Song of Songs Chapters

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1 | 1The Sublime Song: it has come from Solomon

 

She

2Shower me with kisses of your mouth:

Your love is more delicious than wine.

3Your oil smells sweeter than any perfume,

your name spreads out like balm;

no wonder the maidens long for you.

4Lure me to you; let us fly!

Bring me, O king, into your room,

and be our joy, our excitement.

We will praise your caresses more than wine;

how rightly are you loved.

 

  • 5I am sunburned yet lovely,

O daughters of Jerusalem,

dark as the tents of Qedar,

as the tent curtains of Solomon.

6Stare not at my dark complexion;

it is the sun that has darkened me.

My mother’s sons were angry with me

and made me work in the vineyards;

for I had failed to tend my own.

7Tell me, my soul’s beloved,

where do you graze your flock,

where do you rest your sheep at noon?

Why must I be wandering

beside the flocks of your companions?

 

Chorus

8If you do not know yourself,

most beautiful woman,

follow the tracks of the flock

and pasture your young goats

beside the shepherds’ tents.

 

He

9To a mare in Pharaoh’s chariot

would I liken you, my love.

10Your cheeks look lovely between pendants,

your neck beautiful with strings of beads.

11We will make you earrings of gold

and necklaces of silver.

 

She and he

12While the king rests on his couch,

my perfume gives forth its fragrance.

13My lover is for me a sachet of myrrh

lying between my breasts.

14My lover is for me a cluster of henna

from the vineyards of Engedi.

 

15How beautiful you are, my love,

how beautiful! Your eyes are doves!

16How handsome you are, my love,

how handsome! Our bed is ever green!

17The beams of our house are cedar,

our rafters are fir.

 

 

2 | 1I am the rose of Sharon,

the lily of the valley.

2As a lily among thorns,

so is my love among women.

 

She

3As an apple tree in a forest,

so is my lover among men.

I sought his shade, there I sat;

his fruit is sweet to my taste.

4He has taken me to the wine store;

his banner over me reads: “Love.”

5Oh, strengthen me with raisin cakes,

refresh me with apples,

for love makes me sick!

6His left hand is under my head;

his right arm embraces me.

 

He

7I beg you, daughters of Jerusalem,

by the gazelles and hinds of the field,

not to arouse or stir up love

before her time has come.

 

She

  • 8The voice of my lover! Behold, he comes,

springing across the mountains,

jumping over the hills,

9like a gazelle or a young stag.

Now he stands behind our wall,

looking through the windows,

peering through the lattice.

10My lover speaks to me,

 

He

“Arise, my love, my beautiful one!

11Come, the winter is gone,

the rains are over.

12Flowers have appeared on earth;

the season of singing has come;

the cooing of doves is heard.

13The fig tree forms its early fruit,

the vines in blossom are fragrant.

Arise, my beautiful one,

come with me, my love, come.

 

14O my dove in the rocky cleft,

in the secret places of the cliff,

let me see your face,

let me hear your voice.

Your face—how lovely!

Your voice—how sweet!”

 

15Capture the foxes, the little foxes

that spoil the vineyards,

our vineyards in flower.

 

16My lover is mine, and I am his;

he shepherds his flock among the lilies.

17Before the dusk blows and shadows flee,

return, my lover, be like a gazelle

or a young stag on the rugged hills.

 

She

3 | •  1On my bed at night

I looked for the one I love,

I sought him without finding him;

I called him, and he did not answer.

2I will rise and go about the city,

through the streets and the squares;

I will seek the love of my heart…

 

3I sought him without finding him;

the watchmen came upon me,

those who patrol the city.

“Have you seen the love of my heart?”

4As soon as I left them,

I found the love of my heart.

I held him and would not let him go

till I had brought him to my mother’s house

to the room of her who conceived me.

 

He

5I beg you, daughters of Jerusalem,

by the gazelles and hinds of the field,

not to arouse or stir up love

before her time has come.

 

Chorus

  • 6Who is this coming from the wilderness?

There seems to be a pillar of smoke,

with fumes of myrrh and frankincense.

7Look, it is Solomon’s carriage!

sixty warriors escort him,

the strongest of Israel,

8all girded with swords,

all seasoned in battle;

each is ready with a sword at his side,

each prepared for the terrors of the night.

 

9King Solomon has made for himself

a carriage of wood from Lebanon,

10its columns of silver,

its back of gold,

its seat of purple cloth,

its framework inlaid with ivory.

 

11Come, daughters of Zion,

see King Solomon wearing the diadem

with which his mother crowned him

on the day of his wedding,

on the day his heart rejoiced.

 

He

4 | 1You are beautiful, my love,

oh, how beautiful you are!

Your eyes behind your veil are doves.

Your hair is like a flock of goats,

streaming down the heights of Gilead.

 

2Your teeth are like sheep newly shorn,

coming in droves from the washing,

each one opposing its twin,

not one has been left alone.

3Your lips are like a thread scarlet;

your voice is enchanting;

your cheeks behind your veil

are like halves of a pomegranate.

 

4Your neck is the tower of David,

a display of trophies

a thousand bucklers hang on it,

all of them worn by heroes of the war.

5Your breasts are like twin fawns

of a gazelle feeding among the lilies.

6Before the dawn breaks and shadows flee,

I will hasten to the mountain of myrrh,

to the hill of frankincense.

7You are wholly beautiful, my love,

perfect and unblemished.

 

8Come from Lebanon, my bride,

come with me from Lebanon.

Come down from the summit of Amana,

from the crest of Senir and Hermon,

from the dens of lions,

from the mountain haunts of leopards.

9You have ravished my heart,

my sister, my bride;

you have ravished my heart

with one of your glances,

with one bead of your necklace.

 

10How sweet is your love,

my sister, my bride!

How delicious is your love more than wine,

and the fragrance of your perfume,

than any spice!

11Your lips distill nectar, my bride;

milk and honey are under your tongue.

Your garments have the scent of Lebanon.

 

  • 12You are a garden enclosed,

my sister, my bride;

a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.

 

13Your plants are an orchard

of pomegranates, all with choice fruits,

with henna and nard,

14nard and saffron,

calamus, and cinnamon

with every kind of incense trees,

myrrh and aloes

and all the finest spices.

 

15You are a garden fountain,

a well of living water

streaming down from Lebanon.

 

She

16Arise, north wind! Awake, south wind!

Blow upon my garden

and spread its fragrance abroad.

Let my lover come to his garden

and eat its choicest fruits.

 

He

5 | 1I have come to my garden,

my sister, my bride;

I have gathered my myrrh with spices,

I have eaten my honey and my honeycomb,

I have drunk my milk and my wine.

Friends, eat and drink!

Drink your fill, my dearest ones!

 

She

  • 2I slept, but my heart kept vigil.

I heard the knock of my beloved.

“Open to me, my sister, my love,

my perfect one, my dove!

My head is wet with dew,

my hair with the drops of the night.”

3I have taken off my robe;

must I put it on again?

I have washed my feet;

must I soil them again?

4My lover thrust his hand

through the lock opening

and my heart thrilled for him.

5I rose to open the door.

Myrrh from my hands dripped

on the handle of the lock.

6I opened to my lover,

but he had turned and gone—

my soul went after him!

I sought him but did not find him;

I called him but he did not answer.

 

7The watchmen came upon me

those who patrol the city;

they beat me and wounded me;

they took away my mantle—

oh, those guardians of the walls!

 

8I beg you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

if you ever find my lover—

Oh, what will you tell him?

Tell him that love makes me sick.

 

Chorus

9How is your lover better than others,

most beautiful woman?

How is your lover better than others,

that you do so beg us?

 

She

  • 10Radiant and ruddy, my lover

stands out among thousands.

11Pure gold is his head,

palm fronds are his hair,

glossy black like the raven.

12His eyes are doves

beside running water,

bathed in milk

and set like jewels.

13His fragrant cheeks

are like beds of spice;

his lips like lilies

dripping with myrrh.

 

14His hands are rods of gold

adorned with jewels;

his body is polished ivory

covered with sapphires,

15set upon bases of gold;

his legs are pillars of alabaster.

He has the stature of Lebanon,

excelling like the cedars.

16His mouth is sweetness itself;

he is most worthy of desire.

O daughters of Jerusalem,

such is my friend and lover.

 

Chorus

6 | •  1Where has your lover gone,

most beautiful woman?

Where has your lover turned,

that we may help you look for him?

 

She

2My lover has gone down to his garden,

to the beds of spices,

to pasture his flock in the garden

and to gather lilies.

3My lover is mine, and I am his;

he shepherds his flock among the lilies.

 

He

4My love, you are lovely

as Tirzah, beautiful as Jerusalem,

majestic as bannered troops.

5Turn your eyes away from me

for they bewitch me.

Your hair is like a flock of goats

streaming down the heights of Gilead.

 

6Your teeth are like sheep

coming in droves from the washing,

each one opposing its twin,

not one has been left alone.

7Your cheeks behind your veil

are like halves of a pomegranate.

 

  • 8Sixty queens, eighty concubines,

virgins beyond number—

9but my dove, my perfect one,

is unique, the only daughter

and favorite of her mother.

 

She was called blessed by the virgins

and praised by queens and concubines:

 

10“Who is this coming like the dawn,

fair as the moon, bright as the sun,

majestic as bannered troops?”

11I went to the nut orchard

to look over the valley in bloom,

to see if the vines had flowered,

or if the pomegranates had blossomed.

 

12Before I became aware of it,

my desire had set me on the chariot

with the daughter of the prince.

 

Chorus

7 | 1Return, return, O Shulammite,

return, that we may look at you!

 

He

Why would you look at the Shulammite,

as dancing between two rows?

 

  • 2How beautiful are your feet in sandals,

daughter of the prince!

Your shapely thighs are like jewels,

the work of a master artist.

 

3Your navel is a bowl well-rounded,

never lacking exquisitely blended wine.

Your belly is a mound of wheat

with lilies around it.

4Your breasts are two fawns,

twins of a gazelle.

5Your neck is an ivory tower.

Your eyes are pools in Heshbon

by the gate of Bath-rabbim;

your nose, the tower of Lebanon

looking towards Damascus.

6Your crowned head is Mount Carmel;

your flowing hair is royal purple,

which holds a king captive in its tresses.

 

7How beautiful you are, how lovely,

my beloved, in your delights!

8Like a palm tree, you are stately

and like its clusters are your breasts.

 

9I said, “I will climb the palm tree

and take hold of its fruits.”

May your breasts be clusters of the vine,

your breath sweet-scented as apples,

and your mouth like the best wine.

 

She

  • 10May the wine flow straight to my lover,

flowing over from my lips.

11I am my lover’s

but it is he who depends on me.

 

12Come, my love,

let us go to the countryside,

and pass the night in the villages.

13Let us go early to the vineyards

to see if the vines have flowered,

if the buds have opened,

and the pomegranates have blossomed.

There I will give you my love.

 

14The mandrakes yield their fragrance;

at our doors are the rarest fruits;

both new and old I have stored

for you, my love.

 

She

8 | •  1If only you were my brother,

nursed at my mother’s breasts,

I could kiss you outside if we met,

without anyone despising me for it.

 

2I would lead and bring you

into my mother's house,

and you would teach me there.

I would give you wine with spice

and the juice of my pomegranates.

3His left hand is under my head;

his right arm embraces me.

 

He

4I beg you, daughters of Jerusalem,

by the powers of nature,

not to arouse or stir up love

before her time has come.

 

Chorus

5Who is this coming from the wilderness

leaning upon her lover?

 

He

I woke you under the apple tree,

where your mother conceived you,

where she who bore you was in travail.

 

  • 6Set me as a seal on your heart,

set me as a seal on your arm.

For love is strong as death;

its jealousy lasting as the power of death,

it burns like a blazing fire,

it blazes like a mighty flame.

7No flood can extinguish love

nor river submerge it.

If a man were to buy love

with all the wealth of his house,

contempt is all he would purchase.

 

  • 8We have a little sister

with her breasts yet unformed.

What shall we do for her

when her courtship is begun?

9If she were a rampart,

we would build towers of silver on it.

If she were a gate,

we would enclose it with cedar panels.

 

She

10I am a rampart

and my breasts are towers;

thus I have become, in his eyes,

like one who brings peace.

11At Baal-Hamon Solomon had a vineyard,

which he gave over to caretakers;

for its fruit, each had to pay:

A thousand pieces of silver.

12But my vineyard is mine, and I keep it.

You, Solomon, may have the thousand,

and the fruit keepers two hundred pieces.

 

13You who dwell in the gardens,

with your friends in attendance,

let me hear your utterance.

14Make haste, my love;

be like a gazelle or a young stag

on the spice-laden hills!