Song of Solomon 1-2

Holman Christian Standard Bible

1 Solomon’s Finest Song.^[a](A)

² W^[b] Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your^[c] love is^[d] more delightful than wine.^(B)
3 The fragrance of your perfume is intoxicating;^(C)
your name is perfume poured out.^(D)
No wonder young women^[e] adore you.
⁴ Take me with you^(E)—let us hurry.
Oh, that the king would bring^[f] me to his chambers.

Y We will rejoice and be glad for you;
we will praise your love more than wine.

W It is only right that they adore you.

⁵ Daughters of Jerusalem,^(F)
I am dark like the tents of Kedar,^(G)
yet lovely^(H) like the curtains of Solomon.
⁶ Do not stare at me because I am dark,
for the sun has gazed on me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;^(I)
they made me a keeper of the vineyards.^(J)
I have not kept my own vineyard.^[g]

⁷ Tell me, you, the one I love:^(K)
Where do you pasture your sheep?^(L)
Where do you let them rest at noon?^(M)
Why should I be like one who veils herself^[h][i]
beside the flocks of your companions?^(N)

⁸ M^[j] If you do not know,
most beautiful of women,^(O)
follow^[k] the tracks of the flock,
and pasture your young goats
near the shepherds’ tents.

⁹ I compare you, my darling,^(P)
to a^[l] mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.^[m](Q)
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with jewelry,^(R)
your neck with its necklace.
¹¹ We will make gold jewelry for you,
accented with silver.

¹² W While the king is on his couch,^[n]
my perfume^[o] releases its fragrance.^(S)
13 My love is a sachet of myrrh to me,^(T)
spending the night between my breasts.
¹⁴ My love is a cluster of henna blossoms to me,^(U)
in the vineyards of En-gedi.^[p](V)

¹⁵ M How beautiful you are, my darling.
How very beautiful!
Your eyes are doves.^(W)

¹⁶ W How handsome you are, my love.^(X)
How delightful!
Our bed is lush with foliage;
¹⁷ the beams of our house are cedars,
and our rafters are cypresses.^[q]
2 I am a rose^[r][s] of Sharon,
a lily^[t] of the valleys.^(Y)

² M Like a lily among thorns,
so is my darling among the young women.

³ W Like an apricot^[u] tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my love among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
⁴ He brought me to the banquet hall,^[v](Z)
and he looked on me with love.^[w](AA)
5 Sustain me with raisins;
refresh me with apricots,^[x]
for I am lovesick.^(AB)
6 His left hand is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me.^[y](AC)
7 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.^[z](AD)

⁸ Listen! My love is approaching.
Look! Here he comes,
leaping over the mountains,^(AE)
bounding over the hills.
⁹ My love is like a gazelle
or a young stag.^(AF)
Look, he is standing behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.
¹⁰ My love calls to me:

M Arise,^(AG) my darling.
Come away, my beautiful one.
¹¹ For now the winter is past;
the rain has ended and gone away.
¹² The blossoms appear in the countryside.
The time of singing^[aa] has come,
and the turtledove’s cooing is heard in our land.^(AH)
13 The fig tree ripens its figs;^(AI)
the blossoming vines give off their fragrance.^(AJ)
Arise, my darling.
Come away, my beautiful one.

¹⁴ My dove,^(AK) in the clefts of the rock,^(AL)
in the crevices of the cliff,
let me see your face,^[ab]
let me hear your voice;^(AM)
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.^(AN)

¹⁵ (W) Catch the foxes for us^(AO)—
the little foxes that ruin the vineyards—
for our vineyards are in bloom.^(AP)
16 W My love is mine and I am his;^(AQ)
he feeds among the lilies.
¹⁷ Before the day breaks^[ac]
and the shadows flee,
turn to me, my love, and be like a gazelle
or a young stag^(AR) on the divided mountains.^[ad](AS)