1 On my bed in the night, I sought him whom my heart loves. I sought him, but I did not find him.
2 Now I will arise, and I will go about in the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my heart loves. I sought him, but I did not find him.
3 The sentinels who go about in the city found me. “Have you seen the one whom my heart loves?”
4 Scarcely had I passed by them when I found him whom my heart loves. I held him and I would not let him go until I brought him to the house of my mother, into the bedroom chamber of she who conceived me.
5 I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the does of the field, do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases!
6 What is this coming up from the desert like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense from all the fragrant powders of the merchant?
7 Look! It is Solomon’s portable couch! Sixty mighty men surround it, the mighty men of Israel.
8 All of them wield swords; they are trained in warfare, each with his sword at his thigh to guard against terror in the night.
9 King Solomon made for himself a sedan chair from the wood of Lebanon.
10 He made its column of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple; its interior is inlaid with leather by the maidens of Jerusalem.
11 Come out and look, O maidens of Zion, at King Solomon, at the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of the joy of his heart!