Song of Solomon 1
1 The Song—best of all songs—Solomon's song! The Woman
2-3 Kiss me—full on the mouth! Yes! For your love is better than wine, headier than your aromatic oils. The syllables of your name murmur like a meadow brook. No wonder everyone loves to say your name!
4 Take me away with you! Let's run off together! An elopement with my King-Lover! We'll celebrate, we'll sing, we'll make great music. Yes! For your love is better than vintage wine. Everyone loves you—of course! And why not?
5-6 I am weathered but still elegant, oh, dear sisters in Jerusalem, Weather-darkened like Kedar desert tents, time-softened like Solomon's Temple hangings. Don't look down on me because I'm dark, darkened by the sun's harsh rays. My brothers ridiculed me and sent me to work in the fields. They made me care for the face of the earth, but I had no time to care for my own face.
7 Tell me where you're working —I love you so much— Tell me where you're tending your flocks, where you let them rest at noontime. Why should I be the one left out, outside the orbit of your tender care?
The Man
8 If you can't find me, loveliest of all women, it's all right. Stay with your flocks. Lead your lambs to good pasture. Stay with your shepherd neighbors.
9-11 You remind me of Pharaoh's well-groomed and satiny mares. Pendant earrings line the elegance of your cheeks; strands of jewels illumine the curve of your throat. I'm making jewelry for you, gold and silver jewelry that will mark and accent your beauty.
The Woman
12-14 When my King-Lover lay down beside me, my fragrance filled the room. His head resting between my breasts— the head of my lover was a sachet of sweet myrrh. My beloved is a bouquet of wildflowers picked just for me from the fields of Engedi.
The Man
15 Oh, my dear friend! You're so beautiful! And your eyes so beautiful—like doves!
The Woman
16-17 And you, my dear lover—you're so handsome! And the bed we share is like a forest glen. We enjoy a canopy of cedars enclosed by cypresses, fragrant and green.
Song of Solomon 1
1 The Song of songs, which is Solomon’s.
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; For thy love is better than wine.
3 Thine oils have a goodly fragrance; Thy name is as oil poured forth; Therefore do the virgins love thee.
4 Draw me; we will run after thee: The king hath brought me into his chambers; We will be glad and rejoice in thee; We will make mention of thy love more than of wine: Rightly do they love thee.
5 I am black, but comely, Oh ye daughters of Jerusalem, As the tents of Kedar, As the curtains of Solomon.
6 Look not upon me, because I am swarthy, Because the sun hath scorched me. My mother’s sons were incensed against me; They made me keeper of the vineyards; But mine own vineyard have I not kept.
7 Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, Where thou feedest thy flock, Where thou makest it to rest at noon: For why should I be as one that is veiled Beside the flocks of thy companions?
8 If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, And feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents.
9 I have compared thee, O my love, To a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots.
10 Thy cheeks are comely with plaits of hair, Thy neck with strings of jewels.
11 We will make thee plaits of gold With studs of silver.
12 While the king sat at his table, My spikenard sent forth its fragrance.
13 My beloved is unto me as a bundle of myrrh, That lieth betwixt my breasts.
14 My beloved is unto me as a cluster of henna-flowers In the vineyards of En-gedi.
15 Behold, thou art fair, my love; Behold thou art fair; Thine eyes are as doves.
16 Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: Also our couch is green.
17 The beams of our house are cedars, And our rafters are firs.