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

Young Woman[a]

Kiss me and kiss me again,
    for your love is sweeter than wine.
How pleasing is your fragrance;
    your name is like the spreading fragrance of scented oils.
    No wonder all the young women love you!
Take 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.

I am dark but beautiful,
    O women of Jerusalem—
dark as the tents of Kedar,
    dark as the curtains of Solomon’s tents.
Don’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.

Tell 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

If you don’t know, O most beautiful woman,
    follow the trail of my flock,
    and graze your young goats by the shepherds’ tents.
You are as exciting, my darling,
    as a mare among Pharaoh’s stallions.
10 How lovely are your cheeks;
    your earrings set them afire!
How lovely is your neck,
    enhanced by a string of jewels.
11 We will make for you earrings of gold
    and beads of silver.

Young Woman

12 The king is lying on his couch,
    enchanted by the fragrance of my perfume.
13 My lover is like a sachet of myrrh
    lying between my breasts.
14 He is like a bouquet of sweet henna blossoms
    from the vineyards of En-gedi.

Young Man

15 How beautiful you are, my darling,
    how beautiful!
    Your eyes are like doves.

Young Woman

16 You are so handsome, my love,
    pleasing beyond words!
The soft grass is our bed;
17     fragrant cedar branches are the beams of our house,
    and pleasant smelling firs are the rafters.

Footnotes

  1. 1:1 The headings identifying the speakers are not in the original text, though the Hebrew usually gives clues by means of the gender of the person speaking.
  2. 1:7 Hebrew like a veiled woman.

The Song of (A)Songs, which is Solomon's.

The Bride Confesses Her Love

She[a]

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your (B)love is better than wine;
    your (C)anointing oils are fragrant;
your (D)name is oil poured out;
    therefore virgins love you.
(E)Draw me after you; (F)let us run.
    (G)The king has brought me into his chambers.

Others

We will (H)exult and rejoice in you;
    we will extol (I)your love more than wine;
    rightly do they love you.

She

I am very dark, but (J)lovely,
    O (K)daughters of Jerusalem,
like (L)the tents of (M)Kedar,
    like the curtains of Solomon.
Do not gaze at me because I am dark,
    because the sun has looked upon me.
My (N)mother's sons were angry with me;
    they made me (O)keeper of (P)the vineyards,
    but (Q)my own vineyard I have not kept!
Tell me, you (R)whom my soul loves,
    where you (S)pasture your flock,
    where you make it (T)lie down at noon;
for why should I be like one who veils herself
    beside the flocks of your (U)companions?

Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other

He

If you do not know,
    O (V)most beautiful among women,
follow in the tracks of the flock,
    and pasture your young goats
    beside the shepherds' tents.

I compare you, (W)my love,
    to (X)a mare among Pharaoh's chariots.
10 (Y)Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
    your neck with strings of jewels.

Others

11 We will make for you[b] ornaments of gold,
    studded with silver.

She

12 While (Z)the king was on his couch,
    my (AA)nard gave forth its fragrance.
13 My beloved is to me a sachet of (AB)myrrh
    that lies between my breasts.
14 My beloved is to me a cluster of (AC)henna blossoms
    in the vineyards of (AD)Engedi.

He

15 (AE)Behold, (AF)you are beautiful, (AG)my love;
    behold, you are beautiful;
    your (AH)eyes are doves.

She

16 Behold, you are beautiful, (AI)my beloved, truly (AJ)delightful.
Our couch is green;
17     the beams of our house are (AK)cedar;
    our rafters are (AL)pine.

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 1:2 The translators have added speaker identifications based on the gender and number of the Hebrew words
  2. Song of Solomon 1:11 The Hebrew for you is feminine singular