Friday, March 16, 2012

Song of Songs


Solomon’s Song of Songs.
   She[a]
 2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
   for your love is more delightful than wine.
3 Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;
   your name is like perfume poured out.
   No wonder the young women love you!
4 Take me away with you—let us hurry!
   Let the king bring me into his chambers.
   Friends
   We rejoice and delight in you[b];
   we will praise your love more than wine.
   She
   How right they are to adore you!
 5 Dark am I, yet lovely,
   daughters of Jerusalem,
dark like the tents of Kedar,
   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;
   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 at midday.
Why should I be like a veiled woman
   beside the flocks of your friends?
   Friends
 8 If you do not know, most beautiful of women,
   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.
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings,
   your neck with strings of jewels.
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.
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
   from the vineyards of En Gedi.
   He
 15 How beautiful you are, my darling!
   Oh, how beautiful!
   Your eyes are doves.
   She
 16 How handsome you are, my beloved!
   Oh, how charming!
   And our bed is verdant.
   He
 17 The beams of our house are cedars;
   our rafters are firs.
I am a rose[b] of Sharon,
   a lily of the valleys.
   He
 2 Like a lily among thorns
   is my darling among the young women.
   She
 3 Like an apple[c] tree among the trees of the forest
   is my beloved among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
   and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
4 Let him lead me to the banquet hall,
   and let his banner over me be love.
5 Strengthen me with raisins,
   refresh me with apples,
   for I am faint with love.
6 His left arm is under my head,
   and his right arm embraces me.
7 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
   by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
   until it so desires.
 8 Listen! My beloved!
   Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
   bounding over the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
   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;
   the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
   my beautiful one, come with me.”
   He
 14 My dove 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.
15 Catch for us the foxes,
   the little foxes
that ruin the vineyards,
   our vineyards that are in bloom.
   She
 16 My beloved is mine and I am his;
   he browses among the lilies.
17 Until the day breaks
   and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved,
   and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag
   on the rugged hills.[d]



No comments:

Post a Comment