| English Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1On my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not. | 1 In my bed at night I sought the one I love; I sought him, but did not find him. |
| 2I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but found him not. | 2I will arise now and go about the city, through the streets and the plazas. I will seek the one I love. I sought him, but did not find him. |
| 3The watchmen found me as they went about in the city. “Have you seen him whom my soul loves?” | 3The guards who go about the city found me. I asked them, "Have you seen the one I love?" |
| 4Scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her who conceived me. | 4I had just passed them when I found the one I love. I held on to him and would not let him go until I brought him to my mother's house-- to the chamber of the one who conceived me. |
| 5I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases. | 5Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and the wild does of the field: do not stir up or awaken love until the appropriate time. N |
| 6What is that coming up from the wilderness like columns of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the fragrant powders of a merchant? | 6What is this coming up from the wilderness like columns of smoke, scented with myrrh and frankincense from every fragrant powder of the merchant? |
| 7Behold, it is the litter of Solomon! Around it are sixty mighty men, some of the mighty men of Israel, | 7It is Solomon's royal litter surrounded by 60 warriors from the mighty of Israel. |
| 8all of them wearing swords and expert in war, each with his sword at his thigh, against terror by night. | 8All of them are skilled with swords and trained in warfare. Each has his sword at his side to guard against the terror of the night. |
| 9King Solomon made himself a carriage from the wood of Lebanon. | 9King Solomon made a sedan chair for himself with wood from Lebanon. |
| 10He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple; its interior was inlaid with love by the daughters of Jerusalem. | 10He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, and its seat of purple. Its interior is inlaid with love by the young women of Jerusalem. |
| 11Go out, O daughters of Zion, and look upon King Solomon, with the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of the gladness of his heart. | 11Come out, young women of Zion, and gaze at King Solomon, wearing the crown his mother placed on him the day of his wedding-- the day of his heart's rejoicing. |
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