1 By night on my bed,
I sought him whom my soul loves.
I sought him, but I did not find him.
2 I will get up now and go through the city,
through the streets and in the squares.
I will seek him whom my soul loves.
I sought him, but I did not find him.
3 The watchmen who go about the city found me,
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
4 I had scarcely passed from them,
when I found him whom my soul loves.
I held him and would not let him go,
until I had brought him into my mother’s house,
into the room of the one who had conceived me.
5 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles, or by the does of the field,
that you not arouse nor awaken love,
until it so desires.
6 Who is this who comes up from the wilderness
like pillars of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
with all spices of the merchant?
7 It is Solomon’s carriage!
Sixty warriors surround it,
of the mighty men of Israel.
8 They are all swordsmen, experts in war.
Every man has his sword on his thigh,
because of fear in the night.
9 King Solomon made himself a carriage
of the wood of Lebanon.
10 He made its pillars of silver,
its bottom of gold, its seat of purple,
the middle of it being paved with love,
from the daughters of Jerusalem.
11 Go out, you daughters of Zion, and see king Solomon,
with the crown his mother bestowed,
on the day of his espousal,
on the day of his heart’s rejoicing.