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The Woman Dreams

At night on my bed,
    I looked for the one I love;
    I looked for him, but I could not find him.
I got up and went around the city,
    in the streets and squares,
looking for the one I love.
    I looked for him, but I could not find him.
The watchmen found me as they patrolled the city,
    so I asked, “Have you seen the one I love?”
As soon as I had left them,
    I found the one I love.
I held him and would not let him go
    until I brought him to my mother’s house,
    to the room where I was born.

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.
These soldiers all carry swords
    and have been trained in war.
Every man wears a sword at his side
    and is ready for the dangers of the night.
King Solomon had a couch made for himself
    of wood from Lebanon.
10 He made its posts of silver
    and its braces of gold.
The seat was covered with purple cloth
    that the women of Jerusalem wove with love.
11 Women of Jerusalem, go out and see King Solomon.
    He is wearing the crown his mother put on his head
on his wedding day,
    when his heart was happy!

Footnotes

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

All night long on my bed
    I looked(A) for the one my heart loves;
    I looked for him but did not find him.
I will get up now and go about the city,
    through its streets and squares;
I will search for the one my heart loves.
    So I looked for him but did not find him.
The watchmen found me
    as they made their rounds in the city.(B)
    “Have you seen the one my heart loves?”
Scarcely had I passed them
    when I found the one my heart loves.
I held him and would not let him go
    till I had brought him to my mother’s house,(C)
    to the room of the one who conceived me.(D)
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you(E)
    by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
    until it so desires.(F)

Who is this coming up from the wilderness(G)
    like a column of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh(H) and incense
    made from all the spices(I) of the merchant?
Look! It is Solomon’s carriage,
    escorted by sixty warriors,(J)
    the noblest of Israel,
all of them wearing the sword,
    all experienced in battle,
each with his sword at his side,
    prepared for the terrors of the night.(K)
King Solomon made for himself the carriage;
    he made it of wood from Lebanon.
10 Its posts he made of silver,
    its base of gold.
Its seat was upholstered with purple,
    its interior inlaid with love.
Daughters of Jerusalem, 11 come out,
    and look, you daughters of Zion.(L)
Look[a] on King Solomon wearing a crown,
    the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
    the day his heart rejoiced.(M)

Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 3:11 Or interior lovingly inlaid / by the daughters of Jerusalem. / 11 Come out, you daughters of Zion, / and look