Song of Songs-Shir HaShirim
To Our Forefathers Yisrael
1 The shir ha-shirim, which is Shlomo’s.
2 Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth: for your ahava is better than wine.
3 Because of the fragrance of Your tov perfumes Your Name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love You.
4 Draw me, we will run after You: The Melech has brought me into His inner rooms: we will be in simcha and gilah in You, we will remember Your ahava more than wine: the tzadikim love You.
5 I AM black, but lovely, O daughters of Yahrushalayim, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Shlomo.
6 Look not upon Me because I AM black because the shemesh has looked upon Me: My eema’s children were angry with Me; they made Me the keeper of the vineyards; but My own vineyard have I not kept.
7 Tell me, O You whom my being loves, where You feed, where You make Your flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that is veiled by the flocks of Your companions?
8 If you know not, O you fairest among women, go your derech in the footsteps of the flock and feed your little goats beside the shepherds’ tents.
9 I have compared you, O my ahava, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s mirkavot.
10 Your cheeks are lovely with rows of jewels, your neck with chains of gold.
11 We will make you borders of gold with studs of silver.
12 While The Melech sits at His shulchan, my spikenard sends forth its smell.
13 A bundle of myrrh is my Beloved to me; He shall lie all lyla between my breasts.
14 My Beloved is to me as a cluster of henna flowers in the vineyards of En-Gedi.
15 See, you are fair, my ahava; see, you are fair; you have doves’ eyes.
16 See, You are handsome, my Beloved, yes, pleasant: also our bed is green.
17 The beams of our bayit are cedar and our rafters of cypress.
2 I AM The Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley.
2 As the lily among the thorns, so is My ahava among the daughters.
3 As the apple eytz among the eytzim of the wood, so is my Beloved among the sons. I sat down under His shadow with great delight and His fruit was sweet to my taste.
4 He brought me to the banqueting bayit and His banner over me was ahava.
5 Strengthen me with raisin cakes, comfort me with apples: for I am sick for ahava.
6 His left hand is under my head and His Right Hand does embrace me.
7 I charge you, O you daughters of Yahrushalayim, by the gazelles and by the deer of the field, that you stir not, nor awake my ahava until He so pleases.
8 The voice of my Beloved! He is coming leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
9 My Beloved is like a gazelle, or a young stag: see, He stands behind our wall, He looks out the windows, showing Himself through the lattice.
10 My Beloved spoke and said to me, Rise up, my ahava, my fair one and come away.
11 For, look, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds has come and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land;
13 The fig eytz puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes give a tov smell. Arise, my ahava, my fair one and come away.
14 O My dove, that are in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see your countenance, let me hear your voice; for sweet is your voice and your countenance is lovely.
15 Catch the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
16 My Beloved is mine and I am His: He feeds among the lilies.
17 Until the yom break and the shadows flee away, turn, my Beloved and be like a gazelle, or a young stag upon the mountains of Bether.
3 By lyla on my bed I sought Him whom my being loves: I sought Him, but I found Him not.
2 I will rise now and go about the city in the streets and in the broad derachot, I will seek Him whom my being loves: I sought Him, but I found Him not.
3 The watchmen that goes around the city found me: to whom I said, Did you see Him whom my being loves?
4 Scarcely I passed from them, but I found Him whom my being loves: I held Him and would not let Him go, until I had brought Him into my eema’s bayit and into the inner rooms of her that conceived me.
5 I charge you, O you daughters of Yahrushalayim, by the gazelles and by the deer of the field, that you stir not, nor awake my ahava, until He so pleases.
6 Who is this that comes out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchants?
7 See His bed, which is Shlomo’s; sixty valiant men are around it, of the valiant of Yisrael.
8 They all hold swords, being experts in war: every man has his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the lyla.
9 Melech Shlomo made himself a mirkavah from the woods of Levanon.
10 He made its pillars of silver, the bottom of gold, the covering of it in purple and the middle being paved with ahava, by the daughters of Yahrushalayim.
11 Go forth, O you daughters of Tzion and see melech Shlomo with the keter with which his eema crowned him in the yom of his wedding and in the yom of the simcha of his lev.
4 See, you are fair, my ahava; see, you are fair; you have doves’ eyes within your locks: your hair is as a flock of goats, coming down from Har Gilad.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep that are shorn, which came up from the washing; all of them bear twins and none is barren
among them.
3 Your lips are like a thread of scarlet and your speech is lovely: your cheeks are like a piece of a pomegranate.
4 Your neck is like the tower of Dawid built for an armory, on which there hang a thousand shields, all the shields of mighty men.
5 Your two breasts are like two young gazelles that are twins, who feed among the lilies.
6 Until the yom breaks and the shadows flee away, I will go My derech to the har of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense.
7 You are all fair, My ahava; there is no blemish in you.
8 Come with Me from Levanon, My bride, with Me from Levanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards.
9 You have encouraged My lev, My sister-bride; you have encouraged My lev with one look of your eyes, with one bead of your necklace.
10 How fair is your ahava, My sister-bride! How much better is your ahava than wine! And the fragrance of your perfumes than all spices!
11 Your lips, O My bride, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under your tongue; and the smell of your garments is like the smell of Levanon.
12 A gan locked is My sister-bride; a spring shut, a fountain locked.
13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates; with pleasant fruits; with henna flower, with spikenard,
14 Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all eytzim of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:
15 A fountain of gardens, a well of living mayim and streams from Levanon.
16 Awake, O north wind; and come, O south wind; blow upon my gan that the spices may flow out. Let my Beloved come into His gan and eat His pleasant fruits.
5 I AM come into my gan, My sister-bride: I have gathered My myrrh with My spice; I have eaten My honeycomb with My honey; I have drunk My wine with My milk: eat, O chaverim; drink, yes, drink abundantly, O beloved.
2 I sleep, but my lev awakes: it is the voice of my Beloved that knocks, saying, Open to Me, My sister, My ahava, My dove, My undefiled: for My head is filled with dew and My locks with the drops of the lyla.
3 I have put off My coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed My feet; how shall I defile them?
4 My Beloved put in His hand by the latch of the door and my inside feelings were moved for Him.
5 I rose up to open to my Beloved; and my hands dripped with myrrh and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.
6 I opened to my Beloved; but my Beloved had withdrawn Himself and was gone: my being failed when He spoke: I sought Him, but I could not find Him; I called to Him, but He gave me no answer.
7 The watchmen that went around the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my
veil from me.
8 I charge you, O daughters of Yahrushalayim, if you find my Beloved, that you tell Him, that I am sick for ahava.
9 Why is your Beloved greater than another beloved, O you fairest among women? Why is your Beloved greater than another beloved, that you have placed us under an oath?
10 My Beloved is dazzling and ruddy, the head among ten thousand.
11 His head is as the finest gold; His locks are wavy and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of mayim, washed with milk and fitly set.
13 His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: His lips like lilies, dripping sweet smelling myrrh.
14 His Hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: His belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.
15 His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: His countenance is as Levanon, excellent as the cedars.
16 His mouth is most sweet: yes, He is altogether lovely. This is my Beloved and this is my chaver, O daughters of Yahrushalayim.
6 Where is your Beloved gone, O fairest among women? Where has your Beloved turned aside, that we may seek Him with you?
2 My Beloved is gone down into His gan, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens and to gather lilies.
3 I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine: He feeds among the lilies.
4 You are beautiful, O My ahava, as fair as Tirtzah, lovely as Yahrushalayim, terrible as an army with banners.
5 Turn away your eyes from Me, for they have overcome Me: your hair is as a flock of goats that appeared from Gilad.
6 Your teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, where everyone bears twins and there is not one barren among them.
7 As two pieces of a pomegranate are your cheeks behind your veil.
8 There are sixty queens and eighty concubines and virgins without number.
9 My dove, My undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her eema; she is the choicest one of her that bore her. The daughters saw her and blessed her; yes, the queens and the concubines, they give tehilla to her.
10 Who is she that shines forth as the boker, fair as the yarayach, clear as the shemesh and awesome as an army with banners?
11 I went down into the gan of nuts to see the fruits of the valley and to see whether the vine flourished and the pomegranates budded.
12 I did not know, My desire made Me like the mirkavot of nobility.
13 Shuv, shuv, O Shulamite; shuv, shuv, that we may look upon you. What will you see in the Shulamite? As it were the dance companies of two armies.
7 How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O sar’s daughter! The curves of your thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a skilled workman.
2 Your navel is like a round bowl, let it not lack wine: your gooff is like a heap of wheat set about with lilies.
3 Your two breasts are like two young gazelles that are twins.
4 Your neck is as a tower of ivory; your eyes like the pools in Cheshbon, by the gate of Bat-Ravvim: your nose is as the tower of Levanon that looks toward Damascus.
5 Your head upon you is like Carmel and the hair of your head like purple; The Melech is held by the ringlets.
6 How fair and how pleasant are you, O ahava, for delights!
7 Your stature is like a palm eytz and your breasts like clusters of grapes.
8 I said, I will go up to the palm eytz, I will take hold of its tips: now also your breasts shall be as clusters of the vine and the smell of your nose like apples;
9 And the palate of Your mouth like the best wine for my Beloved, that makes me move my lips and my teeth.
10 I am my Beloved’s and His desire is toward me.
11 Come, my Beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us stay in the villages.
12 Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine has budded, whether the tender grapes appear and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give You my ahava.
13 The love-apples give a smell and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and Old which I have laid up for You, O my Beloved.
8 O that You were as my brother that sucked the breasts of my eema! When I should find You outside, I would kiss You; yes, I should not be despised.
2 I would lead You and bring You into my eema’s bayit, who would instruct me: I would cause You to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate.
3 His left hand should be under my head and His right hand should embrace me.
4 I have put you under oath, O daughters of Yahrushalayim; that you stir not, nor awake my ahava, until He so pleases.
5 Who is this that comes up from the wilderness, leaning upon her Beloved? I raised you up under the apple eytz: there your eema brought you forth: there she brought you forth that bore you.
6 Set me as a seal upon Your lev, as a seal upon Your arm: for ahava is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as Sheol: the coals of it are coals of fire, which has a most vehement flame.
7 Many mayim cannot quench ahava, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his bayit for ahava, it would utterly be scorned.
8 We have a little sister and she has no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the yom when she shall be spoken for?
9 If she is a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar.
10 I am a wall and my breasts like towers: then was I in His eyes as one that found chen.
11 Shlomo had a vineyard at Ba’al-Hamon; he leased the vineyard to keepers; everyone for its fruit was to bring a thousand pieces of silver.
12 My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: O Shlomo, You must have a thousand and those that keep the fruit two hundred.
13 You that dwell in the gardens, the companions listen to Your voice: let me hear it.