Read the Bible

¹ One night as I lay in bed, I yearned for my lover.
    I yearned for him, but he did not come.
² So I said to myself, "I will get up and roam the city,
    searching in all its streets and squares.
I will search for the one I love."
    So I searched everywhere but did not find him.
³ The watchmen stopped me as they made their rounds,
    and I asked, "Have you seen the one I love?"
⁴ Then scarcely had I left them
    when I found my love!
I caught and held him tightly,
    then I brought him to my mother's house,
    into my mother's bed, where I had been conceived.

⁵ Promise me, O women of Jerusalem,
    by the gazelles and wild deer,
    not to awaken love until the time is right.^[a]

⁶ Who is this sweeping in from the wilderness
    like a cloud of smoke?
Who is it, fragrant with myrrh and frankincense
    and every kind of spice?
⁷ Look, it is Solomon's carriage,
    surrounded by sixty heroic men,
    the best of Israel's soldiers.
⁸ They are all skilled swordsmen,
    experienced warriors.
Each wears a sword on his thigh,
    ready to defend the king against an attack in the night.
⁹ King Solomon's carriage is built
    of wood imported from Lebanon.
¹⁰ Its posts are silver,
    its canopy gold;
    its cushions are purple.
It was decorated with love
    by the young women of Jerusalem.

¹¹ Come out to see King Solomon,
    young women of Jerusalem.^[b]
He wears the crown his mother gave him on his wedding day,
    his most joyous day.