Song I.
Bride.
Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth,
For thy love is better than wine;
Because of the savour of thy good ointments,
(Thy name is as ointment poured forth),
Therefore do the virgins love Thee.
Draw me, we will run after Thee:
The King hath brought me into His chambers,
We will exult and rejoice in Thee,
We will celebrate Thy love as better than wine;
The upright love Thee.
Song II.
Bride.
I am black yet comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem,
As the tents of Kedar—as the curtains of Solomon;
Look not upon me because I am black,
Because the sun hath looked upon me,
My mother’s children were angry with me,
They made me keeper of the vineyards,
I have not kept the vineyard which belongs to myself.
Song III.
Bride.
Tell me, O Thou whom my soul loveth, where Thou feedest?
Where thou makest Thy flock to rest at noon?
For why should I be as one that is veiled
By the flocks of thy companions.
Bridegroom.
If thou know not, 0 thou fairest among women,
Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock,
And feed thy kids
By the tents of the shepherds.
Song IV.
Bridegroom.
Unto a company of horses in the chariots of Pharoah
Have I likened thee, O my love.
Thy cheeks are comely with rows;
Thy neck with strings of pearls,
Rows of gold we will make for thee
With studs of silver.
Bride.
While the King is in the company
My spikenard sendeth forth its savour;
A bundle of myrrh is my Beloved unto me,
Between-my breasts He shall lie all night.
A cluster of cyprus-grapes is my beloved unto me
In the vine-yards of Engedi.
Bridegroom.
Behold thou art fair, my love,
Behold thou art fair, thine eyes are doves,
Bride.
Behold thou art fair, my Beloved, ye pleasant,
Also our couch is of verdant green,
The rafters of our house are cedar,
Our ceiling is cypress.
Bridegroom.
I am the rose of Sharon,
The lily of the vallies;
As the lily among the thorns,
So is my love among the daughters.
Bride
As the citron tree among the trees of the wood,
So is my beloved among the sons.
In His shadow I delighted and laid myself down,
And His fruit was sweet to my taste;
He brought me into the house of wine,
And His banner over me was love.
Stay me with wine-cups,
Strew the citrons round me,
For I am sick of love.
His left hand is under my head,
And His right hand doth embrace me.
Bridegroom.
I charge ye, O ye daughters of Jerusalem,
As with the gazelles or with the hinds of the field,
That ye stir not up nor awake
The love until she please.
Song V.
Bride.
The voice of my Beloved! Behold it is He;
He cometh bounding upon the mountains,
Leaping upon the hills:
My Beloved is like a gazelle,
Or a young hart;
Behold it is He! He standeth behind our wall,
Looking forth from the windows,
Flourishing from behind the lattices.
My Beloved answered and said to me,
“Arise, my love, my fair one,
And come away.
For lo! the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone,
The flowers appear in the earth,
The time of the singing of birds is come,
And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land,
The figtree hath embalmed her first-ripe figs,
And the vines—the tender grapes—give a good smell,
Arise, my love, my fair one,
And come away.”
Song VI.
Bridegroom.
O my dove in the clefts of the rock,
In the secret places of the cliffs,
Let me see thy countenance,
Let me hear thy voice,
For thy voice is sweet,
And thy countenance comely.
Take for us the foxes,
The little foxes that spoil the vineyards,
Even our vineyards with tender grapes.
Song VII.
Bride.
My Beloved is mine and I am His,
He feedeth among the lilies,
Until the day breathe and the shadows flee away.
Turn, my Beloved, be like a gazelle,
Or a young hart,
Upon the mountains of Bether.
Song VIII.
Bride.
Upon my bed, by night,
I sought Him whom my soul loveth,
I sought Him, but I found Him not.
I will arise now and go round and round
In the city, in the streets and in the spacious places,
I will seek Him whom my soul loveth,
I sought Him, but I found Him not.
The watchmen that go about the city found me,
“Him whom my soul loveth have ye seen?”
It was but a little while after I had passed them
Till I found Him whom my soul loveth.
I held Him fast and I would not let Him go,
Until that I had brought Him into the house of my mother,
And into the chamber of her that conceived me.
Bridegroom.
I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem,
As to the gazelles and to the hinds of the field,
That ye stir not up nor awake
The love until she please.
Song IX.
Spectator At A Distance
Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness,
Like pillars of smoke,
Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
With all powders of the merchant?
Behold it is his bed—even Solomon’s,
Sixty valiant men are round about it
Of the valiant of Israel.
All of them hold swords, being expert in war,
Each man has his sword by his side, because of fear in the night.
King Solomon made a bridal-car
Of the wood of Lebanon,
The pillars thereof he made of silver,
The covering of gold,
The couch of purple,
The middle thereof being embroidered with love by the daughters of Jerusalem.
Go forth, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, and behold King Solomon
“With the crown wherewith his mother crowned him
In the day of his espousals
And in the day of the gladness of his heart.
Song X.
Bridegroom.
Behold thou art fair, my love, Behold thou art fair,
Thou hast dove’s eyes behind thy veil,
Thy hair is like a flock of goats
That glisten from mount Gilead;
Thy teeth are like even-shorn sheep
Which go up from the washing,
All of them having twins,
And not one barren among them.
Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet,
And thy speech is comely;
Like a piece of pomegranate are thy cheeks behind thy veil;
Thy neck is like the tower of David
Built for an Armoury,
Upon it hang a thousand bucklers,
All shields of valiant men.
Thy two breasts are like two young twins of a gazelle feeding among lilies.
Until the day breathe and the shadows flee away
I will get me to the mountain of myrrh,
And to the hill of frankincense.
Song XI.
Bridegroom.
Thou art all fair my love,
And there is no spot in thee.
Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse,
With me from Lebanon.
Take a view from the top of Amuna,
Prom the top of Shorin and Hermon,
From the lion’s dens, from the mountains of the leopards.
Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse,
Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes,
With one chain of thy neck.
How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse,
How much better is thy love than wine,
And the smell of thine ointments than all perfumes,
Thy lips, O my spouse, distil honeycombs,
Honey and milk are under thy tongue,
And the smell of thy garments is as the smell of Lebanon.
Song XII.
Bridegroom.
A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse,
A spring enclosed, a fountain sealed.
Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates
With precious fruits.
Henna with spikenard,
Spikenard and crocus, calamus and cinnamon,
With all trees of frankincense;
Myrrh and aloes,
With all the choicest perfumes.
A fountain of gardens,
A well of living waters,
And streams from Lebanon.
Bride.
Awake, O north wind, and come thou south wind,
Breathe upon my garden that the perfumes thereof may flow abroad,
Let my beloved come into His garden
And eat His precious fruits.
Bridegroom.
I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse,
I have gathered my myrrh with my perfumes,
I have eaten my honey-comb with my honey,
I have drunk my wine with my milk;
Eat, O friends—drink,
Yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.
Song XIII.
Bride.
I was sleeping but my heart was awake,
I heard the voice of my beloved when He knocked:
Bridegroom.
“Open unto me, my sister,
My love, my dove, my undefiled,
For my head is filled with dew,
And my locks with the drops of the night.”
Bride.
I have put off my coat,
Why should I put it on?
I have washed my feet,
Why should I soil them?
My beloved put in His hand through the hole of the lock,
And my bowels were moved for Him.
I arose to open to my beloved,
And my hands dropt myrrh,
And my fingers the purest myrrh
Upon the handles of the lock.
I opened to my beloved,
But my beloved had withdrawn Himself and was gone,
My soul had gone forth at His words;
I sought Him, but I found Him not,
I called Him, but He gave me no answer.
The watchmen that go about the city found me,
They smote me, they wounded me,
The keepers of the walls despoiled me of my upper robe,
I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem,
If ye find my beloved,
That ye tell Him that I am sick of love.
Daughters of Jerusalem
What is thy beloved more than another beloved,
O thou fairest among women?
What is thy beloved more than another beloved that thou dost so charge us.
Bride.
My beloved is white and ruddy,
Distinguished among ten thousand;
His head is the most fine gold,
His locks are flowing and black as the raven,
His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters,
Washed with milk and fitly set.
His cheeks are as beds of perfume,
Raised plots of aromatics,
His lips are as lilies dropping the purest myrrh,
His hands are as gold rings
Set with the topaz;
His belly is of wrought ivory
Inlaid with sapphires;
His legs are as pillars of marble
Set upon sockets of fine gold;
His countenance is like Lebanon,
Comely as the cedars;
His mouth is most sweet—yea He is altogether lovely:
This is my beloved and this is my friend, O Daughters of Jerusalem.
Daughters of Jerusalem
Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women,
Whither is thy beloved turned aside, that we may seek Him with thee.
My beloved is gone down to His garden, to the beds of spices,
To feed in the gardens and to gather lilies;
I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,
He feedeth among the lilies.
Song XIV.
Bridegroom.
Thou art beautiful, my beloved, as Tirza,
Comely as Jerusalem;
Terrible as an army with banners.
Turn away thine eyes from me
For they have overcome me.
Thy hair is like a flock of goats,
Which glisten from mount Gilead,
Thy teeth are like’ a flock of sheep
Which go up from the washing,
All of them having twins,
And not one barren among them.
Thy cheeks are like a piece of pomegranate
Behind thy veil.
There are three score queens,
And four score concubines,
And virgins without number;
My dove—my undefiled—she is one,
She is the one of her mother, [her;
She is the unspotted one of her that bare
The daughters saw her and blessed her,
The queens and the concubines, and they praised her.
Song XV.
Spectators.
Who is this that looketh forth as the morning.
Fair as the moon, bright as the sun,
Terrible as an army with banners?
I went down to the garden of nuts,
To look upon the verdure of the valley,
To see whether the vine flourished,
Whether the pomegranates budded;
Ere even I was aware
My soul was as the chariots of Ammadib.
Song XVI.
Return, return O Shulamite,
Return, return that we may look upon thee.
What will ye look upon in the Shulamite?
As it were the dancing of two companies.
How beautiful are thy feet with shoes,
O prince’s daughter,
The circuits of thy thighs are like engraved ornaments,—
The handy work of a skilful workman;
Thy navel is a round goblet
Replenished with mixed wine;
Thy belly is a heap of wheat encompassed with lilies;
Thy two breasts are as two young antelopes
Twins of their mother;
Thy neck is as a tower of ivory;
Thine eyes the pools in Heshbon,
By the gate of Bath-rabbim.
Thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon
Looking towards Damascus;
Thy head upon thee is like Carmel,
And the hair of thy head like royal purple,
Bound in braided locks.
How fair and how pleasant
My love for delights!
This thy stature is like to the palmtree,
And thy breasts like clusters;
I said I will go up to the palmtree,
I will take hold of the boughs thereof.
Now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine
And the smell of thy nose like citrons;
And the roof of thy mouth like excellent wine,
Going down smoothly for my beloved,
Causing the lips of them that are asleep to speak.
Song XVII.
Bride.
I am my beloved’s, and His desire is towards me,
Come, my beloved, let us forth into the field,
Let us lodge in the villages,
Let us get up early to the vineyards,
Let us see if the vine flourish,
Whether the vine blossom be opening,
Whether the pomegranates bud forth;
There will I give thee my love.
The mandrakes give a smell,
And at our door are all manner of precious fruits,
New and old, which for thee, my beloved,
I have laid up in store.
Song XVIII.
Bride.
O that thou wert as my brother
Sucking the breasts of my mother,
When I should find Thee without, I would keep Thee.
Yea none should despise me.
I would lead Thee—I would bring thee
Into the house of my mother that bare me.
I would give Thee to drink spiced wine
Of the juice of my pomegranate.
His left hand is under my head,
And His right hand doth embrace me.
Bridegroom.
I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem,
That ye stir not up nor awake
My love until she please.
Song XIX.
Spectator.
Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness
Leaning upon her beloved?
Bride.
Under the citron-tree have I raised Thee up,
There my mother brought Thee forth,
There she brought Thee forth that bare Thee.
Set me as a seal upon thine heart,
As a seal upon thine arm,
For love is strong as death,
Jealousy is cruel as the grave,
The coals thereof are coals of fire,
Which have a most vehement heat.
Many waters cannot quench love,
Nor the floods drown it,
If a man should give all the substance of his house for love,
It would be utterly despised.
Song XX.
We have a little sister,
And she hath no breasts;
What shall be done for our sister
In the day when she shall be spoken for?
If she be a wall,
We will build upon her a palace of silver.
And if she be a door,
We will enclose her with boards of cedar.
I am a wall and my breasts like towers,
Then I had become in His sight as one that found favour.
Song XXI.
Solomon had a vineyard in Baalhamon,
He let out the vineyard to keepers.
Each man should give for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver.
My own vineyard is before me.
Thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand,
And the keepers of the fruit two hundred.
Song XXII.
Bridegroom.
O thou that dwellest in the gardens,
The companions hearken to thy voice,
Cause me to hear it.
Bride
Flee, my beloved,
And be like a gazelle or young hind
Upon the mountains of spices.