Song of Solomon 1
This is Solomon’s Song of Songs.
2 Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth: for thy breasts are better than wine,
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is more delightful than wine.
3 Smelling sweet of the best ointments. Thy name is as oil poured out: therefore young maidens have loved thee.
The fragrance of your perfume is pleasing; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens adore you.
4 Draw me: we will run after thee to the odour of thy ointments. The king hath brought me into his storerooms: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, remembering thy breasts more than wine: the righteous love thee.
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.
5 I am black but beautiful, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Cedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not consider me that I am brown, because the sun hath altered my colour: the sons of my mother have fought against me, they have made me the keeper in the vineyards: my vineyard I have not kept.
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.
7 Shew me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou liest in the midday, lest I begin to wander after the flocks of thy companions.
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?
8 If thou know not thyself, O fairest among women, go forth, and follow after the steps of the flocks, and feed thy kids beside the tents of the shepherds.
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.
9 To my company of horsemen, in Pharao’s chariots, have I likened thee, O my love.
I compare you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
10 Thy cheeks are beautiful as the turtledove’s, thy neck as jewels.
Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.
11 We will make thee chains of gold, inlaid with silver.
We will make you ornaments of gold, studded with beads of silver.
12 While the king was at his repose, my spikenard sent forth the odour thereof.
While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.
13 A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, he shall abide between my breasts.
My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.
14 A cluster of cypress my love is to me, in the vineyards of Engaddi.
My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of En-gedi.
15 Behold thou art fair, O my love, behold thou art fair, thy eyes are as those of doves.
How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves.
16 Behold thou art fair, my beloved, and comely. Our bed is flourishing.
How handsome you are, my beloved! Oh, how delightful! The soft grass is our bed.
17 The beams of our houses are of cedar, our rafters of cypress trees.
The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are fragrant firs.
