The Song of Songs 1:9-17

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.