Regard ye me not because I am [a]black: for the [b]sun hath looked upon me. The [c]sons of my mother were angry against me: they made me the keeper of the vines: but I [d]kept not mine own vine.

Show me, [e]O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou liest at noon: for why should I be as she that turneth aside to the stocks of [f]thy companions?

[g]If thou know not, O thou the fairest among women, get thee forth by the steps of the flock, and feed thy kids by the tents of the shepherds.

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Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 1:5 Consider not the Church by the outward appearance.
  2. Song of Solomon 1:5 The corruption of nature through sin and afflictions.
  3. Song of Solomon 1:5 Mine own brethren, which should have most favored me.
  4. Song of Solomon 1:5 She confesseth her own negligence.
  5. Song of Solomon 1:6 The spouse feeling her fault fleeth to her husband only for succor.
  6. Song of Solomon 1:6 Whom thou hast called to the dignity of pastors, and they set forth their own dreams instead of thy doctrine.
  7. Song of Solomon 1:7 Christ speaketh to his Church, bidding them that are ignorant, to go to the pastors to learn.

Dark am I, yet lovely,(A)
    daughters of Jerusalem,(B)
dark like the tents of Kedar,(C)
    like the tent curtains of Solomon.[a]
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;(D)
    my own vineyard I had to neglect.
Tell me, you whom I love,
    where you graze your flock
    and where you rest your sheep(E) at midday.
Why should I be like a veiled(F) woman
    beside the flocks of your friends?

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Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 1:5 Or Salma