Song of Songs 3

She Speaks

¹At night on my bed,

I look for the man I love.

I looked for him,

but I could not find him.

²I 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.

³The guards patrolling the city found me.

I asked them, “Have you seen the man I love?”

⁴I 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 me.

She Speaks to the Women

⁵Women of Jerusalem, promise me

by the gazelles and wild deer,

don’t awaken love,

don’t arouse love, until I am ready.

The Women of Jerusalem Speak

⁶Who is this woman

coming from the desert

with this large group of people ?

The dust rises behind them

like clouds of smoke from burning myrrh and frankincense and other spices.

⁷Look, Solomon’s traveling chair.[#3:7 A kind of chair that the rich traveled in. These chairs were covered and had poles that slaves used to carry them. Also in verse 9.]

There are 60 soldiers guarding it,

strong soldiers of Israel.

⁸All of them are trained fighting men

with their swords at their side,

ready for any danger of the night.

⁹King Solomon made a traveling chair for himself.

The wood came from Lebanon.

¹⁰The 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.

¹¹Women of Zion, come out

and see King Solomon.

See the crown his mother put on him

the day he was married,

the day he was so happy!