1:1 The ①Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.
▷ ①Or Best of the Songs ②The speaker identifications are not from the Hebrew text nor the Septuagint, but reflect an ancient tradition which appears in some manuscripts.
1:2 ①“May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is ②sweeter than wine.
▷ ①Lit more pleasant
1:3 Your oils have a pleasing fragrance,
Your name is like ①purified oil;
Therefore the ②young women love you.
▷ ①Lit oil poured from one vessel to another ②Or virgins
1:4 Draw me after you and let’s run together!
The king has brought me into his chambers.”
“We will rejoice in you and be joyful;
We will praise your love more than wine.
Rightly do they love you.”
1:5 “I am black and beautiful,
You daughters of Jerusalem,
Like the tents of Kedar,
Like the curtains of Solomon.
1:6 Do not stare at me because I am ①dark,
For the sun has tanned me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
They made me caretaker of the vineyards,
But I have not taken care of my own vineyard.
▷ ①Or swarthy, blackish
1:7 Tell me, you whom my soul loves,
Where do you pasture your flock,
Where do you have it lie down at noon?
For why should I be like one who ①veils herself
Beside the flocks of your companions?”
▷ ①Some ancient versions wanders
1:8 “If you yourself do not know,
Most beautiful among women,
Go out on the trail of the flock,
And pasture your young goats
By the tents of the shepherds.
1:9 “ ①To me, my darling, you are like
My mare among the chariots of Pharaoh.
▷ ①Lit I have compared you to
1:10 Your cheeks are delightful with jewelry,
Your neck with strings of beads.”
1:11 “We will make for you jewelry of gold
With beads of silver.”
1:12 “While the king was at his table,
My ①perfume gave forth its fragrance.
▷ ①Lit nard
1:13 My beloved is to me a pouch of myrrh
Which lies all night between my breasts.
1:14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
In the vineyards of Engedi.”
1:15 “ ①How beautiful you are, my darling,
②How beautiful you are!
Your eyes are like doves.”
▷ ①Lit Behold ②Lit Behold
1:16 “ ①How handsome you are, my beloved,
And so delightful!
Indeed, our bed is luxuriant!
▷ ①Lit Behold
1:17 The beams of our house are cedars,
Our rafters, junipers.