Young's Literal Translation YLT
New International Version NIV
1 The Song of Songs, that [is] Solomon's.
1
Solomon’s Song of Songs.
2 Let him kiss me with kisses of his mouth, For better [are] thy loves 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 For fragrance [are] thy perfumes good. Perfume emptied out -- thy name, Therefore have virgins loved thee!
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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 Draw me: after thee we run, The king hath brought me into his inner chambers, We do joy and rejoice in thee, We mention thy loves more than wine, Uprightly they have loved thee!
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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 Dark [am] I, and comely, daughters of Jerusalem, As tents of Kedar, as 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 Fear me not, because I [am] very dark, Because the sun hath scorched me, The sons of my mother were angry with me, They made me keeper of the vineyards, My vineyard -- my own -- I have not kept.
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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 Declare to me, thou whom my soul hath loved, Where thou delightest, Where thou liest down at noon, For why am I as one veiled, By the ranks of thy companions?
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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 If thou knowest not, O fair among women, Get thee forth by the traces of the flock, And feed thy kids by the shepherds' dwellings!
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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 To my joyous one in chariots of Pharaoh, I have compared thee, my friend,
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I liken you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.
10 Comely have been thy cheeks with garlands, Thy neck with chains.
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Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels.
11 Garlands of gold we do make for thee, With studs of silver!
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We will make you earrings of gold, studded with silver.
12 While the king [is] in his circle, My spikenard hath given its fragrance.
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While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.
13 A bundle of myrrh [is] my beloved to me, Between my breasts it lodgeth.
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My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.
14 A cluster of cypress [is] my beloved to me, In the vineyards of En-Gedi!
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My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi.
15 Lo, thou [art] fair, my friend, Lo, thou [art] fair, thine eyes [are] doves!
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How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves.
16 Lo, thou [art] fair, my love, yea, pleasant, Yea, our couch [is] green,
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How handsome you are, my beloved! Oh, how charming! And our bed is verdant.
17 The beams of our houses [are] cedars, Our rafters [are] firs, I [am] a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys!
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The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are firs.
Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.
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.