Song of Solomon 1

¹Solomon’s Song of Songs.

She

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

for your love is more delightful than wine.

³Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;

your name is like perfume poured out.

No wonder the young women love you!

⁴Take me away with you—let us hurry!

Let the king bring me into his chambers.

Friends

We rejoice and delight in you;

we will praise your love more than wine.

She

How right they are to adore you!

⁵Dark am I, yet lovely,

daughters of Jerusalem,

dark like the tents of Kedar,

like the tent curtains of Solomon.

⁶Do not stare at me because I am dark,

because I am darkened by the sun.

My mother’s sons were angry with me

and made me take care of the vineyards;

my own vineyard I had to neglect.

⁷Tell me, you whom I love,

where you graze your flock

and where you rest your sheep at midday.

Why should I be like a veiled woman

beside the flocks of your friends?

Friends

⁸If you do not know, most beautiful of women,

follow the tracks of the sheep

and graze your young goats

by the tents of the shepherds.

He

⁹I liken you, my darling, to a mare

among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.

¹⁰Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings,

your neck with strings of jewels.

¹¹We will make you earrings of gold,

studded with silver.

She

¹²While the king was at his table,

my perfume spread its fragrance.

¹³My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh

resting between my breasts.

¹⁴My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms

from the vineyards of En Gedi.

He

¹⁵How beautiful you are, my darling!

Oh, how beautiful!

Your eyes are doves.

She

¹⁶How handsome you are, my beloved!

Oh, how charming!

And our bed is verdant.

He

¹⁷The beams of our house are cedars;

our rafters are firs.