Revised Standard Version RSV
GOD'S WORD Translation GW
1 The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's.
1
The most beautiful song of Solomon.
2 O that you would kiss me with the kisses of your mouth! For your love is better than wine,
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Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. Your expressions of love are better than wine,
3 your anointing oils are fragrant, your name is oil poured out; therefore the maidens love you.
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better than the fragrance of cologne. (Cologne should be named after you.) No wonder the young women love you!
4 Draw me after you, let us make haste. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will exult and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you.
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Take me with you. Let's run away. The king has brought me into his private rooms. We will celebrate and rejoice with you. We will praise your expressions of love more than wine. How right it is that the young women love you!
5 I am very dark, but comely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
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Young women of Jerusalem, I am dark and lovely like Kedar's tents, like Solomon's curtains.
6 Do not gaze at me because I am swarthy, because the sun has scorched me. My mother's sons were angry with me, they made me keeper of the vineyards; but, my own vineyard I have not kept!
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Stop staring at me because I am so dark. The sun has tanned me. My brothers were angry with me. They made me the caretaker of the vineyards. I have not even taken care of my own vineyard.
7 Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon; for why should I be like one who wanders beside the flocks of your companions?
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Please tell me, you whom I love, where do you graze your flock? Where does your flock lie down at noon? [Tell me,] or I will be considered a prostitute [wandering] among the flocks of your companions.
8 If you do not know, O fairest among women, follow in the tracks of the flock, and pasture your kids beside the shepherds' tents.
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If you do not know, most beautiful of women, follow the tracks of the flocks, and graze your young goats near the shepherds' tents.
9 I compare you, my love, to a mare of Pharaoh's chariots.
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My true love, I compare you to a mare among Pharaoh's stallions.
10 Your cheeks are comely with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.
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Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with strings of pearls.
11 We will make you ornaments of gold, studded with silver.
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We will make gold ornaments with silver beads for you.
12 While the king was on his couch, my nard gave forth its fragrance.
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While the king is at his table, my perfume fills the air with its fragrance.
13 My beloved is to me a bag of myrrh, that lies between my breasts.
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My beloved is a pouch of myrrh that lies at night between my breasts.
14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of Enge'di.
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My beloved is a bouquet of henna flowers in the vineyards of En Gedi.
15 Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves.
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Look at you! You are beautiful, my true love! Look at you! You are so beautiful! Your eyes are like doves!
16 Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly lovely. Our couch is green;
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Look at you! You are handsome, my beloved, so pleasing to me! The leaf-scattered ground will be our couch.
17 the beams of our house are cedar, our rafters are pine.
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The cedars will be the walls of our house. The cypress trees will be our rafters.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.