¹ Solomon’s Song of Songs.

She

² Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
for your love is more delightful than wine.
³ Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;
your name is like perfume poured out.
No wonder the young women love you!
⁴ Take me away with you—let us hurry!
Let the king bring me into his chambers.
Friends
We rejoice and delight in you;
we will praise your love more than wine.

She

How right they are to adore you!

⁵ Dark am I, yet lovely,
daughters of Jerusalem,
dark like the tents of Kedar,
like the tent curtains of Solomon.
⁶ 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;
my own vineyard I had to neglect.
⁷ Tell me, you whom I love,
where you graze your flock
and where you rest your sheep at midday.
Why should I be like a veiled woman
beside the flocks of your friends?

Friends

⁸ If you do not know, most beautiful of women,
follow the tracks of the sheep
and graze your young goats
by the tents of the shepherds.

He

⁹ I liken you, my darling, to a mare
among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.
¹⁰ Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings,
your neck with strings of jewels.
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.
¹³ My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh
resting between my breasts.
¹⁴ My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
from the vineyards of En Gedi.

He

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

She

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

He

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