1The Song—best of all songs—Solomon's song!
2Kiss me—full on the mouth! Yes! For your love is better than wine,
3headier than your aromatic oils. The syllables of your name murmur like a meadow brook. No wonder everyone loves to say your name!
4Take me away with you! Let's run off together! An elopement with my King-Lover! We'll celebrate, we'll sing, we'll make great music. Yes! For your love is better than vintage wine. Everyone loves you—of course! And why not?
5I am weathered but still elegant, oh, dear sisters in Jerusalem, Weather-darkened like Kedar desert tents, time-softened like Solomon's Temple hangings.
6Don't look down on me because I'm dark, darkened by the sun's harsh rays. My brothers ridiculed me and sent me to work in the fields. They made me care for the face of the earth, but I had no time to care for my own face.
7Tell me where you're working —I love you so much— Tell me where you're tending your flocks, where you let them rest at noontime. Why should I be the one left out, outside the orbit of your tender care?
8If you can't find me, loveliest of all women, it's all right. Stay with your flocks. Lead your lambs to good pasture. Stay with your shepherd neighbors.
9You remind me of Pharaoh's well-groomed and satiny mares.
10Pendant earrings line the elegance of your cheeks; strands of jewels illumine the curve of your throat.
11I'm making jewelry for you, gold and silver jewelry that will mark and accent your beauty.
12When my King-Lover lay down beside me, my fragrance filled the room.
13His head resting between my breasts— the head of my lover was a sachet of sweet myrrh.
14My beloved is a bouquet of wildflowers picked just for me from the fields of Engedi.
15Oh, my dear friend! You're so beautiful! And your eyes so beautiful—like doves!
16And you, my dear lover—you're so handsome! And the bed we share is like a forest glen.
17We enjoy a canopy of cedars enclosed by cypresses, fragrant and green.