1 By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loves: I sought him, but I did not find him.

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 loves: I sought him, but I did not find him.

3 The watchmen who go about the city found me; [To whom I said], Did you{+} see him whom my soul loves?

4 It was but a little while that I 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, And into the chamber of her who became pregnant with me.

5 I adjure you{+}, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the roes, or by the hinds of the field, That you{+} do not stir up, nor awake [my] love, Until he pleases.

6 Who is this that comes up from the wilderness Like pillars of smoke, Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, With all powders of the merchant?

7 Look, it is the litter of Solomon; Threescore mighty men are about it, Of the mighty men of Israel.

8 All of them handle the sword, [and] are expert in war: Every man has his sword on his thigh, Because of fear in the night.

9 King Solomon made himself a palanquin Of the wood of Lebanon.

10 He made its pillars of silver, Its bottom of gold, its seat of purple, The midst of it being paved with love, From the daughters of Jerusalem.

11 Go forth, O you{+} daughters of Zion, and look at King Solomon, With the crown with which his mother has crowned him In the day of his espousals, And in the day of the gladness of his heart.