Song of Solomon 1

¹This [is] Solomon’s Song of Songs.

²Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is more delightful than wine.

³The fragrance of your perfume is pleasing; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens adore you.

⁴Take me away with you — let us hurry! May the king bring me to his chambers. We will rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. It is only right that they adore you.

⁵I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.

⁶Do not stare because I am dark, for the sun has gazed upon me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me a keeper of the vineyards, [but] my own vineyard I have neglected.

⁷Tell me, O one I love, where do you pasture your sheep? Where do you rest them at midday? Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your companions?

⁸If you do not know, O fairest of women, follow the tracks of the flock, and graze your young goats near the tents of the shepherds.

⁹I compare you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.

¹⁰Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.

¹¹We will make you ornaments of gold, [studded] with beads of silver.

¹²While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.

¹³My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.

¹⁴My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of En-gedi.

¹⁵How beautiful [you are], my darling! Oh, how very beautiful! Your eyes are [like] doves.

¹⁶How handsome [you are], my beloved! Oh, how delightful! The soft grass [is] our bed.

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