊perfume⌋;h

therefore young women love you.

4 Draw me after you, let us run!

May the king bring me into his chambers!i

Let us be joyful and let us rejoice in you;

let us extol your love more than wine.

Rightly do they love you!

The Maiden’s Self-Description

5 I am black but beautiful,j ⌊O maidens of Jerusalem⌋,k

like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.

6 Do not gaze at me because I am black, l

because the sun has stared at me.

The sons of my mother were angry with me;

they made me keeper of the vineyards,

but my own “vineyard”m I did not keep.

Dialogue between Shepherdess and Shepherd

7 Tell me, you whom my ⌊heart⌋n loves,

where do you pasture your flock,

where do your sheep lie down at the noon?

⌊For why should I be like⌋o one who is veiledp

beside the flocks of your companions?

8 If you do not know, O fairest among women,

follow ⌊the tracks⌋q of the flock,

and pasture your little lambsr beside the tents of the shepherds.

The Man’s Poetic Praise of His Beloved

9 To a mares among the chariotst of Pharaoh,

I compare you, my beloved.

10 Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments,

your neck with strings of jewels.

11 We will make ornaments of gold for you

with studsu of silver.

The Maiden’s Poetic Praise of Her Beloved

12 While the king was on his couch,

my nard gave its fragrance.

13 My beloved is to me ⌊a pouch⌋v of myrrh,

he spends the nightw between my breasts.

14 My beloved is to me a cluster of blossoms of henna

in the vineyards of En Gedi.

Mutual Admiration

15 Look! You are beautiful, my beloved.

Look! You are beautiful;

your eyes are doves.

16 Look! You are beautiful, my beloved,

truly pleasant.

Truly our couch is ⌊verdant⌋;x

17 the beams of our house are cedar;

our rafter is cypress.