Song of Solomon 1, side by side

¹This is Solomon’s Song of Songs.

¹The song of songs, which is Solomon’s.

²Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is more delightful than wine.

²Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.

³The fragrance of your perfume is pleasing; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens adore you.

³Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.

⁴Take me away with you—let us hurry! May the king bring me to his chambers. We will rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. It is only right that they adore you.

⁴Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.

⁵I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.

⁵I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.

⁶Do 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.

⁶Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.

⁷Tell 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?

⁷Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?

⁸If 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.

⁸If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents.

⁹I compare you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.

⁹I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots.

¹⁰Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.

¹⁰Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold.

¹¹We will make you ornaments of gold, studded with beads of silver.

¹¹We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.

¹²While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.

¹²While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.

¹³My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.

¹³A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.

¹⁴My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of En-gedi.

¹⁴My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.

¹⁵How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves.

¹⁵Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes.

¹⁶How handsome you are, my beloved! Oh, how delightful! The soft grass is our bed.

¹⁶Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green.

¹⁷The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are fragrant firs.

¹⁷The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.