1Chapter
1The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's.
The Bride Confesses Her Love
2Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is better than wine;
3your anointing oils are fragrant; your name is oil poured out; therefore virgins love you.
4We will exult and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you.
5I am very dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
6Do not gaze at me because I am dark, because the sun has looked upon me. My mother's sons were angry with me; they made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept!
7Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon; for why should I be like one who veils herself beside the flocks of your companions?
3your anointing oils are fragrant; your name is oil poured out; therefore virgins love you.
4We will exult and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you.
5I am very dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
6Do not gaze at me because I am dark, because the sun has looked upon me. My mother's sons were angry with me; they made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept!
7Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon; for why should I be like one who veils herself beside the flocks of your companions?
Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other
8If you do not know,
O most beautiful among women,
follow in the tracks of the flock,
and pasture your young goats
beside the shepherds' tents.
9I compare you, my love, to a mare among Pharaoh's chariots.
10Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.
11We will make for you ornaments of gold, studded with silver.
12While the king was on his couch, my nard gave forth its fragrance.
13My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh that lies between my breasts.
14My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of Engedi.
15Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves.
16Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightful. Our couch is green;
17the beams of our house are cedar; our rafters are pine.
9I compare you, my love, to a mare among Pharaoh's chariots.
10Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.
11We will make for you ornaments of gold, studded with silver.
12While the king was on his couch, my nard gave forth its fragrance.
13My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh that lies between my breasts.
14My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of Engedi.
15Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves.
16Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightful. Our couch is green;
17the beams of our house are cedar; our rafters are pine.
2Chapter
1I am a rose of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.
2As a lily among brambles, so is my love among the young women.
3As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
5Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apples, for I am sick with love.
6His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me!
7I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.
2As a lily among brambles, so is my love among the young women.
3As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
5Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apples, for I am sick with love.
6His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me!
7I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.
The Bride Adores Her Beloved
8The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he comes,
leaping over the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, there he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, looking through the lattice.
10My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away,
11for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone.
12The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
13The fig tree ripens its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.
14O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crannies of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
15Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”
16My beloved is mine, and I am his; he grazes among the lilies.
17Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag on cleft mountains.
9My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, there he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, looking through the lattice.
10My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away,
11for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone.
12The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
13The fig tree ripens its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.
14O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crannies of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
15Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”
16My beloved is mine, and I am his; he grazes among the lilies.
17Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag on cleft mountains.
3Chapter
The Bride's Dream
1On my bed by night
I sought him whom my soul loves;
I sought him, but found him not.
2I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but found him not.
3The watchmen found me as they went about in the city. “Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
4Scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her who conceived me.
5I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.
2I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but found him not.
3The watchmen found me as they went about in the city. “Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
4Scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her who conceived me.
5I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.
Solomon Arrives for the Wedding
6What is that coming up from the wilderness
like columns of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?
7Behold, it is the litter of Solomon! Around it are sixty mighty men, some of the mighty men of Israel,
8all of them wearing swords and expert in war, each with his sword at his thigh, against terror by night.
9King Solomon made himself a carriage from the wood of Lebanon.
10He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple; its interior was inlaid with love by the daughters of Jerusalem.
11Go out, O daughters of Zion, and look upon King Solomon, with the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of the gladness of his heart.
7Behold, it is the litter of Solomon! Around it are sixty mighty men, some of the mighty men of Israel,
8all of them wearing swords and expert in war, each with his sword at his thigh, against terror by night.
9King Solomon made himself a carriage from the wood of Lebanon.
10He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple; its interior was inlaid with love by the daughters of Jerusalem.
11Go out, O daughters of Zion, and look upon King Solomon, with the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of the gladness of his heart.
4Chapter
Solomon Admires His Bride's Beauty
1Behold, you are beautiful, my love,
behold, you are beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
2Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes that have come up from the washing, all of which bear twins, and not one among them has lost its young.
3Your lips are like a scarlet thread, and your mouth is lovely. Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil.
4Your neck is like the tower of David, built in rows of stone; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors.
5Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, that graze among the lilies.
6Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I will go away to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense.
7You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.
8Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; come with me from Lebanon. Depart from the peak of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards.
9You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.
10How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
11Your lips drip nectar, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue; the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a spring locked, a fountain sealed.
13Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates with all choicest fruits, henna with nard,
14nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all choice spices—
15a garden fountain, a well of living water, and flowing streams from Lebanon.
16Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, let its spices flow.
2Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes that have come up from the washing, all of which bear twins, and not one among them has lost its young.
3Your lips are like a scarlet thread, and your mouth is lovely. Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil.
4Your neck is like the tower of David, built in rows of stone; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors.
5Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, that graze among the lilies.
6Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I will go away to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense.
7You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.
8Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; come with me from Lebanon. Depart from the peak of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards.
9You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.
10How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
11Your lips drip nectar, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue; the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a spring locked, a fountain sealed.
13Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates with all choicest fruits, henna with nard,
14nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all choice spices—
15a garden fountain, a well of living water, and flowing streams from Lebanon.
16Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, let its spices flow.
Together in the Garden of Love
16Let my beloved come to his garden,
and eat its choicest fruits.
5Chapter
1Eat, friends, drink,
and be drunk with love!
The Bride Searches for Her Beloved
2I slept, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My beloved is knocking.
“Open to me, my sister, my love,
my dove, my perfect one,
for my head is wet with dew,
my locks with the drops of the night.”
3I had put off my garment; how could I put it on? I had bathed my feet; how could I soil them?
4My beloved put his hand to the latch, and my heart was thrilled within me.
5I arose to open to my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh, on the handles of the bolt.
6I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and gone. My soul failed me when he spoke. I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.
7The watchmen found me as they went about in the city; they beat me, they bruised me, they took away my veil, those watchmen of the walls.
8I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am sick with love.
9What is your beloved more than another beloved, O most beautiful among women? What is your beloved more than another beloved, that you thus adjure us?
3I had put off my garment; how could I put it on? I had bathed my feet; how could I soil them?
4My beloved put his hand to the latch, and my heart was thrilled within me.
5I arose to open to my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh, on the handles of the bolt.
6I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and gone. My soul failed me when he spoke. I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.
7The watchmen found me as they went about in the city; they beat me, they bruised me, they took away my veil, those watchmen of the walls.
8I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am sick with love.
9What is your beloved more than another beloved, O most beautiful among women? What is your beloved more than another beloved, that you thus adjure us?
The Bride Praises Her Beloved
10My beloved is radiant and ruddy,
distinguished among ten thousand.
11His head is the finest gold; his locks are wavy, black as a raven.
12His eyes are like doves beside streams of water, bathed in milk, sitting beside a full pool.
13His cheeks are like beds of spices, mounds of sweet-smelling herbs. His lips are lilies, dripping liquid myrrh.
14His arms are rods of gold, set with jewels. His body is polished ivory, bedecked with sapphires.
15His legs are alabaster columns, set on bases of gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as the cedars.
16His mouth is most sweet, and he is altogether desirable. This is my beloved and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
11His head is the finest gold; his locks are wavy, black as a raven.
12His eyes are like doves beside streams of water, bathed in milk, sitting beside a full pool.
13His cheeks are like beds of spices, mounds of sweet-smelling herbs. His lips are lilies, dripping liquid myrrh.
14His arms are rods of gold, set with jewels. His body is polished ivory, bedecked with sapphires.
15His legs are alabaster columns, set on bases of gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as the cedars.
16His mouth is most sweet, and he is altogether desirable. This is my beloved and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
6Chapter
1Where has your beloved gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
that we may seek him with you?
Together in the Garden of Love
2My beloved has gone down to his garden
to the beds of spices,
to graze in the gardens
and to gather lilies.
3I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine; he grazes among the lilies.
3I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine; he grazes among the lilies.
Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other
4You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love,
lovely as Jerusalem,
awesome as an army with banners.
5Turn away your eyes from me, for they overwhelm me— Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
6Your teeth are like a flock of ewes that have come up from the washing; all of them bear twins; not one among them has lost its young.
7Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil.
8There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and virgins without number.
9My dove, my perfect one, is the only one, the only one of her mother, pure to her who bore her. The young women saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines also, and they praised her.
10“Who is this who looks down like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as an army with banners?”
11I went down to the nut orchard to look at the blossoms of the valley, to see whether the vines had budded, whether the pomegranates were in bloom.
12Before I was aware, my desire set me among the chariots of my kinsman, a prince.
13Why should you look upon the Shulammite, as upon a dance before two armies?
5Turn away your eyes from me, for they overwhelm me— Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
6Your teeth are like a flock of ewes that have come up from the washing; all of them bear twins; not one among them has lost its young.
7Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil.
8There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and virgins without number.
9My dove, my perfect one, is the only one, the only one of her mother, pure to her who bore her. The young women saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines also, and they praised her.
10“Who is this who looks down like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as an army with banners?”
11I went down to the nut orchard to look at the blossoms of the valley, to see whether the vines had budded, whether the pomegranates were in bloom.
12Before I was aware, my desire set me among the chariots of my kinsman, a prince.
13Why should you look upon the Shulammite, as upon a dance before two armies?
7Chapter
1How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
O noble daughter!
Your rounded thighs are like jewels,
the work of a master hand.
2Your navel is a rounded bowl that never lacks mixed wine. Your belly is a heap of wheat, encircled with lilies.
3Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle.
4Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim. Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon, which looks toward Damascus.
5Your head crowns you like Carmel, and your flowing locks are like purple; a king is held captive in the tresses.
6How beautiful and pleasant you are, O loved one, with all your delights!
7Your stature is like a palm tree, and your breasts are like its clusters.
8I say I will climb the palm tree and lay hold of its fruit. Oh may your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the scent of your breath like apples,
9It goes down smoothly for my beloved, gliding over lips and teeth.
10I am my beloved's, and his desire is for me.
2Your navel is a rounded bowl that never lacks mixed wine. Your belly is a heap of wheat, encircled with lilies.
3Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle.
4Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim. Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon, which looks toward Damascus.
5Your head crowns you like Carmel, and your flowing locks are like purple; a king is held captive in the tresses.
6How beautiful and pleasant you are, O loved one, with all your delights!
7Your stature is like a palm tree, and your breasts are like its clusters.
8I say I will climb the palm tree and lay hold of its fruit. Oh may your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the scent of your breath like apples,
9It goes down smoothly for my beloved, gliding over lips and teeth.
10I am my beloved's, and his desire is for me.
The Bride Gives Her Love
11Come, my beloved,
let us go out into the fields
and lodge in the villages;
12let us go out early to the vineyards and see whether the vines have budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened and the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love.
13The mandrakes give forth fragrance, and beside our doors are all choice fruits, new as well as old, which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.
12let us go out early to the vineyards and see whether the vines have budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened and the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love.
13The mandrakes give forth fragrance, and beside our doors are all choice fruits, new as well as old, which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.
8Chapter
Longing for Her Beloved
1Oh that you were like a brother to me
who nursed at my mother's breasts!
If I found you outside, I would kiss you,
and none would despise me.
2I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother— she who used to teach me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the juice of my pomegranate.
3His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me!
4I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.
5Under the apple tree I awakened you. There your mother was in labor with you; there she who bore you was in labor.
6Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord.
7Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised.
2I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother— she who used to teach me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the juice of my pomegranate.
3His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me!
4I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.
5Under the apple tree I awakened you. There your mother was in labor with you; there she who bore you was in labor.
6Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord.
7Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised.
Final Advice
8We have a little sister,
and she has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister
on the day when she is spoken for?
9If she is a wall, we will build on her a battlement of silver, but if she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar.
10I was a wall, and my breasts were like towers; then I was in his eyes as one who finds peace.
11Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard to keepers; each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver.
12My vineyard, my very own, is before me; you, O Solomon, may have the thousand, and the keepers of the fruit two hundred.
13O you who dwell in the gardens, with companions listening for your voice; let me hear it.
14Make haste, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.
9If she is a wall, we will build on her a battlement of silver, but if she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar.
10I was a wall, and my breasts were like towers; then I was in his eyes as one who finds peace.
11Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard to keepers; each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver.
12My vineyard, my very own, is before me; you, O Solomon, may have the thousand, and the keepers of the fruit two hundred.
13O you who dwell in the gardens, with companions listening for your voice; let me hear it.
14Make haste, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.
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