Study Desk

At night on my bed, I look for the man I love. I looked for him, but I could not find him.

I will get up now! I will go around the city. In the streets and squares, I will look for the man I love. I looked for him, but I could not find him.

The guards patrolling the city found me. I asked them, "Have you seen the man I love?"

I had just left the guards when I found the man I love! I held him and would not let him go, while I took him to my mother's house, to the room of one who bore^[a] me.

Women of Jerusalem, promise me by the gazelles and wild deer, don't awaken love, don't arouse love, until I am ready.^[b]

Who is this woman coming from the desert^[c] with this large group of people ? The dust rises behind them like clouds of smoke from burning myrrh and frankincense and other spices.^[d]

Look, Solomon's traveling chair.^[e] There are 60 soldiers guarding it, strong soldiers of Israel.

All of them are trained fighting men with their swords at their side, ready for any danger of the night.

King Solomon made a traveling chair for himself. The wood came from Lebanon.

The poles were made from silver, and the supports were made from gold. The seat was covered with purple cloth. It was inlaid with love by the women of Jerusalem.

Women of Zion, come out and see King Solomon. See the crown^[f] his mother put on him the day he was married, the day he was so happy!

My darling, you are so beautiful! Oh, you are beautiful! Your eyes are like doves under your veil. Your hair is long and flowing, like little goats dancing down the slopes of Mount Gilead.

Your teeth are white like ewes^[a] just coming from their bath. They all give birth to twins; not one of them has lost a baby.

Your lips are like a red silk thread. Your mouth is beautiful. Your cheeks under your veil are like two slices of pomegranate.

Your neck is long and thin like David's tower. That tower was built to be decorated^[b] with a thousand shields on its walls, with the shields of powerful soldiers.

Your breasts are like twin fawns, like twins of a gazelle, feeding among the lilies.

I will go to that mountain of myrrh and to that hill of frankincense while the day breathes its last breath, and the shadows run away.

My darling, you are beautiful all over. Every part of you is perfect.

Come with me, my bride, from Lebanon. Come with me from Lebanon. Come from the peak of Amana,^[c] from the top of Senir^[d] and Hermon, from the lion's caves, from the mountain of the leopards.

My darling,^[e] my bride, you excite me! You have stolen my heart with just one quick look from your eyes, with just one of the jewels from your necklace.

Your love is so beautiful, my darling, my bride! Your love is better than wine. The smell of your perfume is better than any kind of spice!

My bride, your lips drip honey. Honey and milk are under your tongue. Your clothes smell as sweet as perfume.^[f]

My darling, my bride, you are pure like a locked garden. You are like a locked pool, a closed fountain.

Your limbs are like a garden filled with pomegranates and other pleasant fruit, with all the best spices: henna,^[g]

nard, saffron,^[h] calamus,^[i] and cinnamon.^[j] Your limbs are like a garden filled with trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloe.

You are like a garden fountain— a well of fresh water— flowing down from the mountains of Lebanon.

Wake up, north wind. Come, south wind. Blow on my garden. Spread its sweet smell. Let my lover enter his garden and eat its pleasant fruit.