¹ On my bed at night I sought the one I love; I sought him, but did not find him.

² I will arise now and go about the city, through the streets and squares. I will seek the one I love. So I sought him but did not find him.

³ I encountered the watchmen on their rounds of the city: “Have you seen the one I love?”

⁴ I had just passed them when I found the one I love. I held him and would not let go until I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the chamber of the one who conceived me.

Solomon Arrives on His Wedding Day

⁵ O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.

⁶ Who is this coming up from the wilderness like a column of smoke, scented with myrrh and frankincense from all the spices of the merchant?

⁷ Behold, it is Solomon’s carriage,¹ escorted by sixty of the mightiest men of Israel.

1. That is, the couch on which servants carry a king

⁸ All are skilled with the sword, experienced in warfare. Each has his sword at his side prepared for the terror of the night.

⁹ King Solomon has made his carriage out of the timber of Lebanon.

¹⁰ He has made its posts of silver, its base of gold, its seat of purple fabric. Its interior is inlaid with love by the daughters of Jerusalem.

¹¹ Come out, O daughters of Zion, and gaze at King Solomon, wearing the crown his mother bestowed on the day of his wedding— the day of his heart’s rejoicing.