NRSV Song 3 Chapter
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3:1
Upon my bed at night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.
3:2
"I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my soul loves." I sought him, but found him not.
3:3
The sentinels found me, as they went about in the city. "Have you seen him whom my soul loves?"
3:4
Scarcely had I passed them, when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go until I brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.
3:5
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the wild does: do not stir up or awaken love until it is ready!
3:6
What is that coming up from the wilderness, like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the fragrant powders of the merchant?
3:7
Look, it is the litter of Solomon! Around it are sixty mighty men of the mighty men of Israel,
3:8
all equipped with swords and expert in war, each with his sword at his thigh because of alarms by night.
3:9
King Solomon made himself a palanquin from the wood of Lebanon.
3:10
He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple; its interior was inlaid with love. Daughters of Jerusalem,
3:11
come out. Look, O daughters 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 gladness of his heart.