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The most beautiful song of Solomon.

The Young Woman Arrives in Solomon’s Palace

[Bride]

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.
    Your expressions of love are better than wine,
        better than the fragrance of cologne.
            (Cologne should be named after you.)
    No wonder the young women love you!
Take me with you. Let’s run away.
    The king has brought me into his private rooms.

[The chorus of young women]

    We will celebrate and rejoice with you.
    We will praise your expressions of love more than wine.
    How right it is that the young women love you!

[Bride]

Young women of Jerusalem, I am dark and lovely
    like Kedar’s tents,
    like Solomon’s curtains.
Stop staring at me because I am so dark.
    The sun has tanned me.
    My brothers were angry with me.
    They made me the caretaker of the vineyards.
    I have not even taken care of my own vineyard.
Please tell me, you whom I love, where do you graze your flock?
    Where does your flock lie down at noon?
    Tell me, or I will be considered a prostitute
    wandering among the flocks of your companions.

[The chorus of young women]

If you do not know, most beautiful of women,
    follow the tracks of the flocks,
        and graze your young goats near the shepherds’ tents.

Solomon Searches for the Young Woman’s Love

[Groom]

My true love, I compare you to a mare among Pharaoh’s stallions.
10 Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
    your neck with strings of pearls.

[The chorus of young women]

11 We will make gold ornaments with silver beads for you.

[Bride]

12 While the king is at his table,
    my perfume fills the air with its fragrance.
13 My beloved is a pouch of myrrh[a]
    that lies at night between my breasts.
14 My beloved is a bouquet of henna flowers
    in the vineyards of En Gedi.

[Groom]

15 Look at you! You are beautiful, my true love!
    Look at you! You are so beautiful!
    Your eyes are like doves!

[Bride]

16 Look at you! You are handsome, my beloved, so pleasing to me!
    The leaf-scattered ground will be our couch.
17 The cedars will be the walls of our house.
    The cypress trees will be our rafters.

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 1:13 Myrrh is a fragrant resin used for perfumes, embalming, and deodorizers.

Solomon’s Song of Songs.(A)

She[a]

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
    for your love(B) is more delightful than wine.(C)
Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;(D)
    your name(E) is like perfume poured out.
    No wonder the young women(F) love you!
Take me away with you—let us hurry!
    Let the king bring me into his chambers.(G)

Friends

We rejoice and delight(H) in you[b];
    we will praise your love(I) more than wine.

She

How right they are to adore you!

Dark am I, yet lovely,(J)
    daughters of Jerusalem,(K)
dark like the tents of Kedar,(L)
    like the tent curtains of Solomon.[c]
Do not stare at me because I am dark,
    because I am darkened by the sun.
My mother’s sons were angry with me
    and made me take care of the vineyards;(M)
    my own vineyard I had to neglect.
Tell me, you whom I love,
    where you graze your flock
    and where you rest your sheep(N) at midday.
Why should I be like a veiled(O) woman
    beside the flocks of your friends?

Friends

If you do not know, most beautiful of women,(P)
    follow the tracks of the sheep
and graze your young goats
    by the tents of the shepherds.

He

I liken you, my darling, to a mare
    among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.(Q)
10 Your cheeks(R) are beautiful with earrings,
    your neck with strings of jewels.(S)
11 We will make you earrings of gold,
    studded with silver.

She

12 While the king was at his table,
    my perfume spread its fragrance.(T)
13 My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh(U)
    resting between my breasts.
14 My beloved(V) is to me a cluster of henna(W) blossoms
    from the vineyards of En Gedi.(X)

He

15 How beautiful(Y) you are, my darling!
    Oh, how beautiful!
    Your eyes are doves.(Z)

She

16 How handsome you are, my beloved!(AA)
    Oh, how charming!
    And our bed is verdant.

He

17 The beams of our house are cedars;(AB)
    our rafters are firs.

Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 1:2 The main male and female speakers (identified primarily on the basis of the gender of the relevant Hebrew forms) are indicated by the captions He and She respectively. The words of others are marked Friends. In some instances the divisions and their captions are debatable.
  2. Song of Songs 1:4 The Hebrew is masculine singular.
  3. Song of Songs 1:5 Or Salma