Song of Solomon 1
- 1- Solomon's Song of Songs.
- 2 - Let him kiss me with the kisses of his
mouth-- for your love is more delightful
than wine.
- 3 - Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;
your name is like perfume poured
out. No
wonder the maidens love you!
- 4 - Take me away with you--let us hurry!
Let the king bring me into his chambers.
We rejoice and delight in you [1]; we will praise your love more than wine.
How right they are to adore you!
- 5 - Dark am I, yet lovely, O daughters of
Jerusalem, dark like the tents of
Kedar,
like the tent curtains of Solomon.
[2]
- 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; my own vineyard
I
have neglected.
- 7 - Tell me, you whom I love, where you graze
your flock and where you rest your
sheep
at midday. Why should I be like a
veiled
woman beside the flocks of your friends?
- 8 - If you do not know, most beautiful of
women, follow the tracks of the sheep
and
graze your young goats by the tents
of the
shepherds.
- 9 - I liken you, my darling, to a mare harnessed
to one of the chariots of Pharaoh.
- 10 - Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings,
your neck with strings of jewels.
- 11 - We will make you earrings of gold, studded
with silver.
- 12 - While the king was at his table, my
perfume spread its fragrance.
- 13 - My lover is to me a sachet of myrrh
resting between my breasts.
- 14 - My lover is to me a cluster of henna
blossoms from the vineyards of En
Gedi.
- 15 - How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh,
how beautiful! Your eyes are doves.
- 16 - How handsome you are, my lover! Oh,
how charming! And our bed is verdant.
- 17 - The beams of our house are cedars; our
rafters are firs.
Song of Solomon 2
- 1 - I am a rose [3] of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.
- 2 - Like a lily among thorns is my darling
among the maidens.
- 3 - Like an apple tree among the trees of
the forest is my lover among the
young men.
I delight to sit in his shade, and
his fruit
is sweet to my taste.
- 4 - He has taken me to the banquet hall,
and his banner over me is love.
- 5 - Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me
with apples, for I am faint with
love.
- 6 - His left arm is under my head, and his
right arm embraces me.
- 7 - Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and by the does of
the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love until
it so
desires.
- 8 - Listen! My lover! Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains, bounding
over
the hills.
- 9 - My lover is like a gazelle or a young
stag. Look! There he stands behind
our wall,
gazing through the windows, peering
through
the lattice.
- 10 - My lover spoke and said to me, "Arise,
my darling, my beautiful one, and
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;
the blossoming vines spread their
fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful
one,
come with me."
- 14 - My dove 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.
- 15 - Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes
that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards
that
are in bloom.
- 16 - My lover is mine and I am his; he browses
among the lilies.
- 17 - Until the day breaks and the shadows
flee, turn, my lover, and be like
a gazelle
or like a young stag on the rugged
hills.
[4]
Song of Solomon 3
- 1 - All night long on my bed I looked 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. "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, to the room of
the one
who conceived me.
- 5 - Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and by the does of
the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love until
it so
desires.
- 6 - Who is this coming up from the desert
like a column of smoke, perfumed
with myrrh
and incense made from all the spices
of the
merchant?
- 7 - Look! It is Solomon's carriage, escorted
by sixty warriors, 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.
- 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 lovingly inlaid by [5] the daughters of Jerusalem.
- 11 - Come out, you daughters of Zion, and
look at King Solomon wearing the
crown, the
crown with which his mother crowned
him on
the day of his wedding, the day his
heart
rejoiced.
Song of Solomon 4
- 1 - How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh,
how beautiful! Your eyes behind your
veil
are doves. Your hair is like a flock
of goats
descending from Mount Gilead.
- 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.
- 3 - Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
your mouth is lovely. Your temples
behind
your veil are like the halves of
a pomegranate.
- 4 - Your neck is like the tower of David,
built with elegance [6]; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them
shields of warriors.
- 5 - Your two breasts are like two fawns,
like twin fawns of a gazelle that
browse
among the lilies.
- 6 - Until the day breaks and the shadows
flee, I will go to the mountain of
myrrh
and to the hill of incense.
- 7 - All beautiful you are, my darling; there
is no flaw in you.
- 8 - Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,
come with me from Lebanon. Descend
from the
crest of Amana, from the top of Senir,
the
summit of Hermon, from the lions'
dens and
the mountain haunts of the leopards.
- 9 - You have stolen my heart, my sister,
my bride; you have stolen my heart
with one
glance of your eyes, with one jewel
of your
necklace.
- 10 - How delightful is your love, my sister,
my bride! How much more pleasing
is your
love than wine, and the fragrance
of your
perfume than any spice!
- 11 - Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb,
my bride; milk and honey are under
your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments is
like that
of Lebanon.
- 12 - You are a garden locked up, my sister,
my bride; you are a spring enclosed,
a sealed
fountain.
- 13 - Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates
with choice fruits, with henna and
nard,
- 14 - nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
with every kind of incense tree,
with myrrh
and aloes and all the finest spices.
- 15 - You are [7] a garden fountain, a well of flowing water
streaming down from Lebanon.
- 16 - Awake, north wind, and come, south wind!
Blow on my garden, that its fragrance
may
spread abroad. Let my lover come
into his
garden and taste its choice fruits.
Song of Solomon 5
- 1 - I have come into my garden, my sister,
my bride; I have gathered my myrrh
with my
spice. I have eaten my honeycomb
and my honey;
I have drunk my wine and my milk.
Eat, O
friends, and drink; drink your fill,
O lovers.
- 2 - I slept but my heart was awake. Listen!
My lover is knocking: "Open
to me, my
sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless
one. 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 lover thrust his hand through the
latch-opening; my heart began to
pound for
him.
- 5 - I arose to open for my lover, and my
hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers
with
flowing myrrh, on the handles of
the lock.
- 6 - I opened for my lover, but my lover had
left; he was gone. My heart sank
at his departure.
[8] I looked 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. They beat me,
they bruised
me; they took away my cloak, those
watchmen
of the walls!
- 8 - O daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you--
if you find my lover, what will you
tell
him? Tell him I am faint with love.
- 9 - How is your beloved better than others,
most beautiful of women? How is your
beloved
better than others, that you charge
us so?
- 10 - My lover is radiant and ruddy, outstanding
among ten thousand.
- 11 - His head is purest gold; his hair is
wavy and black as a raven.
- 12 - His eyes are like doves by the water
streams, washed in milk, mounted
like jewels.
- 13 - His cheeks are like beds of spice yielding
perfume. His lips are like lilies
dripping
with myrrh.
- 14 - His arms are rods of gold set with chrysolite.
His body is like polished ivory decorated
with sapphires. [9]
- 15 - His legs are pillars of marble set on
bases of pure gold. His appearance
is like
Lebanon, choice as its cedars.
- 16 - His mouth is sweetness itself; he is
altogether lovely. This is my lover,
this
my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
Song of Solomon 6
- 1 - Where has your lover gone, most beautiful
of women? Which way did your lover
turn,
that we may look for him with you?
- 2 - My lover has gone down to his garden,
to the beds of spices, to browse
in the gardens
and to gather lilies.
- 3 - I am my lover's and my lover is mine;
he browses among the lilies.
- 4 - You are beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah,
lovely as Jerusalem, majestic as
troops with
banners.
- 5 - Turn your eyes from me; they overwhelm
me. Your hair is like a flock of
goats descending
from Gilead.
- 6 - Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
coming up from the washing. Each
has its
twin, not one of them is alone.
- 7 - Your temples behind your veil are like
the halves of a pomegranate.
- 8 - Sixty queens there may be, and eighty
concubines, and virgins beyond number;
- 9 - but my dove, my perfect one, is unique,
the only daughter of her mother,
the favorite
of the one who bore her. The maidens
saw
her and called her blessed; the queens
and
concubines praised her.
- 10 - Who is this that appears like the dawn,
fair as the moon, bright as the sun,
majestic
as the stars in procession?
- 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.
- 12 - Before I realized it, my desire set
me among the royal chariots of my
people.
[10]
- 13 - Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
come back, come back, that we may
gaze on
you! Why would you gaze on the Shulammite
as on the dance of Mahanaim?
Song of Solomon 7
- 1 - How beautiful your sandaled feet, O prince's
daughter! Your graceful legs are
like jewels,
the work of a craftsman'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 are like two fawns, twins
of a gazelle.
- 4 - Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your
eyes are the pools of Heshbon by
the gate
of Bath Rabbim. Your nose is like
the tower
of Lebanon looking toward Damascus.
- 5 - Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel.
Your hair is like royal tapestry;
the king
is held captive by its tresses.
- 6 - How beautiful you are and how pleasing,
O love, with your delights!
- 7 - Your stature is like that of the palm,
and your breasts 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 the clusters
of the
vine, the fragrance of your breath
like apples,
- 9 - and your mouth like the best wine. May
the wine go straight to my lover,
flowing
gently over lips and teeth. [11]
- 10 - I belong to my lover, and his desire
is for me.
- 11 - Come, my lover, let us go to the countryside,
let us spend the night in the villages.
[12]
- 12 - Let us go early to the vineyards to
see if the vines have budded, if
their blossoms
have opened, and if the pomegranates
are
in bloom-- there I will give you
my love.
- 13 - The mandrakes send out their fragrance,
and at our door is every delicacy,
both new
and old, that I have stored up for
you, my
lover.
Song of Solomon 8
- 1 - 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-- 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.
- 4 - Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you:
Do not arouse or awaken love until
it so
desires.
- 5 - Who is this coming up from the desert
leaning on her lover? Under the apple
tree
I roused you; there your mother conceived
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
is as strong
as death, its jealousy [13] unyielding as the grave. [14] It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty
flame. [15]
- 7 - Many waters cannot quench love; rivers
cannot wash it away. If one were
to give
all the wealth of his house for love,
it
[16] would be utterly scorned.
- 8 - We have a young sister, and her breasts
are not yet grown. What shall we
do for our
sister for 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.
- 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 in Baal Hamon;
he let out his vineyard to tenants.
Each
was to bring for its fruit a thousand
shekels
[17] of silver.
- 12 - But my own vineyard is mine to give;
the thousand shekels are for you,
O Solomon,
and two hundred [18] are for those who tend its fruit.
- 13 - You who dwell in the gardens with friends
in attendance, let me hear your voice!
- 14 - Come away, my lover, and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag on the spice-laden
mountains.
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.
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