New Century Version NCV
New International Version NIV
1 Solomon's Greatest Song.
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Solomon’s Song of Songs.
2 Kiss me with the kisses of your mouth, because your love is better than wine.
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Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth— for your love is more delightful than wine.
3 The smell of your perfume is pleasant, and your name is pleasant like expensive perfume. That's why the young women love you.
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Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the young women love you!
4 Take me with you; let's run together. The king takes me into his rooms. We will rejoice and be happy with you; we praise your love more than wine. With good reason, the young women love you.
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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!
5 I'm dark but lovely, women of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
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Dark am I, yet lovely, daughters of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedar, like the tent curtains of Solomon.
6 Don't look at how dark I am, at how dark the sun has made me. My brothers were angry with me and made me tend the vineyards, so I haven't tended my own vineyard!
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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 had to neglect.
7 Tell me, you whom I love, where do you feed your sheep? Where do you let them rest at noon? Why should I look for you near your friend's sheep, like a woman who wears a veil?
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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?
8 You are the most beautiful of women. Surely you know to follow the sheep and feed your young goats near the shepherds' tents.
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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.
9 My darling, you are like a mare among the king's stallions.
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I liken you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments, and your neck with jewels.
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Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels.
11 We will make for you gold earrings with silver hooks.
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We will make you earrings of gold, studded with silver.
12 The smell of my perfume spreads out to the king on his couch.
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While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.
13 My lover is like a bag of myrrh that lies all night between my breasts.
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My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.
14 My lover is like a bunch of flowers from the vineyards at En Gedi.
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My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi.
15 My darling, you are beautiful! Oh, you are beautiful, and your eyes are like doves.
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How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves.
16 You are so handsome, my lover, and so pleasant! Our bed is the grass.
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How handsome you are, my beloved! Oh, how charming! And our bed is verdant.
17 Cedar trees form our roof; our ceiling is made of juniper wood.
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The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are firs.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.