NIVUK

Song of Songs 3

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 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 found me

as they made their rounds in the city.

‘Have you seen the one my heart loves?’

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.

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 coming up from the wilderness

like a column of smoke,

perfumed with myrrh and incense

made from all the spices of the merchant?

7Look! It is Solomon’s carriage,

escorted by sixty warriors,

the noblest of Israel,

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 for himself the carriage;

he made it of wood from Lebanon.

10Its posts he made of silver,

its base of gold.

Its seat was upholstered with purple,

its interior inlaid with love.

Daughters of Jerusalem, 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.