Song of Solomon 1
1 Solomon's song of songs.
2 Kiss me, kiss me with your mouth again and again, for your love is sweeter than wine.
Bride: May he kiss me with the kiss of his mouth. Groom to Bride: So much better than wine are your breasts,
3 I love the way you smell from the perfumed oils you use. You have quite a reputation—it spreads like spilled perfumed oil. It's not surprising that all the young women adore you!
fragranced with the finest perfumes. Bride to Groom: Your name is oil that has been poured out; therefore, the maidens have loved you.
4 Take me by the hand—let's run! (The king has brought me to his bedroom.) Let's be happy together and find pleasure in your love. Your love is far better than wine! Women are right to adore you so!
Draw me forward. Chorus to Bride: We will run after you in the odor of your perfumes. Bride to Chorus: The king has led me into his storerooms. Chorus to Bride: We will exult and rejoice in you, remembering your breasts above wine. Groom to Bride: The righteous love you.
5 I'm black, but I'm beautiful, women of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
Bride to Chorus: O daughters of Jerusalem: I am black, but shapely, like the tabernacles of Kedar, like the tents of Solomon.
6 Don't look down on me because I'm black, because the sun has burned me. My brothers were angry with me and made me look after the vineyards, so I couldn't look after my own vineyard.
Do not be concerned that I am dark, for the sun has changed my color. The sons of my mother have fought against me. They have made me the keeper of the vineyards. My own vineyard I have not kept.
7 My love, please tell me where you're taking your flock. Where will you rest them at noon? For why should I have to wear a veil while looking for you among the flocks of your companions?
Bride to Groom: Reveal to me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture, where you recline at midday, lest I begin to wander after the flocks of your companions.
8 If you really don't know, you who are more beautiful than any other woman, then follow the tracks of my flock, and let your goats graze near the shepherd's tents.
Groom to Bride: If you yourself do not know, O most beautiful among women, then go out and follow after the steps of the flocks, and pasture your young goats beside the tabernacles of the shepherds.
9 My darling, to me you're like a mare among Pharaoh's horses that pull his chariots,
O my love, I have compared you to my company of horsemen against the chariots of Pharaoh.
10 Your beautiful cheeks adorned with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.
Your cheeks are beautiful, like those of a turtledove. Your neck is like a bejeweled collar.
11 Let's make you some gold ornaments inlaid with silver.
Chorus to Bride: We will fashion for you chains of gold, accented with reddened silver.
12 As the king lay on his couch, my nard perfume gave off its fragrance.
Bride to Chorus: While the king was taking his rest, my aromatic ointment sent forth its odor.
13 My love is like a pouch of myrrh, lying all night between my breasts.
My beloved is a bundle of myrrh to me. He shall abide between my breasts.
14 My love is like a bunch of fragrant henna flowers in the vineyards of Engedi.
My beloved is a cluster of Cyprus grapes to me, in the vineyards of Engaddi.
15 Look at how very beautiful you are, my darling, how beautiful! Your eyes are as gentle as doves.
Groom to Bride: Behold, you are beautiful, O my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are those of a dove.
16 And you, my love, are so handsome—how charming you are! The green grass is our bed,
Bride to Groom: Behold, you are handsome, O my beloved, and graceful. Our bed is flourishing.
17 with cedar trees as beams for our “house,” and pine trees for the rafters.
Groom to Bride: The timbers of our houses are of cedar; our ceilings are of cypress.
