The Song of Songs

Old Testament · 8 chapters · 117 verses.

Chapter 1

1:1The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.
1:2Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine.
1:3Your oils have a pleasing fragrance; your name is oil poured out. Therefore the maidens love you.
1:4Draw me after you; let us run. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will rejoice and delight in you; we will extol your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you.
1:5I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
1:6Do not gaze 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. My own vineyard I have not kept.
1:7Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon; for why should I be like one who wanders beside the flocks of your companions?
1:8If you do not know, O most beautiful among women, go out by the tracks of the flock, and pasture your young goats beside the shepherds’ dwellings.
1:9I compare you, my love, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
1:10Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.
1:11We will make ornaments of gold for you, with studs of silver.
1:12While the king reclines at his table, my nard gives forth its fragrance.
1:13A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me; it rests between my breasts.
1:14A cluster of henna blossoms is my beloved to me, in the vineyards of En-Gedi.
1:15Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are doves.
1:16Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, indeed delightful; our bed is verdant.
1:17The beams of our houses are cedars; our rafters are firs.

Chapter 2

2:1I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.
2:2As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
2:3As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the sons. In his shade I delighted and sat down, and his fruit was sweet to my palate.
2:4He brought me to the house of wine, and his banner over me was love.
2:5Sustain me with raisin cakes; refresh me with apples, for I am sick with love.
2:6His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.
2:7I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the does of the field: do not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.
2:8The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills.
2:9My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.
2:10My beloved answered and said to me, “Rise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.
2:11For behold, the winter has passed; the rain is over and gone.
2:12The flowers appear upon the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
2:13The fig tree ripens its early figs, and the vines in blossom give forth fragrance. Rise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.
2:14My dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places of the steep ascent, let me see your appearance; let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your appearance is lovely.”
2:15Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin vineyards, for our vineyards are in bloom.
2:16My beloved is mine, and I am his; he pastures among the lilies.
2:17Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved; be like a gazelle or a young stag upon the mountains of Bether.

Chapter 3

3:1By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but did not find him.
3:2I will rise now and go about the city, through the streets and the squares; I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but did not find him.
3:3The watchmen who go about the city found me. “Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
3:4I had scarcely passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I seized him and would not let him go until I brought him into my mother’s house, into the chamber of her who conceived me.
3:5I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the does of the field: do not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.
3:6Who is this coming up from the wilderness like columns of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with every fragrant powder of the merchant?
3:7Behold, it is Solomon’s couch; sixty mighty men surround it, from the mighty men of Israel.
3:8All of them bear the sword and are trained for battle; each has his sword at his thigh because of terror in the night.
3:9King Solomon made for himself a palanquin of the wood of Lebanon.
3:10He made its posts of silver, its base of gold, its seat of purple; its interior was inlaid with love by the daughters of Jerusalem.
3:11Go forth, O daughters of Zion, and look upon King Solomon, wearing the crown with which his mother crowned him on his wedding day, on the day of the gladness of his heart.

Chapter 4

4:1Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are doves behind your veil; your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead.
4:2Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes coming up from the washing; all of them bear twins, and none among them is bereaved.
4:3Your lips are like a scarlet thread, and your mouth is lovely; your cheeks behind your veil are like halves of a pomegranate.
4:4Your neck is like the Tower of David, built as an armory; a thousand shields hang upon it, all shields of mighty men.
4:5Your two breasts are as two fawns, twins of a gazelle, feeding among the lilies.
4:6Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense.
4:7You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no blemish in you.
4:8Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; come with me from Lebanon. Look down from the summit of Amana, from the summit of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards.
4:9You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captured my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.
4:10How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than every spice!
4:11Your lips drip honey, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue, and the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
4:12A locked garden is my sister, my bride; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
4:13Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, henna with nard.
4:14Nard and saffron, cane and cinnamon, with every tree of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the finest spices.
4:15You are a fountain of gardens, a well of living water, and streams flowing from Lebanon.
4:16Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat its choice fruits.

Chapter 5

5:1I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends; drink, and drink deeply, O lovers.
5:2I was sleeping, but my heart was awake. The sound of my beloved knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one; for my head is filled with dew, my locks with the drops of the night.”
5:3I have taken off my tunic; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I soil them?
5:4My beloved put his hand through the opening, and my inmost being stirred for him.
5:5I rose to open to my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.
5:6I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had withdrawn; he had gone. My soul went out when he spoke. I sought him, but did not find him; I called him, but he did not answer me.
5:7The watchmen who go about the city found me; they struck me, they wounded me. The keepers of the walls took my cloak from me.
5:8I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem: if you find my beloved, what will you tell him? That I am sick with love.
5:9How is your beloved better than another beloved, O most beautiful among women? How is your beloved better than another beloved, that you adjure us so?
5:10My beloved is radiant and ruddy, distinguished among ten thousand.
5:11His head is finest gold; his locks are wavy, black as a raven.
5:12His eyes are like doves beside streams of water, bathed in milk, resting beside a full pool.
5:13His cheeks are like beds of spice, banks of fragrant herbs; his lips are lilies, dripping with flowing myrrh.
5:14His arms are rods of gold, set with beryl; his body is polished ivory, covered with sapphires.
5:15His legs are pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold; his appearance is like Lebanon, choice as the cedars.
5:16His mouth is sweetness itself, and he is altogether desirable. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

Chapter 6

6:1Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you?
6:2My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spice, to pasture in the gardens and to gather lilies.
6:3I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine; he pastures among the lilies.
6:4You are beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, awe-inspiring as bannered hosts.
6:5Turn your eyes away from me, for they overwhelm me. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down from Gilead.
6:6Your teeth are like a flock of ewes coming up from the washing; all of them bear twins, and none among them is bereaved.
6:7Your cheeks behind your veil are like halves of a pomegranate.
6:8There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and maidens without number.
6:9My dove, my perfect one, is the only one; she is the only one of her mother, the favored one of her who bore her. The daughters saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines praised her.
6:10“Who is this who looks forth like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, clear as the sun, awe-inspiring as bannered hosts?”
6:11I went down to the grove of nut trees, to look at the fresh growth of the valley, to see whether the vine had budded, whether the pomegranates had blossomed.
6:12Before I knew it, my soul set me among the chariots of my noble people.

Chapter 7

7:1Return, return, O Shulammite; return, return, that we may look upon you. Why do you gaze upon the Shulammite, as upon the dance of Mahanaim?
7:2How beautiful are your sandaled feet, O noble daughter! The curves of your thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a craftsman.
7:3Your navel is a rounded bowl that never lacks mixed wine; your belly is a heap of wheat, encircled with lilies.
7:4Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle.
7:5Your neck is like a tower of ivory; your eyes are pools in Heshbon, by the Gate of Bath-Rabbim; your nose is like the tower of Lebanon looking toward Damascus.
7:6Your head crowns you like Carmel, and the hair of your head is like purple; the king is held captive by its tresses.
7:7How beautiful and how pleasant you are, O love, with all your delights!
7:8Your stature is like a palm tree, and your breasts like clusters of fruit.
7:9I said, “I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its branches.” May your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the fragrance of your breath like apples,
7:10and your palate like good wine, flowing smoothly to my beloved, gliding over the lips of those asleep.
7:11I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me.
7:12Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.
7:13Let us rise early and go to the vineyards; let us see whether the vine has budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened, whether the pomegranates have blossomed. There I will give you my love.
7:14The mandrakes give forth fragrance, and at our doors are all choice fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for you, my beloved.

Chapter 8

8:1Oh that you were like a brother to me, one who nursed at my mother’s breasts! If I found you outside, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me.
8:2I would lead you and bring you into my mother’s house; you would teach me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the juice of my pomegranate.
8:3His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.
8:4I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem: do not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.
8:5Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened you; there your mother was in labor with you; there she who bore you was in labor.
8:6Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, jealousy fierce as the realm of the dead. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a flame of the LORD.
8:7Many waters cannot quench love, nor can rivers wash it away. If a man gave all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly despised.
8:8We have a little sister, and she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister on the day when she is spoken for?
8:9If she is a wall, we will build upon her a battlement of silver; and if she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar.
8:10I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers; then I became in his eyes as one who found peace.
8:11Solomon had a vineyard at Ba‘al-Hamon; he entrusted the vineyard to keepers. Each was to bring one thousand pieces of silver for its fruit.
8:12My vineyard, my own, is before me. The thousand is yours, O Solomon, and two hundred belong to those who keep its fruit.
8:13You who dwell in the gardens, the companions listen for your voice; let me hear it.
8:14Flee, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag upon the mountains of spices.