Study Desk

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.

Its posts he made of silver, its base of gold. Its seat was upholstered with purple, its interior inlaid with love. Daughters of Jerusalem,

¹¹come 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)

He

How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil^(a) are doves.^(b) Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from the hills of Gilead.^(c)

Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing. Each has its twin; not one of them is alone.^(d)

Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon; your mouth^(e) is lovely.^(f) Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate.^(g)

Your neck is like the tower^(h) of David, built with courses of stone^[a]; on it hang a thousand shields,⁽ⁱ⁾ all of them shields of warriors.

Your breasts^(j) are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle^(k) that browse among the lilies.^(l)

Until the day breaks and the shadows flee,^(m) I will go to the mountain of myrrh⁽ⁿ⁾ and to the hill of incense.

You are altogether beautiful,^(o) my darling; there is no flaw^(p) in you.

Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,^(q) come with me from Lebanon. Descend from the crest of Amana, from the top of Senir,^(r) the summit of Hermon,^(s) from the lions' dens and the mountain haunts of leopards.

You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;^(t) you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.^(u)

How delightful^(v) is your love^(w), my sister, my bride! How much more pleasing is your love than wine,^(x) and the fragrance of your perfume^(y) more than any spice!

Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride; milk and honey are under your tongue.^(z) The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.^(aa)

You are a garden^(ab) locked up, my sister, my bride;^(ac) you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.^(ad)

Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates^(ae) with choice fruits, with henna^(af) and nard,

nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,^(ag) with every kind of incense tree, with myrrh^(ah) and aloes^(ai) and all the finest spices.^(aj)

You are^[b] a garden^(ak) fountain,^(al) a well of flowing water streaming down from Lebanon.

She

Awake, north wind, and come, south wind! Blow on my garden,^(am) that its fragrance^(an) may spread everywhere. Let my beloved^(ao) come into his garden and taste its choice fruits.^(ap)