The Song of songs, which is Sulayman’s.1
Bride
2Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth;
For your love is better than wine.
3Your oils have a pleasing fragrance.
Your name is oil poured forth,
Therefore the virgins love you.
4Take me away with you.
Let us hurry.
The king has brought me into his chambers.
Friends
We will be glad and rejoice in you.
We will praise your love more than wine!
Bride
They are right to love you.
5I am dark, but lovely,
You daughters of Jerusalem,
Like the tents of Qaydar,2
Like Sulayman’s curtains.
6Do not stare at me because I am dark,
Because the sun has scorched me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me.
They made me keeper of the vineyards.
I haven’t kept my own vineyard.
7Tell me, you whom my soul loves,
Where you graze your flock,
Where you rest them at noon;
For why should I be as one who is veiled
Beside the flocks of your companions?
Groom
8If you do not know, most beautiful among women,
Follow the tracks of the sheep.
Graze your young goats beside the shepherds’ tents.
9I have compared you, my love,
To a mare among Firaun’s3 chariots.
10Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings,
Your neck with strings of jewels.
11We will make you earrings of gold,
With studs of silver.
Bride
12While the king sat at his table,
My perfume spread its fragrance.
13My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh,
That lies between my breasts.
14My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
From the vineyards of En Gedi.
Groom
15Behold, you are beautiful, my love.
Behold, you are beautiful.
Your eyes are doves.
Bride
16Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, yes, pleasant;
And our couch is verdant.
Groom
17The beams of our house are cedars.
Our rafters are firs.