Song of Solomon 1
This is [King] Solomon’s most beautiful song.
2 Bride: May he kiss me with the kiss of his mouth. Groom to Bride: So much better than wine are your breasts,
Kiss me [on my lips], because your love [for me] is more delightful than wine.
3 fragranced with the finest perfumes. Bride to Groom: Your name is oil that has been poured out; therefore, the maidens have loved you.
The fragrance of the cologne on your [skin] is [very] sweet/pleasing [CHI]. And your reputation is [very] good and spreads, [like] [SIM] the fragrance of the special oil spread on your skin. That is why the [other] young women are attracted to you.
4 Draw me forward. Chorus to Bride: We will run after you in the odor of your perfumes. Bride to Chorus: The king has led me into his storerooms. Chorus to Bride: We will exult and rejoice in you, remembering your breasts above wine. Groom to Bride: The righteous love you.
Take me quickly; take me to your home. [It is as though] you are my king; take me into your room. We are very happy [DOU] about you; we say that your love [for each other] is better than wine. It is not surprising that the other young women adore you.
5 Bride to Chorus: O daughters of Jerusalem: I am black, but shapely, like the tabernacles of Kedar, like the tents of Solomon.
You women of Jerusalem, I am dark but beautiful; my dark skin is like [SIM] the tents in Kedar, [or] like the beautiful curtains in Solomon’s palace.
6 Do not be concerned that I am dark, for the sun has changed my color. The sons of my mother have fought against me. They have made me the keeper of the vineyards. My own vineyard I have not kept.
[But] do not stare at me because of the sun having caused my skin to become dark; my brothers were angry with me, [so] they forced me to work [out in the sunshine] in the vineyards, so I was not able to take good care of my body/skin [CHI, MET].
7 Bride to Groom: Reveal to me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture, where you recline at midday, lest I begin to wander after the flocks of your companions.
You whom I [SYN] love, where will you take your flock of sheep today? Where will you allow them to rest at noontime? I want to know because it is not right [RHQ] for me to wander around like a prostitute looking for you among the flocks that belong to your friends.
8 Groom to Bride: If you yourself do not know, O most beautiful among women, then go out and follow after the steps of the flocks, and pasture your young goats beside the tabernacles of the shepherds.
You who are the most beautiful of all the women, if you [search for me and] do not know [where I will take my sheep], follow the tracks/footprints of the sheep. [Then] allow your young goats to (graze/eat grass) near the shepherds’ tents.
9 O my love, I have compared you to my company of horsemen against the chariots of Pharaoh.
You [are beautiful], my darling, like the young female horse that pulls the chariot of the king of Egypt.
10 Your cheeks are beautiful, like those of a turtledove. Your neck is like a bejeweled collar.
Your cheeks are decorated with jewelry, and there are strings of beads/pearls around your neck.
11 Chorus to Bride: We will fashion for you chains of gold, accented with reddened silver.
We will make for you [some] gold earrings that are decorated/inlaid with silver.
12 Bride to Chorus: While the king was taking his rest, my aromatic ointment sent forth its odor.
While the king was on his couch, the smell of my perfume spread [around the room].
13 My beloved is a bundle of myrrh to me. He shall abide between my breasts.
The man who loves me is [as delightful as [MET]] a (sachet/small cloth bag) of myrrh between my breasts.
14 My beloved is a cluster of Cyprus grapes to me, in the vineyards of Engaddi.
He is like [MET] a bunch of flowers from the vineyards at En-Gedi.
15 Groom to Bride: Behold, you are beautiful, O my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are those of a dove.
You whom I love, you are beautiful; you are very beautiful! Your eyes are [as delightful/charming as] doves.
16 Bride to Groom: Behold, you are handsome, O my beloved, and graceful. Our bed is flourishing.
You who love me, you are very delightful/handsome, you are wonderful! This green grass will be [like] a couch [where we lie down].
17 Groom to Bride: The timbers of our houses are of cedar; our ceilings are of cypress.
[Branches of] cedar [trees] will shade us; [it is as though branches of] juniper/pine [trees] will be like [MET] a roof [over our heads].
