Canticum Canticorum 1
2 osculetur me osculo oris sui quia meliora sunt ubera tua vino
Bride: May he kiss me with the kiss of his mouth. Groom to Bride: So much better than wine are your breasts,
3 fraglantia unguentis optimis oleum effusum nomen tuum ideo adulescentulae dilexerunt te
fragranced with the finest perfumes. Bride to Groom: Your name is oil that has been poured out; therefore, the maidens have loved you.
4 trahe me post te curremus introduxit me rex in cellaria sua exultabimus et laetabimur in te memores uberum tuorum super vinum recti diligunt te
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.
5 nigra sum sed formonsa filiae Hierusalem sicut tabernacula Cedar sicut pelles Salomonis
Bride to Chorus: O daughters of Jerusalem: I am black, but shapely, like the tabernacles of Kedar, like the tents of Solomon.
6 nolite me considerare quod fusca sim quia decoloravit me sol filii matris meae pugnaverunt contra me posuerunt me custodem in vineis vineam meam non custodivi
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.
7 indica mihi quem diligit anima mea ubi pascas ubi cubes in meridie ne vagari incipiam per greges sodalium tuorum
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.
8 si ignoras te o pulchra inter mulieres egredere et abi post vestigia gregum et pasce hedos tuos iuxta tabernacula pastorum
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.
9 equitatui meo in curribus Pharaonis adsimilavi te amica mea
O my love, I have compared you to my company of horsemen against the chariots of Pharaoh.
10 pulchrae sunt genae tuae sicut turturis collum tuum sicut monilia
Your cheeks are beautiful, like those of a turtledove. Your neck is like a bejeweled collar.
11 murenulas aureas faciemus tibi vermiculatas argento
Chorus to Bride: We will fashion for you chains of gold, accented with reddened silver.
12 dum esset rex in accubitu suo nardus mea dedit odorem suum
Bride to Chorus: While the king was taking his rest, my aromatic ointment sent forth its odor.
13 fasciculus murrae dilectus meus mihi inter ubera mea commorabitur
My beloved is a bundle of myrrh to me. He shall abide between my breasts.
14 botrus cypri dilectus meus mihi in vineis Engaddi
My beloved is a cluster of Cyprus grapes to me, in the vineyards of Engaddi.
15 ecce tu pulchra es amica mea ecce tu pulchra oculi tui columbarum
Groom to Bride: Behold, you are beautiful, O my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are those of a dove.
16 ecce tu pulcher es dilecte mi et decorus lectulus noster floridus
Bride to Groom: Behold, you are handsome, O my beloved, and graceful. Our bed is flourishing.
17 tigna domorum nostrarum cedrina laquearia nostra cypressina
Groom to Bride: The timbers of our houses are of cedar; our ceilings are of cypress.
