⁵ Dark am I, yet lovely,^(J)
    daughters of Jerusalem,^(K)
dark like the tents of Kedar,^(L)
    like the tent curtains of Solomon.^[c]
6 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;^(M)
    my own vineyard I had to neglect.
⁷ Tell me, you whom I love,
    where you graze your flock
    and where you rest your sheep^(N) at midday.
Why should I be like a veiled^(O) woman
    beside the flocks of your friends?

⁸ Listen! My beloved!
    Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
    bounding over the hills.^(AP)
9 My beloved is like a gazelle^(AQ) or a young stag.^(AR)
    Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
    peering through the lattice.
¹⁰ My beloved spoke and said to me,
    “Arise, my darling,
    my beautiful one, come with me.
¹¹ See! The winter is past;
    the rains are over and gone.
¹² Flowers appear on the earth;
    the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
    is heard in our land.
¹³ The fig tree forms its early fruit;^(AS)
    the blossoming^(AT) vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
    my beautiful one, come with me.”

3 All night long on my bed
    I looked^(BF) for the one my heart loves;
    I looked for him but did not find him.
² I will get up now and go about the city,
    through its streets and squares;
I will search for the one my heart loves.
    So I looked for him but did not find him.
³ The watchmen found me
    as they made their rounds in the city.^(BG)
    “Have you seen the one my heart loves?”
⁴ Scarcely had I passed them
    when I found the one my heart loves.
I held him and would not let him go
    till I had brought him to my mother’s house,^(BH)
    to the room of the one who conceived me.^(BI)
5 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you^(BJ)
    by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
    until it so desires.^(BK)

⁶ Who is this coming up from the wilderness^(BL)
    like a column of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh^(BM) and incense
    made from all the spices^(BN) of the merchant?
⁷ Look! It is Solomon’s carriage,
    escorted by sixty warriors,^(BO)
    the noblest of Israel,
⁸ all of them wearing the sword,
    all experienced in battle,
each with his sword at his side,
    prepared for the terrors of the night.^(BP)
9 King Solomon made for himself the carriage;
    he made it of wood from Lebanon.
¹⁰ Its posts he made of silver,
    its base of gold.
Its seat was upholstered with purple,
    its interior inlaid with love.
Daughters of Jerusalem, ¹¹ come out,
    and look, you daughters of Zion.^(BQ)
Look^[h] on King Solomon wearing a crown,
    the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
    the day his heart rejoiced.^(BR)

⁸ Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,^(CI)
    come with me from Lebanon.
Descend from the crest of Amana,
    from the top of Senir,^(CJ) the summit of Hermon,^(CK)
from the lions’ dens
    and the mountain haunts of leopards.
⁹ You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;^(CL)
    you have stolen my heart
with one glance of your eyes,
    with one jewel of your necklace.^(CM)
10 How delightful^(CN) is your love^(CO), my sister, my bride!
    How much more pleasing is your love than wine,^(CP)
and the fragrance of your perfume^(CQ)
    more than any spice!
¹¹ Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride;
    milk and honey are under your tongue.^(CR)
The fragrance of your garments
    is like the fragrance of Lebanon.^(CS)
12 You are a garden^(CT) locked up, my sister, my bride;^(CU)
    you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.^(CV)
13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates^(CW)
    with choice fruits,
    with henna^(CX) and nard,
¹⁴     nard and saffron,
    calamus and cinnamon,^(CY)
    with every kind of incense tree,
    with myrrh^(CZ) and aloes^(DA)
    and all the finest spices.^(DB)
15 You are^[j] a garden^(DC) fountain,^(DD)
    a well of flowing water
    streaming down from Lebanon.

⁷ “Listen, my people, and I will speak;
    I will testify^(Q) against you, Israel:
    I am God, your God.^(R)
8 I bring no charges^(S) against you concerning your sacrifices
    or concerning your burnt offerings,^(T) which are ever before me.
⁹ I have no need of a bull^(U) from your stall
    or of goats^(V) from your pens,^(W)
10 for every animal of the forest^(X) is mine,
    and the cattle on a thousand hills.^(Y)
11 I know every bird^(Z) in the mountains,
    and the insects in the fields^(AA) are mine.
¹² If I were hungry I would not tell you,
    for the world^(AB) is mine, and all that is in it.^(AC)
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
    or drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴ “Sacrifice thank offerings^(AD) to God,
    fulfill your vows^(AE) to the Most High,^(AF)
15 and call^(AG) on me in the day of trouble;^(AH)
    I will deliver^(AI) you, and you will honor^(AJ) me.”

“What right have you to recite my laws
    or take my covenant^(AK) on your lips?^(AL)
17 You hate^(AM) my instruction
    and cast my words behind^(AN) you.
¹⁸ When you see a thief, you join^(AO) with him;
    you throw in your lot with adulterers.^(AP)
19 You use your mouth for evil
    and harness your tongue to deceit.^(AQ)
20 You sit and testify against your brother^(AR)
    and slander your own mother’s son.
²¹ When you did these things and I kept silent,^(AS)
    you thought I was exactly^[c] like you.
But I now arraign^(AT) you
    and set my accusations^(AU) before you.

²² “Consider this, you who forget God,^(AV)
    or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:^(AW)
23 Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me,
    and to the blameless^[d] I will show my salvation.^(AX)”