Song of Solomon 1

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

This poem opens with the bride expressing her desire for the king, praising his love and pleasing fragrance while companions and friends also celebrate his affection. The bride addresses the daughters of Jerusalem, explaining that her dark complexion results from working in the vineyards because her brothers were angry with her. She then asks her beloved where he pastures and rests his sheep at midday, and he instructs her to follow the tracks of the flock toward the shepherds' tents. Exchanging mutual praises, the king compares her to a mare among Pharaoh's chariots and admires her adorned cheeks and neck, while she likens him to a sachet of myrrh and henna blossoms from En-gedi. The chapter concludes with mutual expressions of beauty and delight, highlighting their shared setting with a grassy bed, cedar beams, and fragrant fir rafters.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹This is Solomon’s Song of Songs. ²Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is more delightful than wine. ³The fragrance of your perfume is pleasing; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens adore you. ⁴Take me away with you—let us hurry! May the king bring me to his chambers. The Friends We will rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. The Bride It is only right that they adore you. ⁵I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. ⁶Do not stare because I am dark, for the sun has gazed upon me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me a keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have neglected. ⁷Tell me, O one I love, where do you pasture your sheep? Where do you rest them at midday? Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your companions? ⁸If you do not know, O fairest of women, follow the tracks of the flock, and graze your young goats near the tents of the shepherds. ⁹I compare you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots. ¹⁰Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels. ¹¹We will make you ornaments of gold, studded with beads of silver. ¹²While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance. ¹³My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts. ¹⁴My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of En-gedi. ¹⁵How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves. ¹⁶How handsome you are, my beloved! Oh, how delightful! The soft grass is our bed. ¹⁷The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are fragrant firs.

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.