Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

² Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth;
For thy love is better than wine.
³ Thine oils have a goodly fragrance;
Thy name is as oil poured forth;
Therefore do the ^[a]virgins love thee.
⁴ 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 make mention of thy love more than of wine:
^[b]Rightly do they love thee.
⁵ I am black, but comely,
Oh ye daughters of Jerusalem,
As the tents of Kedar,
As the curtains of Solomon.
⁶ Look not upon me, because I am swarthy,
Because the sun hath ^[c]scorched me.
My mother’s sons were incensed against me;
They made me keeper of the vineyards;
But mine own vineyard have I not kept.
⁷ Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth,
Where thou feedest thy flock,
Where thou makest it to rest at noon:
For why should I be as one that is veiled
Beside the flocks of thy companions?

⁸ 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.

⁹ I have compared thee, O ^[d]my love,
^[e]To a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots.
¹⁰ Thy cheeks are comely with plaits of hair,
Thy neck with strings of jewels.
¹¹ We will make thee plaits of gold
With studs of silver.
¹² While the king sat at his table,
My spikenard sent forth its fragrance.
¹³ My beloved is unto me as a ^[f]bundle of myrrh,
That lieth betwixt my breasts.
¹⁴ My beloved is unto me as a cluster of ^[g]henna-flowers
In the vineyards of En-gedi.

¹⁵ Behold, thou art fair, my love;
Behold thou art fair;
^[h]Thine eyes are as doves.

¹⁶ Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant:
Also our couch is green.
¹⁷ The beams of our ^[i]house are ^[j]cedars,
And our rafters are ^[k]firs.