1 The Sublime Song: it has come from Solomon
She
2 Shower me with kisses of your mouth:
your love is more delicious than wine.
3 Your oil smells sweeter than any perfume,
your name spreads out like balm;
no wonder the maidens long for you.
4 Lure me to you, let us fly!
Bring me, O king, into your room,
and be our joy, our excitement.
We will praise your caresses more than wine,
how rightly are you loved.
[Bol] 5 I am sunburned yet lovely,
O daughters of Jerusalem,
dark as the tents of Kedar,
as the tent curtains of Solomon.
6 Stare not at my dark complexion;
it is the sun that has darkened me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me
and made me work in the vineyards;
for I had failed to tend my own.
7 Tell me, my soul’s beloved,
where do you graze your flock,
where do you rest your sheep at noon?
Why must I be wandering
beside the flocks of your companions?
Chorus
8 If you do not know yourself,
most beautiful woman,
follow the tracks of the flock
and pasture your young goats
beside the shepherds’ tents.
He
9 To a mare in Pharaoh’s chariot
would I liken you, my love.
10 Your cheeks look lovely between pendants,
your neck beautiful with strings of beads.
11 We will make you earrings of gold
and necklaces of silver.
She and he
12 While the king rests on his couch,
my perfume gives forth its fragrance.
13 My lover is for me a sachet of myrrh
lying between my breasts.
14 My lover is for me a cluster of henna
from the vineyards of Engedi.
15 How beautiful you are, my love,
how beautiful! Your eyes are doves!
16 How handsome you are, my love,
how handsome! Our bed is ever green!
17 The beams of our house are cedar,
our rafters are fir.