Cantique (NAB) 1
1 1 The Song of Songs by Solomon
2 B Let him kiss me with kisses of his mouth! More delightful is your love than wine!
3 Your name spoken is a spreading perfume- that is why the maidens love you.
4 Draw me!- D We will follow you eagerly! B Bring me, O king, to your chambers. D With you we rejoice and exult, we extol your love; it is beyond wine: how rightly you are loved!
5 B I am as dark-but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem- As the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Salma.
6 Do not stare at me because I am swarthy, because the sun has burned me. My brothers have been angry with me; they charged me with the care of the vineyards: my own vineyard I have not cared for.
7 B Tell me, you whom my heart loves, where you pasture your flock, where you give them rest at midday, Lest I be found wandering after the flocks of your companions.
8 G If you do not know, O most beautiful among women, Follow the tracks of the flock and pasture the young ones near the shepherds' camps.
9 G To the steeds of Pharaoh's chariots would I liken you, my beloved:
10 Your cheeks lovely in pendants, your neck in jewels.
11 We will make pendants of gold for you, and silver ornaments.
12 B For the king's banquet my nard gives forth its fragrance.
13 My lover is for me a sachet of myrrh to rest in my bosom.
14 My lover is for me a cluster of henna from the vineyards of Engedi.
15 G Ah, you are beautiful, my beloved, ah, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves!
16 B Ah, you are beautiful, my lover- yes, you are lovely. Our couch, too, is verdant;
17 the beams of our house are cedars, our rafters, cypresses.
2 1 I am a flower of Sharon, a lily of the valley.
2 G As a lily among thorns, so is my beloved among women.
3 B As an apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my lover among men. I delight to rest in his shadow, and his fruit is sweet to my mouth.
4 He brings me into the banquet hall and his emblem over me is love.
5 Strengthen me with raisin cakes, refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love.
6 His left hand is under my head and his right arm embraces me.
7 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and hinds of the field, Do not arouse, do not stir up love before its own time.
8 B Hark! my lover-here he comes springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills.
9 My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Here he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattices.
10 My lover speaks; he says to me, "Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!
11 "For see, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone.
12 The flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning the vines has come, and the song of the dove is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance. Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!
14 "O my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the secret recesses of the cliff, Let me see you, let me hear your voice, For your voice is sweet, and you are lovely."
15 B Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that damage the vineyards; for our vineyards are in bloom!
16 My lover belongs to me and I to him; he browses among the lilies.
17 Until the day breathes cool and the shadows lengthen, roam, my lover, Like a gazelle or a young stag upon the mountains of Bether.
3 1 B On my bed at night I sought him whom my heart loves- I sought him but I did not find him.
2 I will rise then and go about the city; in the streets and crossings I will seek Him whom my heart loves. I sought him but I did not find him.
3 The watchmen came upon me as they made their rounds of the city: Have you seen him whom my heart loves?
4 I had hardly left them when I found him whom my heart loves. I took hold of him and would not let him go till I should bring him to the home of my mother, to the room of my parent.
5 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and hinds of the field, Do not arouse, do not stir up love before its own time.
6 D What is this coming up from the desert, like a column of smoke Laden with myrrh, with frankincense, and with the perfume of every exotic dust?
7 Ah, it is the litter of Solomon; sixty valiant men surround it, of the valiant men of Israel:
8 All of them expert with the sword, skilled in battle, Each with his sword at his side against danger in the watches of the night.
9 King Solomon made himself a carriage of wood from Lebanon.
10 He made its columns of silver, its roof of gold, Its seat of purple cloth, its framework inlaid with ivory.
11 Daughters of Jerusalem, come forth and look upon King Solomon In the crown with which his mother has crowned him on the day of his marriage, on the day of the joy of his heart.
4 1 G Ah, you are beautiful, my beloved, ah, you are beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down the mountains of Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of ewes to be shorn, which come up from the washing, All of them big with twins, none of them thin and barren.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet strand; your mouth is lovely. Your cheek is like a half-pomegranate behind your veil.
4 Your neck is like David's tower girt with battlements; A thousand bucklers hang upon it, all the shields of valiant men.
5 Your breasts are like twin fawns, the young of a gazelle that browse among the lilies.
6 Until the day breathes cool and the shadows lengthen, I will go to the mountain of myrrh, to the hill of incense.
7 You are all-beautiful, my beloved, and there is no blemish in you.
8 Come from Lebanon, my bride, come from Lebanon, come! Descend from the top of Amana, from the top of Senir and Hermon, From the haunts of lions, from the leopards' mountains.
9 You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride; you have ravished my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one bead of your necklace.
10 How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride, how much more delightful is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your ointments than all spices!
11 Your lips drip honey, my bride, sweetmeats and milk are under your tongue; And the fragrance of your garments is the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 G You are an enclosed garden, my sister, my bride, an enclosed garden, a fountain sealed.
13 You are a park that puts forth pomegranates, with all choice fruits;
14 Nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all kinds of incense; Myrrh and aloes, with all the finest spices.
15 You are a garden fountain, a well of water flowing fresh from Lebanon.
16 Arise, north wind! Come, south wind! blow upon my garden that its perfumes may spread abroad. B Let my lover come to his garden and eat its choice fruits.
5 1 G I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride; I gather my myrrh and my spices, I eat my honey and my sweetmeats, I drink my wine and my milk. D Eat, friends; drink! Drink freely of love!
2 B I was sleeping, but my heart kept vigil; I heard my lover knocking: "Open to me, my sister, my beloved, my dove, my perfect one! For my head is wet with dew, my locks with the moisture of the night."
3 I have taken off my robe, am I then to put it on? I have bathed my feet, am I then to soil them?
4 My lover put his hand through the opening; my heart trembled within me, and I grew faint when he spoke.
5 I rose to open to my lover, with my hands dripping myrrh: With my fingers dripping choice myrrh upon the fittings of the lock.
6 I opened to my lover- but my lover had departed, gone. I sought him but I did not find him; I called to him but he did not answer me.
7 The watchmen came upon me as they made their rounds of the city; They struck me, and wounded me, and took my mantle from me, the guardians of the walls.
8 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my lover- What shall you tell him?- that I am faint with love.
9 D How does your lover differ from any other, O most beautiful among women? How does your lover differ from any other, that you adjure us so?
10 B My lover is radiant and ruddy; he stands out among thousands.
11 His head is pure gold; his locks are palm fronds, black as the raven.
12 His eyes are like doves beside running waters, His teeth would seem bathed in milk, and are set like jewels.
13 His cheeks are like beds of spice with ripening aromatic herbs. His lips are red blossoms; they drip choice myrrh.
14 His arms are rods of gold adorned with chrysolites. His body is a work of ivory covered with sapphires.
15 His legs are columns of marble resting on golden bases. His stature is like the trees on Lebanon, imposing as the cedars.
16 His mouth is sweetness itself; he is all delight. Such is my lover, and such my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
6 1 D Where has your lover gone, O most beautiful among women? Where has your lover gone that we may seek him with you?
2 B My lover has come down to his garden, to the beds of spice, To browse in the garden and to gather lilies.
3 My lover belongs to me and I to him; he browses among the lilies.
4 G You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my beloved, as lovely as Jerusalem, as awe-inspiring as bannered troops.
5 Turn your eyes from me, for they torment me. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down from Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of ewes which come up from the washing, All of them big with twins, none of them thin and barren.
7 Your cheek is like a half-pomegranate behind your veil.
8 There are sixty queens, eighty concubines, and maidens without number-
9 One alone is my dove, my perfect one, her mother's chosen, the dear one of her parent. The daughters saw her and declared her fortunate, the queens and concubines, and they sang her praises;
10 D Who is this that comes forth like the dawn, as beautiful as the moon, as resplendent as the sun, as awe-inspiring as bannered troops?
11 B I came down to the nut garden to look at the fresh growth of the valley, To see if the vines were in bloom. if the pomegranates had blossomed.
12 Before I knew it, my heart had made me the blessed one of my kinswomen.
7 1 D Turn, turn, O Shulammite, turn, turn, that we may look at you! B Why would you look at the Shulammite as at the dance of the two companies? 2 D How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O prince's daughter! Your rounded thighs are like jewels, the handiwork of an artist. 3 Your navel is a round bowl that should never lack for mixed wine. Your body is a heap of wheat encircled with lilies.4 Your breasts are like twin fawns, the young of a gazelle.5 Your neck is like a tower of ivory. Your eyes are like the pools in Heshbon by the gate of Bath-rabbim. Your nose is like the tower on Lebanon that looks toward Damascus. 6 You head rises like Carmel; your hair is like draperies of purple; a king is held captive in its tresses.7 G How beautiful you are, how pleasing, my love, my delight!8 Your very figure is like a palm tree, your breasts are like clusters. 9 I said: I will climb the palm tree, I will take hold of its branches. Now let your breasts be like clusters of the vine and the fragrance of your breath like apples,10 And your mouth like an excellent wine- B that flows smoothly for my lover, spreading over the lips and the teeth. 11 I belong to my lover and for me he yearns. 12 Come, my lover, let us go forth to the fields and spend the night among the villages.13 Let us go early to the vineyards, and see if the vines are in bloom, If the buds have opened, if the pomegranates have blossomed; There will I give you my love.14 The mandrakes give forth fragrance, and at our doors are all choice fruits; Both fresh and mellowed fruits, my lover, I have kept in store for you.
8 1 Oh, that you were my brother, nursed at my mother's breasts! If I met you out of doors, I would kiss you and none would taunt me.
2 I would lead you, bring you in to the home of my mother. There you would teach me to give you spiced wine to drink and pomegranate juice.
3 His left hand is under my head and his right arm embraces me.
4 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and hinds of the field, Do not arouse, do not stir up love, before its own time.
5 D Who is this coming up from the desert, leaning upon her lover? G Under the apple tree I awakened you; it was there that your mother conceived you, it was there that your parent conceived.
6 B Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; For stern as death is love, relentless as the nether world is devotion; its flames are a blazing fire.
7 Deep waters cannot quench love, nor floods sweep it away. Were one to offer all he owns to purchase love, he would be roundly mocked.
8 "Our sister is little and she has no breasts as yet. What shall we do for our sister when her courtship begins?
9 If she is a wall, we will build upon it a silver parapet; If she is a door, we will reinforce it with a cedar plank."
10 I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers. So now in his eyes I have become one to be welcomed.
11 B Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he gave over the vineyard to caretakers. For its fruit one would have to pay a thousand silver pieces.
12 My vineyard is at my own disposal; the thousand pieces are for you, O Solomon, and two hundred for the caretakers of its fruit.
13 G O garden-dweller, my friends are listening for your voice, let me hear it!
14 B Be swift, my lover, like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices!
Cantique (NAB) 1