The Maiden’s Dream: Seeking and Finding

3 On my bed in the night,

I soughta him whom my ⌊heart⌋b loves.

I sought him, but I did not find him.

2 Now I will arise, and I will go about in the city,

in the streets and in the squares;

I will seek him whom my ⌊heart⌋c loves.

I sought him, but I did not find him.

3 The sentinels who go about in the city found me.

“Have you seen the one whom my ⌊heart⌋d loves?”

4 ⌊Scarcely had I passed⌋e by them

when I found him whom my ⌊heart⌋f loves.

I held him and I would not let him go

until I brought him to the house of my mother,

into the bedroom chamber of she who conceived me.

Adjuration Refrain

5 I adjure you, ⌊O maidens of Jerusalem⌋,g

by the gazelles or by the does of the field,

do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases!h

Royal Wedding Procession

6 What is this coming up from the desert

like a column of smoke,

perfumed with myrrh and frankincense

from all the fragrant powders of the merchant?

7 Look! It is Solomon’s ⌊portable couch⌋!i

Sixty mighty men surround ⌊it⌋,j

the mighty men of Israel.

8 All of them ⌊wield swords⌋;k

they are ⌊trained in warfare⌋,l

each with his sword at his thigh

to guard ⌊against terror⌋m in the night.

9 ⌊King Solomon⌋n made for himself a sedan chair

from the wood of Lebanon.

10 He made its column of silver, its backo of gold, its seat of purple;

its interior is inlaid with leatherp by ⌊the maidens of Jerusalem⌋.q

11 Come out and look, ⌊O maidens of Zion⌋,r at ⌊King Solomon⌋,s

at the crown with which his mother crowned him

on the day of his wedding,

on the day of the joy of his heart!