CHAPTER 1 **1** The song of songs, which _is_ Solomon’s. **2** Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love _is_ better than wine. **3** Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name _is as_ ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. **4** Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee. **5** I _am_ black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. **6** 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 the keeper of the vineyards; _but_ mine own vineyard have I not kept. **7** 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 turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? **8** ¶ If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents. **9** I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots. **10** Thy cheeks are comely with rows _of jewels_, thy neck with chains _of gold_. **11** We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver. **12** ¶ While the king _sitteth_ at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. **13** A bundle of myrrh _is_ my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. **14** My beloved _is_ unto me _as_ a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of En-gedi. **15** Behold, thou _art_ fair, my love; behold, thou _art_ fair; thou _hast_ doves’ eyes. **16** Behold, thou _art_ fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed _is_ green. **17** The beams of our house _are_ cedar, _and_ our rafters of fir. CHAPTER 2 **1** I _am_ the rose of Sharon, _and_ the lily of the valleys. **2** As the lily among thorns, so _is_ my love among the daughters. **3** As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so _is_ my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit _was_ sweet to my taste. **4** He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me _was_ love. **5** Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I _am_ sick of love. **6** His left hand _is_ under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me. **7** I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake _my_ love, till he please. **8** ¶ The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. **9** My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice. **10** My beloved spake, and said unto 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 the singing _of birds_ is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; **13** The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines _with_ the tender grape give a _good_ smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. **14** ¶ O my dove, _that art_ in the clefts of the rock, in the secret _places_ of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet _is_ thy voice, and thy countenance _is_ comely. **15** Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines _have_ tender grapes. **16** ¶ My beloved _is_ mine, and I _am_ his: he feedeth among the lilies. **17** Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether. CHAPTER 3 **1** By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. **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 loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. **3** The watchmen that go about the city found me: _to whom I said_, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? **4** _It was_ but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. **5** I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake _my_ love, till he please. **6** ¶ Who _is_ this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant? **7** Behold his bed, which _is_ Solomon’s; threescore valiant men _are_ about it, of the valiant of Israel. **8** They all hold swords, _being_ expert in war: every man _hath_ his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night. **9** King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon. **10** He made the pillars thereof _of_ silver, the bottom thereof _of_ gold, the covering of it _of_ purple, the midst thereof being paved _with_ love, for the daughters of Jerusalem. **11** Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, 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. CHAPTER 4 **1** Behold, thou _art_ fair, my love; behold, thou _art_ fair; thou _hast_ doves’ eyes within thy locks: thy hair _is_ as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead. **2** Thy teeth _are_ like a flock _of sheep that are even_ shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none _is_ barren among them. **3** Thy lips _are_ like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech _is_ comely: thy temples _are_ like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks. **4** Thy neck _is_ like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men. **5** Thy two breasts _are_ like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies. **6** Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. **7** Thou _art_ all fair, my love; _there is_ no spot in thee. **8** ¶ Come with me from Lebanon, _my_ spouse, 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. **9** 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. **10** 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 spices! **11** Thy lips, O _my_ spouse, drop _as_ the honeycomb: honey and milk _are_ under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments _is_ like the smell of Lebanon. **12** A garden inclosed _is_ my sister, _my_ spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. **13** Thy plants _are_ an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, **14** Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: **15** A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. **16** ¶ Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, _that_ the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits. CHAPTER 5 **1** I am come into my garden, my sister, _my_ spouse: 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. **2** ¶ I sleep, but my heart waketh: _it is_ the voice of my beloved that knocketh, _saying_, Open to 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. **3** I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? **4** My beloved put in his hand by the hole _of the door_, and my bowels were moved for him. **5** I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped _with_ myrrh, and my fingers _with_ sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock. **6** I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, _and_ was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer. **7** The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me. **8** I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I _am_ sick of love. **9** ¶ 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? **10** My beloved _is_ white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. **11** His head _is as_ the most fine gold, his locks _are_ bushy, _and_ black as a raven. **12** His eyes _are_ as _the eyes_ of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, _and_ fitly set. **13** His cheeks _are_ as a bed of spices, _as_ sweet flowers: his lips _like_ lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh. **14** His hands _are as_ gold rings set with the beryl: his belly _is as_ bright ivory overlaid _with_ sapphires. **15** His legs _are as_ pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance _is_ as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. **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 **1** Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee. **2** My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. **3** I _am_ my beloved’s, and my beloved _is_ mine: he feedeth among the lilies. **4** ¶ Thou _art_ beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as _an army_ with banners. **5** Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair _is_ as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead. **6** Thy teeth _are_ as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth twins, and _there is_ not one barren among them. **7** As a piece of a pomegranate _are_ thy temples within thy locks. **8** There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number. **9** My dove, my undefiled is _but_ one; she _is_ the _only_ one of her mother, she _is_ the choice _one_ of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; _yea_, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her. **10** ¶ Who _is_ she _that_ looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, _and_ terrible as _an army_ with banners? **11** I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, _and_ to see whether the vine flourished, _and_ the pomegranates budded. **12** Or ever I was aware, my soul made me _like_ the chariots of Amminadib. **13** Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies. CHAPTER 7 **1** How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter! the joints of thy thighs _are_ like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman. **2** Thy navel _is like_ a round goblet, _which_ wanteth not liquor: thy belly _is like_ an heap of wheat set about with lilies. **3** Thy two breasts _are_ like two young roes _that are_ twins. **4** Thy neck _is_ as a tower of ivory; thine eyes _like_ the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim: thy nose _is_ as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus. **5** Thine head upon thee _is_ like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king _is_ held in the galleries. **6** How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights! **7** This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters _of grapes_. **8** I said, I will go up to the palm tree, 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 apples; **9** And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth _down_ sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak. **10** ¶ I _am_ my beloved’s, and his desire _is_ toward me. **11** Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. **12** Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, _whether_ the tender grape appear, _and_ the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. **13** The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates _are_ all manner of pleasant _fruits_, new and old, _which_ I have laid up for thee, O my beloved. CHAPTER 8 **1** O that thou _wert_ as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! _when_ I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised. **2** I would lead thee, _and_ bring thee into my mother’s house, _who_ would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate. **3** His left hand _should be_ under my head, and his right hand should embrace me. **4** I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake _my_ love, until he please. **5** Who _is_ this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth _that_ bare thee. **6** ¶ 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 hath a_ most vehement flame. **7** Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if _a_ man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned. **8** ¶ We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? **9** If she _be_ a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she _be_ a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar. **10** I _am_ a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour. **11** Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand _pieces_ of silver. **12** My vineyard, which _is_ mine, _is_ before me: thou, O Solomon, _must have_ a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred. **13** Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear _it_. **14** ¶ Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.