Song of Solomon 3

Expanded Bible

The Woman Dreams

3 ·At night [or During many nights] on my bed,
    I ·looked [searched] for the one ·I love [my soul loves];
    I ·looked [searched] for him, but I could not find him.
²I ·got [rose] up and went around the city,
    in the streets and ·squares [public areas],
·looking [searching] for the one ·I love [my soul loves].
    I ·looked [searched] for him, but I could not find him.
³The ·watchmen [guards; ^Cancient equivalent to the police] found me as they patrolled the city,
    so I asked, “Have you seen the one ·I love [^Lmy soul loves]?”
⁴·As soon as [or A little while after] I had left them,
    I found the one ·I love [^Lmy soul loves].
I ·held [seized; grabbed] him and would not let him go
    until I brought him to my mother’s house,
to the room where ·I was born [^Lshe conceived me; 8:2].

The Woman Speaks to the Friends

⁵·Women [^LDaughters] of Jerusalem [1:5], ·promise me [I adjure you]
    by the gazelles and the deer of the field [^Cin Hebrew sounds like “by the (Lord) of Hosts” or “by God Almighty”]
not to awaken
    or ·excite [arouse] love
    until it ·is ready [so desires; ^Clikely a warning to the women to wait for love until the right person comes along; 2:7; 8:4].
⁶·Who [or What] is this coming out of the ·desert [wilderness]
    like a ·cloud [pillar] of smoke?
·Who is this that smells like [^L…perfumed with] myrrh, ·incense [frankincense],
    and ·other spices [^Lfrom all the scented powders of the trader]?
⁷Look, it’s Solomon’s ·couch [palanquin; litter; ^Ca bed carried by servants]
    with sixty soldiers around it,
    the ·finest soldiers [heroes; mighty men] of Israel.
⁸These soldiers all carry swords
    and have been trained in war.
Every man wears a sword at his ·side [thigh]
    and is ready for the dangers of the night.
⁹King Solomon had a ·couch [litter; v. 7] made for himself
    of wood from Lebanon.
¹⁰He made its posts of silver
    and its ·braces [canopy] of gold.
The seat was covered with purple [^Cthe color of royalty] cloth
    that the ·women [^Ldaughters] of Jerusalem [1:5] ·wove [inlaid its interior] with love.
¹¹·Women [^LDaughters] of ·Jerusalem [^LZion; 1:5], go out and see King Solomon.
    He is wearing the crown his mother put on his head
on his wedding day,
    when his heart was happy!

Song of Solomon 3

New King James Version

A Troubled Night

The Shulamite

3 By ^(A)night on my bed I sought the one I love;
I sought him, but I did not find him.
²“I will rise now,” I said,
“And go about the city;
In the streets and in the squares
I will seek the one I love.”
I sought him, but I did not find him.
³^(B)The watchmen who go about the city found me;
I said,
“Have you seen the one I love?”

⁴Scarcely had I passed by them,
When I found the one I love.
I held him and would not let him go,
Until I had brought him to the ^(C)house of my mother,
And into the ^[a]chamber of her who conceived me.

⁵^(D)I ^[b]charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
By the gazelles or by the does of the field,
Do not stir up nor awaken love
Until it pleases.

The Coming of Solomon

The Shulamite

⁶^(E)Who is this coming out of the wilderness
Like pillars of smoke,
Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
With all the merchant’s fragrant powders?
⁷Behold, it is Solomon’s couch,
With sixty valiant men around it,
Of the valiant of Israel.
⁸They all hold swords,
Being expert in war.
Every man has his sword on his thigh
Because of fear in the night.

⁹Of the wood of Lebanon
Solomon the King
Made himself a ^[c]palanquin:
¹⁰He made its pillars of silver,
Its support of gold,
Its seat of purple,
Its interior paved with love
By the daughters of Jerusalem.
¹¹Go forth, O daughters of Zion,
And see King Solomon with the crown
With which his mother crowned him
On the day of his wedding,
The day of the gladness of his heart.