"The Song of Songs of Solomon" (Chapter III in English)

1 Bride: On my bed at night I sought him

whom my heart loves -

I sought him but I did not find him.

2 I will rise then and go about the city;

in the streets and crossings I will seek

Him whom my heart loves.

I sought him but I did not find him.

3 The watchmen came upon me

as they made their rounds of the city:

Have you seen him whom my heart loves?

4 I had hardly left them

when I found him whom my heart loves.

I took hold of him and would not let him go

till I should bring him to the home of my mother,

to the room of my parent.

5 Bridegroom:I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,

by the gazelles and hinds of the field,

Do not arouse, do not stir up love

before its own time.

(Third Poem)

6  What is this coming up from the desert,

like a column of smoke

Laden with myrrh, with frankincense,

and with the perfume of every exotic dust?

7 Ah, it is the litter of Solomon;

sixty valiant men surround it,

of the valiant men of Israel:

8 All of them expert with the sword,

skilled in battle,

Each with his sword at his side

against danger in the watches of the night.

9 King Solomon made himself a carriage

of wood from Lebanon.

10 He made its columns of silver,

its roof of gold,

Its seat of purple cloth,

its framework inlaid with ivory.

11 Daughters of Jerusalem, come forth

and look upon King Solomon

In the crown with which his mother has crowned him

on the day of his marriage,

on the day of the joy of his heart.