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Take me away with you. Come quickly.
    I want the king to take me into his rooms.[a]

The woman's friends:[b]

We are very happy!
    You make us happy.
We praise your love,
    because it is better than wine.

The young woman:

I agree! The young women are right to praise you like that.

Young women of Jerusalem, my skin is dark but I am beautiful.[c]
    My skin is dark, like the tents of Kedar.
    It is beautiful, like the curtains of King Solomon's tent.
The sun has caused my skin to become dark.
    Please do not look at me as if I am strange.
My brothers were angry with me.
    They caused me to work outside in the sun.
I took care of the vineyards,
    and I could not take care of my own vineyard, my body.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:4 The man may be a king. Or, for the woman, he may be like a king, because she gives him honour.
  2. 1:4 The woman is with some friends. The women friends are speaking about the man, not about the woman.
  3. 1:5 The writer calls her friends the ‘Daughters of Jerusalem’. Jerusalem was the capital city where Solomon was king.

Take me away with you—let us hurry!
    Let the king bring me into his chambers.(A)

Friends

We rejoice and delight(B) in you[a];
    we will praise your love(C) more than wine.

She

How right they are to adore you!

Dark am I, yet lovely,(D)
    daughters of Jerusalem,(E)
dark like the tents of Kedar,(F)
    like the tent curtains of Solomon.[b]
Do not stare at me because I am dark,
    because I am darkened by the sun.
My mother’s sons were angry with me
    and made me take care of the vineyards;(G)
    my own vineyard I had to neglect.

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Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 1:4 The Hebrew is masculine singular.
  2. Song of Songs 1:5 Or Salma