1. On my bed in the night, I sought him whom my heart loves. I sought him, but I did not find him.
2. Now I will arise, and I will go about in the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my heart loves. I sought him, but I did not find him.
3. The sentinels who go about in the city found me. “Have you seen the one whom my heart loves?”
4. Scarcely had I passed by them when I found him whom my heart loves. I held him and I would not let him go until I brought him to the house of my mother, into the bedroom chamber of she who conceived me.
5. I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the does of the field, do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases!
6. What is this coming up from the desert like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense from all the fragrant powders of the merchant?
7. Look! It is Solomon’s portable couch! Sixty mighty men surround it, the mighty men of Israel.
8. All of them wield swords; they are trained in warfare, each with his sword at his thigh to guard against terror in the night.
9. King Solomon made for himself a sedan chair from the wood of Lebanon.
10. He made its column of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple; its interior is inlaid with leather by the maidens of Jerusalem.
11. Come out and look, O maidens of Zion, at King Solomon, at the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of the joy of his heart!