1   The most beautiful of songs, by Solomon. ^note The First Song The Woman

2   
Your lips cover me with kisses;
  your love is better than wine.

3   
There is a fragrance about you;
  the sound of your name recalls it.
  No woman could keep from loving you.

4   
Take me with you, and we'll run away;
  be my king and take me to your room.
We will be happy together,
  drink deep, and lose ourselves in love.
  No wonder all women love you!

5   
Women of Jerusalem, I am
  dark but ^note beautiful,
  dark as the desert tents of Kedar,
  but beautiful as the draperies in Solomon's palace.

6   
Don't look down on me because of my color,
  because the sun has tanned me.

My brothers were angry with me
  and made me work in the vineyard.
  I had no time to care for myself.

7   
Tell me, my love,
  Where will you lead your flock to graze?
  Where will they rest from the noonday sun?
Why should I need to look for you
  among the flocks of the other shepherds? ^note
The Man

8   
Don't you know the place, loveliest of women?
Go and follow the flock;
  find pasture for your goats
  near the tents of the shepherds.

9   
You, my love, excite men
  as a mare excites the stallions of Pharaoh's chariots.

10   
Your hair is beautiful upon your cheeks
  and falls along your neck like jewels.

11   
But we will make for you a chain of gold
  with ornaments of silver.
The Woman

12   
My king was lying on his couch,
  and my perfume filled the air with fragrance.

13   
My lover has the scent of myrrh
  as he lies upon my breasts.

14   
My lover is like the wild flowers
  that bloom in the vineyards at Engedi.
The Man

15   
How beautiful you are, my love;
  how your eyes shine with love!
The Woman

16   
How handsome you are, my dearest;
  how you delight me!
The green grass will be our bed;

17   
  the cedars will be the beams of our house,
  and the cypress trees the ceiling.

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