Song of Songs chapter 1
The wife and daughters of Jerusalem
1 The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.
2 Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine.
3 Your name is like perfume poured out; therefore the maidens love you.
4 Draw me after you, let us run! The king has brought me into his chambers; we will rejoice and be glad in you. We will remember your love more than wine; rightly do they love you.
5 I am dark, O daughters of Jerusalem, but lovely, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not stare at me because I am dark, because the sun has tanned me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept.
7 Tell me, O you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you rest at noon; Why should I be like a wanderer beside the flocks of your companions?
8 If you do not know, O fairest among women, go, follow the tracks of the flock, and graze your little goats beside the shepherds’ tents.
The wife and the husband
9 I have compared you, my love, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
10 Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with strings of necklaces.
11 We will make you earrings of gold, studded with silver.
12 While the king was at his table, my spikenard gave forth its fragrance.
13 My beloved is to me a bundle of myrrh, lying between my breasts.
14 A cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of En-gedi is to me my beloved.
15 Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are lovely; your eyes are like doves.
16 Behold, you are handsome, my beloved, and sweet; our bed is made of flowers.
17 The beams of our house are cedar, and the rafters of cypress.
Song of Songs Chapter 2
1 I am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valleys.
2 As a lily among thornbushes, so is my love among the maidens.
3 As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. I sat down under his shade with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
5 Feed me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love.
6 Let his left hand be under my head, and his right hand embrace me.
7 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and by the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.
8 The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Here he is, standing behind our wall, looking through the windows, peering through the lattice.
10 My beloved spoke and said to me, “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
11 For behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone.
12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines with the tender grapes give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
14 My dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.”
15 Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in bloom.
16 My beloved is mine, and I am his; he feeds his flock among the lilies.
17 Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.
Song of Songs Chapter 3
The wife's dream
1 By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but I did not find him.
2 Then I said, “I will arise now, and go about the city; in the streets and in the squares I will seek him whom my soul loves.” I sought him, but I did not find him.
3 The watchmen who go about the city found me, and I said to them, “Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
4 Scarcely had I passed them a little while, when at once I found him whom my soul loves; I held him and did not let him go, till I brought him into my mother’s house, into the room of her who bore me.
5 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and by the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases. The wedding procession
The wedding procession
6 Who is this coming up from the wilderness like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense and all the powders of the spice?
7 Behold, it is Solomon’s litter; sixty mighty men surround it, the mighty men of Israel.
8 All of them have swords, skilled in war; each one has his sword at his side, because of the terrors of the night.
9 King Solomon made himself a chariot of wood from Lebanon.
10 He made its pillars of silver, its back of gold, its seat of scarlet; its interior was embroidered with love by the daughters of Jerusalem.
11 Go forth, O daughters of Zion, and see King Solomon with the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, and on the day of the joy of his heart.
Song of Songs Chapter 4
The husband praises the wife
1 Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful! Your eyes are like a dove in your tresses; your hair is like a flock of goats that lie down on the slopes of Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep coming up from the washing place, all with twins, not one of them barren.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread, and your speech is lovely. Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil.
4 Your neck is like the tower of David, built as an armory; a thousand shields hang on it, all of them shields of warriors.
5 Your two breasts are like twins of a gazelle that graze among the lilies.
6 Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, I will go to the mountain of myrrh, to the hill of frankincense.
7 You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; come with me from Lebanon. Look down from the top of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards.
9 You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captured my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.
10 How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than all spices!
11 Your lips drip like honey, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue; the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 You are a garden locked, my sister, my bride; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
13 Your shoots are an oasis of pomegranates with choice fruits, blossoms of henna and spikenard,
14 spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all kinds of frankincense trees, myrrh and aloes, with all the finest spices.
15 A fountain of gardens, a well of living water, flowing from Lebanon.
16 Awake, north wind, and come, south wind! Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat its choice fruits.
Song of Songs Chapter 5
1 I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh and my spices; I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey, my wine and my milk I have drunk. Eat, friends; drink in abundance, beloved. The torment of separation
The torment of separation
2 I was asleep, but my heart was awake. It is the voice of my beloved calling: “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my perfect one, for my head is covered with dew, my hair with the drops of the night.”
3 I have taken off my robe—how can I put it on again? I have washed my feet—how can I soil them again?
4 My beloved put his hand through the latch, and my heart stirred within me.
5 I rose to open for my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh on the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had turned away and was gone. My soul failed me at his words. I sought him, but I did not find him; I called to him, but he did not answer me.
7 The watchmen who go about the city found me; they beat me, they wounded me; The watchmen of the walls took my cloak from me.
8 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him that I am sick with love. The bride praises the bridegroom
The wife praises the husband
9 What is your beloved more than another beloved, O fairest of women? What is your beloved more than another beloved, that you so arouse us?
10 My beloved is white and ruddy, distinguished among ten thousand.
11 His head is like the finest gold; his hair is wavy, black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves by streams of water, washed with milk, set perfect.
13 His cheeks are like beds of spices, like fragrant blossoms; his lips are like lilies dripping with sweet-smelling myrrh.
14 His hands are like rings of gold set with hyacinths; his body is like clear ivory overlaid with sapphires.
15 His legs are like pillars of marble set on bases of fine gold; his appearance is like Lebanon, chosen like the cedars.
16 His mouth is most sweet, and he is altogether desirable. This is my beloved, this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
Song of Songs Chapter 6
Mutual charm of husband and wife
1 Where has your beloved gone, O fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned away, that we may seek him with you?
2 My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed his flock in the gardens and to gather the lilies.
3 I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine; he feeds his flock among the lilies.
4 You are beautiful, my love, as Tirzah; lovely as Jerusalem; majestic as an army with banners.
5 Turn your eyes away from me, for they have overcome me. Your hair is like a flock of goats that lie down on the slopes of Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing, all of them bearing twins, and not one of them is barren.
7 Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil.
8 There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and maidens without number;
9 but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the only one of her mother, the chosen one of her who bore her. The maidens saw her and called her blessed, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.
10 Who is this that appears like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as an army with banners?
11 I went down to the orchard of walnut trees to see the fruits of the valley, to see if the vines had budded, if the pomegranates were in bloom.
12 Before I knew it, my soul placed me among the chariots of Amminadab.
13 Return, return, O Shulammite; return, return, that we may look upon you. What will you see in the Shulammite? Something like the meeting of two camps.
Song of Songs Chapter 7
1 How lovely are your feet in sandals, O daughter of the prince! The curves of your thighs are like jewels, the work of a skilled craftsman.
2 Your navel is like a round cup that never runs dry. Your belly is like a heap of wheat encircled by lilies.
3 Your two breasts are like twins of a gazelle.
4 Your neck is like a tower of ivory; your eyes are like the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath-rabbim; your nose is like the tower of Lebanon, which looks toward Damascus.
5 Your head is high above you like Carmel; the hair of your head is like royal purple hanging on the corridors.
6 How lovely you are, and how delightful, O lovely one!
7 Your stature is like a palm tree, and your breasts like clusters of grapes.
8 I said, “I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its branches.” Let your breasts be like clusters of grapes, and the fragrance of your breath like apples,
9 and your mouth like fine wine, flowing smoothly for my beloved, and making the lips of the aged speak.
10 I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me.
11 Come, my beloved, let us go out to the fields, let us dwell among the villages.
12 Let us rise early to the vineyards; let us see if the vines have budded, if their blossoms are in bloom, if the pomegranates are in flower; there I will give you my love.
13 The mandrakes give forth their fragrance, and at our doors are all kinds of choice fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for you, my beloved.
Song of Songs Chapter 8
1 Oh, that you were like a brother to me, who nursed at my mother’s breasts! Then, finding you outside, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me.
2 I would lead you and bring you into my mother’s house; you would teach me, and I would make you drink spiced wine from the juice of my pomegranates.
3 His left hand shall be under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me.
4 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases. The power of love
The power of love
5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? Under an apple tree I awakened you; there your mother was in labor, there she who bore you was in labor.
6 Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is as strong as death, jealousy as unyielding as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a most vehement flame.
7 Many waters cannot quench love, nor can floods drown it. If a man offered all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.
8 We have a little sister who has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister when she is spoken of?
9 If she is a wall, we will build on her a palace of silver; if she is a door, we will wall her with boards of cedar.
10 I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers, since I have been in his sight as one who finds peace.
11 Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon, which he gave to guards, each of whom was to bring a thousand pieces of silver for its fruit.
12 My vineyard, which is mine, is before me; a thousand shall be yours, O Solomon, and two hundred for those who keep its fruit.
13 O you who dwell in the gardens, whose companions hear your voice; let me hear it.
14 Make haste, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.