1 The most beautiful of songs, by Solomon.+

The First Song

The Woman

2Your lips cover me with kisses;

your love is better than wine.

3There is a fragrance about you;

the sound of your name recalls it.

No woman could keep from loving you.

4Take me with you, and we'll run away;

be my king and take me to your room.

We will be happy together,

drink deep, and lose ourselves in love.

No wonder all women love you!

5Women of Jerusalem, I am dark but+ beautiful,

dark as the desert tents of Kedar,

but beautiful as the draperies in Solomon's palace.

6Don't look down on me because of my color,

because the sun has tanned me.

My brothers were angry with me

and made me work in the vineyard.

I had no time to care for myself.

7Tell me, my love,

Where will you lead your flock to graze?

Where will they rest from the noonday sun?

Why should I need to look for you

among the flocks of the other shepherds?+

The Man

8Don't you know the place, loveliest of women?

Go and follow the flock;

find pasture for your goats

near the tents of the shepherds.

9You, my love, excite men

as a mare excites the stallions of Pharaoh's chariots.

10Your hair is beautiful upon your cheeks

and falls along your neck like jewels.

11But we will make for you a chain of gold

with ornaments of silver.

The Woman

12My king was lying on his couch,

and my perfume filled the air with fragrance.

13My lover has the scent of myrrh

as he lies upon my breasts.

14My lover is like the wild flowers

that bloom in the vineyards at Engedi.

The Man

15How beautiful you are, my love;

how your eyes shine with love!

The Woman

16How handsome you are, my dearest;

how you delight me!

The green grass will be our bed;

17the cedars will be the beams of our house,

and the cypress trees the ceiling.