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The Young Woman Dreams about Searching for Her Beloved

[Bride]

Night after night on my bed
    I looked for the one I love.
    I looked for him but did not find him.
I will get up now and roam around the city,
    in the streets, and in the squares.
    I will look for the one I love.
    I looked for him but did not find him.
The watchmen making their rounds in the city found me.
    I asked, “Have you seen the one I love?”
I had just left them when I found the one I love.
    I held on to him and would not let him go
        until I had brought him into my mother’s house,
            into the bedroom of the one who conceived me.

Young women of Jerusalem, swear to me
    by the gazelles
        or by the does in the field,
            that you will not awaken love
                or arouse love before its proper time.

A Description of the Royal Procession

[The chorus of young women]

Who is this young woman coming up from the wilderness
    like clouds of smoke?
        She is perfumed with myrrh and incense
            made from the merchants’ scented powders.
Look! Solomon’s sedan chair![a]
    Sixty soldiers from the army of Israel surround it.
All of them are skilled in using swords,
    experienced in combat.
    Each one has his sword at his side
        and guards against the terrors of the night.
King Solomon had a carriage made for himself[b]
    from the wood of Lebanon.
10 He had its posts made out of silver,
    its top out of gold,
    its seat out of purple fabric.
    Its inside—with inlaid scenes of love—
        was made by the young women of Jerusalem.
11 Young women of Zion, come out and look at King Solomon!
    Look at his crown,
        the crown his mother placed on him on his wedding day,
            his day of joyful delight.

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 3:7 A sedan chair is a portable chair for carrying a person of high position.
  2. Song of Solomon 3:9 English equivalent of this phrase difficult.

All night long on my bed
    I looked(A) for the one my heart loves;
    I looked for him but did not find him.
I will get up now and go about the city,
    through its streets and squares;
I will search for the one my heart loves.
    So I looked for him but did not find him.
The watchmen found me
    as they made their rounds in the city.(B)
    “Have you seen the one my heart loves?”
Scarcely had I passed them
    when I found the one my heart loves.
I held him and would not let him go
    till I had brought him to my mother’s house,(C)
    to the room of the one who conceived me.(D)
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you(E)
    by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
    until it so desires.(F)

Who is this coming up from the wilderness(G)
    like a column of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh(H) and incense
    made from all the spices(I) of the merchant?
Look! It is Solomon’s carriage,
    escorted by sixty warriors,(J)
    the noblest of Israel,
all of them wearing the sword,
    all experienced in battle,
each with his sword at his side,
    prepared for the terrors of the night.(K)
King Solomon made for himself the carriage;
    he made it of wood from Lebanon.
10 Its posts he made of silver,
    its base of gold.
Its seat was upholstered with purple,
    its interior inlaid with love.
Daughters of Jerusalem, 11 come out,
    and look, you daughters of Zion.(L)
Look[a] on King Solomon wearing a crown,
    the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
    the day his heart rejoiced.(M)

Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 3:11 Or interior lovingly inlaid / by the daughters of Jerusalem. / 11 Come out, you daughters of Zion, / and look