1. W On my bed at night I sought himwhom my soul loves—I sought him but I did not find him.
2. “Let me rise then and go about the city,through the streets and squares;Let me seek him whom my soul loves.”I sought him but I did not find him.
3. The watchmen found me,as they made their rounds in the city:“Him whom my soul loves—have you seen him?”
4. Hardly had I left themwhen I found him whom my soul loves.I held him and would not let him gountil I had brought him to my mother’s house,to the chamber of her who conceived me.
5. I adjure you, Daughters of Jerusalem,by the gazelles and the does of the field,Do not awaken or stir up loveuntil it is ready.
6. D Who is this coming up from the desert,like columns of smokePerfumed with myrrh and frankincense,with all kinds of exotic powders?
7. See! 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 sideagainst the terrors of the night.
9. King Solomon made himself an enclosed litterof wood from Lebanon.
10. He made its columns of silver,its roof of gold,Its seat of purple cloth,its interior lovingly fitted.Daughters of Jerusalem,
11. go outand look upon King SolomonIn the crown with which his mother has crowned himon the day of his marriage,on the day of the joy of his heart.