1The most beautiful song, written by Solomon.
We must sing about your love for me
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.’
I am dark, but I am beautiful
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.’
Let the goats stay in the field near the tents of the shepherds
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.’
You have ear-rings in your ears
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.’
When the king comes near
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.’