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

Woman

Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your caresses[a] are more delightful than wine.(B)
The fragrance of your perfume is intoxicating;(C)
your name is perfume poured out.(D)
No wonder young women[b] adore you.
Take me with you(E)—let’s hurry.
Oh, that the king would bring[c] me to his chambers.

Young Women

We will rejoice and be glad in you;
we will celebrate your caresses more than wine.

Woman

It is only right that they adore you.

Daughters of Jerusalem,(F)
I am dark like the tents of Kedar,(G)
yet lovely(H) like the curtains of Solomon.
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 take care of the vineyards.(J)
I have not taken care of my own vineyard.

Tell me, you whom 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[d]
beside the flocks of your companions?(N)

Man

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

I compare you, my darling,(P)
to a[g] mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.(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.

Woman

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

Man

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

Woman

16 How handsome you are, my love.(X)
How delightful!
Our bed is verdant;
17 the beams of our house are cedars,
and our rafters are cypresses.[j]

Footnotes

  1. 1:2 Or acts of love
  2. 1:3 Or wonder virgins
  3. 1:4 Or The king has brought
  4. 1:7 Or who wanders
  5. 1:8 Some understand the young women to be the speakers in this verse.
  6. 1:8 Lit go out for yourself into
  7. 1:9 Lit my
  8. 1:12 Or is at his table
  9. 1:12 Lit nard
  10. 1:17 Or firs, or pines

The song of songs, which is Solomon’s.

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth:
for thy love is better than wine.
Because of the savour of thy good ointments
thy name is as ointment poured forth,
therefore do the virgins love thee.
Draw me, we will run after thee:
the king hath brought me into his chambers:
we will be glad and rejoice in thee,
we will remember thy love more than wine:
the upright love thee.
I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem,
as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
Look not upon me, because I am black,
because the sun hath looked upon me:
my mother’s children were angry with me;
they made me the keeper of the vineyards;
but mine own vineyard have I not kept.
Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth,
where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon:
for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?

If thou know not, O thou fairest among women,
go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock,
and feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents.
I have compared thee, O my love,
to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots.
10 Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels,
thy neck with chains of gold.
11 We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.

12 While the king sitteth at his table,
my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.
13 A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me;
he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.
14 My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of En-gedi.
15 Behold, thou art fair, my love;
behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes.
16 Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant:
also our bed is green.
17 The beams of our house are cedar,
and our rafters of fir.