Song of Songs 1-2
Christian Standard Bible
1 The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.(A)
Woman
2 Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your caresses[a] are 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[b] adore you.
4 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.
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 take care of the vineyards.(J)
I have not taken care of my own vineyard.
7 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
8 [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.
9 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]
2 I am a wildflower[k] of Sharon,
a lily[l] of the valleys.(Y)
Man
2 Like a lily among thorns,
so is my darling among the young women.
Woman
3 Like an apricot[m] 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,[n](Z)
and he looked on me with love.[o](AA)
5 Sustain me with raisins;
refresh me with apricots,[p]
for I am lovesick.(AB)
6 May his left hand be under my head,
and his right arm embrace me.(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.[q](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)
See, he is standing behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.
10 My love calls to me:
Man
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[r] 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,[s]
let me hear your voice;(AM)
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.(AN)
Woman
15 [t]Catch the foxes for us(AO)—
the little foxes that ruin the vineyards—
for our vineyards are in bloom.(AP)
Woman
16 My love is mine and I am his;(AQ)
he feeds among the lilies.
17 Until the day breaks[u]
and the shadows flee,
turn around, my love, and be like a gazelle
or a young stag(AR) on the divided mountains.[v](AS)
Footnotes
- 1:2 Or acts of love
- 1:3 Or wonder virgins
- 1:4 Or The king has brought
- 1:7 Or who wanders
- 1:8 Some understand the young women to be the speakers in this verse.
- 1:8 Lit go out for yourself into
- 1:9 Lit my
- 1:12 Or is at his table
- 1:12 Lit nard
- 1:17 Or firs, or pines
- 2:1 Traditionally rose
- 2:1 Or lotus
- 2:3 Or apple
- 2:4 Lit the house of wine
- 2:4 Or and his banner over me is love
- 2:5 Or apples
- 2:7 Lit until it pleases
- 2:12 Or pruning
- 2:14 Or form
- 2:15 The speaker could be the woman, the man, or both.
- 2:17 Lit breathes
- 2:17 Or the Bether mountains, or the mountains of spices; Hb obscure
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
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