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¹ Upon my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.² "I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my soul loves." I sought him, but found him not.³ The watchmen found me, as they went about in the city. "Have you seen him whom my soul loves?"⁴ Scarcely had I passed them, when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.⁵ I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the hinds of the field, that you stir not up nor awaken love until it please.

⁶ What is that coming up from the wilderness, like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the fragrant powders of the merchant?

⁷ Behold, it is the litter of Solomon! About it are sixty mighty men of the mighty men of Israel,⁸ all girt with swords and expert in war, each with his sword at his thigh, against alarms by night.⁹ King Solomon made himself a palanquin from the wood of Lebanon.¹⁰ He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple; it was lovingly wrought within by the daughters of Jerusalem.¹¹ Go forth, O daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon, with the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of the gladness of his heart.