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  Give the king your ^rjustice, O God,

and your righteousness to the royal son!

2  May he ^sjudge your people with righteousness,

and your poor with justice!

3  Let the mountains bear ^tprosperity for the people,

and the hills, in righteousness!

4  May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,

give deliverance to the children of the needy,

and crush the oppressor!

5  May they fear you¹ while ^uthe sun endures,

and as long as the moon, ^vthroughout all generations!

6  May he be like ^wrain that falls on ^xthe mown grass,

like ^yshowers that water the earth!

7  In his days may ^zthe righteous flourish,

and ^apeace abound, till the moon be no more!

8  May he have dominion from ^bsea to sea,

and from ^bthe River² to the ^cends of the earth!

9  May desert tribes ^dbow down before him,

and his enemies ^elick the dust!

10  May the kings of ^fTarshish and of ^gthe coastlands

render him ^htribute;

may the kings of ⁱSheba and ^jSeba

bring gifts!

11  May all kings ^kfall down before him,

all nations serve him!

12  For he delivers ^lthe needy when he calls,

the poor and him who has no helper.

13  He has pity on the weak and the needy,

and saves the lives of the needy.

14  From oppression and violence he redeems their life,

and ^mprecious is their blood in his sight.

15  Long may he live;

may ⁿgold of Sheba be given to him!

May prayer be made ^ofor him continually,

and blessings invoked for him all the day!

16  May there be abundance of grain in the land;

on the tops of the mountains may it wave;

may its fruit be like Lebanon;

and may people ^pblossom in the cities

like the ^qgrass of the field!

17  ^rMay his name endure forever,

his fame continue as long as the sun!

^sMay people be blessed in him,

^tall nations call him blessed!

18  ^uBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

who alone does ^vwondrous things.

19  Blessed be his ^wglorious name forever;

may ^xthe whole earth be filled with his glory!

^yAmen and Amen!

20  ^zThe prayers of ^aDavid, the son of Jesse, are ended.