The Loved One
3 Night after night on my bed,
I sought the one I love;
I sought him, but didn’t find him.
2 I’ll get up and go all around the city,
throughout the streets, and in the squares.
I’ll seek the one I love.
I sought him, but didn’t find him.
3 The watchmen who go all around the city found me.
I asked,[a] “Have you seen the one I love?”
4 I had just passed them
when I found the one I love.
I held him and wouldn’t let him go
until I brought him to my mother’s house,
to the room of the one who conceived me.
5 Swear to me, young women of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or by the does of the field,
that you won’t awaken or arouse love
before its proper time![b]
The Lover Arrives
6 What[c] is this coming up from the desert
like columns of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh[d] and incense[e]
from all the fragrant powders of the merchant?
7 Look! It’s Solomon’s sedan chair,[f]
with 60 of the best soldiers in Israel[g] surrounding it.
8 All of them are wearing swords and are
experienced in battle.
Each has his sword on his thigh,
ready for the terror of the night.[h]
9 King Solomon made the sedan chair for himself
from the trees of Lebanon.
10 He made its posts of silver,
its back of gold.
Its seat was purple,
and its interior was lovingly inlaid
by the young women of Jerusalem.
11 Come out, young women of Zion,
and see King Solomon with the crown
with which his mother crowned him
on his wedding day—
his day of great delight.[i]
Footnotes
- Song of Solomon 3:3 The Heb. lacks I asked
- Song of Solomon 3:5 Lit. until it pleases
- Song of Solomon 3:6 Or Who
- Song of Solomon 3:6 Myrrh was a fragrant spice used as a perfume.
- Song of Solomon 3:6 Or frankincense
- Song of Solomon 3:7 Or palanquin; i.e. a portable compartment for carrying important people.
- Song of Solomon 3:7 Lit. mighty men from the mighty men of Israel
- Song of Solomon 3:8 Lit. thigh, from the terror of the night
- Song of Solomon 3:11 Lit. day of the rejoicing of his heart