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 kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for your breasts are better than wine.
3 The fragrance of your perfume is pleasing; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens adore you.
And the smell of your ointments is better than all spices: your name is ointment poured forth; therefore do the young maidens love you.
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.
They have drawn you: we will run after you, for the smell of your ointments: the king has brought me into closet: let us rejoice and be glad in you; we will love your breasts more than wine: righteousness loves you.
5 I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
I am black, but beautiful, you 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.
Look not upon me, because I am dark, because the sun has looked unfavourably upon me: my mother's sons strove with me; they made me keeper in the vineyards; I have not kept my own vineyard.
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?
Tell me, [you] whom my soul loves, where you tend your flock, where you cause [them] to rest at noon, lest I become as one that is veiled by the flocks of your companions.
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 know not yourself, you fair one among women, go you forth by the footsteps of the flocks, and feed your kids by the shepherd's tents.
9 I compare you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
I have likened you, my companion, to my horses in the chariots of Pharao.
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.
How are your cheeks beautiful as [those] of a dove, your neck as chains!
11 We will make you ornaments of gold, studded with beads of silver.
We will make you figures of gold with studs of silver.
12 While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.
So long as the king was at table, my spikenard gave forth its smell.
13 My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.
My kinsman is to me a bundle of myrrh; he shall lie between my breasts.
14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of En-gedi.
My kinsman is to me a cluster of camphor in the vineyards of Engaddi.
15 How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves.
Behold, you are fair, my companion; behold, you are fair; your eyes are doves.
16 How handsome you are, my beloved! Oh, how delightful! The soft grass is our bed.
Behold, you are fair, my kinsman, yes, beautiful, overshadowing our bed.
17 The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are fragrant firs.
The beams of our house are cedars, our ceilings are of cypress.
