Song of Solomon

By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

1At night on my bed I looked for the man I love. I looked for him, but I did not find him.

2I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

2I said, "I will get up now and go through the city. I will search the streets and the open squares for the man I love." So I looked for him, but I did not find him.

3The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?

3The guards who walk through the city found me. I asked them, "Have you seen the man I love?"

4It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.

4I had only just walked past them when I found the man I love. I held on to him and would not let him go. I brought him to my mother's house, into the room of the one who gave birth to me.

5I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

5Young women of Jerusalem, I make you promise me this, by the deer and the wild does of the fields. Do not stir up love or wake it up until it is ready.

Note"I charge you" in the old English means "I make you swear," like asking someone for a solemn promise. "Roes" and "hinds" are kinds of deer.

6Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?

6Who is this coming up from the desert like a rising column of smoke? The air around is sweet with myrrh and frankincense and every spice the traders sell.

NoteMyrrh and frankincense are tree saps that were dried and burned or worn for their strong, sweet smell. They were costly.

7Behold his bed, which is Solomon’s; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel.

7Look, it is Solomon's carriage. Sixty soldiers ride around it, the strongest fighting men in Israel.

Note"His bed" in the old English does not mean a bed for sleeping. It means a covered chair or carriage that servants carried, used for travel in public. "Threescore" means sixty.

8They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night.

8All of them carry swords and know how to fight. Each man wears his sword at his side, ready for any danger in the night.

9King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon.

9King Solomon made his carriage out of wood from Lebanon.

10He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem.

10He made its posts of silver and its base of gold. Its seat is covered in purple cloth. The inside was lovingly worked by the young women of Jerusalem.

11Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.

11Come out and look, young women of Zion. Look at King Solomon wearing the crown his mother placed on him. She crowned him on his wedding day, the day his heart was full of joy.