< Song of Songs 1 >

1 The Song of songs, which is Solomon's.
The Song of Songs, that [is] Solomon's.
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for your breasts are better than wine.
Let him kiss me with kisses of his mouth, For better [are] thy loves than wine.
3 And the smell of your ointments is better than all spices: your name is ointment poured forth; therefore do the young maidens love you.
For fragrance [are] thy perfumes good. Perfume emptied out — thy name, Therefore have virgins loved thee!
4 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.
Draw me: after thee we run, The king hath brought me into his inner chambers, We do joy and rejoice in thee, We mention thy loves more than wine, Uprightly they have loved thee!
5 I am black, but beautiful, you daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
Dark [am] I, and comely, daughters of Jerusalem, As tents of Kedar, as curtains of Solomon.
6 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.
Fear me not, because I [am] very dark, Because the sun hath scorched me, The sons of my mother were angry with me, They made me keeper of the vineyards, My vineyard — my own — I have not kept.
7 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.
Declare to me, thou whom my soul hath loved, Where thou delightest, Where thou liest down at noon, For why am I as one veiled, By the ranks of thy companions?
8 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.
If thou knowest not, O fair among women, Get thee forth by the traces of the flock, And feed thy kids by the shepherds' dwellings!
9 I have likened you, my companion, to my horses in the chariots of Pharao.
To my joyous one in chariots of Pharaoh, I have compared thee, my friend,
10 How are your cheeks beautiful as [those] of a dove, your neck as chains!
Comely have been thy cheeks with garlands, Thy neck with chains.
11 We will make you figures of gold with studs of silver.
Garlands of gold we do make for thee, With studs of silver!
12 So long as the king was at table, my spikenard gave forth its smell.
While the king [is] in his circle, My spikenard hath given its fragrance.
13 My kinsman is to me a bundle of myrrh; he shall lie between my breasts.
A bundle of myrrh [is] my beloved to me, Between my breasts it lodgeth.
14 My kinsman is to me a cluster of camphor in the vineyards of Engaddi.
A cluster of cypress [is] my beloved to me, In the vineyards of En-Gedi!
15 Behold, you are fair, my companion; behold, you are fair; your eyes are doves.
Lo, thou [art] fair, my friend, Lo, thou [art] fair, thine eyes [are] doves!
16 Behold, you are fair, my kinsman, yes, beautiful, overshadowing our bed.
Lo, thou [art] fair, my love, yea, pleasant, Yea, our couch [is] green,
17 The beams of our house are cedars, our ceilings are of cypress.
The beams of our houses [are] cedars, Our rafters [are] firs, I [am] a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys!

< Song of Songs 1 >