Song of Songs 1–2: Let Him Kiss Me": Desire, Darkness, and the Coming of Spring
Scripture: Berean Standard Bible
This is Solomon’s Song of Songs.
The BrideLet him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!For your love is more delightful than wine.The fragrance of your perfume is pleasing;your name is like perfume poured out.No wonder the maidens adore you.
Take me away with you—let us hurry!May the king bring me to his chambers.
The FriendsWe will rejoice and delight in you;we will praise your love more than wine.
The BrideIt is only right that they adore you.
I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem,like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.Do not stare because I am dark,for the sun has gazed upon me.My mother’s sons were angry with me;they made me a keeper of the vineyards,but my own vineyard I have neglected.
Tell me, O one I love,where do you pasture your sheep?Where do you rest them at midday?Why should I be like a veiled womanbeside the flocks of your companions?
The FriendsIf you do not know, O fairest of women,follow the tracks of the flock,and graze your young goatsnear the tents of the shepherds.
The BridegroomI compare you, my darling,to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments,your neck with strings of jewels.
The FriendsWe will make you ornaments of gold,studded with beads of silver.
The BrideWhile the king was at his table,my perfume spread its fragrance.My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrhresting between my breasts.My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossomsin the vineyards of En-gedi.
The BridegroomHow beautiful you are, my darling!Oh, how very beautiful!Your eyes are like doves.
The BrideHow handsome you are, my beloved!Oh, how delightful!The soft grass is our bed.
The BridegroomThe beams of our house are cedars;our rafters are fragrant firs.
The BrideI am a rose of Sharon,a lily of the valley.
The BridegroomLike a lily among the thornsis my darling among the maidens.
The BrideLike an apricot tree among the trees of the forestis my beloved among the young men.I delight to sit in his shade,and his fruit is sweet to my taste.He has brought me to the house of wine,and his banner over me is love.
Sustain me with raisins;refresh me with apples,for I am faint with love.
His left hand is under my head,and his right arm embraces me.O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure youby the gazelles and does of the field:Do not arouse or awaken loveuntil the time is right.
Listen! My beloved approaches.Look! Here he comes,leaping across the mountains,bounding over the hills.My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.Look, he stands behind our wall,gazing through the windows,peering through the lattice.
My beloved calls to me,“Arise, my darling.Come away with me, my beautiful one.For now the winter is past;the rain is over and gone.The flowers have appeared in the countryside;the season of singing has come,and the cooing of turtledovesis heard in our land.The fig tree ripens its figs;the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.Arise, come away, my darling;come away with me, my beautiful one.”
The BridegroomO my dove in the clefts of the rock,in the crevices of the cliff,let me see your face,let me hear your voice;for your voice is sweet,and your countenance is lovely.
The FriendsCatch for us the foxes—the little foxes that ruin the vineyards—for our vineyards are in bloom.
The BrideMy beloved is mine and I am his;he pastures his flock among the lilies.Before the day breaks and shadows flee,turn, my beloved,and be like a gazelleor a young stag on the mountains of Bether.