The Song of Songs 1:6

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 Song of Songs 1:1

Title/Superscription

1:1 Solomon’s Most Excellent Love Song.

The Song of Songs 1:1--2:17

Title/Superscription

1:1 Solomon’s Most Excellent Love Song.

The Desire for Love

The Beloved to Her Lover:

1:2 Oh, how I wish you would kiss me passionately!

For your lovemaking is more delightful than wine.

1:3 The fragrance of your colognes is delightful;

your name is like the finest perfume.

No wonder the young women adore you!

1:4 Draw me after you; let us hurry!

May the king bring me into his bedroom chambers!

The Maidens to the Lover:

We will rejoice and delight in you;

we will praise your love more than wine.

The Beloved to Her Lover:

How rightly the young women adore you!

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.

The Lily among the Thorns and the Apple Tree in the Forest

The Beloved to Her Lover:

2:1 I am a meadow flower from Sharon,

a lily from the valleys.

The Lover to His Beloved:

2:2 Like a lily among the thorns,

so is my darling among the maidens.

The Beloved about Her Lover:

2:3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest,

so is my beloved among the young men.

I delight to sit in his shade,

and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

The Banquet Hall for the Love-Sick

The Beloved about Her Lover:

2:4 He brought me into the banquet hall,

and he looked at me lovingly.

2:5 Sustain me with raisin cakes,

refresh me with apples,

for I am faint with love.

The Double Refrain: Embracing and Adjuration

2:6 His left hand caresses my head,

and his right hand stimulates me.

The Beloved to the Maidens:

2:7 I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem,

by the gazelles and by the young does of the open fields:

Do not awaken or arouse love until it pleases!

The Arrival of the Lover

The Beloved about Her Lover:

2:8 Listen! My lover is approaching!

Look! Here he comes,

leaping over the mountains,

bounding over the hills!

2:9 My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag.

Look! There he stands behind our wall,

gazing through the window,

peering through the lattice.

The Season of Love and the Song of the Turtle-Dove

The Lover to His Beloved:

2:10 My lover spoke to me, saying:

“Arise, my darling;

My beautiful one, come away with me!

2:11 Look! The winter has passed,

the winter rains are over and gone.

2:12 The pomegranates have appeared in the land,

the time for pruning and singing has come;

the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

2:13 The fig tree has budded,

the vines have blossomed and give off their fragrance.

Arise, come away my darling;

my beautiful one, come away with me!”

The Dove in the Clefts of En-Gedi

The Lover to His Beloved:

2:14 O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,

in the hiding places of the mountain crags,

let me see your face,

let me hear your voice;

for your voice is sweet,

and your face is lovely.

The Foxes in the Vineyard

The Beloved to Her Lover:

2:15 Catch the foxes for us,

the little foxes,

that ruin the vineyards –

for our vineyard is in bloom.

Poetic Refrain: Mutual Possession

The Beloved about Her Lover:

2:16 My lover is mine and I am his;

he grazes among the lilies.

The Gazelle and the Rugged Mountains

The Beloved to Her Lover:

2:17 Until the dawn arrives and the shadows flee,

turn, my beloved –

be like a gazelle or a young stag

on the mountain gorges.

The Song of Songs 7:1-13

The Lover to His Beloved:

7:1 (7:2) How beautiful are your sandaled feet,

O nobleman’s daughter!

The curves of your thighs are like jewels,

the work of the hands of a master craftsman.

7:2 Your navel is a round mixing bowl –

may it never lack mixed wine!

Your belly is a mound of wheat,

encircled by lilies.

7:3 Your two breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle.

7:4 Your neck is like a tower made of ivory.

Your eyes are the pools in Heshbon

by the gate of Bath-Rabbim.

Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon

overlooking Damascus.

7:5 Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel.

The locks of your hair are like royal tapestries –

the king is held captive in its tresses!

7:6 How beautiful you are! How lovely,

O love, with your delights!

The Palm Tree and the Palm Tree Climber

The Lover to His Beloved:

7:7 Your stature is like a palm tree,

and your breasts are like clusters of grapes.

7:8 I want to climb the palm tree,

and take hold of its fruit stalks.

May your breasts be like the clusters of grapes,

and may the fragrance of your breath be like apricots!

7:9 May your mouth be like the best wine,

flowing smoothly for my beloved,

gliding gently over our lips as we sleep together.

Poetic Refrain: Mutual Possession

The Beloved about Her Lover:

7:10 I am my beloved’s,

and he desires me!

The Journey to the Countryside

The Beloved to Her Lover:

7:11 Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside;

let us spend the night in the villages.

7:12 Let us rise early to go to the vineyards,

to see if the vines have budded,

to see if their blossoms have opened,

if the pomegranates are in bloom –

there I will give you my love.

7:13 The mandrakes send out their fragrance;

over our door is every delicacy,

both new and old, which I have stored up for you, my lover.