1
Upon my bed at night
I sought him whom my soul loves;
I sought him, but found him not;
I called him, but he gave no answer. 1
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 sentinels 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 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 wild does:
do not stir up or awaken love
until it is ready!
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
Look, it is the litter of Solomon!
Around it are sixty mighty men
of the mighty men of Israel,
8
all equipped with swords
and expert in war,
each with his sword at his thigh
because of 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;
its interior was inlaid with love. 2
Daughters of Jerusalem,
11
come out.
Look, O daughters of Zion,
at King Solomon,
at the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
on the day of the gladness of his heart.