Song of Solomon 1

¹This is Solomon’s song of songs, more wonderful than any other.

Young Woman^a

²Kiss me and kiss me again,

for your love is sweeter than wine.

³How pleasing is your fragrance;

your name is like the spreading fragrance of scented oils.

No wonder all the young women love you!

⁴Take me with you; come, let’s run!

The king has brought me into his bedroom.

Young Women of Jerusalem

How happy we are for you, O king.

We praise your love even more than wine.

Young Woman

How right they are to adore you.

⁵I am dark but beautiful,

O women of Jerusalem—

dark as the tents of Kedar,

dark as the curtains of Solomon’s tents.

⁶Don’t stare at me because I am dark—

the sun has darkened my skin.

My brothers were angry with me;

they forced me to care for their vineyards,

so I couldn’t care for myself—my own vineyard.

⁷Tell me, my love, where are you leading your flock today?

Where will you rest your sheep at noon?

For why should I wander like a prostitute^b

among your friends and their flocks?

Young Man

⁸If you don’t know, O most beautiful woman,

follow the trail of my flock,

and graze your young goats by the shepherds’ tents.

⁹You are as exciting, my darling,

as a mare among Pharaoh’s stallions.

¹⁰How lovely are your cheeks;

your earrings set them afire!

How lovely is your neck,

enhanced by a string of jewels.

¹¹We will make for you earrings of gold

and beads of silver.

Young Woman

¹²The king is lying on his couch,

enchanted by the fragrance of my perfume.

¹³My lover is like a sachet of myrrh

lying between my breasts.

¹⁴He is like a bouquet of sweet henna blossoms

from the vineyards of En-gedi.

Young Man

¹⁵How beautiful you are, my darling,

how beautiful!

Your eyes are like doves.

Young Woman

¹⁶You are so handsome, my love,

pleasing beyond words!

The soft grass is our bed;

¹⁷fragrant cedar branches are the beams of our house,

and pleasant smelling firs are the rafters.