The Bride Confesses Her Love
1 This is Solomon’s Song of Songs.1:1 Most translators add subheadings for speaker identifications such as The Bride, The Groom, and The Friends based on the gender and number of the Hebrew words.
The Bride
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is more delightful than wine.
3 The fragrance of your perfume is pleasing;
your name is like perfume poured out.
No wonder the maidens adore you.
4 Take me away with you— let us hurry!
May the king bring me to his chambers.
The Friends
We will rejoice and delight in you;
we will praise your love more than wine.
The Bride
It is only right that they adore you.
5 I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem,
like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not stare because I am dark,
for the sun has gazed upon me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
they made me a keeper of the vineyards,
but my own vineyard I have neglected.
7 Tell me, O one I love,
where do you pasture your sheep?
Where do you rest them at midday?
Why should I be like a veiled woman
beside the flocks of your companions?
The Friends
8 If you do not know, O fairest of women,
follow the tracks of the flock,
and graze your young goats
near the tents of the shepherds.
The Bridegroom
9 I compare you, my darling,
to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments,
your neck with strings of jewels.
The Friends
11 We will make you ornaments of gold,
studded with beads of silver.
The Bride
12 While the king was at his table,
my perfume spread its fragrance.
13 My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh
resting between my breasts.
14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
in the vineyards of En-gedi.
The Bridegroom
15 How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how very beautiful!
Your eyes are like doves.
The Bride
16 How handsome you are, my beloved!
Oh, how delightful!
The soft grass is our bed.
The Bridegroom
17 The beams of our house are cedars;
our rafters are fragrant firs.