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This song of songs, more wonderful than any other, was composed by King Solomon:

The Girl:[a] “Kiss me again and again, for your love is sweeter than wine. How fragrant your cologne, and how great your name! No wonder all the young girls love you! Take me with you; come, let’s run!”

The Girl: “The king has brought me into his palace. How happy we will be! Your love is better than wine. No wonder all the young girls love you!”

The Girl: “I am dark but beautiful, O girls of Jerusalem, tanned as the dark tents of Kedar.”

King Solomon: “But lovely as the silken tents of Solomon!”

The Girl: “Don’t look down on me, you city girls,[b] just because my complexion is so dark—the sun has tanned me. My brothers were angry with me and sent me out into the sun to tend the vineyards, but see what it has done to me!”

The Girl: “Tell me, O one I love, where are you leading your flock today? Where will you be at noon? For I will come and join you there instead of wandering like a vagabond among the flocks of your companions.”

King Solomon: “If you don’t know, O most beautiful woman in all the world, follow the trail of my flock to the shepherds’ tents, and there feed your sheep and their lambs. What a lovely filly you are,[c] my love! 10 How lovely your cheeks are, with your hair[d] falling down upon them! How stately your neck with that long string of jewels. 11 We shall make you gold earrings and silver beads.”

The Girl: 12 “The king lies on his bed, enchanted by the fragrance of my perfume. 13 My beloved one is a sachet of myrrh lying between my breasts.”

King Solomon: 14 “My beloved is a bouquet of flowers in the gardens of Engedi. 15 How beautiful you are, my love, how beautiful! Your eyes are soft as doves’. 16 What a lovely, pleasant thing you are, lying here upon the grass, 17 shaded by the cedar trees and firs.”

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 1:1 The Girl. The headings identifying the speakers are conjectures and are not in the original text.
  2. Song of Solomon 1:6 you city girls, implied in v. 5. sent me out into the sun, implied. but see what it has done to me, literally, “but my own vineyards are neglected.”
  3. Song of Solomon 1:9 What a lovely filly you are, literally, “I compare you to my mare harnessed to Pharaoh’s chariot.”
  4. Song of Solomon 1:10 with your hair, literally, “with your ornaments.”

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