1. On my bed by night I sought himwhom my soul loves;I sought him, but found him not.
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 watchmen found me,as they went about 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 gountil I brought him to my mother’s house,and into the chamber of her who conceived me.
5. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,by the gazelles or does of the field,do not stir up or awaken loveuntil it pleases.
6. Who is that coming up from the wilderness,like columns 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 of them holding swordsand expert in war,each with his sword at his thigh,because of terrors by night.
9. King Solomon made himself a palanquinfrom the wood of Lebanon.
10. He made its posts of silver,its back of gold,its seat of purple;its interior was inlaid with loveby the daughters of Jerusalem.
11. Go forth, O daughters of Zion,and see King Solomon with the crownwith which his mother crowned himon the day of his wedding,on the day of the gladness of his heart.