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The Woman Speaks to the Friends

Women of Jerusalem, promise me
    by the gazelles and the deer
not to awaken
    or excite my feelings of love
    until it is ready.
Who is this coming out of the desert
    like a cloud of smoke?
Who is this that smells like myrrh, incense,
    and other spices?
Look, it’s Solomon’s couch[a]
    with sixty soldiers around it,
    the finest soldiers of Israel.

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Footnotes

  1. 3:7 couch Something like a bed carried by slaves on which the king lay or sat while traveling.

Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you(A)
    by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
    until it so desires.(B)

Who is this coming up from the wilderness(C)
    like a column of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh(D) and incense
    made from all the spices(E) of the merchant?
Look! It is Solomon’s carriage,
    escorted by sixty warriors,(F)
    the noblest of Israel,

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