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Song of Solomon 1
Easy-to-Read Version
Song of Solomon 1
Easy-to-Read Version
1 Solomon’s Most Wonderful Song.
The Woman to the Man She Loves
2 Cover me with kisses,
for your love is better than wine.
3 Your perfume smells wonderful,
but your name[a] is sweeter than the best perfume.
That is why the young women love you.
4 Take me with you.
Let’s run away.
The king took me into his room.
The Women of Jerusalem to the Man
We will rejoice and be happy for you.
Remember, your love is better than wine.
With good reason, the young women love you.
She Speaks to the Women
5 Daughters of Jerusalem,
I am dark and beautiful,
as black as the tents of Kedar and Salma.[b]
6 Don’t look at how dark I am,
at how dark the sun has made me.
My brothers were angry with me.
They forced me to take care of their vineyards,
so I could not take care of myself.[c]
She Speaks to Him
7 I love you with all my soul!
Tell me, where do you feed your sheep?
Where do you lay them down at noon?
I should come to be with you
or I will be like a hired woman[d] caring for the sheep of your friends.
He Speaks to Her
8 You are such a beautiful woman.
Surely you know what to do.
Go, follow the sheep.
Feed your young goats near the shepherds’ tents.
9 My darling, you are more exciting to me
than any mare among the stallions[e] pulling Pharaoh’s chariots.[f]
10 Your cheeks are so beautiful
with those ornaments hanging beside them.
Your neck is so lovely
under that beautiful string of jewels.
11 Let’s make you some more gold jewelry
and decorate it with silver.
She Speaks
12 The smell of my perfume reaches out
to the king lying on his couch.
13 My lover is like the small bag of myrrh around my neck,
lying all night between my breasts.
14 My lover is like a bunch of henna flowers
near the vineyards of En Gedi.
He Speaks
15 My darling, you are so beautiful!
Oh, you are beautiful!
Your eyes are like doves.
She Speaks
16 You are so handsome, my lover!
Yes, and so charming!
Our bed is so fresh and pleasant.[g]
17 The beams of our house are cedar.
The rafters are fir.
Footnotes
- Song of Solomon 1:3 name In Hebrew this word sounds like the word “perfume.”
- Song of Solomon 1:5 Kedar and Salma Arabian tribes. For “Salma” the standard Hebrew text has “Solomon,” but compare “Salma, Salmon” in Ruth 4:20-21.
- Song of Solomon 1:6 myself Literally, “my own vineyard.”
- Song of Solomon 1:7 hired woman Or “a woman wearing a veil.” This might mean a prostitute.
- Song of Solomon 1:9 mare … stallions Female and male horses. Only male horses were used to pull chariots.
- Song of Solomon 1:9 Literally, “To a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots I compare you, my darling.”
- Song of Solomon 1:16 fresh and pleasant Or “lush and green” like a fresh field of grass.
Song of Songs 1
New International Version
Song of Songs 1
New International Version
1 Solomon’s Song of Songs.(A)
She[a]
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
for your love(B) is more delightful than wine.(C)
3 Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;(D)
your name(E) is like perfume poured out.
No wonder the young women(F) love you!
4 Take me away with you—let us hurry!
Let the king bring me into his chambers.(G)
Friends
She
How right they are to adore you!
5 Dark am I, yet lovely,(J)
daughters of Jerusalem,(K)
dark like the tents of Kedar,(L)
like the tent curtains of Solomon.[c]
6 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;(M)
my own vineyard I had to neglect.
7 Tell me, you whom I love,
where you graze your flock
and where you rest your sheep(N) at midday.
Why should I be like a veiled(O) woman
beside the flocks of your friends?
Friends
8 If you do not know, most beautiful of women,(P)
follow the tracks of the sheep
and graze your young goats
by the tents of the shepherds.
He
9 I liken you, my darling, to a mare
among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.(Q)
10 Your cheeks(R) are beautiful with earrings,
your neck with strings of jewels.(S)
11 We will make you earrings of gold,
studded with silver.
She
12 While the king was at his table,
my perfume spread its fragrance.(T)
13 My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh(U)
resting between my breasts.
14 My beloved(V) is to me a cluster of henna(W) blossoms
from the vineyards of En Gedi.(X)
He
She
16 How handsome you are, my beloved!(AA)
Oh, how charming!
And our bed is verdant.
He
17 The beams of our house are cedars;(AB)
our rafters are firs.
Footnotes
- Song of Songs 1:2 The main male and female speakers (identified primarily on the basis of the gender of the relevant Hebrew forms) are indicated by the captions He and She respectively. The words of others are marked Friends. In some instances the divisions and their captions are debatable.
- Song of Songs 1:4 The Hebrew is masculine singular.
- Song of Songs 1:5 Or Salma
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.