1 By night on my bed

I sought him whom my soul loveth:

I sought him, but I found him not.

2 I said, I 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.

3 The watchmen that go about the city found me;

To whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?

4 It was but a little that I passed from them,

When 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.

5 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

By the roes, or by the hinds of the field,

That ye stir not up, nor awake my love,

Until he please.

6 Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness

Like pillars of smoke,

Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,

With all powders of the merchant?

7 Behold, it is the litter of Solomon;

Threescore mighty men are about it,

Of the mighty men of Israel.

8 They all handle the sword, and are expert in war:

Every man hath his sword upon his thigh,

Because of fear in the night.

9 King Solomon made himself a palanquin

Of the wood of Lebanon.

10 He made the pillars thereof of silver,

The bottom thereof of gold, the seat of it of purple,

The midst thereof being paved with love,

From the daughters of Jerusalem.

11 Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon,

With the crown wherewith his mother hath crowned him

In the day of his espousals,

And in the day of the gladness of his heart.

1 POR las noches busqué en mi lecho al que ama mi alma: Busquélo, y no lo hallé.

2 Levantaréme ahora, y rodearé por la ciudad; Por las calles y por las plazas Buscaré al que ama mi alma: Busquélo, y no lo hallé.

3 Halláronme los guardas que rondan la ciudad, Y díjeles: ¿Habéis visto al que ama mi alma?

4 Pasando de ellos un poco, Hallé luego al que mi alma ama: Trabé de él, y no lo dejé, Hasta que lo metí en casa de mi madre, Y en la cámara de la que me engendró.

5 Yo os conjuro, oh doncellas de Jerusalem, Por las gamas y por las ciervas del campo, Que no despertéis ni hagáis velar al amor, Hasta que quiera.

6 ¿Quién es ésta que sube del desierto como columnita de humo, Sahumada de mirra y de incienso, Y de todos polvos aromáticos?

7 He aquí es la litera de Salomón: Sesenta valientes la rodean, De los fuertes de Israel.

8 Todos ellos tienen espadas, diestros en la guerra; Cada uno su espada sobre su muslo, Por los temores de la noche.

9 El rey Salomón se hizo una carroza De madera del Líbano.

10 Sus columnas hizo de plata, Su respaldo de oro, su cielo de grana, Su interior enlosado de amor, Por las doncellas de Jerusalem.

11 Salid, oh doncellas de Sión, y ved al rey Salomón Con la corona con que le coronó su madre el día de su desposorio, Y el día del gozo de su corazón.