| Good News Translation (GNT) |
New International Version (NIV) |
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1 The most beautiful of songs, by Solomon.
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1 Solomon's Song of Songs.
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2 Your lips cover me with kisses; your love is better than wine.
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2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth-- for your love is more delightful than wine.
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3 There is a fragrance about you; the sound of your name recalls it. No woman could keep from loving you.
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3 Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens love you!
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4 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!
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4 Take me away with you--let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers. We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. How right they are to adore you!
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5 Women of Jerusalem, I am dark but beautiful, dark as the desert tents of Kedar, but beautiful as the draperies in Solomon's palace.
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5 Dark am I, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedar, like the tent curtains of Solomon.
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6 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.
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6 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; my own vineyard I have neglected.
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7 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?
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7 Tell me, you whom I love, where you graze your flock and where you rest your sheep at midday. Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your friends?
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8 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.
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8 If you do not know, most beautiful of women, follow the tracks of the sheep and graze your young goats by the tents of the shepherds.
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9 You, my love, excite men as a mare excites the stallions of Pharaoh's chariots.
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9 I liken you, my darling, to a mare harnessed to one of the chariots of Pharaoh.
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10 Your hair is beautiful upon your cheeks and falls along your neck like jewels.
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10 Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels.
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11 But we will make for you a chain of gold with ornaments of silver.
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11 We will make you earrings of gold, studded with silver.
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12 My king was lying on his couch, and my perfume filled the air with fragrance.
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12 While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.
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13 My lover has the scent of myrrh as he lies upon my breasts.
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13 My lover is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.
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14 My lover is like the wild flowers that bloom in the vineyards at Engedi.
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14 My lover is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi.
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15 How beautiful you are, my love; how your eyes shine with love!
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15 How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves.
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16 How handsome you are, my dearest; how you delight me! The green grass will be our bed;
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16 How handsome you are, my lover! Oh, how charming! And our bed is verdant.
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17 the cedars will be the beams of our house, and the cypress trees the ceiling.
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17 The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are firs.
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| Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission. (The Good News Translation - The Holy Bible Online) |
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |
