1 All night long on my bedI longed for my lover.I longed for him but he never appeared.
2 “I will arise and look all around throughout the town,and throughout the streets and squares;I will search for my beloved.”I searched for him but I did not find him.
3 The night watchmen found me – the ones who guard the city walls.“Have you seen my beloved?”
4 Scarcely had I passed them bywhen I found my beloved!I held onto him tightly and would not let him gountil I brought him to my mother’s house,to the bedroom chamber of the one who conceived me.
5 I admonish you, O maidens of Jerusalem,by the gazelles and by the young does of the open fields:“Do not awake or arouse love until it pleases!”
6 Who is this coming up from the desertlike a column of smoke,like a fragrant billow of myrrh and frankincense,every kind of fragrant powder of the traveling merchants?
7 Look! It is Solomon’s portable couch!It is surrounded by sixty warriors,some of Israel’s mightiest warriors.
8 All of them are skilled with a sword,well-trained in the art of warfare.Each has his sword at his side,to guard against the terrors of the night.
9 King Solomon made a sedan chair for himselfof wood imported from Lebanon.
10 Its posts were made of silver;its back was made of gold.Its seat was upholstered with purple wool;its interior was inlaid with leather by the maidens of Jerusalem.
11 Come out, O maidens of Zion,and gaze upon King Solomon!He is wearing the crown with which his mother crowned himon his wedding day,on the most joyous day of his life!