1. One night as I lay in bed, I yearned for my lover.I yearned for him, but he did not come.
2. So I said to myself, “I will get up and roam the city,searching in all its streets and squares.I will search for the one I love.”So I searched everywhere but did not find him.
3. The watchmen stopped me as they made their rounds,and I asked, “Have you seen the one I love?”
4. Then scarcely had I left themwhen I found my love!I caught and held him tightly,then I brought him to my mother’s house,into my mother’s bed, where I had been conceived.
5. Promise me, O women of Jerusalem,by the gazelles and wild deer,not to awaken love until the time is right.
6. Who is this sweeping in from the wildernesslike a cloud of smoke?Who is it, fragrant with myrrh and frankincenseand every kind of spice?
7. Look, it is Solomon’s carriage,surrounded by sixty heroic men,the best of Israel’s soldiers.