3 Her: Restless night after night in my bed,
        I longed and looked for my soul’s true love;
    I searched for him,
        but I could not find him.
²     I will get up now and search the city,
        wander up and down streets and plazas;
    I will look for my soul’s true love.
        I searched for him, but I could not find him.
³     The watchmen found me as they kept watch on the silent city.
        “Have you seen my soul’s true love?” I asked.
⁴     Not long after I left them,
        I found him—I found my soul’s true love.

    I pulled him to me and would not let him go
        until I brought him to my mother’s house,
        to the very room where she conceived me.

⁵     (to the young women of Jerusalem) Heed my warning:
        By the gazelles and deer of the field,
    I charge you not to excite your love until it is ready.
        Don’t stir a fire in your heart too soon, until it is ready to be satisfied.

⁶ Young Women of Jerusalem: Who is this coming up from the desert,
        with billowing clouds of dust and smoke,
        with a sweet aroma of burning myrrh and frankincense,
        with fragrant spices fresh from the merchant?

⁷     Look, it is Solomon’s litter,
        surrounded by 60 strong men,
        some of the very best soldiers in Israel,
⁸     All armed swordsmen,
        battle-hardened heroes, experts at war,
    Marching with swords at their sides,
        ready to guard the king from the terrors of the night.
⁹     King Solomon built his own royal carriage
        from the trees of Lebanon.
¹⁰     He had its posts fashioned from silver,
        its back made of gold,
        its seat covered with royal purple,
        its interior decorated with love by the young women of Jerusalem.
¹¹     O go out, young women of Zion,
        and see King Solomon
    Wearing the crown with which his mother has crowned him on his wedding day,
        on the day his heart overflows with joy.