The Song of Songs
Chapter 1
1
2
B 2 Let him kiss me
with kisses of his mouth!
More delightful is your love than wine!
3
Your name spoken is a spreading
perfume-
that is why the maidens love you.
4
Draw me!-
D We will follow you eagerly!
B Bring me, O king, to your chambers.
D With you we rejoice and exult,
we extol your love; it is beyond wine:
how rightly you are loved!
5
B 3 I am as dark-but
lovely,
O daughters of Jerusalem-
As the tents of Kedar,
as the curtains of Salma.
6
4 Do not stare at
me because I am swarthy,
because the sun has burned me.
My brothers have been angry with me;
they charged me with the care of the vineyards:
my own vineyard I have not cared for.
7
B 5 Tell me, you whom
my heart loves,
where you pasture your flock,
where you give them rest at midday,
Lest I be found wandering
after the flocks of your companions.
8
G If you do not know,
O most beautiful among women,
Follow the tracks of the flock
and pasture the young ones
near the shepherds' camps.
9
G 6 To the steeds of
Pharaoh's chariots
would I liken you, my beloved:
10
Your cheeks lovely in pendants,
your neck in jewels.
11
We will make pendants of gold for
you,
and silver ornaments.
12
B 7 For the king's
banquet
my nard gives forth its fragrance.
13
8 My lover is for
me a sachet of myrrh
to rest in my bosom.
14
9 My lover is for
me a cluster of henna
from the vineyards of Engedi.
15
G 10 Ah, you are
beautiful, my beloved,
ah, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves!
16
B 11 Ah, you are
beautiful, my lover-
yes, you are lovely.
Our couch, too, is verdant;
17
the beams of our house are
cedars,
our rafters, cypresses.
The Song of Songs
Chapter 2
1
1 I am a flower of
Sharon,
a lily of the valley.
2
G As a lily among thorns,
so is my beloved among women.
3
B As an apple tree among
the trees of the woods,
so is my lover among men.
I delight to rest in his shadow,
and his fruit is sweet to my mouth.
4
2 He brings me into
the banquet hall
and his emblem over me is love.
5
Strengthen me with raisin cakes,
refresh me with apples,
for I am faint with love.
6
His left hand is under my head
and his right arm embraces me.
7
3 I adjure you,
daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles and hinds of the field,
Do not arouse, do not stir up love
before its own time.
8
B 4 Hark! my
lover-here he comes
springing across the mountains,
leaping across the hills.
9
My lover is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
Here he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattices.
10
My lover speaks; he says to me,
"Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one,
and come!
11
"For see, the winter is
past,
the rains are over and gone.
12
The flowers appear on the earth,
the time of pruning the vines has come,
and the song of the dove is heard in our land.
13
The fig tree puts forth its figs,
and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance.
Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one,
and come!
14
5 "O my dove
in the clefts of the rock,
in the secret recesses of the cliff,
Let me see you,
let me hear your voice,
For your voice is sweet,
and you are lovely."
15
B 6 Catch us the
foxes, the little foxes
that damage the vineyards; for our vineyards are in bloom!
16
My lover belongs to me and I to
him;
he browses among the lilies.
17
7 Until the day
breathes cool and the shadows lengthen,
roam, my lover,
Like a gazelle or a young stag
upon the mountains of Bether.
The Song of Songs
Chapter 3
1
B 1 On my bed at
night I sought him
whom my heart loves-
I sought him but I did not find him.
2
I will rise then and go about the
city;
in the streets and crossings I will seek
Him whom my heart loves.
I sought him but I did not find him.
3
The watchmen came upon me
as they made their rounds of the city:
Have you seen him whom my heart loves?
4
I had hardly left them
when I found him whom my heart loves.
I took hold of him and would not let him go
till I should bring him to the home of my mother,
to the room of my parent.
5
I adjure you, daughters of
Jerusalem,
by the gazelles and hinds of the field,
Do not arouse, do not stir up love
before its own time.
6
D 2 What is this
coming up from the desert,
like a column of smoke
Laden with myrrh, with frankincense,
and with the perfume of every exotic dust?
7
Ah, it is the litter of Solomon;
sixty valiant men surround it,
of the valiant men of Israel:
8
All of them expert with the
sword,
skilled in battle,
Each with his sword at his side
against danger in the watches of the night.
9
King Solomon made himself a
carriage
of wood from Lebanon.
10
He made its columns of silver,
its roof of gold,
Its seat of purple cloth,
its framework inlaid with ivory.
11
Daughters of Jerusalem, come
forth
and look upon King Solomon
In the crown with which his mother has crowned him
on the day of his marriage,
on the day of the joy of his heart.
The Song of Songs
Chapter 4
1
G Ah, you are beautiful,
my beloved,
ah, you are beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down the mountains of Gilead.
2
1 Your teeth are
like a flock of ewes to be shorn,
which come up from the washing,
All of them big with twins,
none of them thin and barren.
3
2 Your lips are
like a scarlet strand;
your mouth is lovely.
Your cheek is like a half-pomegranate
behind your veil.
4
3 Your neck is like
David's tower
girt with battlements;
A thousand bucklers hang upon it,
all the shields of valiant men.
5
Your breasts are like twin fawns,
the young of a gazelle
that browse among the lilies.
6
4 Until the day
breathes cool and the shadows lengthen,
I will go to the mountain of myrrh,
to the hill of incense.
7
5 You are
all-beautiful, my beloved,
and there is no blemish in you.
8
6 Come from
Lebanon, my bride,
come from Lebanon, come!
Descend from the top of Amana,
from the top of Senir and Hermon,
From the haunts of lions,
from the leopards' mountains.
9
7 You have ravished
my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have ravished my heart with one glance of your eyes,
with one bead of your necklace.
10
How beautiful is your love, my
sister, my bride,
how much more delightful is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your ointments than all spices!
11
8 Your lips drip
honey, my bride,
sweetmeats and milk are under your tongue;
And the fragrance of your garments
is the fragrance of Lebanon.
12
G 9 You are an
enclosed garden, my sister, my bride,
an enclosed garden, a fountain sealed.
13
You are a park that puts forth
pomegranates,
with all choice fruits;
14
10 Nard and
saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
with all kinds of incense;
Myrrh and aloes,
with all the finest spices.
15
You are a garden fountain, a well
of water
flowing fresh from Lebanon.
16
11 Arise, north
wind! Come, south wind!
blow upon my garden
that its perfumes may spread abroad.
B Let my lover come to his garden
and eat its choice fruits.
The Song of Songs
Chapter 5
1
G 1 I have come to my
garden, my sister, my bride;
I gather my myrrh and my spices,
I eat my honey and my sweetmeats,
I drink my wine and my milk.
D Eat, friends; drink! Drink freely of love!
2
B 2 I was sleeping,
but my heart kept vigil;
I heard my lover knocking:
"Open to me, my sister, my beloved,
my dove, my perfect one!
For my head is wet with dew,
my locks with the moisture of the night."
3
3 I have taken off
my robe,
am I then to put it on?
I have bathed my feet,
am I then to soil them?
4
My lover put his hand through the
opening;
my heart trembled within me,
and I grew faint when he spoke.
5
I rose to open to my lover,
with my hands dripping myrrh:
With my fingers dripping choice myrrh
upon the fittings of the lock.
6
4 I opened to my
lover-
but my lover had departed, gone.
I sought him but I did not find him;
I called to him but he did not answer me.
7
5 The watchmen came
upon me
as they made their rounds of the city;
They struck me, and wounded me,
and took my mantle from me,
the guardians of the walls.
8
I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,
if you find my lover-
What shall you tell him?-
that I am faint with love.
9
D How does your lover
differ from any other,
O most beautiful among women?
How does your lover differ from any other,
that you adjure us so?
10
B 6 My lover is
radiant and ruddy;
he stands out among thousands.
11
His head is pure gold;
his locks are palm fronds,
black as the raven.
12
His eyes are like doves
beside running waters,
His teeth would seem bathed in milk,
and are set like jewels.
13
His cheeks are like beds of spice
with ripening aromatic herbs.
His lips are red blossoms;
they drip choice myrrh.
14
His arms are rods of gold
adorned with chrysolites.
His body is a work of ivory
covered with sapphires.
15
His legs are columns of marble
resting on golden bases.
His stature is like the trees on Lebanon,
imposing as the cedars.
16
His mouth is sweetness itself;
he is all delight.
Such is my lover, and such my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.
The Song of Songs
Chapter 6
1
D 1Where has your
lover gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Where has your lover gone
that we may seek him with you?
2
B 2 My lover has come
down to his garden,
to the beds of spice,
To browse in the garden
and to gather lilies.
3
My lover belongs to me and I to
him;
he browses among the lilies.
4
G 3 You are as
beautiful as Tirzah, my beloved,
as lovely as Jerusalem,
as awe-inspiring as bannered troops.
5
Turn your eyes from me,
for they torment me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down from Gilead.
6
Your teeth are like a flock of
ewes
which come up from the washing,
All of them big with twins,
none of them thin and barren.
7
Your cheek is like a
half-pomegranate
behind your veil.
8
There are sixty queens, eighty
concubines,
and maidens without number-
9
One alone is my dove, my perfect
one,
her mother's chosen,
the dear one of her parent.
The daughters saw her and declared her fortunate,
the queens and concubines, and they sang her praises;
10
D Who is this that comes
forth like the dawn,
as beautiful as the moon, as resplendent as the sun,
as awe-inspiring as bannered troops?
11
B I came down to the nut
garden
to look at the fresh growth of the valley,
To see if the vines were in bloom.
if the pomegranates had blossomed.
12
4 Before I knew it,
my heart had made me
the blessed one of my kinswomen.
The Song of Songs
Chapter 7
1
D 1 Turn, turn, O
Shulammite,
turn, turn, that we may look at you!
B Why would you look at the Shulammite
as at the dance of the two companies?
2
D 2 How beautiful are
your feet in sandals,
O prince's daughter!
Your rounded thighs are like jewels,
the handiwork of an artist.
3
Your navel is a round bowl
that should never lack for mixed wine.
Your body is a heap of wheat
encircled with lilies.
4
Your breasts are like twin fawns,
the young of a gazelle.
5
3 Your neck is like
a tower of ivory.
Your eyes are like the pools in Heshbon
by the gate of Bath-rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower on Lebanon
that looks toward Damascus.
6
You head rises like Carmel;
your hair is like draperies of purple;
a king is held captive in its tresses.
7
G How beautiful you are, how
pleasing,
my love, my delight!
8
4 Your very figure
is like a palm tree,
your breasts are like clusters.
9
I said: I will climb the palm
tree,
I will take hold of its branches.
Now let your breasts be like clusters of the vine
and the fragrance of your breath like apples,
10
5 And your mouth
like an excellent wine-
B that flows smoothly for my lover,
spreading over the lips and the teeth.
11
6 I belong to my
lover
and for me he yearns.
12
Come, my lover, let us go forth
to the fields
and spend the night among the villages.
13
Let us go early to the vineyards,
and see
if the vines are in bloom,
If the buds have opened,
if the pomegranates have blossomed;
There will I give you my love.
14
7 The mandrakes
give forth fragrance,
and at our doors are all choice fruits;
Both fresh and mellowed fruits, my lover,
I have kept in store for you.
The Song of Songs
Chapter 8
1
Oh, that you were my brother,
nursed at my mother's breasts!
If I met you out of doors, I would kiss you
and none would taunt me.
2
I would lead you, bring you in
to the home of my mother.
There you would teach me to give you
spiced wine to drink and pomegranate juice.
3
His left hand is under my head
and his right arm embraces me.
4
I adjure you, daughters of
Jerusalem,
by the gazelles and hinds of the field,
Do not arouse, do not stir up love,
before its own time.
5
D 1 Who is this
coming up from the desert,
leaning upon her lover?
G Under the apple tree I awakened you;
it was there that your mother conceived you,
it was there that your parent conceived.
6
B 2 Set me as a seal
on your heart,
as a seal on your arm;
For stern as death is love,
relentless as the nether world is devotion;
its flames are a blazing fire.
7
Deep waters cannot quench love,
nor floods sweep it away.
Were one to offer all he owns to purchase love,
he would be roundly mocked.
8
3 "Our sister
is little
and she has no breasts as yet.
What shall we do for our sister
when her courtship begins?
9
If she is a wall,
we will build upon it a silver parapet;
If she is a door,
we will reinforce it with a cedar plank."
10
I am a wall,
and my breasts are like towers.
So now in his eyes I have become
one to be welcomed.
11
B 4 Solomon had a
vineyard at Baal-hamon;
he gave over the vineyard to caretakers.
For its fruit one would have to pay
a thousand silver pieces.
12
My vineyard is at my own
disposal;
the thousand pieces are for you, O Solomon,
and two hundred for the caretakers of its fruit.
13
G 5 O garden-dweller,
my friends are listening for your voice,
let me hear it!
14
B Be swift, my lover,
like a gazelle or a young stag
on the mountains of spices!
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