Song of Solomon 3-4

English Standard Version

3 On my bed ^(A)by night
I sought ^(B)him whom my soul loves;
    ^(C)I sought him, but found him not.
² I will rise now and go about the city,
    in ^(D)the streets and in the squares;
I will seek ^(E)him whom my soul loves.
    I sought him, but found him not.
^3 (F)The 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 ^(G)him whom my soul loves.
I ^(H)held him, and would not let him go
    until I had ^(I)brought him into my mother's house,
    and into the chamber of ^(J)her who conceived me.
^5 (K)I adjure you, ^(L)O daughters of Jerusalem,
    ^(M)by the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
    until it pleases.

^6 (N)What is that coming up from the wilderness
    like ^(O)columns of smoke,
perfumed with ^(P)myrrh and frankincense,
    with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?
⁷ Behold, it is the litter^[a] of Solomon!
Around it are ^(Q)sixty ^(R)mighty men,
    some of the mighty men of Israel,
⁸ all of them wearing swords
    and expert in war,
each with his ^(S)sword at his thigh,
    against ^(T)terror by night.
⁹ King Solomon made himself a carriage^[b]
    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 ^(U)the daughters of Jerusalem.
¹¹ Go out, O ^(V)daughters of Zion,
    and look upon King Solomon,
with the crown with which his mother crowned him
    on ^(W)the day of his wedding,
    on the day of the gladness of his heart.

4 Behold, ^(X)you are beautiful, my love,
    behold, you are beautiful!
^(Y)Your eyes are doves
    ^(Z)behind your veil.
^(AA)Your hair is like a flock of goats
    leaping down ^(AB)the slopes of Gilead.
² Your ^(AC)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.
³ Your lips are like ^(AD)a scarlet thread,
    and your mouth is ^(AE)lovely.
Your ^(AF)cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
    ^(AG)behind your veil.
⁴ Your ^(AH)neck is like the tower of David,
    built in ^(AI)rows of stone;^[c]
on it ^(AJ)hang a thousand shields,
    all of ^(AK)them shields of warriors.
⁵ Your ^(AL)two breasts are like two ^(AM)fawns,
    twins of a gazelle,
    that ^(AN)graze among the lilies.
^6 (AO)Until the day breathes
    and the shadows flee,
I will go away to the mountain of ^(AP)myrrh
    and the hill of ^(AQ)frankincense.
^7 (AR)You are altogether beautiful, my love;
    there is no ^(AS)flaw in you.
^8 (AT)Come with me from ^(AU)Lebanon, my ^(AV)bride;
    come with me from ^(AW)Lebanon.
Depart^[d] from the peak of Amana,
    from the peak of ^(AX)Senir and ^(AY)Hermon,
from the dens of lions,
    from the mountains of leopards.

^(BY)Let my beloved come to his ^(BZ)garden,
    and eat its ^(CA)choicest fruits.