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Asleep on my bed, night after night
    I dreamed of the one I love;
    I was looking for him, but couldn't find him.
I went wandering through the city,
    through its streets and alleys.
I looked for the one I love.
    I looked, but couldn't find him.
The sentries patrolling the city saw me.
    I asked them, “Have you found my lover?”
As soon as I left them, I found him.
I held him and wouldn't let him go
    until I took him to my mother's house,
    to the room where I was born.

Promise me, women of Jerusalem;
    swear by the swift deer and the gazelles
    that you will not interrupt our love.

The Third Song

The Woman

What is this coming from the desert like a column of smoke,
    fragrant with incense and myrrh,
    the incense sold by the traders?
Solomon is coming, carried on his throne;
    sixty soldiers form the bodyguard,
    the finest soldiers in Israel.
All of them are skillful with the sword;
    they are battle-hardened veterans.
Each of them is armed with a sword,
    on guard against a night attack.
King Solomon is carried on a throne
    made of the finest wood.
10 Its posts are covered with silver;
    over it is cloth embroidered with gold.
Its cushions are covered with purple cloth,
    lovingly woven by the women of Jerusalem.
11 Women of Zion, come and see King Solomon.
He is wearing the crown that his mother placed on his head
    on his wedding day,
    on the day of his gladness and joy.

All night long on my bed
    I looked(A) for the one my heart loves;
    I looked for him but did not find him.
I will get up now and go about the city,
    through its streets and squares;
I will search for the one my heart loves.
    So I looked for him but did not find him.
The watchmen found me
    as they made their rounds in the city.(B)
    “Have you seen the one my heart loves?”
Scarcely had I passed them
    when I found the one my heart loves.
I held him and would not let him go
    till I had brought him to my mother’s house,(C)
    to the room of the one who conceived me.(D)
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you(E)
    by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
    until it so desires.(F)

Who is this coming up from the wilderness(G)
    like a column of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh(H) and incense
    made from all the spices(I) of the merchant?
Look! It is Solomon’s carriage,
    escorted by sixty warriors,(J)
    the noblest of Israel,
all of them wearing the sword,
    all experienced in battle,
each with his sword at his side,
    prepared for the terrors of the night.(K)
King Solomon made for himself the carriage;
    he made it of wood from Lebanon.
10 Its posts he made of silver,
    its base of gold.
Its seat was upholstered with purple,
    its interior inlaid with love.
Daughters of Jerusalem, 11 come out,
    and look, you daughters of Zion.(L)
Look[a] on King Solomon wearing a crown,
    the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
    the day his heart rejoiced.(M)

Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 3:11 Or interior lovingly inlaid / by the daughters of Jerusalem. / 11 Come out, you daughters of Zion, / and look

By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?

It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.

I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?

Behold his bed, which is Solomon's; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel.

They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night.

King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon.

10 He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem.

11 Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.