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 thy 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 thine ointments is better than all spices: thy name is ointment poured forth; therefore do the young maidens love thee.
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 thee: we will run after thee, for the smell of thine ointments: the king has brought me into closet: let us rejoice and be glad in thee; we will love thy breasts more than wine: righteousness loves thee.
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, ye 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, [thou] whom my soul loves, where thou tendest thy flock, where thou causest [them] to rest at noon, lest I become as one that is veiled by the flocks of thy 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 thou know not thyself, thou fair one among women, go thou forth by the footsteps of the flocks, and feed thy kids by the shepherd's tents.
9 I compare you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
I have likened thee, 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 thy cheeks beautiful as [those] of a dove, thy neck as chains!
11 We will make you ornaments of gold, studded with beads of silver.
We will make thee 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, thou art fair, my companion; behold, thou art fair; thine eyes are doves.
16 How handsome you are, my beloved! Oh, how delightful! The soft grass is our bed.
Behold, thou art fair, my kinsman, yea, 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.
