Song of Solomon 3-4

New American Standard Bible

3 “On my bed night after night I sought him
^(A)Whom my soul loves;
I ^(B)sought him but did not find him.
² ‘^[a]I must arise now and ^[b]go around in the city;
In the ^(C)streets and in the public squares
^[c]I must seek him whom my soul loves.’
I sought him but did not find him.
^3 (D)The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me,
And I said, ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’
^4 (E)Hardly had I ^[d]left them
When I found him whom my soul loves;
I ^(F)held on to him and would not let him go
Until I had ^(G)brought him to my mother’s house,
And into the room of her who conceived me.”

⁵ “^(H)Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem,
By the ^(I)gazelles or by the does of the field,
That you will not disturb or awaken my love
Until she pleases.”

⁶ “^[e](J)What is this coming up from the wilderness
Like ^(K)columns of smoke,
Perfumed with ^(L)myrrh and ^(M)frankincense,
With all the scented powders of the merchant?

⁷ Behold, it is ^[f]the traveling couch of Solomon;
Sixty warriors around it,
Of the warriors of Israel.
⁸ All of them are wielders of the sword,
^(N)Expert in war;
Each man has his ^(O)sword at his side,
Guarding against the ^[g](P)terrors of the night.
⁹ King Solomon has made for himself a ^[h]sedan chair
From the timber of Lebanon.
¹⁰ He made its posts of silver,
Its ^[i]back of gold
And its seat of purple fabric,
With its interior lovingly inlaid
By the ^(Q)daughters of Jerusalem.
¹¹ Go out, you ^(R)daughters of Zion,
And look at King Solomon with the ^[j]crown
With which his mother has crowned him
On the ^(S)day of his wedding,
And on the day of the joy of his heart.”

4 “^[k]How beautiful ^(T)you are, my darling,
^[l]How beautiful you are!
Your ^(U)eyes are like doves ^(V)behind your veil;
Your ^(W)hair is like a flock of goats
That have descended from Mount ^(X)Gilead.
² Your ^(Y)teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep
Which have come up from their watering place,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has lost her young.
³ Your lips are like a ^(Z)scarlet thread,
And your ^(AA)mouth is beautiful.
Your ^(AB)temples are like a slice of a pomegranate
Behind your veil.
⁴ Your ^(AC)neck is like the tower of David,
Built with layers of stones
On which are ^(AD)hung a thousand shields,
All the round ^(AE)shields of the warriors.
⁵ Your ^(AF)two breasts are like two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle
That ^(AG)graze among the lilies.
^6 (AH)Until ^[m]the cool of the day
When the shadows flee,
I will go my way to the mountain of ^(AI)myrrh
And to the hill of ^(AJ)frankincense.

¹⁶ “Awake, north wind,
And come, wind of the south;
^[t]Make my ^(BI)garden breathe out fragrance,
May its balsam oils flow.
May ^(BJ)my beloved come into his garden
And eat its ^(BK)delicious fruits!”