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¹The Song of Songs [the best of songs], which is Solomon's.

²(The Shulammite Bride) "May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!" [Solomon arrives, she turns to him, saying,] "For your love is better than wine.

³"The aroma of your oils is fragrant and pleasing; Your name is perfume poured out; Therefore the maidens love you.

⁴"Draw me away with you and let us run together! Let the king bring me into his chambers." (The Chorus) "We will rejoice and be glad in you; We will remember and extol your love more [sweet and fragrant] than wine. Rightly do they love you."

⁵(The Shulammite Bride) "I am deeply tanned but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, [I am dark] like the tents of [the Bedouins of] Kedar, Like the [beautiful] curtains of Solomon.

⁶"Do not gaze at me because I am deeply tanned, [I have worked in] the sun; it has left its mark on me. My mother's sons were angry with me; They made me keeper of the vineyards, But my own vineyard (my complexion) I have not kept."

⁷"Tell me, O you whom my soul loves, Where do you pasture your flock, Where do you make it lie down at noon? For why should I be like one who is veiled Beside the flocks of your companions?"

⁸(The Bridegroom) "If you do not know [where your lover is], O you fairest among women, Run along, follow the tracks of the flock, And pasture your young goats By the tents of the shepherds.

⁹"To me, my love, you are like My [favorite] mare among the chariots of Pharaoh.

¹⁰"Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, Your neck with strings of jewels."

¹¹(The Chorus) "We will make for you chains and ornaments of gold, [Studded] with beads of silver."

¹²(The Shulammite Bride) "While the king was at his table, My perfume (Solomon) sent forth [his] fragrance [surrounding me].

¹³"My beloved is to me like a pouch of myrrh Which lies all night between my breasts.

¹⁴"My beloved is to me a cluster of henna flowers In the [fragrant] vineyards of Engedi."

¹⁵(The Bridegroom) "Behold, how beautiful you are, my darling, Behold, how beautiful you are! Your eyes are dove's eyes."

¹⁶(The Shulammite Bride) "Behold, how fair and handsome you are, my beloved; And so delightful! Our arbor is green and luxuriant.

¹⁷"The beams of our houses are cedars, Our rafters and panels are cypresses.

¹"I am the rose [of the plain] of Sharon, The lily of the valleys [that grows in deep places]."

²(The Bridegroom) "Like the lily among the thorns, So are you, my darling, among the maidens."

³(The Shulammite Bride) "Like an apple tree [rare and welcome] among the trees of the forest, So is my beloved among the young men! In his shade I took great delight and sat down, And his fruit was sweet and delicious to my palate.

⁴"He has brought me to his banqueting place, And his banner over me is love [waving overhead to protect and comfort me].

⁵"Sustain me with raisin cakes, Refresh me with apples, Because I am sick with love.

⁶"Let his left hand be under my head And his right hand embrace me."

⁷(The Bridegroom) "I command that you take an oath, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the does of the field [which run free], That you do not rouse nor awaken my love Until she pleases."

⁸(The Shulammite Bride) "Listen! My beloved! Behold, he comes, Climbing on the mountains, Leaping and running on the hills!

⁹"My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he is standing behind our wall, He is looking through the windows, He is gazing through the lattice.

¹⁰"My beloved speaks and says 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 once again; The time for singing has come, And the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

¹³'The fig tree has budded and ripens her figs, And the vines are in blossom and give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, And come away [to climb the rocky steps of the hillside].'"

¹⁴(The Bridegroom) "O my dove, [here] in the clefts in the rock, In the sheltered and secret place of the steep pathway, Let me see your face, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your face is lovely."

¹⁵(The Chorus) "Catch the foxes for us, The little foxes that spoil and ruin the vineyards [of love], While our vineyards are in blossom."

¹⁶(The Shulammite Bride) "My beloved is mine and I am his; He pastures his flock among the lilies.

¹⁷"Until the cool of the day when the shadows flee away, Return quickly, my beloved, and be like a gazelle Or a young stag on the mountains of Bether [which separate us]."

¹(The Shulammite Bride) "On my bed night after night [I dreamed that] I sought the one Whom my soul loves; I sought him but did not find him.

²"I said 'So I must arise now and go out into the city; Into the streets and into the squares [places I do not know] I must seek him whom my soul loves.' I sought him but I did not find him.

³"The watchmen who go around the city found me, And I said, 'Have you seen him whom my soul loves?'

⁴"Scarcely had I passed them When I found him whom my soul loves. I held on to him and would not let him go Until I had brought him to my mother's house, And into the chamber of her who conceived me."

⁵(The Bridegroom) "I command that you take an oath, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the does of the field, That you do not rouse nor awaken my love Until she pleases."

⁶(The Shulammite Bride) "What is this coming up from the wilderness Like [stately] pillars of smoke Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, With all the fragrant powders of the merchant?"

⁷(The Chorus) "Behold, it is the couch ( palanquin) of Solomon; Sixty mighty men around it, Of the mighty men of Israel.

⁸"All of them handle the sword, All expert in war; Each man has his sword at his thigh, Guarding against the terrors of the night.

⁹"King Solomon has made for himself a palanquin From the [cedar] wood of Lebanon.

¹⁰"He made its posts of silver, Its back of gold, Its seat of purple cloth, The interior lovingly and intricately wrought By the daughters of Jerusalem.

¹¹"Go forth, O daughters of Zion, And gaze on King Solomon wearing the crown With which his mother [Bathsheba] has crowned him On the day of his wedding, On the day of his gladness of heart."

¹(The Bridegroom) "How fair and beautiful you are, my darling, How very beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are like those of a dove; Your hair is like [the shimmering black fleece of] a flock of [Arabian] goats That have descended from Mount Gilead [beyond the Jordan].

²"Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn ewes Which have come up from washing, All of which bear twins, And not one among them has lost her young.

³"Your lips are like a ribbon of scarlet, And your mouth is lovely. Your temples are like a slice of the pomegranate Behind your veil.

⁴"Your neck is like the tower of David, Built with rows of [glistening] stones, Whereon hang a thousand shields, All of them shields of warriors.

⁵"Your two breasts are like two fawns, Twins of a gazelle Which feed among the lilies.

⁶"Until the day breaks And the shadows flee away, [In my thoughts] I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh And to the hill of frankincense.

⁷"O my love, you are altogether beautiful and fair. There is no flaw nor blemish in you!

⁸"Come away with me from Lebanon, my [promised] bride, May you come with me from Lebanon. Journey down from the top of Amana, From the summit of Senir and Hermon, From the dens of lions, From the mountains of leopards.

⁹"You have ravished my heart and given me courage, my sister, my [promised] bride; You have ravished my heart and given me courage with a single glance of your eyes, With one jewel of your necklace.

¹⁰"How beautiful is your love, my sister, my [promised] bride! How much better is your love than wine, And the fragrance of your oils Than all kinds of balsam and spices.

¹¹"Your lips, my [promised] bride, drip honey [as the honeycomb]; Honey and milk are under your tongue, And the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

¹²"A garden enclosed is my sister, my [promised] bride— A rock garden locked, a spring sealed up.

¹³"Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, [A paradise] with precious fruits, henna with fragrant plants,

¹⁴Fragrant plants and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, With all trees of frankincense, Myrrh and aloes, along with all the finest spices.

¹⁵"You are a fountain in a garden, A well of fresh and living water, And streams flowing from Lebanon."

¹⁶(The Shulammite Bride) "Awake, O north wind, And come, south wind [blow softly upon my garden]; Make my garden breathe out fragrance, [for the one in whom my soul delights], Let its spices flow forth. Let my beloved come into his garden And eat its choicest fruits."