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The song of songs[a] of Solomon

A Bride Sings of Her Lover

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is better than wine.
Your ointments have a pleasing fragrance.
Your name is poured out like perfume.
No wonder maidens love you!
Draw me after you, let us run!
The king has brought me into his chambers.

Chorus: Daughters of Zion

Let us rejoice and be glad in you;
    let us extol your love more than wine.
Rightly do they love you!

The Bride

I am black, but beautiful,
    O daughters of Jerusalem,
like the tents of Kedar,
    like the curtains of Solomon.
Do not gaze at me because I am dark,
    because the sun has looked on me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me
    and made me keeper of the vineyards;
    my very own vineyard I have not kept.
Tell me, the one my soul loves,
    where you graze your flock,
    where you make it lie down at noon?
Why should I be as one veiled
    beside the flocks of your companions?

The Lover and Bride Express Affection

If you yourself do not know,
    O most beautiful among women,
go out yourself in the footsteps of the flock
    and graze your kids by the shepherds’ tents.
I compare you, my darling,
    to my mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
10 Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
    your neck with strings of beads.
11 Ornaments of gold we will make for you
    with spangles of silver.

12 While the king is on his couch,
    my nard spreads its fragrance.[b]
13 My lover is my pouch of myrrh,
    passing the night between my breasts.
14 My love is to me a spray of henna blooms
    in the vineyards of En-gedi.

15 How lovely you are, my darling, how lovely!
    Your eyes are doves.

16 How handsome you are, my lover!
    Oh, so delightful!
    Yes, our couch is luxuriant.
17 The beams of our houses are cedar trees,
    our panels are cypress trees.

Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 1:1 Or, the best song.
  2. Song of Songs 1:12 cf. Mark 14:3; John 12:3.

This is Solomon’s song of songs, more wonderful than any other.

Young Woman[a]

Kiss me and kiss me again,
    for your love is sweeter than wine.
How pleasing is your fragrance;
    your name is like the spreading fragrance of scented oils.
    No wonder all the young women love you!
Take me with you; come, let’s run!
    The king has brought me into his bedroom.

Young Women of Jerusalem

How happy we are for you, O king.
    We praise your love even more than wine.

Young Woman

How right they are to adore you.

I am dark but beautiful,
    O women of Jerusalem—
dark as the tents of Kedar,
    dark as the curtains of Solomon’s tents.
Don’t stare at me because I am dark—
    the sun has darkened my skin.
My brothers were angry with me;
    they forced me to care for their vineyards,
    so I couldn’t care for myself—my own vineyard.

Tell me, my love, where are you leading your flock today?
    Where will you rest your sheep at noon?
For why should I wander like a prostitute[b]
    among your friends and their flocks?

Young Man

If you don’t know, O most beautiful woman,
    follow the trail of my flock,
    and graze your young goats by the shepherds’ tents.
You are as exciting, my darling,
    as a mare among Pharaoh’s stallions.
10 How lovely are your cheeks;
    your earrings set them afire!
How lovely is your neck,
    enhanced by a string of jewels.
11 We will make for you earrings of gold
    and beads of silver.

Young Woman

12 The king is lying on his couch,
    enchanted by the fragrance of my perfume.
13 My lover is like a sachet of myrrh
    lying between my breasts.
14 He is like a bouquet of sweet henna blossoms
    from the vineyards of En-gedi.

Young Man

15 How beautiful you are, my darling,
    how beautiful!
    Your eyes are like doves.

Young Woman

16 You are so handsome, my love,
    pleasing beyond words!
The soft grass is our bed;
17     fragrant cedar branches are the beams of our house,
    and pleasant smelling firs are the rafters.

Footnotes

  1. 1:1 The headings identifying the speakers are not in the original text, though the Hebrew usually gives clues by means of the gender of the person speaking.
  2. 1:7 Hebrew like a veiled woman.