Song of Solomon 1-2

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1 The song of songs, which is Solomon’s.

The Banquet

The Shulamite

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

For your love is better than wine.

3 Because of the fragrance of your good ointments,

Your name is ointment poured forth;

Therefore the virgins love you.

4 Draw me away!

The Daughters of Jerusalem

We will run after you.

The Shulamite

The king has brought me into his chambers.

The Daughters of Jerusalem

We will be glad and rejoice in you.

We will remember your love more than wine.

The Shulamite

Rightly do they love you.

5 I am dark, but lovely,

O daughters of Jerusalem,

Like the tents of Kedar,

Like the curtains of Solomon.

6 Do not look upon me, because I am dark,

Because the sun has tanned me.

My mother’s sons were angry with me;

They made me the keeper of the vineyards,

But my own vineyard I have not kept.

(To Her Beloved)

7 Tell me, O you whom I love,

Where you feed your flock,

Where you make it rest at noon.

For why should I be as one who veils herself

By the flocks of your companions?

The Beloved

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

Follow in the footsteps of the flock,

And feed your little goats

Beside the shepherds’ tents.

9 I have compared you, my love,

To my filly among Pharaoh’s chariots.

10 Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,

Your neck with chains of gold.

The Daughters of Jerusalem

11 We will make you ornaments of gold

With studs of silver.

The Shulamite

12 While the king is at his table,

My spikenard sends forth its fragrance.

13 A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me,

That lies all night between my breasts.

14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blooms

In the vineyards of En Gedi.

The Beloved

15 Behold, you are fair, my love!

Behold, you are fair!

You have dove’s eyes.

The Shulamite

16 Behold, you are handsome, my beloved!

Yes, pleasant!

Also our bed is green.

17 The beams of our houses are cedar,

And our rafters of fir.

2 I am the rose of Sharon,

And the lily of the valleys.

The Beloved

2 Like a lily among thorns,

So is my love among the daughters.

The Shulamite

3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the woods,

So is my beloved among the sons.

I sat down in his shade with great delight,

And his fruit was sweet to my taste.

The Shulamite to the Daughters of Jerusalem

4 He brought me to the banqueting house,

And his banner over me was love.

5 Sustain me with cakes of raisins,

Refresh me with apples,

For I am lovesick.

6 His left hand is under my head,

And his right hand embraces me.

7 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

By the gazelles or by the does of the field,

Do not stir up nor awaken love

Until it pleases.

The Beloved’s Request

The Shulamite

8 The voice of my beloved!

Behold, he comes

Leaping upon the mountains,

Skipping upon the hills.

9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.

Behold, he stands behind our wall;

He is looking through the windows,

Gazing through the lattice.

10 My beloved spoke, and said to me:

“Rise up, my love, my fair one,

And come away.

11 For lo, the winter is past,

The rain is over and gone.

12 The flowers appear on the earth;

The time of singing has come,

And the voice of the turtledove

Is heard in our land.

13 The fig tree puts forth her green figs,

And the vines with the tender grapes

Give a good smell.

Rise up, my love, my fair one,

And come away!

14 “O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,

In the secret places of the cliff,

Let me see your face,

Let me hear your voice;

For your voice is sweet,

And your face is lovely.”

Her Brothers

15 Catch us the foxes,

The little foxes that spoil the vines,

For our vines have tender grapes.

The Shulamite

16 My beloved is mine, and I am his.

He feeds his flock among the lilies.

(To Her Beloved)

17 Until the day breaks

And the shadows flee away,

Turn, my beloved,

And be like a gazelle

Or a young stag

Upon the mountains of Bether.

 The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), So 1:1–2:17.