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Song of Solomon 1-3
New Life Version
Song of Solomon 1-3
New Life Version
1 The Song of Songs, the most beautiful of them all, which is Solomon’s.
The First Song
The Woman
2 “May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine. 3 Your oils have a pleasing smell. Your name is like oil poured out. So the young women love you. 4 Take me away with you, and let us run together. The king has brought me into his room.
“We will have joy and be glad because of you. We will praise your love more than wine. They are right to love you.
5 “I am dark but beautiful, O people of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. 6 Do not look hard at me because I am dark, for the sun has burned me. My mother’s sons were angry with me, and made me take care of the grape-fields. But I have not taken care of my own grape-field. 7 Tell me, O you whom my soul loves. In what field do you feed your flock? Where do your sheep lie down at noon? Why should I need to look for you beside the flocks of your friends?”
King Solomon
8 “If you do not know, most beautiful among women, follow the path of the flock. And let your young goats eat in the field beside the tents of the shepherds.
9 “To me, my love, you are like my horse among the war-wagons of Pharaoh. 10 Your face is beautiful with the objects you wear, and your neck with the beautiful chain around it. 11 We will make objects of gold and silver for you.”
The Woman
12 “While the king was at his table, my perfume gave out its smell. 13 My loved one is like a jar of perfume to me, who lies all night between my breasts. 14 My loved one is to me like many henna flowers, in the grape-fields of Engedi.”
King Solomon
15 “How beautiful you are, my love! How beautiful you are! Your eyes are like doves.”
The Woman
16 “How beautiful you are, my love, and so pleasing! Our bed is green. 17 The pillars of our house are cedars. The pieces on our roof are pine.
2 “I am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valleys.”
King Solomon
2 “Like a lily among the thorns, so is my loved one among the young women.”
The Woman
3 “Like a fruit tree among many trees, so is my loved one among the young men. With much joy I sat down in his shadow. And his fruit was sweet to my taste. 4 He brought me to his special large room for eating, and his colors over me were love. 5 Make me strong with cakes of dried grapes. Make me strong again with fruit, because I am sick with love. 6 Let his left hand be under my head and his right hand hold me close.”
King Solomon
7 “I tell you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and deer of the field, you must not wake up my love until it is pleasing to her.”
The Second Song
The Woman
8 “Listen, it is the voice of my loved one! See, he is coming! He is running over the mountains, jumping across the hills. 9 My love is like a gazelle or a young deer. See, he is standing behind our wall. He is looking through the windows, through the wood cross-pieces.
10 “My love speaks and says to me, ‘Get up, my love, my beautiful one, and come with me. 11 For see, the winter is past. The rain is over and gone. 12 The flowers are coming through the ground. The time for singing has come. The voice of the turtle-dove has been heard in our land. 13 The fig tree has its fruits. The flowers on the vines spread their sweet smell. Get up, my love, my beautiful one, and come with me! 14 O my dove, hidden in the rock, in the secret place in the mountain-side, let me see you. Let me hear your voice. For your voice is sweet, and you are beautiful.
15 ‘Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that are destroying our grape-fields, for the flowers are on the vines. 16 My love is mine, and I am his. He lets his flock eat among the lilies. 17 Until the morning comes and the shadows hurry away, turn, my love. Be like a gazelle or a young deer on the mountains of Bether.’”
The Woman
3 “On my bed night after night I looked for him whom my soul loves. I looked for him but did not find him. 2 ‘I must get up now and go about the city, in the streets and in the open places. I must look for him whom my soul loves.’ I looked for him but did not find him. 3 The men who watch over the city found me, and I said, ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’ 4 I had just 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 room of her who gave birth to me.”
King Solomon
5 “I tell you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the deer of the field, you must not wake up my love until it is pleasing to her.”
The Third Song
The Woman
6 “What is this coming up from the desert like smoke? It has the smell of special perfumes, with all the perfumes of the traders. 7 See, it is the traveling wagon of Solomon. Sixty of the strong men of Israel are around it. 8 All of them use the sword and are very able in war. Each man has his sword at his side, keeping watch against trouble in the night. 9 King Solomon has made for himself a beautiful wagon from the wood of Lebanon. 10 He made its long pieces of silver, its back of gold, and its seat of purple cloth. The inside of it was made beautiful by the daughters of Jerusalem. 11 Go out, O daughters of Zion, and look at King Solomon as he wears the crown his mother put on his head on the day of his wedding, on the day his heart was glad.”
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
New Life Version (NLV)
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