The Young Shulammite Bride and Jerusalem’s Daughters
1The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.
2“May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is better than wine.
3Your oils have a pleasing fragrance,
Your name is like purified oil;
Therefore the maidens love you.
4Draw me after you and let us run together!
The king has brought me into his chambers.”
“We will rejoice in you and be glad;
We will extol your love more than wine.
Rightly do they love you.”
5“I am black but lovely,
O daughters of Jerusalem,
Like the tents of Kedar,
Like the curtains of Solomon.
6Do not stare at me because I am swarthy,
For the sun has burned me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
They made me caretaker of the vineyards,
But I have not taken care of my own vineyard.
7Tell 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 veils herself
Beside the flocks of your companions?”
Solomon, the Lover, Speaks
8“If you yourself do not know,
Most beautiful among women,
Go forth on the trail of the flock
And pasture your young goats
By the tents of the shepherds.
9“To me, my darling, you are like
My mare among the chariots of Pharaoh.
10Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
Your neck with strings of beads.”
11“We will make for you ornaments of gold
With beads of silver.”
12“While the king was at his table,
My perfume gave forth its fragrance.
13My beloved is to me a pouch of myrrh
Which lies all night between my breasts.
14My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
In the vineyards of Engedi.”
15“How beautiful you are, my darling,
How beautiful you are!
Your eyes are like doves.”
16“How handsome you are, my beloved,
And so pleasant!
Indeed, our couch is luxuriant!
17The beams of our houses are cedars,
Our rafters, cypresses.