1 On my bed by night I sought himwhom my soul loves;I sought him, but found him not.
2 I 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.
3 The watchmen found me,as they went about the city.“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
4 Scarcely had I passed them,when I found him whom my soul loves.I held him, and would not let him gountil I brought him to my mother’s house,and into the chamber of her who conceived me.
5 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,by the gazelles or does of the field,do not stir up or awaken loveuntil it pleases.
6 Who is that coming up from the wilderness,like columns of smoke,perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,with all the fragrant powders of the merchant?
7 Look, it is the litter of Solomon!Around it are sixty mighty men,of the mighty men of Israel,
8 all of them holding swordsand expert in war,each with his sword at his thigh,because of terrors by night.
9 King Solomon made himself a palanquinfrom the wood of Lebanon.
10 He made its posts of silver,its back of gold,its seat of purple;its interior was inlaid with loveby the daughters of Jerusalem.
11 Go forth, O daughters of Zion,and see King Solomon with the crownwith which his mother crowned himon the day of his wedding,on the day of the gladness of his heart.