Song of Solomon 1

1The Song of ^aSongs, which is Solomon’s.

The Bride Confesses Her Love

She ▼

▼The translators have added speaker identifications based on the gender and number of the Hebrew words

2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your ^clove is better than wine;
3your ^danointing oils are fragrant;
your ^ename is oil poured out;
therefore virgins love you.
4 ^fDraw me after you; ^glet us run.
^hThe king has brought me into his chambers.

Others

We will ⁱexult and rejoice in you;
we will extol ^jyour love more than wine;
rightly do they love you.

She

5 I am very dark, but ^klovely,
O ^ldaughters of Jerusalem,
like ^mthe tents of ⁿKedar,
like the curtains of Solomon.
6Do not gaze at me because I am dark,
because the sun has looked upon me.
My ^omother’s sons were angry with me;
they made me ^pkeeper of ^qthe vineyards,
but ^rmy own vineyard I have not kept!
7Tell me, you ^swhom my soul loves,
where you ^tpasture your flock,
where you make it ^ulie down at noon;
for why should I be like one who veils herself
beside the flocks of your ^vcompanions?

Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other

He

8 If you do not know,
O ^wmost beautiful among women,
follow in the tracks of the flock,
and pasture your young goats
beside the shepherds’ tents.
9 I compare you, ^xmy love,
to ^ya mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
10 ^zYour cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
your neck with strings of jewels.

Others

11 We will make for you ▼

▼The Hebrew for  you is feminine singular

ornaments of gold,
studded with silver.

She

12 While ^abthe king was on his couch,
my ^acnard gave forth its fragrance.
13My beloved is to me a sachet of ^admyrrh
that lies between my breasts.
14My beloved is to me a cluster of ^aehenna blossoms
in the vineyards of ^afEngedi.

He

15 ^agBehold, ^ahyou are beautiful, ^aimy love;
behold, you are beautiful;
your ^ajeyes are doves.

She

16 Behold, you are beautiful, ^akmy beloved, truly ^aldelightful.
Our couch is green;
17the beams of our house are ^amcedar;
our rafters are ^anpine.

Song of Solomon 2

1I am a rose ▼

▼Probably a bulb, such as a crocus, asphodel, or narcissus

of Sharon,
^apa lily of the valleys.

He

2 As a lily among brambles,
so is ^aqmy love among the young women.

She

3 As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my ^arbeloved among the young men.
With great delight I sat ^asin his shadow,
and his ^atfruit was sweet to my taste.
4He ^aubrought me to the banqueting house, ▼

▼Hebrew  the house of wine

and his ^awbanner over me was love.
5Sustain me with ^axraisins;
refresh me with apples,
^ayfor I am sick with love.
6His ^azleft hand is under my head,
and his right hand ^baembraces me!
7I ^bbadjure you, ▼

▼That is,  I put you on oath; so throughout the Song

O ^bddaughters of Jerusalem,
by ^bethe gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.

The Bride Adores Her Beloved

8 The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he comes,
leaping ^bfover the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9My beloved is like ^bga gazelle
or a young stag.
Behold, there he stands
behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
looking through the lattice.
10My beloved speaks and says to me:
^bh“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away,
11for behold, the winter is past;
^bithe rain is over and gone.
12 ^bjThe flowers appear on the earth,
the time of singing ▼

▼Or pruning

has come,
and the voice of ^blthe turtledove
is heard in our land.
13 ^bmThe fig tree ripens its figs,
and ^bnthe vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
^boArise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away.
14O my ^bpdove, in the ^bqclefts of the rock,
in the crannies of the cliff,
let me see your face,
let me ^brhear your voice,
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is ^bslovely.
15Catch ^btthe foxes ▼

▼Or jackals

for us,
the little foxes
that spoil the vineyards,
^bvfor our vineyards are in blossom.”
16 ^bwMy beloved is mine, and I am his;
he ^bxgrazes ▼

▼Or  he pastures his flock

among the lilies.
17Until ^bzthe day breathes
and ^cathe shadows flee,
turn, my beloved, be like ^cba gazelle
or a young stag on cleft mountains. ▼

▼Or mountains of Bether

Song of Solomon 3

The Bride’s Dream

1 On my bed ^cdby night
I sought ^cehim whom my soul loves;
^cfI sought him, but found him not.
2I will rise now and go about the city,
in ^cgthe streets and in the squares;
I will seek ^chhim whom my soul loves.
I sought him, but found him not.
3 ^ciThe watchmen found me
as they went about in the city.
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
4Scarcely had I passed them
when I found ^cjhim whom my soul loves.
I ^ckheld him, and would not let him go
until I had ^clbrought him into my mother’s house,
and into the chamber of ^cmher who conceived me.
5 ^cnI adjure you, ^coO daughters of Jerusalem,
^cpby the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.

Solomon Arrives for the Wedding

6 ^cqWhat is that coming up from the wilderness
like ^crcolumns of smoke,
perfumed with ^csmyrrh and frankincense,
with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?
7Behold, it is the litter ▼

▼That is,  the couch on which servants carry a king

of Solomon!
Around it are ^cusixty ^cvmighty men,
some of the mighty men of Israel,
8all of them wearing swords
and expert in war,
each with his ^cwsword at his thigh,
against ^cxterror by night.
9King Solomon made himself a carriage ▼

▼Or sedan chair

from the wood of Lebanon.
10He made its posts of silver,
its back of gold, its seat of purple;
its interior was inlaid with love
by ^czthe daughters of Jerusalem.
11Go out, O ^dadaughters of Zion,
and look upon King Solomon,
with the crown with which his mother crowned him
on ^dbthe day of his wedding,
on the day of the gladness of his heart.

Song of Solomon 4

Solomon Admires His Bride’s Beauty

He

1 Behold, ^dcyou are beautiful, my love,
behold, you are beautiful!
^ddYour eyes are doves
^debehind your veil.
^dfYour hair is like a flock of goats
leaping down ^dgthe slopes of Gilead.
2Your ^dhteeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
and not one among them has lost its young.
3Your lips are like ^dia scarlet thread,
and your mouth is ^djlovely.
Your ^dkcheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
^dlbehind your veil.
4Your ^dmneck is like the tower of David,
built in ^dnrows of stone; ▼

▼The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

on it ^dphang a thousand shields,
all of ^dqthem shields of warriors.
5Your ^drtwo breasts are like two ^dsfawns,
twins of a gazelle,
that ^dtgraze among the lilies.
6 ^duUntil the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
I will go away to the mountain of ^dvmyrrh
and the hill of ^dwfrankincense.
7 ^dxYou are altogether beautiful, my love;
there is no ^dyflaw in you.
8 ^dzCome with me from ^eaLebanon, my ^ebbride;
come with me from ^ecLebanon.
Depart ▼

▼Or Look

from the peak of Amana,
from the peak of ^eeSenir and ^efHermon,
from the dens of lions,
from the mountains of leopards.
9 You have captivated my heart, my ^egsister, my bride;
you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,
with one ^ehjewel of your necklace.
10How beautiful is your love, my ^eisister, my bride!
How much ^ejbetter is your love than wine,
and ^ekthe fragrance of your oils than any spice!
11Your ^ellips drip nectar, my bride;
^emhoney and milk are under your tongue;
the fragrance of your garments is ^enlike the fragrance of ^eoLebanon.
12A garden locked is my ^epsister, my bride,
a spring locked, ^eqa fountain ^ersealed.
13Your shoots are ^esan orchard of pomegranates
with all ^etchoicest fruits,
^euhenna with ^evnard,
14nard and saffron, ^ewcalamus and ^excinnamon,
with all trees of ^eyfrankincense,
^ezmyrrh and ^faaloes,
with all ^fbchoice spices—
15a garden fountain, a well of ^fcliving water,
and flowing streams from ^fdLebanon.
16 Awake, O north wind,
and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my ^fegarden,
let its spices flow.

Together in the Garden of Love

She

^ffLet my beloved come to his ^fggarden,
and eat its ^fhchoicest fruits.