Add parallel Print Page Options

The Bride’s Troubled Dream

[a]On my bed night after night I sought him
(A)Whom my soul loves;
I (B)sought him but did not find him.
[b]I must arise now and [c]go about the city;
In the (C)streets and in the squares
[d]I must seek him whom my soul loves.’
I sought him but did not find him.
(D)The watchmen who go about the city found me,
And I said, ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’
(E)Scarcely had I passed them by
When I found him whom my soul loves;
I (F)seized him and would not let him go
Until I had (G)brought him to my mother’s house,
And into the chamber of her who conceived me.”

[e]I (H)call you to solemnly swear, O daughters of Jerusalem,
By the (I)gazelles or by the hinds of the field,
That you do not arouse or awaken my love
Until [f]she pleases.”

Solomon Arrives on His Wedding Day

[g](J)Who is this coming up from the wilderness
Like (K)columns of smoke,
As rising incense of (L)myrrh and (M)frankincense,
With all scented powders of the merchant?
Behold, it is the traveling couch of Solomon;
Sixty mighty men around it,
Of the mighty men of Israel.
All of them are those who seize the sword,
(N)Learned in war;
Each man has his (O)sword at his side,
Guarding against the [h](P)dreadful things of the night.
King Solomon has made for himself a 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 inlaid with love
By the (Q)daughters of Jerusalem.
11 Go forth and see, O (R)daughters of Zion,
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 his gladness of heart.”

Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 3:1 BRIDE
  2. Song of Songs 3:2 Or Let me arise
  3. Song of Songs 3:2 Or Let me go about
  4. Song of Songs 3:2 Or Let me seek
  5. Song of Songs 3:5 BRIDEGROOM
  6. Song of Songs 3:5 Or it
  7. Song of Songs 3:6 CHORUS
  8. Song of Songs 3:8 Lit dreadful thing
  9. Song of Songs 3:10 Or support
  10. Song of Songs 3:11 Or wreath

In my bed at night[a]
I sought the one I love;(A)
I sought him, but did not find him.[b](B)
I will arise now and go about the city,
through the streets and the plazas.(C)
I will seek the one I love.
I sought him, but did not find him.
The guards who go about the city found me.(D)
I asked them, “Have you seen the one I love?”
I had just passed them
when I found the one I love.
I held on to him and would not let him go
until I brought him to my mother’s house(E)
to the chamber of the one who conceived me.
Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field:
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.[c](F)

N What is this(G) coming up from the wilderness
like columns of smoke,
scented with myrrh and frankincense(H)
from every fragrant powder of the merchant?
It is Solomon’s royal litter[d]
surrounded by 60 warriors
from the mighty of Israel.
All of them are skilled with swords
and trained in warfare.
Each has his sword at his side(I)
to guard against the terror of the night.(J)

King Solomon made a sedan chair[e] for himself
with wood from Lebanon.
10 He made its posts of silver,
its back[f] of gold,
and its seat of purple.
Its interior is inlaid with love[g]
by the young women of Jerusalem.(K)
11 Come out, young women of Zion,(L)
and gaze at King Solomon,
wearing the crown his mother placed on him
the day of his wedding(M)
the day of his heart’s rejoicing.

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 3:1 Or bed night after night
  2. Song of Solomon 3:1 LXX adds I called him, but he did not answer me
  3. Song of Solomon 3:5 Lit until it pleases
  4. Song of Solomon 3:7 A conveyance carried on the shoulders of servants
  5. Song of Solomon 3:9 In Hb, the term sedan chair is possibly a synonym for “litter”; it is also called a palanquin.
  6. Song of Solomon 3:10 Or base, or canopy
  7. Song of Solomon 3:10 Or leather