Solomon Arrives for the Wedding

(A)What is that coming up from the wilderness
    like (B)columns of smoke,
perfumed with (C)myrrh and frankincense,
    with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?
Behold, it is the litter[a] of Solomon!
Around it are (D)sixty (E)mighty men,
    some of the mighty men of Israel,
all of them wearing swords
    and expert in war,
each with his (F)sword at his thigh,
    against (G)terror by night.
King Solomon made himself a carriage[b]
    from the wood of Lebanon.
10 He made its posts of silver,
    its back of gold, its seat of purple;
its interior was inlaid with love
    by (H)the daughters of Jerusalem.
11 Go out, O (I)daughters of Zion,
    and look upon King Solomon,
with the crown with which his mother crowned him
    on (J)the day of his wedding,
    on the day of the gladness of his heart.

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Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 3:7 That is, the couch on which servants carry a king
  2. Song of Solomon 3:9 Or sedan chair

Visions of grandeur

Who is this, coming up from the wilderness,
        like pillars of smoke?
She is perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
        selected from all the spice merchant’s powders.

Picture Solomon’s bed—
        sixty heroic men round about it,
        all from the heroes of Israel,
    all of them skilled with the sword,
        expert in warfare,
        each with his sword ready at his thigh
        against terrors that come by night.
King Solomon made a canopied couch for himself
        from the trees of Lebanon.
10 Its pillars he made of silver,
        its covering, cloth of gold,
        its cushions, royal purple;
        its interior inlaid with love.
Daughters of Jerusalem, 11 go forth!
Look, daughters of Zion—
        on King Solomon wearing the crown
        with which his mother crowned him
        on the day of his wedding,
        on the day of his heart’s joy.

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