1 The Song of aSongs, which is Solomon’s.

The Bride Confesses Her Love

She1

2  Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!

For your blove is better than wine;

3  your canointing oils are fragrant;

your dname is oil poured out;

therefore virgins love you.

4  eDraw me after you; flet us run.

gThe king has brought me into his chambers.

Others

We will hexult and rejoice in you;

we will extol byour love more than wine;

rightly do they love you.

She

5  I am very dark, but ilovely,

O jdaughters of Jerusalem,

like kthe tents of lKedar,

like the curtains of Solomon.

6  Do not gaze at me because I am dark,

because the sun has looked upon me.

My mmother’s sons were angry with me;

they made me nkeeper of othe vineyards,

but pmy own vineyard I have not kept!

7  Tell me, you qwhom my soul loves,

where you rpasture your flock,

where you make it slie down at noon;

for why should I be like one who veils herself

beside the flocks of your tcompanions?

Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other

He

8  If you do not know,

O umost beautiful among women,

follow in the tracks of the flock,

and pasture your young goats

beside the shepherds’ tents.

9  I compare you, vmy love,

to wa mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.

10  xYour cheeks are lovely with ornaments,

your neck with strings of jewels.

Others

11  We will make for you2 ornaments of gold,

studded with silver.

She

12  While ythe king was on his couch,

my znard gave forth its fragrance.

13  My beloved is to me a sachet of amyrrh

that lies between my breasts.

14  My beloved is to me a cluster of bhenna blossoms

in the vineyards of cEngedi.

He

15  dBehold, eyou are beautiful, fmy love;

behold, you are beautiful;

your geyes are doves.

She

16  Behold, you are beautiful, hmy beloved, truly idelightful.

Our couch is green;

17  the beams of our house are jcedar;

our rafters are jpine.

2 I am a rose1 of Sharon,

ka lily of the valleys.

He

2  As a lily among brambles,

so is lmy love among the young women.

She

3  As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,

so is my mbeloved among the young men.

With great delight I sat nin his shadow,

and his ofruit was sweet to my taste.

4  He pbrought me to the banqueting house,2

and his qbanner over me was love.

5  Sustain me with rraisins;

refresh me with apples,

sfor I am sick with love.

6  His tleft hand is under my head,

and his right hand uembraces me!

7  I vadjure you,3 O wdaughters of Jerusalem,

by xthe gazelles or the does of the field,

that you not stir up or awaken love

until it pleases.

The Bride Adores Her Beloved

8  The voice of my beloved!

Behold, he comes,

leaping yover the mountains,

bounding over the hills.

9  My beloved is like za gazelle

or a young stag.

Behold, there he stands

behind our wall,

gazing through the windows,

looking through the lattice.

10  My beloved speaks and says to me:

a“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,

and come away,

11  for behold, the winter is past;

bthe rain is over and gone.

12  cThe flowers appear on the earth,

the time of singing4 has come,

and the voice of dthe turtledove

is heard in our land.

13  eThe fig tree ripens its figs,

and fthe vines are in blossom;

they give forth fragrance.

gArise, my love, my beautiful one,

and come away.

14  O my hdove, in the iclefts of the rock,

in the crannies of the cliff,

let me see your face,

let me jhear your voice,

for your voice is sweet,

and your face is klovely.

15  Catch lthe foxes5 for us,

the little foxes

that spoil the vineyards,

ffor our vineyards are in blossom.”

16  mMy beloved is mine, and I am his;

he ngrazes6 among the lilies.

17  Until othe day breathes

and pthe shadows flee,

turn, my beloved, be like qa gazelle

or a young stag on cleft mountains.7

The Bride’s Dream

3 On my bed rby night

I sought shim whom my soul loves;

tI sought him, but found him not.

2  I will rise now and go about the city,

in uthe streets and in the squares;

I will seek shim whom my soul loves.

I sought him, but found him not.

3  vThe watchmen found me

as they went about in the city.

“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”

4  Scarcely had I passed them

when I found shim whom my soul loves.

I wheld him, and would not let him go

until I had xbrought him into my mother’s house,

and into the chamber of yher who conceived me.

5  zI adjure you, aO daughters of Jerusalem,

bby the gazelles or the does of the field,

that you not stir up or awaken love

until it pleases.

Solomon Arrives for the Wedding

6  cWhat is that coming up from the wilderness

like dcolumns of smoke,

perfumed with emyrrh and frankincense,

with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?

7  Behold, it is the litter1 of Solomon!

Around it are fsixty gmighty men,

some of the mighty men of Israel,

8  all of them wearing swords

and expert in war,

each with his hsword at his thigh,

against iterror by night.

9  King Solomon made himself a carriage2

from the wood of Lebanon.

10  He made its posts of silver,

its back of gold, its seat of purple;

its interior was inlaid with love

by jthe daughters of Jerusalem.

11  Go out, O kdaughters of Zion,

and look upon King Solomon,

with the crown with which his mother crowned him

on lthe day of his wedding,

on the day of the gladness of his heart.