| King James Bible | New International Version |
| 1By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. | 1All night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves; I looked for him but did not find him. |
| 2I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. | 2I 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. |
| 3The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? | 3The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. "Have you seen the one my heart loves?" |
| 4It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: 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 that conceived me. | 4Scarcely 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, to the room of the one who conceived me. |
| 5I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please. | 5Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires. |
| 6Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant? | 6Who is this coming up from the wilderness like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and incense made from all the spices of the merchant? |
| 7Behold his bed, which is Solomon's; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel. | 7Look! It is Solomon's carriage, escorted by sixty warriors, the noblest of Israel, |
| 8They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night. | 8all of them wearing the sword, all experienced in battle, each with his sword at his side, prepared for the terrors of the night. |
| 9King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon. | 9King Solomon made for himself the carriage; he made it of wood from Lebanon. |
| 10He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem. | 10Its posts he made of silver, its base of gold. Its seat was upholstered with purple, its interior inlaid with love. Daughters of Jerusalem, |
| 11Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart. | 11come out, and look, you daughters of Zion. Look 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. |
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