[1] “On my bed night after night [I dreamed that] I sought the one Whom my soul loves; I sought him but did not find him. [2] I said ‘So I must arise now and go out into the city; Into the streets and into the squares [places I do not know] I must seek him whom my soul loves.’ I sought him but I did not find him. [3] The watchmen who go around the city found me, And I said, ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’ [4] Scarcely had I passed them When I found him whom my soul loves. I held on to him and would not let him go Until I had brought him to my mother’s house, And into the chamber of her who conceived me.” [5] “I command that you take an oath, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the does of the field, That you do not rouse nor awaken my love Until she pleases.” [6] “What is this coming up from the wilderness Like [stately] pillars of smoke Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, With all the fragrant powders of the merchant?” [7] “Behold, it is the couch (palanquin) of Solomon; Sixty mighty men around it, Of the mighty men of Israel. [8] All of them handle the sword, All expert in war; Each man has his sword at his thigh, Guarding against the terrors of the night. [9] King Solomon has made for himself a palanquin From the [cedar] wood of Lebanon. [10] He made its posts of silver, Its back of gold, Its seat of purple cloth, The interior lovingly and intricately wrought By the daughters of Jerusalem. [11] Go forth, O daughters of Zion, And gaze on King Solomon wearing the crown With which his mother [Bathsheba] has crowned him On the day of his wedding, On the day of his gladness of heart.”
