1  ^yBless the Lord, O my soul,

and all that is within me,

bless his holy name!

2  ^yBless the Lord, O my soul,

and ^zforget not all his benefits,

3  who ^aforgives all your iniquity,

who ^bheals all your diseases,

4  who ^credeems your life from the pit,

who ^dcrowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

5  who ^esatisfies you with good

so that your youth is renewed like ^fthe eagle’s.

6  The Lord works ^grighteousness

and justice for all who are oppressed.

7  He made known his ^hways to Moses,

his ⁱacts to the people of Israel.

8  The Lord is ^jmerciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

9  ^kHe will not always chide,

nor will he ^lkeep his anger forever.

10  He does not deal with us ^maccording to our sins,

nor repay us according to our iniquities.

11  For ⁿas high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his ^osteadfast love toward ^pthose who fear him;

12  as far as the east is from the west,

so far does he ^qremove our transgressions from us.

13  As ^ra father shows compassion to his children,

so the Lord shows compassion ^pto those who fear him.

14  For he knows our frame;¹

he ^sremembers that we are dust.

15  As for man, his days are like ^tgrass;

he flourishes like ^ua flower of the field;

16  for ^vthe wind passes over it, and ^wit is gone,

and ^xits place knows it no more.

17  But ^ythe steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on ^pthose who fear him,

and his righteousness to ^zchildren’s children,

18  to those who ^akeep his covenant

and ^bremember to do his commandments.

19  The Lord has ^cestablished his throne in the heavens,

and his ^dkingdom rules over all.

20  Bless the Lord, O you ^ehis angels,

you ^fmighty ones who ^gdo his word,

obeying the voice of his word!

21  Bless the Lord, all his ^hhosts,

his ⁱministers, who do his will!

22  ^jBless the Lord, all his works,

in all places of his dominion.

^kBless the Lord, O my soul!

2  Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!

For your ^blove is better than wine;

3  your ^canointing oils are fragrant;

your ^dname is oil poured out;

therefore virgins love you.

4  ^eDraw me after you; ^flet us run.

^gThe king has brought me into his chambers.

We will ^hexult and rejoice in you;

we will extol ^byour love more than wine;

rightly do they love you.

5  I am very dark, but ⁱlovely,

O ^jdaughters of Jerusalem,

like ^kthe tents of ^lKedar,

like the curtains of Solomon.

6  Do not gaze at me because I am dark,

because the sun has looked upon me.

My ^mmother’s sons were angry with me;

they made me ⁿkeeper of ^othe vineyards,

but ^pmy own vineyard I have not kept!

7  Tell me, you ^qwhom my soul loves,

where you ^rpasture your flock,

where you make it ^slie down at noon;

for why should I be like one who veils herself

beside the flocks of your ^tcompanions?

8  If you do not know,

O ^umost beautiful among women,

follow in the tracks of the flock,

and pasture your young goats

beside the shepherds’ tents.

9  I compare you, ^vmy love,

to ^wa mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.

10  ^xYour cheeks are lovely with ornaments,

your neck with strings of jewels.

11  We will make for you² ornaments of gold,

studded with silver.

12  While ^ythe king was on his couch,

my ^znard gave forth its fragrance.

13  My beloved is to me a sachet of ^amyrrh

that lies between my breasts.

14  My beloved is to me a cluster of ^bhenna blossoms

in the vineyards of ^cEngedi.

15  ^dBehold, ^eyou are beautiful, ^fmy love;

behold, you are beautiful;

your ^geyes are doves.

16  Behold, you are beautiful, ^hmy beloved, truly ⁱdelightful.

Our couch is green;

17  the beams of our house are ^jcedar;

our rafters are ^jpine.

1  I am a rose³ of Sharon,

^ka lily of the valleys.

2  As a lily among brambles,

so is ^lmy love among the young women.

3  As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,

so is my ^mbeloved among the young men.

With great delight I sat ⁿin his shadow,

and his ^ofruit was sweet to my taste.

4  He ^pbrought me to the banqueting house,⁴

and his ^qbanner over me was love.

5  Sustain me with ^rraisins;

refresh me with apples,

^sfor I am sick with love.

6  His ^tleft hand is under my head,

and his right hand ^uembraces me!

7  I ^vadjure you,⁵ O ^wdaughters of Jerusalem,

by ^xthe gazelles or the does of the field,

that you not stir up or awaken love

until it pleases.

8  The voice of my beloved!

Behold, he comes,

leaping ^yover the mountains,

bounding over the hills.

9  My beloved is like ^za gazelle

or a young stag.

Behold, there he stands

behind our wall,

gazing through the windows,

looking through the lattice.

10  My beloved speaks and says to me:

^a“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,

and come away,

11  for behold, the winter is past;

^bthe rain is over and gone.

12  ^cThe flowers appear on the earth,

the time of singing⁶ has come,

and the voice of ^dthe turtledove

is heard in our land.

13  ^eThe fig tree ripens its figs,

and ^fthe vines are in blossom;

they give forth fragrance.

^gArise, my love, my beautiful one,

and come away.

14  O my ^hdove, in the ⁱclefts of the rock,

in the crannies of the cliff,

let me see your face,

let me ^jhear your voice,

for your voice is sweet,

and your face is ^klovely.

15  Catch ^lthe foxes⁷ for us,

the little foxes

that spoil the vineyards,

^ffor our vineyards are in blossom.”

16  ^mMy beloved is mine, and I am his;

he ⁿgrazes⁸ among the lilies.

17  Until ^othe day breathes

and ^pthe shadows flee,

turn, my beloved, be like ^qa gazelle

or a young stag on cleft mountains.⁹

1  On my bed ^rby night

I sought ^shim whom my soul loves;

^tI sought him, but found him not.

2  I will rise now and go about the city,

in ^uthe streets and in the squares;

I will seek ^shim whom my soul loves.

I sought him, but found him not.

3  ^vThe watchmen found me

as they went about in the city.

“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”

4  Scarcely had I passed them

when I found ^shim whom my soul loves.

I ^wheld him, and would not let him go

until I had ^xbrought him into my mother’s house,

and into the chamber of ^yher who conceived me.

5  ^zI adjure you, ^aO daughters of Jerusalem,

^bby the gazelles or the does of the field,

that you not stir up or awaken love

until it pleases.

6  ^cWhat is that coming up from the wilderness

like ^dcolumns of smoke,

perfumed with ^emyrrh and frankincense,

with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?

7  Behold, it is the litter¹⁰ of Solomon!

Around it are ^fsixty ^gmighty men,

some of the mighty men of Israel,

8  all of them wearing swords

and expert in war,

each with his ^hsword at his thigh,

against ⁱterror by night.

9  King Solomon made himself a carriage¹¹

from the wood of Lebanon.

10  He made its posts of silver,

its back of gold, its seat of purple;

its interior was inlaid with love

by ^jthe daughters of Jerusalem.

11  Go out, O ^kdaughters of Zion,

and look upon King Solomon,

with the crown with which his mother crowned him

on ^lthe day of his wedding,

on the day of the gladness of his heart.

1  Behold, ^myou are beautiful, my love,

behold, you are beautiful!

ⁿYour eyes are doves

^obehind your veil.

^pYour hair is like a flock of goats

leaping down ^qthe slopes of Gilead.

2  Your ^rteeth are like a flock of shorn ewes

that have come up from the washing,

all of which bear twins,

and not one among them has lost its young.

3  Your lips are like ^sa scarlet thread,

and your mouth is ^tlovely.

Your ^ucheeks are like halves of a pomegranate

^obehind your veil.

4  Your ^vneck is like the tower of David,

built in ^wrows of stone;¹²

on it ^xhang a thousand shields,

all of ^ythem shields of warriors.

5  Your ^ztwo breasts are like two ^afawns,

twins of a gazelle,

that ^bgraze among the lilies.

6  ^cUntil the day breathes

and the shadows flee,

I will go away to the mountain of ^dmyrrh

and the hill of ^dfrankincense.

7  ^eYou are altogether beautiful, my love;

there is no ^fflaw in you.

8  ^gCome with me from ^hLebanon, my ⁱbride;

come with me from ^hLebanon.

Depart¹³ from the peak of Amana,

from the peak of ^jSenir and ^kHermon,

from the dens of lions,

from the mountains of leopards.

9  You have captivated my heart, my ^lsister, my bride;

you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,

with one ^mjewel of your necklace.

10  How beautiful is your love, my ^lsister, my bride!

How much ⁿbetter is your love than wine,

and ^othe fragrance of your oils than any spice!

11  Your ^plips drip nectar, my bride;

^qhoney and milk are under your tongue;

the fragrance of your garments is ^rlike the fragrance of ^hLebanon.

12  A garden locked is my ^lsister, my bride,

a spring locked, ^sa fountain ^tsealed.

13  Your shoots are ^uan orchard of pomegranates

with all ^vchoicest fruits,

^whenna with ^xnard,

14  nard and saffron, ^ycalamus and ^ycinnamon,

with all trees of ^zfrankincense,

^amyrrh and ^baloes,

with all ^ychoice spices—

15  a garden fountain, a well of ^cliving water,

and flowing streams from ^hLebanon.

16  Awake, O north wind,

and come, O south wind!

Blow upon my ^dgarden,

let its spices flow.

^eLet my beloved come to his ^fgarden,

and eat its ^vchoicest fruits.