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Song of Solomon 1-3
Amplified Bible
Song of Solomon 1-3
Amplified Bible
The Young Shulammite Bride and Jerusalem’s Daughters
1 The [a]Song of Songs [the best of songs], which is Solomon’s.(A)
[b](The Shulammite Bride)
2
“May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!” [Solomon arrives, she turns to him, saying,]
“For your love is better than wine.
3
“The aroma of your oils is fragrant and pleasing;
Your name is perfume poured out;
Therefore the maidens love you.
4
“Draw me away with you and let us run together!
Let the king bring me into his chambers.”
[c](The Chorus)
“We will rejoice and be glad in you;
We will remember and extol your love more [sweet and fragrant] than wine.
Rightly do they love you.”
(The Shulammite Bride)
5
“I am deeply tanned but lovely,
O daughters of Jerusalem,
[I am dark] like the tents of [the Bedouins of] Kedar,
Like the [beautiful] curtains of Solomon.
6
“Do not gaze at me because I am deeply tanned,
[I have worked in] the sun; it has left its mark on me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
They made me keeper of the vineyards,
But my own vineyard (my complexion) I have not kept.”
7
“Tell me, O you whom my soul loves,
Where do you pasture your flock,
Where do you make it lie down at noon?
For why should I be like one who is veiled
Beside the flocks of your companions?”(B)
Solomon, the Lover, Speaks
(The Bridegroom)
8
“If you do not know [where your lover is],
O you fairest among women,
Run along, follow the tracks of the flock,
And pasture your young goats
By the tents of the shepherds.
9
“To me, my love, you are like
My [favorite] mare among the chariots of Pharaoh.
10
“Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
Your neck with strings of jewels.”
(The Chorus)
11
“We will make for you chains and ornaments of gold,
[Studded] with beads of silver.”
(The Shulammite Bride)
12
“While the king was at his table,
My perfume (Solomon) sent forth [his] fragrance [surrounding me].
13
“My beloved is to me like a pouch of myrrh
Which lies all night between my breasts.
14
“My beloved is to me a cluster of henna flowers
In the [fragrant] vineyards of [d]Engedi.”
(The Bridegroom)
15
“Behold, how beautiful you are, my darling,
Behold, how beautiful you are!
Your eyes are dove’s eyes.”
(The Shulammite Bride)
16
“Behold, how fair and handsome you are, my beloved;
And so delightful!
Our arbor is green and luxuriant.
17
“The beams of our houses are cedars,
Our rafters and panels are cypresses.
The Bride’s Admiration
2 “I am the rose [of the plain] of Sharon,
The lily of the valleys [that grows in deep places].”
(The Bridegroom)
2
“Like the lily among the thorns,
So are you, my darling, among the maidens.”
(The Shulammite Bride)
3
“Like an apple tree [rare and welcome] among the trees of the forest,
So is my beloved among the young men!
In his shade I took great delight and sat down,
And his fruit was sweet and delicious to my palate.
4
“He has brought me to his banqueting place,
And his banner over me is love [waving overhead to protect and comfort me].
5
“Sustain me with raisin cakes,
Refresh me with apples,
Because I am sick with love.
6
“Let his left hand be under my head
And his right hand embrace me.”(C)
(The Bridegroom)
7
“I command that you take an oath, O daughters of Jerusalem,
By the gazelles or by the does of the field [which run free],
That you do not rouse nor awaken my love
Until she pleases.”
(The Shulammite Bride)
8
“Listen! My beloved!
Behold, he comes,
Climbing on the mountains,
Leaping and running on the hills!(D)
9
“My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Behold, he is standing behind our wall,
He is looking through the windows,
He is gazing through the lattice.
10
“My beloved speaks and says to me,
‘Arise, my love, my fair one,
And come away.
11
‘For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
12
‘The flowers appear on the earth once again;
The time for singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
13
‘The fig tree has budded and ripens her figs,
And the vines are in blossom and give forth their fragrance.
Arise, my love, my fair one,
And come away [to climb the rocky steps of the hillside].’”
(The Bridegroom)
14
“O my dove, [here] in the clefts in the rock,
In the sheltered and secret place of the steep pathway,
Let me see your face,
Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is sweet,
And your face is lovely.”
(The Chorus)
15
“Catch the foxes for us,
The little foxes that spoil and ruin the vineyards [of love],
While our vineyards are in blossom.”
(The Shulammite Bride)
16
“My beloved is mine and I am his;
He pastures his flock among the lilies.(E)
17
“Until the cool of the day when the shadows flee away,
Return quickly, my beloved, and be like a gazelle
Or a young stag on the mountains of Bether [which separate us].”
The Bride’s Troubled Dream
(The Shulammite Bride)
3 “On my bed night after night [I dreamed that] I sought the one
Whom my soul loves;
I sought him but did not find him.(F)
2
“I said ‘So I must arise now and go out into the city;
Into the streets and into the squares [places I do not know]
I must seek him whom my soul loves.’
I sought him but I did not find him.
3
“The watchmen who go around the city found me,
And I said, ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’
4
“Scarcely had I passed them
When I found him whom my soul loves.
I held on to him and would not let him go
Until I had brought him to my mother’s house,
And into the chamber of her who conceived me.”(G)
(The Bridegroom)
5
“I command that you take an oath, O daughters of Jerusalem,
By the gazelles or by the does of the field,
That you do not rouse nor awaken my love
Until she pleases.”
Solomon’s Wedding Day
(The Shulammite Bride)
6
“What is this coming up from the wilderness
Like [stately] pillars of smoke
Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
With all the fragrant powders of the merchant?”
(The Chorus)
7
“Behold, it is the couch ([e]palanquin) of Solomon;
Sixty mighty men around it,
Of the mighty men of Israel.
8
“All of them handle the sword,
All expert in war;
Each man has his sword at his thigh,
Guarding against the terrors of the night.
9
“King Solomon has made for himself a palanquin
From the [cedar] wood of Lebanon.
10
“He made its posts of silver,
Its back of gold,
Its seat of purple cloth,
The interior lovingly and intricately wrought
By the daughters of Jerusalem.
11
“Go forth, O daughters of Zion,
And gaze on King Solomon wearing the crown
With which his mother [Bathsheba] has crowned him
On the day of his wedding,
On the day of his gladness of heart.”
Footnotes
- Song of Solomon 1:1 Some theologians believe the Song of Solomon to be a collection of songs, but it is more generally understood to be a sort of drama or lyric poem celebrating the wholesomeness of a growing love that leads to maturity in marriage. The ancient rabbis understood it as an allegory of the relationship between God and Israel, and viewed the details as symbolic.
- Song of Solomon 1:2 The parenthetical headings indicate that the speakers are not from the Hebrew text nor the Septuagint, but reflect an ancient tradition which appears in some manuscripts.
- Song of Solomon 1:5 The purpose of the chorus is to echo and expand the sentiments of the bride and her bridegroom. The members of the chorus are not always known, but have been variously identified as “daughters of Jerusalem,” “daughters of Zion,” “ladies in waiting,” “friends” or “relatives” of the bride.
- Song of Solomon 1:14 An oasis on the western side of the Dead Sea.
- Song of Solomon 3:7 A conveyance that was used in ancient times especially for the transport of one person, that consisted of an enclosed sedan chair usually in the form of a box with wooden shutters, and that is carried on the shoulders of men by means of projecting poles.
Song of Songs 1-3
New International Version
Song of Songs 1-3
New International Version
1 Solomon’s Song of Songs.(A)
She[a]
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
for your love(B) is more delightful than wine.(C)
3 Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;(D)
your name(E) is like perfume poured out.
No wonder the young women(F) love you!
4 Take me away with you—let us hurry!
Let the king bring me into his chambers.(G)
Friends
She
How right they are to adore you!
5 Dark am I, yet lovely,(J)
daughters of Jerusalem,(K)
dark like the tents of Kedar,(L)
like the tent curtains of Solomon.[c]
6 Do not stare at me because I am dark,
because I am darkened by the sun.
My mother’s sons were angry with me
and made me take care of the vineyards;(M)
my own vineyard I had to neglect.
7 Tell me, you whom I love,
where you graze your flock
and where you rest your sheep(N) at midday.
Why should I be like a veiled(O) woman
beside the flocks of your friends?
Friends
8 If you do not know, most beautiful of women,(P)
follow the tracks of the sheep
and graze your young goats
by the tents of the shepherds.
He
9 I liken you, my darling, to a mare
among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.(Q)
10 Your cheeks(R) are beautiful with earrings,
your neck with strings of jewels.(S)
11 We will make you earrings of gold,
studded with silver.
She
12 While the king was at his table,
my perfume spread its fragrance.(T)
13 My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh(U)
resting between my breasts.
14 My beloved(V) is to me a cluster of henna(W) blossoms
from the vineyards of En Gedi.(X)
He
She
16 How handsome you are, my beloved!(AA)
Oh, how charming!
And our bed is verdant.
He
17 The beams of our house are cedars;(AB)
our rafters are firs.
She[d]
He
2 Like a lily among thorns
is my darling among the young women.
She
3 Like an apple[f] tree among the trees of the forest
is my beloved(AF) among the young men.
I delight(AG) to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.(AH)
4 Let him lead me to the banquet hall,(AI)
and let his banner(AJ) over me be love.
5 Strengthen me with raisins,
refresh me with apples,(AK)
for I am faint with love.(AL)
6 His left arm is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me.(AM)
7 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you(AN)
by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.(AO)
8 Listen! My beloved!
Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
bounding over the hills.(AP)
9 My beloved is like a gazelle(AQ) or a young stag.(AR)
Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.
10 My beloved spoke and said to me,
“Arise, my darling,
my beautiful one, come with me.
11 See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
12 Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree forms its early fruit;(AS)
the blossoming(AT) vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
my beautiful one, come with me.”
He
14 My dove(AU) in the clefts of the rock,
in the hiding places on the mountainside,
show me your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.(AV)
15 Catch for us the foxes,(AW)
the little foxes
that ruin the vineyards,(AX)
our vineyards that are in bloom.(AY)
She
16 My beloved is mine and I am his;(AZ)
he browses among the lilies.(BA)
17 Until the day breaks
and the shadows flee,(BB)
turn, my beloved,(BC)
and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag(BD)
on the rugged hills.[g](BE)
3 All night long on my bed
I looked(BF) for the one my heart loves;
I looked for him but did not find him.
2 I will get up now and go about the city,
through its streets and squares;
I will search for the one my heart loves.
So I looked for him but did not find him.
3 The watchmen found me
as they made their rounds in the city.(BG)
“Have you seen the one my heart loves?”
4 Scarcely had I passed them
when I found the one my heart loves.
I held him and would not let him go
till I had brought him to my mother’s house,(BH)
to the room of the one who conceived me.(BI)
5 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you(BJ)
by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.(BK)
6 Who is this coming up from the wilderness(BL)
like a column of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh(BM) and incense
made from all the spices(BN) of the merchant?
7 Look! It is Solomon’s carriage,
escorted by sixty warriors,(BO)
the noblest of Israel,
8 all of them wearing the sword,
all experienced in battle,
each with his sword at his side,
prepared for the terrors of the night.(BP)
9 King Solomon made for himself the carriage;
he made it of wood from Lebanon.
10 Its posts he made of silver,
its base of gold.
Its seat was upholstered with purple,
its interior inlaid with love.
Daughters of Jerusalem, 11 come out,
and look, you daughters of Zion.(BQ)
Look[h] on King Solomon wearing a crown,
the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
the day his heart rejoiced.(BR)
Footnotes
- Song of Songs 1:2 The main male and female speakers (identified primarily on the basis of the gender of the relevant Hebrew forms) are indicated by the captions He and She respectively. The words of others are marked Friends. In some instances the divisions and their captions are debatable.
- Song of Songs 1:4 The Hebrew is masculine singular.
- Song of Songs 1:5 Or Salma
- Song of Songs 2:1 Or He
- Song of Songs 2:1 Probably a member of the crocus family
- Song of Songs 2:3 Or possibly apricot; here and elsewhere in Song of Songs
- Song of Songs 2:17 Or the hills of Bether
- Song of Songs 3:11 Or interior lovingly inlaid / by the daughters of Jerusalem. / 11 Come out, you daughters of Zion, / and look
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