Beginning
Introduction
1 The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.
The Woman
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is better than wine.
3 Your anointing oils are fragrant,
your name is oil poured out;
therefore the virgins love you.
4 Draw me after you, let us run.
The king has brought me into his chambers.
Friends of the Woman
We will exult and rejoice in you;
we will remember your love more than wine;
rightly do they love you.
The Woman
5 I am dark, but still lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem,
like the tents of Kedar,
like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not gaze at me, because I am dark,
because the sun has looked upon me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
they made me the keeper of the vineyards,
but my own vineyard I have not kept.
7 Tell me, you whom my soul loves,
where you pasture your flock,
where you make it lie down at noon;
for why should I be like one who veils herself by the flocks of your companions?
Friends of the Woman
8 If you do not know, O fairest among women,
follow in the tracks of the flock,
and pasture your young goats
beside the shepherds’ tents.
The Man
9 I compare you, my love, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
10 Lovely are your cheeks with ornaments,
your neck with chains of gold.
Friends of the Woman
11 We will make you ornaments of gold,
with studs of silver.
The Woman
12 While the king was on his couch,
my nard gave forth its fragrance.
13 My beloved is to me a bundle of myrrh
that lies all night between my breasts.
14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
in the vineyards of En Gedi.
The Man
15 How fair you are, my love.
How fair you are! Your eyes are doves.
The Woman
16 How fair you are, my beloved!
Yes, pleasant!
Our bed is verdant;
17 the beams of our house are cedar,
and our rafters of fir.
2 I am the rose of Sharon,
the lily of the valleys.
The Man
2 As a lily among thorns,
so is my love among the maidens.
The Woman
3 As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my beloved among the young men.
In his shadow I sat with great delight,
and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4 He brought me to the banquet house,
and his banner over me was love.
5 Sustain me with raisins,
refresh me with apples;
for I am faint with love.
6 His left hand is under my head,
and his right hand embraces me.
7 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or the does of the field,
do not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.
8 The voice of my beloved!
Look, he comes
leaping over the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Look, he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows,
looking through the lattice.
10 My beloved speaks and says to me:
“Rise up, my love,
my fair one, and come away.
11 For now the winter has past;
the rain is over and gone.
12 The flowers appear on the earth;
the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree puts forth its green figs,
and the vines their blossoms;
and they give forth fragrance.
Rise up, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.
14 O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the secret places of the cliffs,
let me see your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.
15 Catch the foxes for us,
the little foxes
that spoil the vineyards,
for our vineyards are in blossom.”
16 My beloved is mine, and I am his;
he feeds his flock among the lilies.
17 Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved,
be like a gazelle
or a young stag
on the cleft mountains.[a]
3 On my bed by night I sought him
whom my soul loves;
I sought him, but found him not.
2 I will rise now and go about the city,
in the streets and in the squares;
I will seek him whom my soul loves.
I sought him, but found him not.
3 The watchmen found me,
as they went about the city.
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
4 Scarcely had I passed them,
when I found him whom my soul loves.
I held him, and would not let him go
until I brought him to my mother’s house,
and into the chamber of her who conceived me.
5 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or does of the field,
do not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.
6 Who is that coming up from the wilderness,
like columns of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
with all the fragrant powders of the merchant?
7 Look, it is the litter of Solomon!
Around it are sixty mighty men,
of the mighty men of Israel,
8 all of them holding swords
and expert in war,
each with his sword at his thigh,
because of terrors by night.
9 King Solomon made himself a palanquin
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 the daughters of Jerusalem.
11 Go forth, O daughters of Zion,
and see King Solomon with the crown
with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
on the day of the gladness of his heart.
The Man
4 How fair you are, my love!
How very fair!
Your eyes are doves behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats,
streaming down the hills of Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
and not one among them has lost its young.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread,
and your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks are halves of a pomegranate
behind your veil.
4 Your neck is like the tower of David,
built in rows of stone;
on it hang a thousand shields,
all of them shields of mighty men.
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle,
that feed among the lilies.
6 Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
I will go away to the mountain of myrrh
and the hill of frankincense.
7 You are altogether fair, my love;
there is no flaw in you.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;
come with me from Lebanon.
Depart from the peak of Amana,
from the peak of Senir and Hermon,
from the dens of lions,
from the mountains of leopards.
9 You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have ravished my heart
with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
10 How fair is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much better than wine is your love,
and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
11 Your lips drip honey, my bride;
honey and milk are under your tongue;
and the fragrance of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon.
12 A garden locked is my sister, my bride,
a fountain sealed.
13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates
with all choicest fruits,
henna with nard,
14 nard and saffron,
calamus and cinnamon,
with all trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes,
with all the chief spices—
15 a garden fountain,
a well of living water,
and flowing streams from Lebanon.
The Woman
16 Awake, O north wind,
and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden,
that its spices may flow out.
Let my beloved come to his garden,
and eat its choicest fruits.
The Man
5 I come to my garden, my sister, my bride;
I gather my myrrh with my spice;
I eat my honeycomb with my honey;
I drink my wine with my milk.
Friends of the Man
Eat, friends!
Drink, and be drunk with love!
The Woman
2 I slept, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My beloved is knocking. “Open to me, my sister, and my love,
my dove, my perfect one;
for my head is wet with dew,
my locks with the drops of the night.”
3 I had taken off my garment;
how could I put it on again?
I had bathed my feet;
how could I soil them?
4 My beloved put his hand by the latch,
and my heart yearned for him.
5 I rose up to open to my beloved,
and my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with liquid myrrh
on the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened to my beloved,
but my beloved had turned and was gone.
My soul failed me when he spoke.
I sought him, but found him not;
I called him, but he gave no answer.
7 The watchmen found me
as they went about the city;
they struck me, they wounded me;
they took away my mantle,
those watchmen of the walls.
8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
if you find my beloved,
that you tell him I am faint with love.
Friends of the Woman
9 What is your beloved more than another beloved,
O fairest among women?
What is your beloved more than another beloved,
that you so charge us?
The Woman
10 My beloved is white and ruddy,
distinguished among ten thousand.
11 His head is the finest gold;
his locks are wavy,
black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves
beside rivers of water,
bathed in milk,
fitly set.
13 His cheeks are like beds of spices,
mounds of scented herbs.
His lips are lilies,
dripping liquid myrrh.
14 His arms are rods of gold,
set with jewels.
His body is bright ivory,
inlaid with sapphires.
15 His legs are alabaster columns,
set on bases of gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
choice as the cedars.
16 His mouth is most sweet,
and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.
Friends of the Woman
6 Where has your beloved gone,
O fairest among women?
Where has your beloved turned aside,
that we may seek him with you?
The Woman
2 My beloved has gone down to his garden,
to the beds of spices,
to feed his flock in the gardens,
and to gather lilies.
3 I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;
he feeds his flock among the lilies.
The Man
4 You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love,
comely as Jerusalem,
awesome as an army with banners!
5 Turn your eyes away from me,
for they overwhelm me!
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down from Gilead.
6 your teeth are like a flock of ewes
that have come up from the washing;
all of them bear twins; not one among them has lost its young;
7 your cheeks are like halves
of a pomegranate behind your veil.
8 There are sixty queens
and eighty concubines,
and virgins without number.
9 My dove, my perfect one, is the only one,
the only one of her mother,
choice to her who bore her.
The maidens saw her and called her blessed;
the queens and concubines also, and they praised her.
10 Who is this who looks forth like the dawn,
fair as the moon, radiant as the sun,
awesome as an army with banners?
11 I went down to the nut orchard
to look at the blossoms of the valley,
to see whether the vines had budded,
whether the pomegranates were in bloom.
12 Before I was aware, my soul set me in a chariot beside my prince.
Friends of the Woman
13 Return, return, O Shulammite![b]
Return, return, that we may look upon you.
The Man
Why should you look upon the Shulammite,
as upon a dance before two armies?[c]
7 How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
O prince’s daughter!
The curves of your thighs are like jewels,
the work of a master hand.
2 Your navel is a round bowl
that never lacks mixed wine.
Your belly is a heap of wheat,
encircled with lilies.
3 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
4 Your neck is like an ivory tower,
your eyes pools in Heshbon,
by the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon,
overlooking Damascus.
5 Your head crowns like Carmel,
and your flowing hair is like purple;
a king is held captive in the tresses.
6 How fair and pleasant you are,
O loved one, with all your delights!
7 Your stature is like a palm tree,
and your breasts are like its clusters.
8 I say I will climb the palm tree
and take hold of its branches.
Oh, may your breasts be like clusters of the vine,
and the scent of your breath like apples,
9 and your mouth like the best wine.
It goes down smoothly for my beloved,
gliding over lips and teeth.
The Woman
10 I am my beloved’s,
and his desire is for me.
11 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the fields,
and lodge in the villages;
12 let us go out early to the vineyards,
and see whether the vines have budded,
whether the grape blossoms have opened
and the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my love.
13 The mandrakes give forth fragrance,
and at our doors are all choice fruits,
new as well as old,
which I have laid up for you, my beloved.
8 Oh, that you were like a brother to me,
who nursed at my mother’s breasts!
If I found you outside,
I would kiss you,
and no one would despise me.
2 I would lead you and bring you
into the house of my mother,
she who used to instruct me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
the juice of my pomegranates.
3 His left hand is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me!
4 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
do not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.
Friends of the Woman
5 Who is that coming up from the wilderness,
leaning upon her beloved?
The Woman
Under the apple tree I awakened you.
There your mother was in labor with you;
there she who bore you was in labor.
6 Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm;
for love is strong as death,
passion fierce as the grave.
Its fires of desire are as ardent flames,
a most intense flame.
7 Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If a man offered for love
all the wealth of his house,
it would be utterly condemned.
Brothers of the Woman
8 We have a little sister,
and she has no breasts.
What will we do for our sister
on the day when she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build upon her a battlement of silver;
but if she is a door,
we will enclose her with boards of cedar.
The Woman
10 I was a wall,
and my breasts were like towers;
then I was in his eyes
as one who finds peace.
11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon;
he leased the vineyard to keepers;
each man was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver.
12 My vineyard, my very own, is before me;
you, O Solomon, may have the thousand,
and the keepers of the fruit two hundred.
The Man
13 O you who dwell in the gardens,
my companions listen for your voice;
let me hear it!
The Woman
14 Make haste, my beloved,
and be like a gazelle or a young stag
on the mountains of spices!
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.