Song of Songs 1; Song of Songs 2; Song of Songs 3; Song of Songs 4; Song of Songs 5; Song of Songs 6; Song of Songs 7; Song of Songs 8

Song of Songs 1

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2 [Woman]If only he would give me some of his kisses . . . Oh, your loving is sweeter than wine!

3 Your fragrance is sweet; your very name is perfume. That's why the young women love you.

4 Take me along with you; let's run! My king has brought me into his chambers, saying, "Let's exult and rejoice in you. Let's savor your loving more than wine. No wonder they all love you!"

5 Dark am I, and lovely, daughters of Jerusalem— like the black tents of the Kedar nomads, like the curtains of Solomon's palace.

6 Don't stare at me because I'm darkened by the sun's gaze. My own brothers were angry with me. They made me a caretaker of the vineyards— but I couldn't care for my own vineyard.

7 Tell me, you whom I love with all my heart— where do you pasture your flock, where do you rest them at noon?— so I don't wander around with the flocks of your companions.

8 [Man]If you don't know your way, most beautiful of women, then follow the tracks of the herds and graze your little goats by the tents of the shepherds.

9 I picture you, my dearest, as a mare among Pharaoh's chariots!

10 Lovely are your cheeks, adorned with ear hoops; your neck, with beads.

11 Let's make hoops of gold beaded with silver for you!

12 With my king close by, my perfume filled the air.

13 A sachet of myrrh is my love to me, lying all night between my breasts.

14 A cluster of henna flowers is my love to me in the desert gardens of En-gedi.

15 [Man]Look at you—so beautiful, my dearest! Look at you—so beautiful! Your eyes are doves!

16 [Woman]Look at you—so beautiful, my love! Yes, delightful! Yes, our bed is lush and green!

17 The ceilings of our chambers are cedars; our rafters, cypresses.

Song of Songs 2

1 [Woman]I'm a rose of the Sharon plain, a lily of the valleys.

2 [Man]Like a lily among thornbushes, so is my dearest among the young women.

3 [Woman]Like an apple tree among the wild trees, so is my lover among the young men. In his shade I take pleasure in sitting, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

4 He has brought me to the house of wine; his banner raised over me is love.

5 Sustain me with raisin cakes, strengthen me with apples, for I'm weak with love!

6 His left arm is beneath my head, his right embraces me.

7 Make a solemn pledge, daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the wild deer: Don't rouse, don't arouse love until it desires.

8 Listen! It's my lover: here he comes now, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills.

9 My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Here he stands now, outside our wall, peering through the windows, peeking through the lattices.

10 My lover spoke and said to me, "Rise up, my dearest, my fairest, and go.

11 Here, the winter is past; the rains have come and gone.

12 Blossoms have appeared in the land; the season of singing has arrived, and the sound of the turtledove is heard in our land.

13 The green fruit is on the fig tree, and the grapevines in bloom are fragrant. Rise up, my dearest, my fairest, and go.

14 My dove—in the rock crevices, hidden in the cliff face— let me catch sight of you; let me hear your voice! The sound of your voice is sweet, and the sight of you is lovely."

15 Catch foxes for us— those little foxes that spoil vineyards, now that our vineyards are in bloom!

16 I belong to my lover and he belongs to me— the one grazing among the lilies.

17 Before the day breeze blows and the shadows flee, turn about, my love; be like a gazelle or a young stag upon the jagged mountains.

Song of Songs 3

1 [Woman]Upon my bed, night after night, I looked for the one whom I love with all my heart. I looked for him but couldn't find him.

2 "I will rise now and go all around the city, through the streets and the squares. I will look for the one whom I love with all my heart." I looked for him but couldn't find him.

3 The guards found me, those who make their rounds in the city. "The one whom I love with all my heart— have you seen him?"

4 No sooner did I depart from them than I found the one whom I love with all my heart. I held on to him and now I won't let him go, until I've brought him to my mother's house, to the chamber of the one who conceived me.

5 I place you under oath, daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the wild deer: don't rouse, don't arouse love until it desires.

6 Who is this, coming up from the wilderness, like pillars of smoke? She is perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, selected from all the spice merchant's powders.

7 Picture Solomon's bed— sixty heroic men round about it, all from the heroes of Israel,

8 all of them skilled with the sword, expert in warfare, each with his sword ready at his thigh against terrors that come by night.

9 King Solomon made a canopied couch for himself from the trees of Lebanon.

10 Its pillars he made of silver, its covering, cloth of gold, its cushions, royal purple; its interior inlaid with love. Daughters of Jerusalem,

11 go forth! Look, daughters of Zion— on King Solomon wearing the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of his heart's joy.

Song of Songs 4

1 [Man]Look at you—so beautiful, my dearest! Look at you—so beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind the veil of your hair! Your hair is like a flock of goats as they stream down Mount Gilead.

2 Your teeth are like newly shorn ewes as they come up from the washing pool— all of them perfectly matched, not one of them lacks its twin.

3 Like a crimson ribbon are your lips; when you smile, it is lovely. Like a slice of pomegranate is the curve of your face behind the veil of your hair.

4 Like David's tower is your neck, splendidly built! A thousand shields are hung upon it— all the weapons of the warriors.

5 Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle doe, that graze among the lilies.

6 Before the day breeze blows and the shadows flee, I will be off to the mountain of myrrh, to the hill of frankincense.

7 You are utterly beautiful, my dearest; there's not a single flaw in you.

8 [Man]Come down with me from Lebanon, my bride— if only you would come down with me from Lebanon. Descend from the peak of Amana, from the peaks of Senir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountain lairs of leopards.

9 You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride! You have captured my heart with one glance from your eyes, with one strand of your necklace.

10 How beautiful is your loving, my sister, my bride! Your loving is so much better than wine, and your fragrance better than any perfume!

11 Sweetness drops from your lips, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue, and the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

12 An enclosed garden is my sister, my bride; an enclosed pool, a sealed spring.

13 Your limbs are an orchard of pomegranates with all kinds of luscious fruit, henna, and spices:

14 nard and saffron, sweet cane and cinnamon, with all scented woods, myrrh, and aloes, with the very choicest perfumes!

15 You are a garden spring, a well of fresh water, streams from Lebanon.

16 Stir, north wind, and come, south wind!Blow upon my garden; let its perfumes flow! [Woman]Let my love come to his garden; let him eat its luscious fruit!

Song of Songs 5

1 [Man]I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride! I have gathered my myrrh and my spices. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk. Eat, dear friends! Drink and get drunk on love!

2 [Woman]I was sleeping, but my heart was awake. A sound! My love is knocking: [Man]"Open for me, my sister, my dearest, my dove, my perfect one! My head is soaked with dew, my hair, with the night mists."

3 [Woman]"I have taken off my tunic— why should I put it on again? I have bathed my feet— why should I get them dirty?"

4 My love put his hand in through the latch hole, and my body ached for him.

5 I rose; I went to open for my love, and my hands dripped myrrh, my fingers, liquid myrrh, over the handles of the lock.

6 I went and opened for my love, but my love had turned, gone away. I nearly died when he turned away. I looked for him but couldn't find him. I called out to him, but he didn't answer me.

7 They found me—the guards who make their rounds in the city. They struck me, bruised me. They took my shawl away from me, those guards of the city walls!

8 I place you under oath, daughters of Jerusalem: If you find my love, what should you tell him? That I'm weak with love!

9 [Daughters of Jerusalem]How is your lover different from any other lover, you who are the most beautiful of women? How is your lover different from any other lover, that you make us swear a solemn pledge?

10 [Woman]My lover is radiant and ruddy; he stands out among ten thousand!

11 His head is finest gold; his wavy hair, black as a raven.

12 His eyes are like doves by channels of water. They are bathing in milk, sitting by brimming pools.

13 His cheeks are like fragrant plantings, towers of spices. His lips are lilies dripping liquid myrrh.

14 His arms are gold cylinders studded with jewels. His belly is smooth ivory encrusted with sapphires.

15 His thighs are pillars of whitest stone set on pedestals of gold. His appearance—like Lebanon, stately, like the cedars.

16 His mouth is everything sweet, every bit of him desirable. This is my love, this my dearest, daughters of Jerusalem!

Song of Songs 6

1 [Daughters of Jerusalem]Which way did your lover go, you who are the most beautiful of women? Which way did your lover turn, that we may look for him along with you?

2 [Woman]My lover has gone down to his garden, to the fragrant plantings, to graze in the gardens, to gather the lilies.

3 I belong to my lover and my lover belongs to me— the one grazing among the lilies.

4 [Man]You are as beautiful, my dearest, as Tirzah, as lovely as Jerusalem, formidable as those lofty sights.

5 Turn your eyes away from me, for they overwhelm me! Your hair is like a flock of goats as they stream down from Gilead.

6 Your teeth are like a flock of ewes as they come up from the washing pool— all of them perfectly matched, not one of them lacks its twin.

7 Like a slice of pomegranate is the curve of your face behind the veil of your hair.

8 There may be sixty queens and eighty secondary wives, young women beyond counting,

9 but my dove, my perfect one, is one of a kind. To her mother she's the only one, radiant to the one who bore her. Young women see her and declare her fortunate; queens and secondary wives praise her.

10 Who is this, gazing down like the morning star, beautiful as the full moon, radiant as the sun, formidable as those lofty sights?

11 [Man]To the nut grove I went down to look upon the fresh growth in the valley, to see whether the vine was in flower, whether the pomegranates had bloomed.

12 I hardly knew myself; she had set me in an official's chariot!

13 [Man] Come back, come back, Shulammite! Come back, come back, so we may admire you. How you all admire the Shulammite as she whirls between two circles of dancers!

Song of Songs 7

1 How graceful are your sandaled feet, willing woman! The smooth curves of your thighs—like fine jewelry, the work of an artist's hands!

2 Your navel, cupped like the full moon— may it never lack spiced wine! Your belly is a mound of winnowed wheat edged with lilies.

3 Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle doe;

4 your neck, like a tower of ivory; your eyes, pools in Heshbon, by the gate of that lordly city. Your profile is like the tower of Lebanon, looking out toward Damascus.

5 Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel, and your hair, braided in royal purple— a king is bound by the tresses!

6 You are so beautiful, so lovely— my love, delightful one!

7 Your stately form resembles a date palm, and your breasts are like clustered fruit.

8 I say, "I will climb the palm tree; I will hold its fruit!" May your breasts be now like grape clusters, and the scent of your breath like apples!

9 Your palate is like excellent wine . . . [Woman]. . . flowing smoothly for my love, gliding through the lips and teeth.

10 I belong to my lover, and his longing is only for me.

11 [Woman]Come, my love: Let's go out to the field and rest all night among the flowering henna.

12 Let's set out early for the vineyards. We will see if the vines have budded and the blossoms opened, see if the pomegranates have bloomed. There I'll give my loving to you.

13 The mandrakes give off their scent, and at our doorways is every delicacy— fresh or ripened— my love, I have kept them hidden for you.

Song of Songs 8

1 [Woman]If only you were as my brother— the one who nursed at my mother's breast. I would find you in the street and kiss you, and no one would shame me for it.

2 I would lead you, I would bring you to my mother's house; she would teach me what to do. I would give you spiced wine to drink, some of my fresh pomegranate juice.

3 His left arm is beneath my head, and his right embraces me!

4 Make a solemn pledge, daughters of Jerusalem, never to rouse, never to arouse love until it desires.

5 [Daughters of Jerusalem]Who is this coming up from the wilderness leaning against her lover? [Woman]Under the apple tree I aroused you— there, where your mother labored with you, there where, laboring, she bore you.

6 Set me as a seal over your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is as strong as death, passionate love unrelenting as the grave. Its darts are darts of fire— divine flame!

7 Rushing waters can't quench love; rivers can't wash it away. If someone gave all his estate in exchange for love, he would be laughed to utter shame.

8 [The Woman's Brothers]Our sister is small; she has no breasts. What will we do for our sister on the day that she is spoken for?

9 If she is a city wall, then we will build a turret of silver on her. And if she is a door, then we will barricade her with a panel of cedar.

10 [Woman]I'm a city wall, and my breasts are the towers. So now I'm in his eyes as one who brings peace.

11 [Man]Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon. He gave charge of the vineyard to keepers; one would bring in exchange for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver.

12 My vineyard, my very own, is before me. You can have the thousand, Solomon— with two hundred for those who tend the fruit!

13 You who sit in the gardens, my companions are listening for your voice. Let me hear it!

14 [Woman]"Take flight, my love, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spice!"