(The Shulammite Bride)
“May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!” [Solomon arrives, she turns to him, saying,]
“For your love is better than wine.

“He has brought me to his banqueting place,
And his banner over me is love [waving overhead to protect and comfort me].

(The Bridegroom)
“O my dove, [here] in the clefts in the rock,
In the sheltered and secret place of the steep pathway,
Let me see your face,
Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is sweet,
And your face is lovely.”

(The Chorus)
“Catch the foxes for us,
The little foxes that spoil and ruin the vineyards [of love],
While our vineyards are in blossom.”

(The Shulammite Bride)“On my bed night after night [I dreamed that] I sought the one
Whom my soul loves;
I sought him but did not find him.

“I said ‘So I must arise now and go out into the city;
Into the streets and into the squares [places I do not know]
I must seek him whom my soul loves.’
I sought him but I did not find him.

“The watchmen who go around the city found me,
And I said, ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’

“Scarcely had I passed them
When I found him whom my soul loves.
I held on to him and would not let him go
Until I had brought him to my mother’s house,
And into the chamber of her who conceived me.”

“Go forth, O daughters of Zion,
And gaze on King Solomon wearing the crown
With which his mother [Bathsheba] has crowned him
On the day of his wedding,
On the day of his gladness of heart.”

“Until the day breaks
And the shadows flee away,
[In my thoughts] I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh
And to the hill of frankincense.

“My beloved extended his hand through the opening [of the door],
And my feelings were aroused for him.

“I opened for my beloved,
But my beloved had turned away and was gone.
My heart went out to him when he spoke.
I searched for him, but I could not find him;
I called him, but he did not answer me.

“I command that you take an oath, O daughters of Jerusalem,
If you find my beloved,
As to what you tell him—
[Say that] I am sick from love [sick from being without him].”

“His mouth is full of sweetness;
Yes, he is altogether lovely and desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.” Cross references: Song of Solomon 5:1 : John 16:33 Song of Solomon 5:2 : Job 11:13-15 Song of Solomon 5:3 : Is 32:9; Heb 3:15 Song of Solomon 5:8 : Ps 63:1 Song of Solomon 5:9 : John 10:26 Song of Solomon 5:10 : Ps 45:2; John 1:14 Song of Solomon 5:16 : Ps 92:15; Col 1:15 end of crossrefs

(The Chorus)“Where has your beloved gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Where is your beloved hiding himself,
That we may seek him with you?”

“Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon;
He entrusted the vineyard to caretakers;
Each one was to bring him a thousand shekels of silver for its fruit.

(The Shulammite Bride)
“Hurry, my beloved and come quickly,
Like a gazelle or a young stag [taking me home]
On the mountains of spices.”