Song of Solomon 1 (GW) (2024)

1The most beautiful song of Solomon.

The Young Woman Arrives in Solomon’s Palace

[ BRIDE ]

²Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.
Your expressions of love are better than wine,
³better than the fragrance of cologne.
(Cologne should be named after you.)
No wonder the young women love you!
⁴Take me with you. Let’s run away.
The king has brought me into his private rooms.

[ THE CHORUS OF YOUNG WOMEN ]

We will celebrate and rejoice with you.
We will praise your expressions of love more than wine.
How right it is that the young women love you!

[ BRIDE ]

⁵Young women of Jerusalem, I am dark and lovely
like Kedar’s tents,
like Solomon’s curtains.
⁶Stop staring at me because I am so dark.
The sun has tanned me.
My brothers were angry with me.
They made me the caretaker of the vineyards.
I have not even taken care of my own vineyard.
⁷Please tell me, you whom I love, where do you graze your flock?
Where does your flock lie down at noon?
⌞Tell me,⌟ or I will be considered a prostitute
⌞wandering⌟ among the flocks of your companions.

[ THE CHORUS OF YOUNG WOMEN ]

⁸If you do not know, most beautiful of women,
follow the tracks of the flocks,
and graze your young goats near the shepherds’ tents.

Solomon Searches for the Young Woman’s Love

[ GROOM ]

⁹My true love, I compare you to a mare among Pharaoh’s stallions.
¹⁰Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
your neck with strings of pearls.

[ THE CHORUS OF YOUNG WOMEN ]

¹¹We will make gold ornaments with silver beads for you.

[ BRIDE ]

¹²While the king is at his table,
my perfume fills the air with its fragrance.
¹³My beloved is a pouch of myrrh ^[a]
that lies at night between my breasts.
¹⁴My beloved is a bouquet of henna flowers
in the vineyards of En Gedi.

[ GROOM ]

¹⁵Look at you! You are beautiful, my true love!
Look at you! You are so beautiful!
Your eyes are like doves!

[ BRIDE ]

¹⁶Look at you! You are handsome, my beloved, so pleasing to me!
The leaf-scattered ground will be our couch.
¹⁷The cedars will be the walls of our house.
The cypress trees will be our rafters.

Solomon’s Love for a Shulamite Girl

1The ^(A)song of songs, which is Solomon’s.

The Banquet

The ^[a]Shulamite

²Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
^(B)For ^[b]your love is better than wine.
³Because of the fragrance of your good ointments,
Your name is ointment poured forth;
Therefore the virgins love you.
^4(C)Draw me away!

The Daughters of Jerusalem

^(D)We will run after ^[c]you.

The Shulamite

The king ^(E)has brought me into his chambers.

The Daughters of Jerusalem

We will be glad and rejoice in ^[d]you.

We will remember your love more than wine.

The Shulamite

Rightly do they love you.

⁵I am dark, but lovely,
O daughters of Jerusalem,
Like the tents of Kedar,
Like the curtains of Solomon.
⁶Do not look upon me, because I am dark,
Because the sun has ^[e]tanned me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
They made me the keeper of the vineyards,
But my own ^(F)vineyard I have not kept.

(To Her Beloved)

⁷Tell 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 ^[f]veils herself
By the flocks of your companions?

The Beloved

⁸If you do not know, ^(G)O fairest among women,
^[g]Follow in the footsteps of the flock,
And feed your little goats
Beside the shepherds’ tents.
⁹I have compared you, ^(H)my love,
^(I)To my filly among Pharaoh’s chariots.
^10(J)Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
Your neck with chains of gold.

The Daughters of Jerusalem

¹¹We will make ^[h]you ornaments of gold
With studs of silver.

The Shulamite

¹²While the king is at his table,
My ^[i]spikenard sends forth its fragrance.
¹³A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me,
That lies all night between my breasts.
¹⁴My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blooms
In the vineyards of En Gedi.

The Beloved

^15(K)Behold, you are fair, ^[j]my love!
Behold, you are fair!
You have dove’s eyes.

The Shulamite

¹⁶Behold, you are ^(L)handsome, my beloved!
Yes, pleasant!
Also our ^[k]bed is green.
¹⁷The beams of our houses are cedar,
And our rafters of fir.

1The most beautiful song of Solomon.

The Young Woman Arrives in Solomon’s Palace

[ BRIDE ]

²Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.
Your expressions of love are better than wine,
³better than the fragrance of cologne.
(Cologne should be named after you.)
No wonder the young women love you!
⁴Take me with you. Let’s run away.
The king has brought me into his private rooms.

[ THE CHORUS OF YOUNG WOMEN ]

We will celebrate and rejoice with you.
We will praise your expressions of love more than wine.
How right it is that the young women love you!

[ BRIDE ]

⁵Young women of Jerusalem, I am dark and lovely
like Kedar’s tents,
like Solomon’s curtains.
⁶Stop staring at me because I am so dark.
The sun has tanned me.
My brothers were angry with me.
They made me the caretaker of the vineyards.
I have not even taken care of my own vineyard.
⁷Please tell me, you whom I love, where do you graze your flock?
Where does your flock lie down at noon?
⌞Tell me,⌟ or I will be considered a prostitute
⌞wandering⌟ among the flocks of your companions.

[ THE CHORUS OF YOUNG WOMEN ]

⁸If you do not know, most beautiful of women,
follow the tracks of the flocks,
and graze your young goats near the shepherds’ tents.

Solomon Searches for the Young Woman’s Love

[ GROOM ]

⁹My true love, I compare you to a mare among Pharaoh’s stallions.
¹⁰Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
your neck with strings of pearls.

[ THE CHORUS OF YOUNG WOMEN ]

¹¹We will make gold ornaments with silver beads for you.

[ BRIDE ]

¹²While the king is at his table,
my perfume fills the air with its fragrance.
¹³My beloved is a pouch of myrrh ^[a]
that lies at night between my breasts.
¹⁴My beloved is a bouquet of henna flowers
in the vineyards of En Gedi.

[ GROOM ]

¹⁵Look at you! You are beautiful, my true love!
Look at you! You are so beautiful!
Your eyes are like doves!

[ BRIDE ]

¹⁶Look at you! You are handsome, my beloved, so pleasing to me!
The leaf-scattered ground will be our couch.
¹⁷The cedars will be the walls of our house.
The cypress trees will be our rafters.

Solomon’s Love for a Shulamite Girl

1The ^(A)song of songs, which is Solomon’s.

The Banquet

The ^[a]Shulamite

²Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
^(B)For ^[b]your love is better than wine.
³Because of the fragrance of your good ointments,
Your name is ointment poured forth;
Therefore the virgins love you.
^4(C)Draw me away!

The Daughters of Jerusalem

^(D)We will run after ^[c]you.

The Shulamite

The king ^(E)has brought me into his chambers.

The Daughters of Jerusalem

We will be glad and rejoice in ^[d]you.

We will remember your love more than wine.

The Shulamite

Rightly do they love you.

⁵I am dark, but lovely,
O daughters of Jerusalem,
Like the tents of Kedar,
Like the curtains of Solomon.
⁶Do not look upon me, because I am dark,
Because the sun has ^[e]tanned me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
They made me the keeper of the vineyards,
But my own ^(F)vineyard I have not kept.

(To Her Beloved)

⁷Tell 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 ^[f]veils herself
By the flocks of your companions?

The Beloved

⁸If you do not know, ^(G)O fairest among women,
^[g]Follow in the footsteps of the flock,
And feed your little goats
Beside the shepherds’ tents.
⁹I have compared you, ^(H)my love,
^(I)To my filly among Pharaoh’s chariots.
^10(J)Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
Your neck with chains of gold.

The Daughters of Jerusalem

¹¹We will make ^[h]you ornaments of gold
With studs of silver.

The Shulamite

¹²While the king is at his table,
My ^[i]spikenard sends forth its fragrance.
¹³A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me,
That lies all night between my breasts.
¹⁴My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blooms
In the vineyards of En Gedi.

The Beloved

^15(K)Behold, you are fair, ^[j]my love!
Behold, you are fair!
You have dove’s eyes.

The Shulamite

¹⁶Behold, you are ^(L)handsome, my beloved!
Yes, pleasant!
Also our ^[k]bed is green.
¹⁷The beams of our houses are cedar,
And our rafters of fir.