The Message Bible MSG
World English Bible WEB
1 The Song - best of all songs - Solomon's song!
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The Song of songs, which is Solomon's. Beloved
2 Kiss me - full on the mouth! Yes! For your love is better than wine,
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Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; For your love is better than wine.
3 headier than your aromatic oils. The syllables of your name murmur like a meadow brook. No wonder everyone loves to say your name!
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Your oils have a pleasing fragrance. Your name is oil poured forth, Therefore the virgins love you.
4 Take me away with you! Let's run off together! An elopement with my King-Lover! We'll celebrate, we'll sing, we'll make great music. Yes! For your love is better than vintage wine. Everyone loves you - of course! And why not?
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Take me away with you. Let us hurry. The king has brought me into his chambers. Friends We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will praise your love more than wine! Beloved They are right to love you.
5 I am weathered but still elegant, oh, dear sisters in Jerusalem, Weather-darkened like Kedar desert tents, time-softened like Solomon's Temple hangings.
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I am dark, but lovely, You daughters of Jerusalem, Like Kedar's tents, Like Solomon's curtains.
6 Don't look down on me because I'm dark, darkened by the sun's harsh rays. My brothers ridiculed me and sent me to work in the fields. They made me care for the face of the earth, but I had no time to care for my own face.
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Don't stare 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. I haven't kept my own vineyard.
7 Tell me where you're working - I love you so much - Tell me where you're tending your flocks, where you let them rest at noontime. Why should I be the one left out, outside the orbit of your tender care?
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Tell me, you whom my soul loves, Where you graze your flock, Where you rest them at noon; For why should I be as one who is veiled Beside the flocks of your companions? Lover
8 If you can't find me, loveliest of all women, it's all right. Stay with your flocks. Lead your lambs to good pasture. Stay with your shepherd neighbors.
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If you don't know, most beautiful among women, Follow the tracks of the sheep. Graze your young goats beside the shepherds' tents.
9 You remind me of Pharaoh's well-groomed and satiny mares.
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I have compared you, my love, To a steed in Pharaoh's chariots.
10 Pendant earrings line the elegance of your cheeks; strands of jewels illumine the curve of your throat.
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Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, Your neck with strings of jewels.
11 I'm making jewelry for you, gold and silver jewelry that will mark and accent your beauty.
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We will make you earrings of gold, With studs of silver. Beloved
12 When my King-Lover lay down beside me, my fragrance filled the room.
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While the king sat at his table, My perfume spread its fragrance.
13 His head resting between my breasts - the head of my lover was a sachet of sweet myrrh.
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My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh, That lies between my breasts.
14 My beloved is a bouquet of wildflowers picked just for me from the fields of Engedi.
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My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms From the vineyards of En Gedi. Lover
15 Oh, my dear friend! You're so beautiful! And your eyes so beautiful - like doves!
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Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are doves. Beloved
16 And you, my dear lover - you're so handsome! And the bed we share is like a forest glen.
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Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, yes, pleasant; And our couch is verdant. Lover
17 We enjoy a canopy of cedars enclosed by cypresses, fragrant and green.
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The beams of our house are cedars. Our rafters are firs. Beloved
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The World English Bible is in the public domain.