Song of Solomon 1
1 This is Solomon’s Song of Songs.
The song of Songs, which is Solomon's.
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is more delightful than wine.
Let him give me the kisses of his mouth: for his love is better than wine.
3 The fragrance of your perfume is pleasing; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens adore you.
Sweet is the smell of your perfumes; your name is as perfume running out; so the young girls give you their love.
4 Take me away with you—let us hurry! May the king bring me to his chambers. We will rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. It is only right that they adore you.
Take me to you, and we will go after you: the king has taken me into his house. We will be glad and full of joy in you, we will give more thought to your love than to wine: rightly are they your lovers.
5 I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
I am dark, but fair of form, O daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not stare because I am dark, for the sun has gazed upon me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me a keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have neglected.
Let not your eyes be turned on me, because I am dark, because I was looked on by the sun; my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vine-gardens; but my vine-garden I have not kept.
7 Tell me, O one I love, where do you pasture your sheep? Where do you rest them at midday? Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your companions?
Say, O love of my soul, where you give food to your flock, and where you make them take their rest in the heat of the day; why have I to be as one wandering by the flocks of your friends?
8 If you do not know, O fairest of women, follow the tracks of the flock, and graze your young goats near the tents of the shepherds.
If you have not knowledge, O most beautiful among women, go on your way in the footsteps of the flock, and give your young goats food by the tents of the keepers.
9 I compare you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
I have made a comparison of you, O my love, to a horse in Pharaoh's carriages.
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.
Your face is a delight with rings of hair, your neck with chains of jewels.
11 We will make you ornaments of gold, studded with beads of silver.
We will make you chains of gold with ornaments of silver.
12 While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.
While the king is seated at his table, my spices send out their perfume.
13 My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.
As a bag of myrrh is my well-loved one to me, when he is at rest all night between my breasts.
14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of En-gedi.
My love is to me as a branch of the cypress-tree in the vine-gardens of En-gedi.
15 How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves.
See, you are fair, my love, you are fair; you have the eyes of a dove.
16 How handsome you are, my beloved! Oh, how delightful! The soft grass is our bed.
See, you are fair, my loved one, and a pleasure; our bed is green.
17 The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are fragrant firs.
Cedar-trees are the pillars of our house; and our boards are made of fir-trees.
