Song of Songs 1

₂She says:

‘He must kiss me,

and he must keep on kissing me.

Yes, you love me

and that is better than wine.

₃You smell wonderful,

like good olive oil.

When they say your name,

it is as wonderful as smelling perfume.

That is why the girls love you.

₄Please take me with you.

We must run away.

The king has taken me to his room.’

Their friends say:

‘We must rejoice,

we must show everyone that we are happy.

We must sing and say that you love each other.

It is better than wine.’

₅She says:

‘Girls of Jerusalem, I am dark,

but I am beautiful.

I am as beautiful

as the tents in the land of Kedar,

like the tents of Solomon.

₆You look at me because I am dark,

because the sun has burnt me.

Do not look at me like that.

My brothers were angry with me,

and they told me to look after the vineyards,

and that is why I could not take care of my vineyard.’

₇She says:

‘I love you.

Please tell me where your sheep and goats

stay in the field,

and where you let them rest when the day is hot.

I do not want to cover my face

and look for you where the sheep and goats

of your friends are.’

₈He says:

‘You are the most beautiful of all women.

If you don't know the way,

you must follow the path of the sheep

and you must let your goats

stay near the tents of the shepherds.’

₉He says:

‘My love, you are beautiful to me,

as beautiful as a mare

in front of Pharaoh's war-chariot.

₁₀You have ear-rings in your ears

next to your cheeks

and a small chain around your neck.

₁₁We will make ear-rings of gold for you,

gold with silver in it.’

₁₂She says:

‘When the king came near me,

he smelled my perfume.

₁₃The man that I love

is like a bag of myrrh between my breasts.

₁₄The man that I love

is like a bunch of henna flowers

in the vineyards of En-Gedi.’

₁₅He says:

‘My love, you are really beautiful.

You are really good to look at

and your eyes are beautiful like doves.’

₁₆She says:

‘Man that I love, you are also really beautiful.

You are good to look at

and we have a beautiful bed

under the green leaves.

₁₇The poles of our house

are made of cedar trees,

and the wood in our roof is from cypress trees.’