| English Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s. | 1This is Solomon’s song of songs, more wonderful than any other. Young Woman |
| 2Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine; | 2Kiss me and kiss me again, for your love is sweeter than wine. |
| 3your anointing oils are fragrant; your name is oil poured out; therefore virgins love you. | 3How pleasing is your fragrance; your name is like the spreading fragrance of scented oils. No wonder all the young women love you! |
| 4Draw me after you; let us run. The king has brought me into his chambers. Others We will exult and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you. | 4Take me with you; come, let’s run! The king has brought me into his bedroom. Young Women of Jerusalem How happy we are for you, O king. We praise your love even more than wine. Young Woman How right they are to adore you. |
| 5I am very dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. | 5I am dark but beautiful, O women of Jerusalem— dark as the tents of Kedar, dark as the curtains of Solomon’s tents. |
| 6Do not gaze at me because I am dark, because the sun has looked upon me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept! | 6Don’t stare at me because I am dark— the sun has darkened my skin. My brothers were angry with me; they forced me to care for their vineyards, so I couldn’t care for myself—my own vineyard. |
| 7Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon; for why should I be like one who veils herself beside the flocks of your companions? | 7Tell me, my love, where are you leading your flock today? Where will you rest your sheep at noon? For why should I wander like a prostitute among your friends and their flocks? Young Man |
| 8If you do not know, O most beautiful among women, follow in the tracks of the flock, and pasture your young goats beside the shepherds’ tents. | 8If you don’t know, O most beautiful woman, follow the trail of my flock, and graze your young goats by the shepherds’ tents. |
| 9I compare you, my love, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots. | 9You are as exciting, my darling, as a mare among Pharaoh’s stallions. |
| 10Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels. | 10How lovely are your cheeks; your earrings set them afire! How lovely is your neck, enhanced by a string of jewels. |
| 11We will make for you ornaments of gold, studded with silver. | 11We will make for you earrings of gold and beads of silver. Young Woman |
| 12While the king was on his couch, my nard gave forth its fragrance. | 12The king is lying on his couch, enchanted by the fragrance of my perfume. |
| 13My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh that lies between my breasts. | 13My lover is like a sachet of myrrh lying between my breasts. |
| 14My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of Engedi. | 14He is like a bouquet of sweet henna blossoms from the vineyards of En-gedi. Young Man |
| 15Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves. | 15How beautiful you are, my darling, how beautiful! Your eyes are like doves. Young Woman |
| 16Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightful. Our couch is green; | 16You are so handsome, my love, pleasing beyond words! The soft grass is our bed; |
| 17the beams of our house are cedar; our rafters are pine. | 17fragrant cedar branches are the beams of our house, and pleasant smelling firs are the rafters. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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