AFV2020 - Song of Solomon

Chapter 1

1:1  The song of songs, which is Solomon's.

1:2  Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth; for Your love is better than wine.

1:3  For Your ointments have a lovely fragrance; Your name is as ointment poured out; therefore the maidens love You.

1:4  Draw me, we will run after You. The King has brought me into his chambers; we will be glad and rejoice in You, we will praise Your love more than wine; the upright love You.

1:5  I am dark tan, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.

1:6  Do not look on me scornfully because I am dark tan, 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.

1:7  Tell me, You Whom my soul loves, where do You feed, where do You make Your flock to rest at noon? For why should I be as one who veils herself beside the flocks of Your companions?

1:8  If you know not, O most beautiful among women, follow in the footsteps of the flock; and feed your kids beside the shepherds' tents.

1:9  O My love, I have compared you to My mare among Pharaoh's chariots.

1:10  Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.

1:11  We will make you ornaments of gold with studs of silver.

1:12  While the King is at his table, my perfume gives its fragrance.

1:13  My Beloved is to me like a bag of myrrh that lies between my breasts.

1:14  My Beloved is to me like a cluster of henna flowers in the vineyards of En Gedi.

1:15  Behold, you are beautiful, My love; behold, you are beautiful; you have doves' eyes.

1:16  Behold, You are beautiful, my Beloved, yea, pleasant. Also our bed is luxuriant.

1:17  The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters are of fir.

Chapter 2

2:1  I am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valleys.

2:2  As the lily among thorns, so is My love among the daughters.

2:3  As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved among the young men. I sat down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste.

2:4  He brought me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me was love.

2:5  Sustain me with raisin cakes, comfort me with apples, for I am sick with love.

2:6  His left hand is under my head, and His right hand embraces me.

2:7  I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles, and by the does of the field, do not stir up or awake love until it pleases.

2:8  The voice of my Beloved! Behold, He comes leaping on the mountains, skipping on the hills.

2:9  My Beloved is like a gazelle or a young hart. Behold, He stands behind our wall, He looks in through the windows, peers through the lattice.

2:10  My Beloved spoke, and said to me, "Rise up, My love, My beautiful one, and come away.

2:11  For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.

2:12  The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land;

2:13  The fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines in blossom give forth their fragrance. Arise, My love, My beautiful one, and come away.

2:14  O My dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let Me see your face, let Me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your countenance is beautiful."

2:15  Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines; for our vines are in blossom.

2:16  My Beloved is mine, and I am His; He feeds among the lilies.

2:17  Until the day break and the shadows flee away, turn, my Beloved, and be like a gazelle, or a young stag, upon the mountains of spices.

Chapter 3

3:1  By night on my bed I sought Him Whom my soul loved; I sought Him, but I did not find Him.

3:2  I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the broad ways; I will seek Him Whom my soul loves. I sought Him, but I did not find Him.

3:3  The watchmen going about the city found me. I said, "Have you seen Him Whom my soul loves?"

3:4  But a little while after I passed from them, I found Him Whom my soul loves. I held Him and would not let Him go, until I had brought Him into my mother's house, and into the room of her who conceived me.

3:5  I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles, and by the does of the field, do not stir up nor awake love until it pleases.

3:6  Who is this coming up out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, from all the merchant's fragrant powders?

3:7  Behold his carriage, Solomon's! Sixty mighty men are around it, of Israel's mighty men.

3:8  They all hold swords, being experts in war; each man has his sword on his thigh guarding against the terrors of the night.

3:9  King Solomon made himself a royal chariot of Lebanon's trees.

3:10  He made its poles of silver, its back gold, its seat of purple, the inside of it was inlaid with love by the daughters of Jerusalem.

3:11  Go forth, O daughters of Zion, and gaze upon King Solomon with the crown with which his mother crowned him on his wedding day, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.

Chapter 4

4:1  Behold, you are beautiful, My love. Behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are like doves' from behind your veil; your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead.

4:2  Your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep, which came up from the washing; they all are paired and not one is missing among them.

4:3  Your lips are like a cord of scarlet, and your mouth is lovely; your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil.

4:4  Your neck is like the tower of David built with turrets, on which there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.

4:5  Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, feeding among the lilies.

4:6  Until the day breaks, and the shadows flee away, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense.

4:7  You are all fair, My love; no blemish is in you.

4:8  Come with Me from Lebanon, My bride; with Me from Lebanon. Look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards.

4:9  You ravished My heart, My dearly beloved , My bride, you ravished My heart with one look of your eyes, with one chain of your necklace.

4:10  How fair is your love, My dearly beloved, My bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the smell of your ointments than all manner of spices!

4:11  Your lips, My bride, drop sweetness like the honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue; and the scent of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon.

4:12  An enclosed garden is My dearly beloved, My bride; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.

4:13  Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; with henna and spikenard,

4:14  Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices;

4:15  You are a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and flowing streams from Lebanon.

4:16  Awake, O north wind; and come, south wind; blow upon my garden, so that the spices of it may flow out. Let my Beloved come into His garden and eat His pleasant fruits.

Chapter 5

5:1  I have come into My garden, My dearly beloved, My bride; I have gathered My myrrh with My spice; I have eaten My honeycomb with My honey; I have drunk My wine with My milk. Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O Beloved.

5:2  I sleep, but my heart is awake. Hark! My Beloved knocks, saying, "Open to Me, My dearly beloved, My love, My dove, My undefiled; for My head is filled with dew, My locks with the moisture of the night."

5:3  I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on again? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?

5:4  My Beloved put in His hand by the latchet of the door, and my heart was thrilled within me for Him.

5:5  I rose up to open for my Beloved; and my hands dripped with myrrh, and my fingers flowing with myrrh on the handles of the lock.

5:6  I opened for my Beloved, but my Beloved had turned away and was gone. My soul failed me when He spoke; I sought Him, but I could not find Him. I called Him, but He did not answer me.

5:7  The watchmen who went about the city found me and struck me; they wounded me. The keepers of the wall took away my cloak from me.

5:8  I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my Beloved, what will you tell Him? That I am sick with love.

5:9  What is your Beloved more than another beloved, O most beautiful among women? What is your Beloved more than another beloved, that you adjure us so?

5:10  My Beloved is shimmering and ruddy, preeminent above ten thousand.

5:11  His head is like refined gold; His locks are curly, black as a raven.

5:12  His eyes are like doves, beside streams of water, bathed in milk, and fitly set.

5:13  His cheeks are like a bed of spices, towers of sweet aromatic herbs. His lips are as lilies dripping with flowing myrrh.

5:14  His hands are like rods of gold set with beryl; His body is as polished ivory overlaid with sapphires.

5:15  His legs are like pillars of marble set on sockets of fine gold; His appearance is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.

5:16  His mouth is most sweet; yea, He is altogether lovely. This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

Chapter 6

6:1  Where has your Beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Where has your Beloved turned aside, that we may seek Him along with you?

6:2  My Beloved has gone down to His garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens and to gather lilies.

6:3  I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine; He feeds among the lilies.

6:4  O My love, you are as beautiful as Tirzah, as lovely as Jerusalem, as awesome as an army with banners.

6:5  Turn away your eyes from Me, for they have overcome Me; your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Gilead.

6:6  Your teeth are like a flock of ewes which have come up from the washing; they all are paired and not one is missing among them.

6:7  Your temples behind your veil are like a pomegranate split open.

6:8  There are sixty queens, and eighty concubines, and virgins without number.

6:9  But My dove, My undefiled is one alone. She is the only one of her mother. She is the choice of her who bore her. The daughters saw her and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines saw her, and they praised her.

6:10  Who is she who appears like the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, awesome as an army with banners?

6:11  I went down into the garden of nuts to see the green plants of the valley, to see whether the vine flowered and the pomegranates had blossomed.

6:12  Before I was aware, my soul set me upon the chariots of my princely people.

6:13  Return, return, O Shulamite! Return, return, that we may look upon you. What will you see in the Shulamite—as it were a dance before two companies?

Chapter 7

7:1  How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O prince's daughter! The curves of your thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a skillful workman.

7:2  Your navel is like a round goblet, which never lacks mixed wine; your belly is like a heap of wheat set about with lilies.

7:3  Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle.

7:4  Your neck is like a tower of ivory; your eyes like pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Beth Rabbim; your nose is like the tower of Lebanon which looks toward Damascus.

7:5  Your head upon you is like Carmel, and the hair of your head like purple tapestry; the King is held captive in its tresses.

7:6  How beautiful and how pleasant you are, O love, for delights!

7:7  Your stature is like a palm tree, and your breasts are like clusters of grapes.

7:8  I said, "I will go up into the palm tree, I will take hold of its branches." And please let your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the smell of your countenance like apples;

7:9  And the roof of your mouth like the best wine. The wine glides down smoothly for my Beloved, moving gently over the lips of those who are sleeping.

7:10  I am my Beloved's, and His desire is toward me.

7:11  Come, my Beloved, let us go out into the field; let us lodge in the villages.

7:12  Let us rise up early to the vineyards; let us see whether the vine has budded, whether the tender grape appears, and the pomegranates bud forth; there I will give You my love.

7:13  The mandrakes give a scent, and over our doors are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for You, O my Beloved.

Chapter 8

8:1  Oh that you were as my brother, who sucked my mother's breasts? When I find You outside, I would kiss You; yea, none would despise me.

8:2  I would lead You, and bring You into my mother's house. You would instruct me; I would cause You to drink spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate.

8:3  His left hand would be under my head, and His right handwould embrace me.

8:4  I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, why should you stir up or awaken love until it pleases?

8:5  Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her Beloved? I awakened you under the apple tree; there your mother was in travail with you; there she was in travail and brought you forth.

8:6  Set me as a seal on Your heart, as a seal on Your arm; for love is as strong as death. Jealousy is cruel as the grave; its flashes are flashes of fire, a very flame of the LORD.

8:7  Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the rivers overflow it. If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be scorned.

8:8  We have a little sister, and she has no breasts; what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?

8:9  If she is a wall, we will build upon her a turret of silver; and if she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar.

8:10  I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers; thus I have become in His eyes as one finding peace.

8:11  Solomon had a vineyard in Baal Hamon; he let out the vineyard to keepers; everyone for its fruit was to bring a thousand pieces of silver.

8:12  My vineyard, which is mine, is before me; you, O Solomon, shall have the thousand, and for the keepers of its fruit, two hundred.

8:13  You who dwell in the gardens, the companions listen for your voice—cause Me to hear it!

8:14  Hurry, my Beloved, and be like a gazelle, or a young deer, the stag, on the mountains of spices.