Song of Solomon 1<BR>1:1 “Solomon’s Most Excellent Love Song”<BR>The Call to Love: Praise of Solomon <BR>1:2 The Beloved to Her Lover:<BR>Oh, how I wish you would kiss me passionately! <BR>For your love is more delightful than wine. <BR>1:3 The fragrance of your colognes is delightful, <BR>Your name is like perfume wafted about. <BR>No wonder the young maidens adore you!<BR>1:4 Draw me after you, <BR>Let us hurry!<BR>May the king bring me into his bedroom chambers! <BR>The Country Maiden and the Daughters of Jerusalem <BR>1:5 The Beloved to the Maidens:<BR>I am dark but lovely, O maidens of Jerusalem;<BR>Dark like the rustic tents of Qedar, lovely like the beautiful tent curtains of Solomon. <BR>1:6 Do not stare at me because I am dark; for the sun has burned my skin. <BR>My brothers were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyard,<BR>Alas, my own “vineyard” I could not keep! <BR>The Shepherd and the Shepherdess <BR>1:7 The Beloved to Her Lover:<BR>Tell me, O you whom my heart loves,<BR>Where do you pasture your sheep?<BR>Where do you rest your sheep during the midday heat?<BR>Tell me lest I be mistaken as a veiled woman beside the flocks of your companions!<BR>1:8 The Lover to His Beloved:<BR>If you do not know, O most beautiful of women,<BR>Simply follow the tracks of my flock,<BR>And pasture your little lambs beside the tents of the shepherds.<BR>The Beautiful Mare and the Fragrant Myrrh <BR>1:9 The Lover to His Beloved:<BR>O my beloved, you are like my mare would be<BR>Among Pharaoh’s stallions. <BR>1:10 Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments,<BR>Your neck is lovely with strings of jewels.<BR>1:11 We will make for you gold ornaments studded with silver. <BR>1:12 The Beloved about Her Lover:<BR>While the king was at his banqueting table, <BR>My nard gave forth its fragrance. <BR>1:13 My beloved is like a fragrant pouch of myrrh<BR>Spending the night between my breasts.<BR>1:14 My beloved is like a cluster of henna blossoms<BR>In the vineyards of En-Gedi. <BR>Mutual Praise and Admiration <BR>1:15 The Lover to His Beloved:<BR>Oh, how beautiful you are, my beloved; <BR>Oh, how beautiful you are!<BR>Your eyes are like doves! <BR>1:16 The Beloved to Her Lover:<BR>Oh, how handsome you are, my lover; <BR>Oh, how delightful you are!<BR>The lush foliage above us is like our canopied bed; <BR>1:17 The cedars above us are like the beams of our bedroom-chamber,<BR>The pines above us are like the rafters of our bedroom.