meta: {"file": "/data/tomer/Sefaria-Export/txt/Tanakh/Writings/Song of Songs/English/The Koren Jerusalem Bible.txt"}
text: Song of Songs
  שיר השירים
  The Koren Jerusalem Bible
  
  
  Song of Songs
  
  
  
  
  
  The song of songs, which is Shelomo’s.
  Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.
  Thy ointments are fragrant; for thy flowing oil thou art renowned: therefore do the virgins love thee.
  Draw me, we will run after thee: the king has brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will praise thy love more than wine: sincerely they love thee.
  I am black, but comely, O daughters of Yerushalayim, like the tents of Qedar, like the curtains of Shelomo.
  Do not gaze upon me, because I am black, because the sun has scorched me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but my own vineyard I have not kept.
  Tell me, O thou whom my soul loves, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be like one who cloaks himself by the flocks of thy companions?
  If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids besides the shepherds’ tents.
  I compare thee, O my love, to a mare of the chariots of Par῾o.
  Thy cheeks would be comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with strings of beads.
  We will make thee necklets of gold studded with silver.
  While the king was reclining at his board, my nard sent forth its fragrance.
  My wellbeloved is to me a bundle of myrrh that lies between my breasts.
  My beloved is to me a cluster of henna in the vineyards of ῾En-gedi.
  Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes.
  Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our couch is green.
  The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters are of cypress.
  
  
  
  I am the tulip of the Sharon; the daffodil of the vallies.
  Like the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
  Like the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
  He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
  Let me lean against the stout trunks, let me couch among the apple trees: for I am sick with love.
  His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.
  I charge you, O daughters of Yerushalayim, by the gazelles, and by the hinds of the field, that you stir not up, nor awake my love, till it please.
  The voice of my beloved! behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
  My beloved is like a gazelle or a young hart: behold, he stands behind our wall, he looks in at the windows; he peers through the lattice.
  My beloved spoke, and said to me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
  For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
  the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing bird is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
  the fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines in blossom give their scent. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
  O my dove, who art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the cliff, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
  Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards: for our vineyards are in blossom.
  My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feeds among the lilies.
  Before the day cools, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a gazelle or a young hart upon the mountains of Beter.
  
  
  
  By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loves: I sought him, but I found him not.
  I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loves: I sought him, but I found him not.
  The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Have you seen him whom my soul loves?
  Scarce had I passed from 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 who conceived me.
  I charge you, O daughters of Yerushalayim, by the gazelles, and by the hinds of the field, that you stir not up, nor awake my love, till it please.
  Who is this coming out of the wilderness like columns of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?
  Behold it is his litter, that of Shelomo! sixty valiant men are round about it, of the mighty men of Yisra᾽el.
  All girt with swords, and expert in war: every man has his sword upon his thigh because of the fear by night.
  King Shelomo made himself a palanquin of the timbers of the Levanon.
  He made its pillars of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple, the midst of it being inlaid lovingly, by the daughters of Yerushalayim.
  Go forth, O daughters of Żiyyon, and behold king Shelomo with the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, and on the day of the gladness of his heart.
  
  
  
  Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes behind thy veil: thy hair is like a flock of goats, that cascade down from mount Gil῾ad.
  Thy teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes, which came up from the washing; all of which bear twins, and none of them miscarries.
  Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy mouth is comely: thy cheek is like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.
  Thy neck is like the tower of David built with turrets, on which there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.
  Thy two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, which feed among the lilies.
  Before the day cools, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.
  Thou art all fair, my love; there is no blemish in thee.
  Come with me from Levanon, my bride, with me from Levanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Senir and Ĥermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards.
  Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my bride; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thy eyes, with one link of thy necklace.
  How fair is thy love, my sister, my bride! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thy ointments than all spices!
  Thy lips, O my bride, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the scent of thy garments is like the scent of Levanon.
  A garden enclosed is my sister, my bride; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
  Thy shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits, henna and nard.
  Nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh an aloes, with all the chief spices:
  a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Levanon.
  Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat its choicest fruits.
  
  
  
  I am come into my garden, my sister, my bride: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O dear ones, and drink; drink deep, O loving companions.
  I sleep, but my heart wakes: hark, my beloved is knocking, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
  I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I soil them?
  My beloved put in his hand by the latchet of the door, and my heart was thrilled for him.
  I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with flowing myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.
  I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had turned away, and was gone: my soul failed when he spoke: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
  The watchmen who went about the city found me, they struck me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.
  I charge you, O daughters of Yerushalayim, if you find my beloved, that you tell him, that I am sick with love.
  What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?
  My beloved is white and ruddy, distinguished among ten thousand.
  His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are wavy, and black as a raven.
  His eyes are like doves by the water courses, washed with milk, and fitly set.
  His cheeks are like a bed of spices, like banks of fragrant flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping flowing myrrh.
  His hands are like rods of gold set with emeralds: his belly is polished ivory overlaid with sapphires.
  His legs are pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is like the Levanon, excellent as the cedars.
  His mouth is most sweet: and he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Yerushalayim.
  
  
  
  Where is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? where has thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.
  My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
  I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine: he feeds among the lilies.
  Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirża, comely as Yerushalayim, terrible as an army with banners.
  Turn away thy eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair is like a flock of goats cascading down from Gil῾ad.
  Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, of which all bear twins, and not one of them miscarries.
  As a piece of a pomegranate is thy cheek within thy veil.
  There are sixty queens, and eighty concubines and young women without number.
  My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bore her. The daughters saw her, and called her happy; and the queens and the concubines praised her.
  Who is she that looks out like the dawn, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?
  I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine had blossomed, whether the pomegranates were in flower.
  Without my knowing it, my soul set me among the chariots of a princely people.
  
  
  
  Return return, O Shulammite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will you see in the Shulammite? as it were the dance at Maĥanayim.
  How beautiful are thy feet in sandals, O prince’s daughter! thy rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of an artist.
  Thy navel is like a round goblet, that never lacks blended wine: thy belly is like a heap of wheat set about with lilies.
  Thy two breasts are like two fawns, the twins of a gazelle.
  Thy neck is like a tower of ivory; thy eyes like the pools in Ĥeshbon, by the gate of Bat-rabbim: thy nose is like the tower of the Levanon which looks toward Dammeseq.
  Thy head upon thee is like the Karmel, and the hair of thy head like purple: a king is caught in its tresses.
  How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!
  This thy stature is like a palm tree, and thy breasts are like clusters of grapes.
  I said, I will go up into the palm tree, I will take hold of its boughs: may thy breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the scent of thy countenance like apples;
  and the roof of thy mouth like the best wine, that goes down sweetly for my beloved, causing the sleepers’ lips to murmur.
  I am my beloved’s, and his desire is towards me.
  Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.
  Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine has flowered, if the grape blossoms have opened, if the pomegranates are in flower: there will I give thee my loves.
  The mandrakes give a fragrance, and at our gates are all manner of choice fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.
  
  
  
  O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee outside, I would kiss thee; and none would scorn me.
  I would lead thee, and bring thee into the house of my mother who brought me up: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine, of the juice of my pomegranate.
  His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.
  I charge you, O daughters of Yerushalayim, that you stir not up, nor awaken my love, until it please.
  Who is that, coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I roused thee under the apple tree: there thy mother was in travail with thee: there she who bore thee was in travail.
  Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as She᾽ol: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which have a most vehement flame.
  Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.
  We have a little sister, and she has no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?
  If she be a wall, we will build upon her a battlement of silver: and if she be a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar.
  I was a wall, and my breasts were like towers: then was I in his eyes as one who finds content.
  Shelomo had a vineyard at Ba῾al-hamon; he let out the vineyard to keepers; everyone for its fruit was to bring a thousand pieces of silver.
  My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Shelomo, may have the thousand, and those that keep its fruit two hundred.
  Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken for thy voice: cause me to hear it.
  Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like a gazelle or a young hart upon the mountains of spices.