Song of Solomon 3-4

Song of Solomon 3

¹On my bed at night I sought the one I love; I sought him, but did not find him.

²I will arise now and go about the city, through the streets and squares. I will seek the one I love. So I sought him but did not find him.

³I encountered the watchmen on their rounds of the city: “Have you seen the one I love?”

⁴I had just passed them when I found the one I love. I held him and would not let go until I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the chamber of the one who conceived me.

⁵O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.

⁶Who is this coming up from the wilderness like a column of smoke, scented with myrrh and frankincense from all the spices of the merchant?

⁷Behold, it is Solomon’s carriage, escorted by sixty of the mightiest men of Israel.

⁸All are skilled with the sword, experienced in warfare. Each has his sword at his side prepared for the terror of the night.

⁹King Solomon has made his carriage out of the timber of Lebanon.

¹⁰He has made its posts of silver, its base of gold, its seat of purple fabric. Its interior is inlaid with love by the daughters of Jerusalem.

¹¹Come out, O daughters of Zion, and gaze at King Solomon, wearing the crown his mother bestowed on the day of his wedding— the day of his heart’s rejoicing.

Song of Solomon 4

¹How beautiful you are, my darling— how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead.

²Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep coming up from the washing; each has its twin, and not one of them is lost.

³Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon, and your mouth is lovely. Your brow behind your veil is like a slice of pomegranate.

⁴Your neck is like the tower of David, built with rows of stones; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors.

⁵Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle grazing among the lilies.

⁶Before the day breaks and the shadows flee, I will make my way to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense.

⁷You are altogether beautiful, my darling; in you there is no flaw.

⁸Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon! Descend from the peak of Amana, from the summits of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of the lions, from the mountains of the leopards.

⁹You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your neck.

¹⁰How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! Your love is much better than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than all spices.

¹¹Your lips, my bride, drip sweetness like the honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue, and the fragrance of your garments is like the aroma of Lebanon.

¹²My sister, my bride, you are a garden locked up, a spring enclosed, a fountain sealed.

¹³Your branches are an orchard of pomegranates with the choicest of fruits, with henna and nard,

¹⁴with nard and saffron, with calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of frankincense tree, with myrrh and aloes, with all the finest spices.

¹⁵You are a garden spring, a well of fresh water flowing down from Lebanon.

¹⁶Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind. Breathe on my garden and spread the fragrance of its spices. Let my beloved come into his garden and taste its choicest fruits.