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Song of Solomon 1-8
Names of God Bible
Song of Solomon 1-8
Names of God Bible
1 The most beautiful song of Solomon.
The Young Woman Arrives in Solomon’s Palace
[Bride]
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.
Your expressions of love are better than wine,
3 better than the fragrance of cologne.
(Cologne should be named after you.)
No wonder the young women love you!
4 Take me with you. Let’s run away.
The king has brought me into his private rooms.
[The chorus of young women]
We will celebrate and rejoice with you.
We will praise your expressions of love more than wine.
How right it is that the young women love you!
[Bride]
5 Young women of Jerusalem, I am dark and lovely
like Kedar’s tents,
like Solomon’s curtains.
6 Stop staring at me because I am so dark.
The sun has tanned me.
My brothers were angry with me.
They made me the caretaker of the vineyards.
I have not even taken care of my own vineyard.
7 Please tell me, you whom I love, where do you graze your flock?
Where does your flock lie down at noon?
Tell me, or I will be considered a prostitute
wandering among the flocks of your companions.
[The chorus of young women]
8 If you do not know, most beautiful of women,
follow the tracks of the flocks,
and graze your young goats near the shepherds’ tents.
Solomon Searches for the Young Woman’s Love
[Groom]
9 My true love, I compare you to a mare among Pharaoh’s stallions.
10 Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
your neck with strings of pearls.
[The chorus of young women]
11 We will make gold ornaments with silver beads for you.
[Bride]
12 While the king is at his table,
my perfume fills the air with its fragrance.
13 My beloved is a pouch of myrrh[a]
that lies at night between my breasts.
14 My beloved is a bouquet of henna flowers
in the vineyards of En Gedi.
[Groom]
15 Look at you! You are beautiful, my true love!
Look at you! You are so beautiful!
Your eyes are like doves!
[Bride]
16 Look at you! You are handsome, my beloved, so pleasing to me!
The leaf-scattered ground will be our couch.
17 The cedars will be the walls of our house.
The cypress trees will be our rafters.
2 I am a rose of Sharon,
a lily growing in the valleys.
[Groom]
2 Like a lily among thorns,
so is my true love among the young women.
[Bride]
3 Like an apple tree among the trees in the forest,
so is my beloved among the young men.
I want to sit in his shadow.
His fruit tastes sweet to me.
4 He leads me into a banquet room
and looks at me with love.
5 Strengthen me with raisins
and refresh me with apples
because I am weak from love.
6 His left hand is under my head.
His right hand caresses me.
7 Young women of Jerusalem, swear to me
by the gazelles
or by the does in the field
that you will not awaken love
or arouse love before its proper time.
The Young Woman Remembers One Spring Day with Her Beloved
[Bride]
8 I hear my beloved’s voice.
Look! Here he comes,
sprinting over the mountains,
racing over the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Look! There he stands behind our wall,
peeking through the window,
looking through the lattice.
10 My beloved said to me,
“Get up, my true love, my beautiful one, and come with me.
11 Look! The winter is past.
The rain is over and gone.
12 Blossoms appear in the land.
The time of the songbird has arrived.
The cooing of the mourning dove is heard in our land.
13 The green figs ripen.
The grapevines bloom and give off a fragrance.
Get up, my true love, my beautiful one, and come with me.
14 My dove, in the hiding places of the rocky crevices,
in the secret places of the cliffs,
let me see your figure and hear your voice.
Your voice is sweet, and your figure is lovely.”
15 Catch the foxes for us,
the little foxes that ruin vineyards.
Our vineyards are blooming.
16 My beloved is mine, and I am his.
He is the one who grazes his flock among the lilies.
17 When the day brings a cooling breeze and the shadows flee,
turn around, my beloved.
Run like a gazelle or a young stag
on the mountains that separate us!
The Young Woman Dreams about Searching for Her Beloved
[Bride]
3 Night after night on my bed
I looked for the one I love.
I looked for him but did not find him.
2 I will get up now and roam around the city,
in the streets, and in the squares.
I will look for the one I love.
I looked for him but did not find him.
3 The watchmen making their rounds in the city found me.
I asked, “Have you seen the one I love?”
4 I had just left them when I found the one I love.
I held on to him and would not let him go
until I had brought him into my mother’s house,
into the bedroom of the one who conceived me.
5 Young women of Jerusalem, swear to me
by the gazelles
or by the does in the field,
that you will not awaken love
or arouse love before its proper time.
A Description of the Royal Procession
[The chorus of young women]
6 Who is this young woman coming up from the wilderness
like clouds of smoke?
She is perfumed with myrrh and incense
made from the merchants’ scented powders.
7 Look! Solomon’s sedan chair![b]
Sixty soldiers from the army of Israel surround it.
8 All of them are skilled in using swords,
experienced in combat.
Each one has his sword at his side
and guards against the terrors of the night.
9 King Solomon had a carriage made for himself[c]
from the wood of Lebanon.
10 He had its posts made out of silver,
its top out of gold,
its seat out of purple fabric.
Its inside—with inlaid scenes of love—
was made by the young women of Jerusalem.
11 Young women of Zion, come out and look at King Solomon!
Look at his crown,
the crown his mother placed on him on his wedding day,
his day of joyful delight.
Solomon Is Charmed by the Young Woman
[Groom]
4 Look at you! You are beautiful, my true love.
Look at you! You are so beautiful.
Your eyes behind your veil are like doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats moving down Mount Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep about to be sheared,
sheep that come up from the washing.
All of them bear twins, and not one has lost its young.
3 Your lips are like scarlet thread.
Your mouth is lovely.
Your temples behind your veil are like slices of pomegranate.
4 Your neck is like David’s beautifully-designed[d] tower.
A thousand round shields belonging to soldiers
are hung on it.
5 Your breasts are like two fawns,
like twin gazelles grazing among the lilies.
6 When the day brings a cool breeze and the shadows flee,
I will go to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of incense.
7 You are beautiful in every way, my true love.
There is no blemish on you.
8 You will come with me from Lebanon,
from Lebanon as my bride.
You will travel with me
from the peak of Mount Amana,
from the mountain peaks in Senir and Hermon,
from the lairs of lions,
from the mountains of leopards.
9 My bride, my sister, you have charmed me.[e]
You have charmed me
with a single glance from your eyes,
with a single strand of your necklace.
10 How beautiful are your expressions of love, my bride, my sister!
How much better are your expressions of love than wine
and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice.
11 Your lips drip honey, my bride.
Honey and milk are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your clothing is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 My bride, my sister is a garden that is locked,
a garden that is locked,
a spring that is sealed.
13 You are paradise that produces
pomegranates and the best fruits,
henna flowers and nard,
14 nard and saffron,
calamus,[f] cinnamon, and all kinds of incense,[g]
myrrh, aloes, and all the best spices.
15 You are a spring for gardens,
a well of living water flowing from Lebanon.
[Bride]
16 Awake, north wind!
Come, south wind!
Blow on my garden!
Let its spices flow from it.
Let my beloved come to his garden,
and let him eat his own precious fruit.
[Groom]
5 My bride, my sister, I will come to my garden.
I will gather my myrrh with my spice.
I will eat my honeycomb with my honey.
I will drink my wine with my milk.
Eat, my friends!
Drink and become intoxicated with expressions of love!
The Young Woman Dreams of Marriage with Her Husband
[Bride]
2 I sleep, but my mind is awake.
Listen! My beloved is knocking.
[Groom]
Open to me, my true love, my sister,
my dove, my perfect one.
My head is wet with dew,
my hair with the dewdrops of night.
[Bride]
3 I have taken off my clothes! Why should I put them on again?
I have washed my feet! Why should I get them dirty again?
4 My beloved put his hand through the keyhole.
My heart throbbed for him.
5 I got up to open for my beloved.
My hands dripped with myrrh,
and my fingers were drenched with liquid myrrh,
on the handles of the lock.
6 I opened for my beloved,
but my beloved had turned away. He was gone!
I almost died when he left.
I looked for him, but I did not find him.
I called for him, but he did not answer me.
7 The watchmen making their rounds in the city found me.
They struck me!
They wounded me!
Those watchmen on the walls took my robe from me!
8 Young women of Jerusalem, swear to me
that if you find my beloved
you will tell him I am hopelessly lovesick.
[The chorus of young women]
9 Most beautiful of women,
what makes your beloved better than any other beloved?
What makes your beloved better than any other beloved
that you make us swear this way?
[Bride]
10 My beloved is dazzling yet ruddy.
He stands out among 10,000 men.
11 His head is the finest gold.
His hair is wavy, black as a raven.
12 His eyes are set like doves bathing in milk.
13 His cheeks are like a garden of spices,
a garden that produces scented herbs.
His lips are lilies that drip with myrrh.
14 His hands are disks of gold set with emerald.
His chest is a block of ivory covered with sapphires.
15 His legs are columns of marble set on bases of pure gold.
His form is like Lebanon, choice as the cedars.
16 His mouth is sweet in every way.
Everything about him is desirable!
This is my beloved, and this is my friend, young women of Jerusalem.
[The chorus of young women]
6 Where did your beloved go, most beautiful of women?
Where did your beloved turn?
We will look for him with you.
[Bride]
2 My beloved went to his garden,
to the beds of spices,
to graze his flock in the gardens and gather lilies.
3 I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.
He is the one who grazes his flock among the lilies.
Solomon Desires the Young Woman More Than the Rest of His Wives
[Groom]
4 You are beautiful, my true love, like Tirzah,
lovely like Jerusalem,
awe-inspiring like those great cities.[h]
5 Turn your eyes away from me. They enchant me!
Your hair is like a flock of goats moving down from Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep,
sheep that come up from the washing.
All of them bear twins, and not one has lost its young.
7 Your temples behind your veil are like slices of pomegranate.
8 There are 60 queens, 80 concubines,[i] and countless virgins,
9 but she is unique, my dove, my perfect one.
Her mother thinks she is unique.
She is pure to the one who gave birth to her.
Her sisters saw her and blessed her.
Queens and concubines saw her and praised her.
The Young Woman’s Home in Shulam
[The chorus of young women]
10 Who is this young woman?
She looks like the dawn.
She is beautiful like the moon,
pure like the sun,
awe-inspiring like those heavenly bodies.
[Bride]
11 I went to the walnut grove
to look at the blossoms in the valley,
to see if the grapevine had budded
and if the pomegranates were in bloom.
12 I did not know that I had become
like the chariots of my noble people.[j]
[The chorus of young women]
13 Come back! Come back, young woman from Shulam!
Come back! Come back so that we may look at you!
[Bride]
Why do you look at me, the young woman from Shulam,
as you look at the dance of Mahanaim?
[The chorus of young women]
7 [k]How beautiful are your feet in their sandals, noble daughter!
The curves of your thighs are like ornaments,
like the work of an artist’s hands.
2 Your navel is a round bowl.
May it always be filled with spiced wine.
Your waist is a bundle of wheat enclosed in lilies.
3 Your breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
4 Your neck is like an ivory tower.
Your eyes are like pools in Heshbon, pools by the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like a Lebanese tower facing Damascus.
5 You hold your head as high as Mount Carmel.
Your dangling curls are royal beauty.
Your flowing locks could hold a king captive.
Solomon Longs for the Young Woman’s Affection
[Groom]
6 How beautiful and charming you are, my love, with your elegance.
7 Young woman,
your figure is like a palm tree,
and your breasts are like its clusters.
8 I thought, “I will climb the palm tree
and take hold of its fruit.”
May your breasts be like clusters on the vine.
May the fragrance of your breath be like apples.
9 May your mouth taste like the best wine . . .
[Bride]
. . . that goes down smoothly to my beloved
and glides over the lips of those about to sleep.[l]
10 I am my beloved’s, and he longs for me.
11 Come, my beloved.
Let’s go into the field.
Let’s spend the night among the henna flowers.[m]
12 Let’s go to the vineyards early.
Let’s see if the vines have budded,
if the grape blossoms have opened,
if the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my love.
13 The mandrakes[n] give off a fragrance,
and at our door are all kinds of precious fruits.
I have saved new and old things
for you alone, my beloved.
8 If only you were my brother,
one who nursed at my mother’s breasts.
If I saw you on the street,
I would kiss you, and no one would look down on me.
2 I would lead you.
I would bring you into my mother’s house.
(She is the one who was my teacher.)
I would give you some spiced wine to drink,
some juice squeezed from my pomegranates.
3 His left hand is under my head.
His right hand caresses me.
4 Young women of Jerusalem, swear to me
that you will not awaken love
or arouse love before its proper time!
The Young Woman’s Love for Her Beloved
[The chorus of young women]
5 Who is this young woman coming from the wilderness
with her arm around her beloved?
[Bride]
Under the apple tree I woke you up.
There your mother went into labor with you.
There she went into labor
and gave birth to you!
6 Wear me as a signet ring on your heart,
as a ring on your hand.
Love is as overpowering as death.
Devotion is as unyielding as the grave.
Love’s flames are flames of fire,
flames that come from Yah.
7 Raging water cannot extinguish love,
and rivers will never wash it away.
If a man exchanged all his family’s wealth for love,
people would utterly despise him.
The Young Woman with Her Family and Her Beloved
[The brothers]
8 We have a little sister, and she has no breasts.
What will we do for our sister on the day she becomes engaged?
9 If she is a wall, we will build a silver barrier around her.
If she is a door, we will barricade her with cedar boards.
[Bride]
10 I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers.
So he considers me to be one who has found peace.[o]
11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon.
He entrusted that vineyard to caretakers.
Each one was to bring 25 pounds of silver
in exchange for its fruit.
12 My own vineyard is in front of me.
That 25 pounds is yours, Solomon,
and 5 pounds go to those who take care of its fruit.
[Groom]
13 Young woman living in the gardens,
while your friends are listening to your voice,
let me hear. . .
[Bride]
14 Come away quickly, my beloved.
Run like a gazelle or a young stag
on the mountains of spices.
Footnotes
- Song of Solomon 1:13 Myrrh is a fragrant resin used for perfumes, embalming, and deodorizers.
- Song of Solomon 3:7 A sedan chair is a portable chair for carrying a person of high position.
- Song of Solomon 3:9 English equivalent of this phrase difficult.
- Song of Solomon 4:4 Hebrew meaning of “beautifully-designed” uncertain.
- Song of Solomon 4:9 “Brother” and “sister” are terms of endearment between lovers in ancient Near Eastern literature.
- Song of Solomon 4:14 Calamus is a sweet-smelling spice.
- Song of Solomon 4:14 Or “incense-producing trees.”
- Song of Solomon 6:4 Or “awe-inspiring as an army with flags.”
- Song of Solomon 6:8 A concubine is considered a wife except she has fewer rights under the law.
- Song of Solomon 6:12 Song of Songs 6:13 in English Bibles is Song of Songs 7:1 in the Hebrew Bible.
- Song of Solomon 7:1 Song of Songs 7:1–13 in English Bibles is Song of Songs 7:2–14 in the Hebrew Bible.
- Song of Solomon 7:9 Or “flowing gently over lips and teeth.”
- Song of Solomon 7:11 Or “in the villages.”
- Song of Solomon 7:13 Mandrakes were thought to stimulate sexual desire.
- Song of Solomon 8:10 In Hebrew there is a play on the words “peace” (shalom), “Solomon” (Shlomo), and “the young woman from Shulam” (Shulamith).
Song of Songs 1-8
New International Version
Song of Songs 1-8
New International Version
1 Solomon’s Song of Songs.(A)
She[a]
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
for your love(B) is more delightful than wine.(C)
3 Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;(D)
your name(E) is like perfume poured out.
No wonder the young women(F) love you!
4 Take me away with you—let us hurry!
Let the king bring me into his chambers.(G)
Friends
She
How right they are to adore you!
5 Dark am I, yet lovely,(J)
daughters of Jerusalem,(K)
dark like the tents of Kedar,(L)
like the tent curtains of Solomon.[c]
6 Do not stare at me because I am dark,
because I am darkened by the sun.
My mother’s sons were angry with me
and made me take care of the vineyards;(M)
my own vineyard I had to neglect.
7 Tell me, you whom I love,
where you graze your flock
and where you rest your sheep(N) at midday.
Why should I be like a veiled(O) woman
beside the flocks of your friends?
Friends
8 If you do not know, most beautiful of women,(P)
follow the tracks of the sheep
and graze your young goats
by the tents of the shepherds.
He
9 I liken you, my darling, to a mare
among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.(Q)
10 Your cheeks(R) are beautiful with earrings,
your neck with strings of jewels.(S)
11 We will make you earrings of gold,
studded with silver.
She
12 While the king was at his table,
my perfume spread its fragrance.(T)
13 My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh(U)
resting between my breasts.
14 My beloved(V) is to me a cluster of henna(W) blossoms
from the vineyards of En Gedi.(X)
He
She
16 How handsome you are, my beloved!(AA)
Oh, how charming!
And our bed is verdant.
He
17 The beams of our house are cedars;(AB)
our rafters are firs.
She[d]
He
2 Like a lily among thorns
is my darling among the young women.
She
3 Like an apple[f] tree among the trees of the forest
is my beloved(AF) among the young men.
I delight(AG) to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.(AH)
4 Let him lead me to the banquet hall,(AI)
and let his banner(AJ) over me be love.
5 Strengthen me with raisins,
refresh me with apples,(AK)
for I am faint with love.(AL)
6 His left arm is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me.(AM)
7 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you(AN)
by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.(AO)
8 Listen! My beloved!
Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
bounding over the hills.(AP)
9 My beloved is like a gazelle(AQ) or a young stag.(AR)
Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.
10 My beloved spoke and said to me,
“Arise, my darling,
my beautiful one, come with me.
11 See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
12 Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree forms its early fruit;(AS)
the blossoming(AT) vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
my beautiful one, come with me.”
He
14 My dove(AU) in the clefts of the rock,
in the hiding places on the mountainside,
show me your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.(AV)
15 Catch for us the foxes,(AW)
the little foxes
that ruin the vineyards,(AX)
our vineyards that are in bloom.(AY)
She
16 My beloved is mine and I am his;(AZ)
he browses among the lilies.(BA)
17 Until the day breaks
and the shadows flee,(BB)
turn, my beloved,(BC)
and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag(BD)
on the rugged hills.[g](BE)
3 All night long on my bed
I looked(BF) for the one my heart loves;
I looked for him but did not find him.
2 I will get up now and go about the city,
through its streets and squares;
I will search for the one my heart loves.
So I looked for him but did not find him.
3 The watchmen found me
as they made their rounds in the city.(BG)
“Have you seen the one my heart loves?”
4 Scarcely had I passed them
when I found the one my heart loves.
I held him and would not let him go
till I had brought him to my mother’s house,(BH)
to the room of the one who conceived me.(BI)
5 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you(BJ)
by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.(BK)
6 Who is this coming up from the wilderness(BL)
like a column of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh(BM) and incense
made from all the spices(BN) of the merchant?
7 Look! It is Solomon’s carriage,
escorted by sixty warriors,(BO)
the noblest of Israel,
8 all of them wearing the sword,
all experienced in battle,
each with his sword at his side,
prepared for the terrors of the night.(BP)
9 King Solomon made for himself the carriage;
he made it of wood from Lebanon.
10 Its posts he made of silver,
its base of gold.
Its seat was upholstered with purple,
its interior inlaid with love.
Daughters of Jerusalem, 11 come out,
and look, you daughters of Zion.(BQ)
Look[h] on King Solomon wearing a crown,
the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
the day his heart rejoiced.(BR)
He
4 How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil(BS) are doves.(BT)
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from the hills of Gilead.(BU)
2 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn,
coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin;
not one of them is alone.(BV)
3 Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
your mouth(BW) is lovely.(BX)
Your temples behind your veil
are like the halves of a pomegranate.(BY)
4 Your neck is like the tower(BZ) of David,
built with courses of stone[i];
on it hang a thousand shields,(CA)
all of them shields of warriors.
5 Your breasts(CB) are like two fawns,
like twin fawns of a gazelle(CC)
that browse among the lilies.(CD)
6 Until the day breaks
and the shadows flee,(CE)
I will go to the mountain of myrrh(CF)
and to the hill of incense.
7 You are altogether beautiful,(CG) my darling;
there is no flaw(CH) in you.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,(CI)
come with me from Lebanon.
Descend from the crest of Amana,
from the top of Senir,(CJ) the summit of Hermon,(CK)
from the lions’ dens
and the mountain haunts of leopards.
9 You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;(CL)
you have stolen my heart
with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.(CM)
10 How delightful(CN) is your love(CO), my sister, my bride!
How much more pleasing is your love than wine,(CP)
and the fragrance of your perfume(CQ)
more than any spice!
11 Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride;
milk and honey are under your tongue.(CR)
The fragrance of your garments
is like the fragrance of Lebanon.(CS)
12 You are a garden(CT) locked up, my sister, my bride;(CU)
you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.(CV)
13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates(CW)
with choice fruits,
with henna(CX) and nard,
14 nard and saffron,
calamus and cinnamon,(CY)
with every kind of incense tree,
with myrrh(CZ) and aloes(DA)
and all the finest spices.(DB)
15 You are[j] a garden(DC) fountain,(DD)
a well of flowing water
streaming down from Lebanon.
She
16 Awake, north wind,
and come, south wind!
Blow on my garden,(DE)
that its fragrance(DF) may spread everywhere.
Let my beloved(DG) come into his garden
and taste its choice fruits.(DH)
He
5 I have come into my garden,(DI) my sister, my bride;(DJ)
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;
I have drunk my wine and my milk.(DK)
Friends
Eat, friends, and drink;
drink your fill of love.
She
2 I slept but my heart was awake.
Listen! My beloved is knocking:
“Open to me, my sister, my darling,
my dove,(DL) my flawless(DM) one.(DN)
My head is drenched with dew,
my hair with the dampness of the night.”
3 I have taken off my robe—
must I put it on again?
I have washed my feet—
must I soil them again?
4 My beloved thrust his hand through the latch-opening;
my heart began to pound for him.
5 I arose to open for my beloved,
and my hands dripped with myrrh,(DO)
my fingers with flowing myrrh,
on the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened for my beloved,(DP)
but my beloved had left; he was gone.(DQ)
My heart sank at his departure.[k]
I looked(DR) for him but did not find him.
I called him but he did not answer.
7 The watchmen found me
as they made their rounds in the city.(DS)
They beat me, they bruised me;
they took away my cloak,
those watchmen of the walls!
8 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you(DT)—
if you find my beloved,(DU)
what will you tell him?
Tell him I am faint with love.(DV)
Friends
9 How is your beloved better than others,
most beautiful of women?(DW)
How is your beloved better than others,
that you so charge us?
She
10 My beloved is radiant and ruddy,
outstanding among ten thousand.(DX)
11 His head is purest gold;
his hair is wavy
and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves(DY)
by the water streams,
washed in milk,(DZ)
mounted like jewels.
13 His cheeks(EA) are like beds of spice(EB)
yielding perfume.
His lips are like lilies(EC)
dripping with myrrh.(ED)
14 His arms are rods of gold
set with topaz.
His body is like polished ivory
decorated with lapis lazuli.(EE)
15 His legs are pillars of marble
set on bases of pure gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,(EF)
choice as its cedars.
16 His mouth(EG) is sweetness itself;
he is altogether lovely.
This is my beloved,(EH) this is my friend,
daughters of Jerusalem.(EI)
Friends
6 Where has your beloved(EJ) gone,
most beautiful of women?(EK)
Which way did your beloved turn,
that we may look for him with you?
She
2 My beloved has gone(EL) down to his garden,(EM)
to the beds of spices,(EN)
to browse in the gardens
and to gather lilies.
3 I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;(EO)
he browses among the lilies.(EP)
He
4 You are as beautiful as Tirzah,(EQ) my darling,
as lovely as Jerusalem,(ER)
as majestic as troops with banners.(ES)
5 Turn your eyes from me;
they overwhelm me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from Gilead.(ET)
6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin,
not one of them is missing.(EU)
7 Your temples behind your veil(EV)
are like the halves of a pomegranate.(EW)
8 Sixty queens(EX) there may be,
and eighty concubines,(EY)
and virgins beyond number;
9 but my dove,(EZ) my perfect one,(FA) is unique,
the only daughter of her mother,
the favorite of the one who bore her.(FB)
The young women saw her and called her blessed;
the queens and concubines praised her.
Friends
10 Who is this that appears like the dawn,
fair as the moon, bright as the sun,
majestic as the stars in procession?
He
11 I went down to the grove of nut trees
to look at the new growth in the valley,
to see if the vines had budded
or the pomegranates were in bloom.(FC)
12 Before I realized it,
my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people.[l]
Friends
13 Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
come back, come back, that we may gaze on you!
He
7 [n]How beautiful your sandaled feet,
O prince’s(FE) daughter!
Your graceful legs are like jewels,
the work of an artist’s hands.
2 Your navel is a rounded goblet
that never lacks blended wine.
Your waist is a mound of wheat
encircled by lilies.
3 Your breasts(FF) are like two fawns,
like twin fawns of a gazelle.
4 Your neck is like an ivory tower.(FG)
Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon(FH)
by the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon(FI)
looking toward Damascus.
5 Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel.(FJ)
Your hair is like royal tapestry;
the king is held captive by its tresses.
6 How beautiful(FK) you are and how pleasing,
my love, with your delights!(FL)
7 Your stature is like that of the palm,
and your breasts(FM) like clusters of fruit.
8 I said, “I will climb the palm tree;
I will take hold of its fruit.”
May your breasts be like clusters of grapes on the vine,
the fragrance of your breath like apples,(FN)
9 and your mouth like the best wine.
She
May the wine go straight to my beloved,(FO)
flowing gently over lips and teeth.[o]
10 I belong to my beloved,
and his desire(FP) is for me.(FQ)
11 Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside,
let us spend the night in the villages.[p]
12 Let us go early to the vineyards(FR)
to see if the vines have budded,(FS)
if their blossoms(FT) have opened,
and if the pomegranates(FU) are in bloom(FV)—
there I will give you my love.
13 The mandrakes(FW) send out their fragrance,
and at our door is every delicacy,
both new and old,
that I have stored up for you, my beloved.(FX)
8 If only you were to me like a brother,
who was nursed at my mother’s breasts!
Then, if I found you outside,
I would kiss you,
and no one would despise me.
2 I would lead you
and bring you to my mother’s house(FY)—
she who has taught me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
the nectar of my pomegranates.
3 His left arm is under my head
and his right arm embraces me.(FZ)
4 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.(GA)
Friends
5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness(GB)
leaning on her beloved?
She
Under the apple tree I roused you;
there your mother conceived(GC) you,
there she who was in labor gave you birth.
6 Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
for love(GD) is as strong as death,
its jealousy[q](GE) unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
like a mighty flame.[r]
7 Many waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot sweep it away.
If one were to give
all the wealth of one’s house for love,
it[s] would be utterly scorned.(GF)
Friends
8 We have a little sister,
and her breasts are not yet grown.
What shall we do for our sister
on the day she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build towers of silver on her.
If she is a door,
we will enclose her with panels of cedar.
She
10 I am a wall,
and my breasts are like towers.
Thus I have become in his eyes
like one bringing contentment.
11 Solomon had a vineyard(GG) in Baal Hamon;
he let out his vineyard to tenants.
Each was to bring for its fruit
a thousand shekels[t](GH) of silver.
12 But my own vineyard(GI) is mine to give;
the thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,
and two hundred[u] are for those who tend its fruit.
He
13 You who dwell in the gardens
with friends in attendance,
let me hear your voice!
She
Footnotes
- Song of Songs 1:2 The main male and female speakers (identified primarily on the basis of the gender of the relevant Hebrew forms) are indicated by the captions He and She respectively. The words of others are marked Friends. In some instances the divisions and their captions are debatable.
- Song of Songs 1:4 The Hebrew is masculine singular.
- Song of Songs 1:5 Or Salma
- Song of Songs 2:1 Or He
- Song of Songs 2:1 Probably a member of the crocus family
- Song of Songs 2:3 Or possibly apricot; here and elsewhere in Song of Songs
- Song of Songs 2:17 Or the hills of Bether
- Song of Songs 3:11 Or interior lovingly inlaid / by the daughters of Jerusalem. / 11 Come out, you daughters of Zion, / and look
- Song of Songs 4:4 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
- Song of Songs 4:15 Or I am (spoken by She)
- Song of Songs 5:6 Or heart had gone out to him when he spoke
- Song of Songs 6:12 Or among the chariots of Amminadab; or among the chariots of the people of the prince
- Song of Songs 6:13 In Hebrew texts this verse (6:13) is numbered 7:1.
- Song of Songs 7:1 In Hebrew texts 7:1-13 is numbered 7:2-14.
- Song of Songs 7:9 Septuagint, Aquila, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew lips of sleepers
- Song of Songs 7:11 Or the henna bushes
- Song of Songs 8:6 Or ardor
- Song of Songs 8:6 Or fire, / like the very flame of the Lord
- Song of Songs 8:7 Or he
- Song of Songs 8:11 That is, about 25 pounds or about 12 kilograms; also in verse 12
- Song of Songs 8:12 That is, about 5 pounds or about 2.3 kilograms
Names of God Bible (NOG)
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