1 This is Solomon’s
most beautiful song.

² Kiss me tenderly!
Your love is better than wine,
³ and you smell so sweet.
All the young women adore you;
the very mention of your name
is like spreading perfume.
⁴ Hurry, my king! Let’s hurry.
⁵ Take me to your home.

We are happy for you!
And we praise your love
even more than wine.

Young women of Jerusalem,
it is only right
that you should adore him.
My skin is dark and beautiful,
like a tent in the desert
or like Solomon’s curtains.
⁶ Don’t stare at me
just because the sun
has darkened my skin.
My brothers were angry with me;
they made me work in the vineyard,
and so I neglected
my complexion.

⁸ My dearest, if you don’t know,
just follow the path
of the sheep.
Then feed your young goats
near the shepherds’ tents.
⁹ You move as gracefully
as the pony
that leads
the chariot of the king.
¹⁰ Earrings add to your beauty,
and you wear a necklace
of precious stones.
¹¹ Let’s make you some jewelry
of gold,
woven with silver.

¹² My king, while you
were on your couch,
my love was a magic charm.^[c]
13 My darling, you are perfume
between my breasts;
¹⁴ you are flower blossoms
from the gardens of En-Gedi.^[d]

¹⁵ My darling, you are lovely,
so very lovely—
your eyes are those of a dove.

¹⁶ My love, you are handsome,
truly handsome—
the fresh green grass
will be our wedding bed
¹⁷ in the shade of cedar
and cypress trees.