the Fourth Week of Advent
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Read the Bible
Contemporary English Version
Song of Solomon 1
Love Is Better than Wine
1 This is Solomon's
most beautiful song.
She Speaks:
2 Kiss me tenderly!
Your love is better than wine,
3 and you smell so sweet.
All the young women adore you;
the very mention of your name
is like spreading perfume.
4 Hurry, my king! Let's hurry.
5 Take me to your home.
The Young Women Speak:
We are happy for you!
And we praise your love
even more than wine.
She Speaks:
Young women of Jerusalem,
it is only right
that you should adore him.
My skin is dark and beautiful,
like a tent in the desert
or like Solomon's curtains.
6 Don't stare at me
just because the sun
has darkened my skin.
My brothers were angry with me;
they made me work in the vineyard,
and so I neglected
my complexion.
Don't let the other shepherds
think badly of me.[a]
7 I'm not one of those women
who shamelessly follow
after shepherds.[b]
My darling, I love you!
Where do you feed your sheep
and let them rest at noon?
He Speaks:
8 My dearest, if you don't know,
just follow the path
of the sheep.
Then feed your young goats
near the shepherds' tents.
9 You move as gracefully
as the pony
that leads
the chariot of the king.
10 Earrings add to your beauty,
and you wear a necklace
of precious stones.
11 Let's make you some jewelry
of gold,
woven with silver.
She Speaks:
12 My king, while you
were on your couch,
my love was a magic charm.[c]
13 My darling, you are perfume
between my breasts;
14 you are flower blossoms
from the gardens of En-Gedi.[d]
He Speaks:
15 My darling, you are lovely,
so very lovely—
your eyes are those of a dove.
She Speaks:
16 My love, you are handsome,
truly handsome—
the fresh green grass
will be our wedding bed
17 in the shade of cedar
and cypress trees.
