Study Desk

Solomon's Finest Song.^[a](a)

W ^[b] Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your^[c] love is^[d] more delightful than wine.^(b)

The fragrance of your perfume is intoxicating;^(c) your name is perfume poured out.^(d) No wonder young women^[e] adore you.

Take me with you^(e)—let us hurry. Oh, that the king would bring^[f] me to his chambers. Y We will rejoice and be glad for you; we will praise your love more than wine. W It is only right that they adore you.

Daughters of Jerusalem,^(f) I am dark like the tents of Kedar,^(g) yet lovely^(h) like the curtains of Solomon.

Do not stare at me because I am dark, for the sun has gazed on me. My mother's sons were angry with me;⁽ⁱ⁾ they made me a keeper of the vineyards.^(j) I have not kept my own vineyard.^[g]

Tell me, you, the one I love:^(k) Where do you pasture your sheep?^(l) Where do you let them rest at noon?^(m) Why should I be like one who veils herself^[h][i] beside the flocks of your companions?⁽ⁿ⁾

M ^[j] If you do not know, most beautiful of women,^(o) follow^[k] the tracks of the flock, and pasture your young goats near the shepherds' tents.

I compare you, my darling,^(p) to a^[l] mare among Pharaoh's chariots.^[m](q)

Your cheeks are beautiful with jewelry,^(r) your neck with its necklace.

We will make gold jewelry for you, accented with silver.

W While the king is on his couch,^[n] my perfume^[o] releases its fragrance.^(s)

My love is a sachet of myrrh to me,^(t) spending the night between my breasts.

My love is a cluster of henna blossoms to me,^(u) in the vineyards of En-gedi.^[p](v)

M How beautiful you are, my darling. How very beautiful! Your eyes are doves.^(w)

W How handsome you are, my love.^(x) How delightful! Our bed is lush with foliage;

the beams of our house are cedars, and our rafters are cypresses.^[q]

I am a rose^[a][b] of Sharon, a lily^[c] of the valleys.^(a)

M Like a lily among thorns, so is my darling among the young women.

W Like an apricot^[d] tree among the trees of the forest, so is my love among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

He brought me to the banquet hall,^[e](b) and he looked on me with love.^[f](c)

Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apricots,^[g] for I am lovesick.^(d)

His left hand is under my head, and his right arm embraces me.^[h](e)

Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and the wild does of the field: do not stir up or awaken love until the appropriate time.^[i](f)

Listen! My love is approaching. Look! Here he comes, leaping over the mountains,^(g) bounding over the hills.

My love is like a gazelle or a young stag.^(h) Look, he is standing behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.

My love calls to me: M Arise,⁽ⁱ⁾ my darling. Come away, my beautiful one.

For now the winter is past; the rain has ended and gone away.

The blossoms appear in the countryside. The time of singing^[j] has come, and the turtledove's cooing is heard in our land.^(j)

The fig tree ripens its figs;^(k) the blossoming vines give off their fragrance.^(l) Arise, my darling. Come away, my beautiful one.

My dove,^(m) in the clefts of the rock,⁽ⁿ⁾ in the crevices of the cliff, let me see your face,^[k] let me hear your voice;^(o) for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.^(p)

(W) Catch the foxes for us^(q)— the little foxes that ruin the vineyards— for our vineyards are in bloom.^(r)

W My love is mine and I am his;^(s) he feeds among the lilies.

Before the day breaks^[l] and the shadows flee, turn to me, my love, and be like a gazelle or a young stag^(t) on the divided mountains.^[m](u)

In my bed at night^[a] I sought the one I love;^(a) I sought him, but did not find him.^[b](b)

I will arise now and go about the city, through the streets and the plazas.^(c) I will seek the one I love. I sought him, but did not find him.

The guards who go about the city found me.^(d) I asked them, "Have you seen the one I love?"

I had just passed them when I found the one I love. I held on to him and would not let him go until I brought him to my mother's house^(e)— to the chamber of the one who conceived me.

Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and the wild does of the field: do not stir up or awaken love until the appropriate time.^[c](f)

N What is this^(g) coming up from the wilderness like columns of smoke, scented with myrrh and frankincense^(h) from every fragrant powder of the merchant?

It is Solomon's royal litter^[d] surrounded by 60 warriors from the mighty of Israel.

All of them are skilled with swords and trained in warfare. Each has his sword at his side⁽ⁱ⁾ to guard against the terror of the night.^(j)

King Solomon made a sedan chair^[e] for himself with wood from Lebanon.

He made its posts of silver, its back^[f] of gold, and its seat of purple. Its interior is inlaid with love^[g] by the young women of Jerusalem.^(k)

Come out, young women of Zion,^(l) and gaze at King Solomon, wearing the crown his mother placed on him the day of his wedding^(m)— the day of his heart's rejoicing.