Song of Solomon 1
The Song of songs, which is Solomon’s.
2 Bride: May he kiss me with the kiss of his mouth. Groom to Bride: So much better than wine are your breasts,
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.
3 fragranced with the finest perfumes. Bride to Groom: Your name is oil that has been poured out; therefore, the maidens have loved you.
Thine ointments have a goodly fragrance; thy name is [as] ointment poured forth; therefore do the virgins love thee.
4 Draw me forward. Chorus to Bride: We will run after you in the odor of your perfumes. Bride to Chorus: The king has led me into his storerooms. Chorus to Bride: We will exult and rejoice in you, remembering your breasts above wine. Groom to Bride: The righteous love you.
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: rightly do they love thee.
5 Bride to Chorus: O daughters of Jerusalem: I am black, but shapely, like the tabernacles of Kedar, like the tents of Solomon.
I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not be concerned that I am dark, for the sun has changed my color. The sons of my mother have fought against me. They have made me the keeper of the vineyards. My own vineyard I have not kept.
Look not upon me, because I am swarthy, because the sun hath 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 Bride to Groom: Reveal to me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture, where you recline at midday, lest I begin to wander after the flocks of your companions.
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 Groom to Bride: If you yourself do not know, O most beautiful among women, then go out and follow after the steps of the flocks, and pasture your young goats beside the tabernacles of the shepherds.
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 O my love, I have compared you to my company of horsemen against the chariots of Pharaoh.
I have compared thee, O my love, to a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots.
10 Your cheeks are beautiful, like those of a turtledove. Your neck is like a bejeweled collar.
Thy cheeks are comely with plaits [of hair], thy neck with strings of jewels
11 Chorus to Bride: We will fashion for you chains of gold, accented with reddened silver.
We will make thee plaits of gold with studs of silver.
12 Bride to Chorus: While the king was taking his rest, my aromatic ointment sent forth its odor.
While the king sat at his table, my spikenard sent forth its fragrance.
13 My beloved is a bundle of myrrh to me. He shall abide between my breasts.
My beloved is unto me [as] a bundle of myrrh, that lieth betwixt my breasts.
14 My beloved is a cluster of Cyprus grapes to me, in the vineyards of Engaddi.
My beloved is unto me [as] a cluster of henna-flowers in the vineyards of En-gedi.
15 Groom to Bride: Behold, you are beautiful, O my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are those of a dove.
Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thine eyes are [as] doves.
16 Bride to Groom: Behold, you are handsome, O my beloved, and graceful. Our bed is flourishing.
Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our couch is green.
17 Groom to Bride: The timbers of our houses are of cedar; our ceilings are of cypress.
The beams of our house are cedars, [and] our rafters are firs.
