The Song of Songs 1:5-17

The Country Maiden and the Daughters of Jerusalem

The Beloved to the Maidens:

1:5 I am dark but lovely, O maidens of Jerusalem,

dark like the tents of Qedar,

lovely like the tent curtains of Salmah.

1:6 Do not stare at me because I am dark,

for the sun has burned my skin.

My brothers were angry with me;

they made me the keeper of the vineyards.

Alas, my own vineyard I could not keep!

The Shepherd and the Shepherdess

The Beloved to Her Lover:

1:7 Tell me, O you whom my heart loves,

where do you pasture your sheep?

Where do you rest your sheep during the midday heat?

Tell me lest I wander around

beside the flocks of your companions!

The Lover to His Beloved:

1:8 If you do not know, O most beautiful of women,

simply follow the tracks of my flock,

and pasture your little lambs

beside the tents of the shepherds.

The Beautiful Mare and the Fragrant Myrrh

The Lover to His Beloved:

1:9 O my beloved, you are like a mare

among Pharaoh’s stallions.

1:10 Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments;

your neck is lovely with strings of jewels.

1:11 We will make for you gold ornaments

studded with silver.

The Beloved about Her Lover:

1:12 While the king was at his banqueting table,

my nard gave forth its fragrance.

1:13 My beloved is like a fragrant pouch of myrrh

spending the night between my breasts.

1:14 My beloved is like a cluster of henna blossoms

in the vineyards of En-Gedi.

Mutual Praise and Admiration

The Lover to His Beloved:

1:15 Oh, how beautiful you are, my beloved!

Oh, how beautiful you are!

Your eyes are like doves!

The Beloved to Her Lover:

1:16 Oh, how handsome you are, my lover!

Oh, how delightful you are!

The lush foliage is our canopied bed;

1:17 the cedars are the beams of our bedroom chamber;

the pines are the rafters of our bedroom.