Add parallel Print Page Options

(A)The most beautiful of songs, by Solomon.[a]

The First Song

The Woman

Your lips cover me with kisses;
    your love is better than wine.
There is a fragrance about you;
    the sound of your name recalls it.
    No woman could keep from loving you.
Take me with you, and we'll run away;
    be my king and take me to your room.
We will be happy together,
    drink deep, and lose ourselves in love.
    No wonder all women love you!
Women of Jerusalem, I am dark but[b] beautiful,
    dark as the desert tents of Kedar,
    but beautiful as the draperies in Solomon's palace.
Don't look down on me because of my color,
    because the sun has tanned me.
My brothers were angry with me
    and made me work in the vineyard.
    I had no time to care for myself.
Tell me, my love,
    Where will you lead your flock to graze?
    Where will they rest from the noonday sun?
Why should I need to look for you
    among the flocks of the other shepherds?[c]

The Man

Don't you know the place, loveliest of women?
Go and follow the flock;
    find pasture for your goats
    near the tents of the shepherds.

You, my love, excite men
    as a mare excites the stallions of Pharaoh's chariots.
10 Your hair is beautiful upon your cheeks
    and falls along your neck like jewels.
11 But we will make for you a chain of gold
    with ornaments of silver.

The Woman

12 My king was lying on his couch,
    and my perfume filled the air with fragrance.
13 My lover has the scent of myrrh
    as he lies upon my breasts.
14 My lover is like the wild flowers
    that bloom in the vineyards at Engedi.

The Man

15 How beautiful you are, my love;
    how your eyes shine with love!

The Woman

16 How handsome you are, my dearest;
    how you delight me!
The green grass will be our bed;
17     the cedars will be the beams of our house,
    and the cypress trees the ceiling.

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 1:1 by Solomon; or dedicated to Solomon, or about Solomon.
  2. Song of Solomon 1:5 but; or and.
  3. Song of Solomon 1:7 Probable text Why should I … shepherds; Hebrew unclear.

Solomon’s Song of Songs.(A)

She[a]

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
    for your love(B) is more delightful than wine.(C)
Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;(D)
    your name(E) is like perfume poured out.
    No wonder the young women(F) love you!
Take me away with you—let us hurry!
    Let the king bring me into his chambers.(G)

Friends

We rejoice and delight(H) in you[b];
    we will praise your love(I) more than wine.

She

How right they are to adore you!

Dark am I, yet lovely,(J)
    daughters of Jerusalem,(K)
dark like the tents of Kedar,(L)
    like the tent curtains of Solomon.[c]
Do not stare at me because I am dark,
    because I am darkened by the sun.
My mother’s sons were angry with me
    and made me take care of the vineyards;(M)
    my own vineyard I had to neglect.
Tell me, you whom I love,
    where you graze your flock
    and where you rest your sheep(N) at midday.
Why should I be like a veiled(O) woman
    beside the flocks of your friends?

Friends

If you do not know, most beautiful of women,(P)
    follow the tracks of the sheep
and graze your young goats
    by the tents of the shepherds.

He

I liken you, my darling, to a mare
    among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.(Q)
10 Your cheeks(R) are beautiful with earrings,
    your neck with strings of jewels.(S)
11 We will make you earrings of gold,
    studded with silver.

She

12 While the king was at his table,
    my perfume spread its fragrance.(T)
13 My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh(U)
    resting between my breasts.
14 My beloved(V) is to me a cluster of henna(W) blossoms
    from the vineyards of En Gedi.(X)

He

15 How beautiful(Y) you are, my darling!
    Oh, how beautiful!
    Your eyes are doves.(Z)

She

16 How handsome you are, my beloved!(AA)
    Oh, how charming!
    And our bed is verdant.

He

17 The beams of our house are cedars;(AB)
    our rafters are firs.

Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 1:2 The main male and female speakers (identified primarily on the basis of the gender of the relevant Hebrew forms) are indicated by the captions He and She respectively. The words of others are marked Friends. In some instances the divisions and their captions are debatable.
  2. Song of Songs 1:4 The Hebrew is masculine singular.
  3. Song of Songs 1:5 Or Salma