3:1 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. |
3:2 "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. |
3:3 The watchmen found me, as they went about in the city. "Have you seen him whom my soul loves?" |
3:4 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. |
3:5 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. |
3:6 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? |
3:7 Behold, it is the litter of Solomon! About it are sixty mighty men of the mighty men of Israel, |
3:8 all girt with swords and expert in war, each with his sword at his thigh, against alarms by night. |
3:9 King Solomon made himself a palanquin from the wood of Lebanon. |
3:10 He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple; it was lovingly wrought within by the daughters of Jerusalem. |
3:11 Go forth, O daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon, with the crown with which his mother |