Song of Solomon

Songofsongs 1
1
The Song of Songs, which is Solomon"s.
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine, 3your anointing oils are fragrant, your name is perfume poured out; therefore the maidens love you. 4Draw me after you, let us make haste. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will exult and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you. 5I am black and beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. 6Do not gaze at me because I am dark, because the sun has gazed on 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, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon; for why should I be like one who is veiled beside the flocks of your companions? 8If you do not know, O fairest among women, follow the tracks of the flock, and pasture your kids beside the shepherds" tents. 9I compare you, my love, to a mare among Pharaoh"s chariots. 10Your cheeks are comely with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels. 11We will make you ornaments of gold, studded with silver.
12 While the king was on his couch, my nard gave forth its fragrance. 13My beloved is to me a bag of myrrh that lies between my breasts. 14My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of En-gedi. 15Ah, you are beautiful, my love; ah, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves. 16Ah, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly lovely. Our couch is green; 17the beams of our house are cedar, our rafters are pine.

Songofsongs 2
2
I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. 2As a lily among brambles, so is my love among maidens.
3 As an apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. 4He brought me to the banqueting house, and his intention toward me was love. 5Sustain me with raisins, refresh me with apples; for I am faint with love. 6O that his left hand were under my head, and that his right hand embraced me! 7I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the wild does: do not stir up or awaken love until it is ready!
8 The voice of my beloved! Look, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. 9My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, there he stands behind our wall, gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice. 10My beloved speaks and says to me: "Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; 11for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. 12The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. 13The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
14 O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely. 15Catch us the foxes, the little foxes, that ruin the vineyards-- for our vineyards are in blossom." 16My beloved is mine and I am his; he pastures his flock among the lilies. 17Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag on the cleft mountains.

Songofsongs 3
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Upon my bed at night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer. 2"I will rise 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 found him not. 3The sentinels found me, as they went about in the city. "Have you seen him whom my soul loves?" 4Scarcely had I passed them, when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go until I brought him into my mother"s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. 5I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the wild does: do not stir up or awaken love until it is ready!
6 What is that coming up from the wilderness, like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the fragrant powders of the merchant?
7 Look, it is the litter of Solomon! Around it are sixty mighty men of the mighty men of Israel, 8all equipped with swords and expert in war, each with his sword at his thigh because of alarms by night. 9King Solomon made himself a palanquin from the wood of Lebanon. 10He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple; its interior was inlaid with love. Daughters of Jerusalem, 11come out. Look, O daughters of Zion, at King Solomon, at the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of the gladness of his heart.

Songofsongs 4
4
How beautiful you are, my love, how very beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats, moving down the slopes of Gilead. 2Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes that have come up from the washing, all of which bear twins, and not one among them is bereaved. 3Your lips are like a crimson thread, and your mouth is lovely. Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil. 4Your neck is like the tower of David, built in courses; on it hang a thousand bucklers, all of them shields of warriors. 5Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, that feed among the lilies. 6Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I will hasten to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense. 7You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; come with me from Lebanon. Depart from the peak of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards. 9You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride, you have ravished my heart with a glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. 10How sweet is your love, my sister, my bride! how much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice! 11Your lips distill nectar, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue; the scent of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon. 12A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a garden locked, a fountain sealed. 13Your channel is an orchard of pomegranates with all choicest fruits, henna with nard, 14nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all chief spices--
15 a garden fountain, a well of living water, and flowing streams from Lebanon. 16Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden that its fragrance may be wafted abroad. Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat its choicest fruits.

Songofsongs 5
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I come to my garden, my sister, my bride; I gather my myrrh with my spice, I eat my honeycomb with my honey, I drink my wine with my milk. Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk with love.
2 I slept, but my heart was awake. Listen! my beloved is knocking. "Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one; for my head is wet with dew, my locks with the drops of the night." 3I had put off my garment; how could I put it on again? I had bathed my feet; how could I soil them? 4My beloved thrust his hand into the opening, and my inmost being yearned for him. 5I arose to open to my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh, upon the handles of the bolt. 6I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and was gone. My soul failed me when he spoke. I sought him, but did not find him; I called him, but he gave no answer. 7Making their rounds in the city the sentinels found me; they beat me, they wounded me, they took away my mantle, those sentinels of the walls. 8I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, tell him this: I am faint with love.
9 What is your beloved more than another beloved, O fairest among women? What is your beloved more than another beloved, that you thus adjure us? 10My beloved is all radiant and ruddy, distinguished among ten thousand. 11His head is the finest gold; his locks are wavy, black as a raven. 12His eyes are like doves beside springs of water, bathed in milk, fitly set. 13His cheeks are like beds of spices, yielding fragrance. His lips are lilies, distilling liquid myrrh. 14His arms are rounded gold, set with jewels. His body is ivory work, encrusted with sapphires. 15His legs are alabaster columns, set upon bases of gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as the cedars. 16His speech is most sweet, and he is altogether desirable. This is my beloved and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

Songofsongs 6
6
Where has your beloved gone, O fairest among women? Which way has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you? 2My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flock in the gardens, and to gather lilies. 3I am my beloved"s and my beloved is mine; he pastures his flock among the lilies.
4 You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners. 5Turn away your eyes from me, for they overwhelm me! Your hair is like a flock of goats, moving down the slopes of Gilead. 6Your teeth are like a flock of ewes, that have come up from the washing; all of them bear twins, and not one among them is bereaved. 7Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil. 8There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and maidens without number. 9My dove, my perfect one, is the only one, the darling of her mother, flawless to her that bore her. The maidens saw her and called her happy; the queens and concubines also, and they praised her. 10"Who is this that looks forth like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army with banners?"
11 I went down to the nut orchard, to look at the blossoms of the valley, to see whether the vines had budded, whether the pomegranates were in bloom. 12Before I was aware, my fancy set me in a chariot beside my prince. 13Return, return, O Shulammite! Return, return, that we may look upon you. Why should you look upon the Shulammite, as upon a dance before two armies?

Songofsongs 7
7
How graceful are your feet in sandals, O queenly maiden! Your rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of a master hand. 2Your navel is a rounded bowl that never lacks mixed wine. Your belly is a heap of wheat, encircled with lilies. 3Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle. 4Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim. Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon, overlooking Damascus. 5Your head crowns you like Carmel, and your flowing locks are like purple; a king is held captive in the tresses. 6How fair and pleasant you are, O loved one, delectable maiden! 7You are stately as a palm tree, and your breasts are like its clusters. 8I say I will climb the palm tree and lay hold of its branches. Oh, may your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the scent of your breath like apples, 9and your kisses like the best wine that goes down smoothly, gliding over lips and teeth.
10 I am my beloved"s, and his desire is for me. 11Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the fields, and lodge in the villages; 12let us go out early to the vineyards, and see whether the vines have budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened and the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love. 13The mandrakes give forth fragrance, and over our doors are all choice fruits, new as well as old, which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.

Songofsongs 8
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O that you were like a brother to me, who nursed at my mother"s breast! If I met you outside, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me. 2I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother, and into the chamber of the one who bore me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the juice of my pomegranates. 3O that his left hand were under my head, and that his right hand embraced me! 4I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, do not stir up or awaken love until it is ready!
5 Who is that coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened you. There your mother was in labor with you; there she who bore you was in labor. 6Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame. 7Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If one offered for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly scorned.
8 We have a little sister, and she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister, on the day when she is spoken for? 9If she is a wall, we will build upon her a battlement of silver; but if she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar. 10I was a wall, and my breasts were like towers; then I was in his eyes as one who brings peace. 11Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he entrusted the vineyard to keepers; each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver. 12My vineyard, my very own, is for myself; you, O Solomon, may have the thousand, and the keepers of the fruit two hundred!
13 O you who dwell in the gardens, my companions are listening for your voice; let me hear it. 14Make haste, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag upon the mountains of spices!