Song of Solomon 1

Modern

Literal

The Bride Confesses Her Love

¹This is Solomon’s Song of Songs.^a

¹The Song of Songs that is of Solomon.

The Bride

²Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!

For your love is more delightful than wine.

²Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine.

³The fragrance of your perfume is pleasing;

your name is like perfume poured out.

No wonder the maidens adore you.

³Your oils are good for fragrance; your name is oil poured out; upon thus the maidens love you.

The Friends

The Bride

⁴Take me away with you—let us hurry!

May the king bring me to his chambers.

We will rejoice and delight in you;

we will praise your love more than wine.

It is only right that they adore you.

⁴Draw me after you, let us run! The king has brought me into his chambers. We will rejoice and will be glad in you; we will cause your love to be remembered more than wine; rightly do they love you.

⁵I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem,

like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.

⁵Black am I, and lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.

⁶Do not stare because I am dark,

for the sun has gazed upon me.

My mother’s sons were angry with me;

they made me a keeper of the vineyards,

but my own vineyard I have neglected.

⁶Do not look at me because I am black, for the sun has gazed upon me. The sons of my mother were hot with me; they set me keeping the vineyards; my own vineyard I have not kept.

⁷Tell me, O one I love,

where do you pasture your sheep?

Where do you rest them at midday?

Why should I be like a veiled woman

beside the flocks of your companions?

⁷Declare to me, O one my soul loves, where do you pasture, where do you let them rest at midday? For why should I be as one veiling herself to go alongside the flocks of your companions?

The Friends

⁸If you do not know, O fairest of women,

follow the tracks of the flock,

and graze your young goats

near the tents of the shepherds.

⁸If you do not know it for yourself, O fairest among the women, go forth yourself in the tracks of the flock, and pasture your young goats beside the tents of the shepherds.

The Bridegroom

⁹I compare you, my darling,

to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.

⁹To a mare among the chariots of Pharaoh I have likened you, my darling.

¹⁰Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments,

your neck with strings of jewels.

¹⁰Lovely are your cheeks with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.

The Friends

¹¹We will make you ornaments of gold,

studded with beads of silver.

¹¹Ornaments of gold we will make for you, with studs of silver.

The Bride

¹²While the king was at his table,

my perfume spread its fragrance.

¹²While the king was at his table, my spikenard gave forth its fragrance.

¹³My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh

resting between my breasts.

¹³A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me; between my breasts it lodges.

¹⁴My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms

in the vineyards of En-gedi.

¹⁴A cluster of henna blossoms is my beloved to me in the vineyards of En-gedi.

The Bridegroom

¹⁵How beautiful you are, my darling!

Oh, how very beautiful!

Your eyes are like doves.

¹⁵Behold, you are beautiful, my darling, behold, you are beautiful! Your eyes are doves.

The Bride

¹⁶How handsome you are, my beloved!

Oh, how delightful!

The soft grass is our bed.

¹⁶Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly lovely indeed! Our bed is green.

The Bridegroom

¹⁷The beams of our house are cedars;

our rafters are fragrant firs.

¹⁷The beams of our house are cedars, our rafters are firs.