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Song of Solomon 1
New King James Version

### Solomon’s Love for a Shulamite Girl

1 The (A)song of songs, which is Solomon’s.

### The Banquet

#### The [a]Shulamite

2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
(B)For [b]your love is better than wine.
3 Because of the fragrance of your good ointments,
Your name is ointment poured forth;
Therefore the virgins love you.
4 (C)Draw me away!

#### The Daughters of Jerusalem

(D)We will run after [c]you.

#### The Shulamite

The king (E)has brought me into his chambers.

#### The Daughters of Jerusalem

We will be glad and rejoice in [d]you.

We will remember your love more than wine.

#### The Shulamite

Rightly do they love you.

5 I am dark, but lovely,
O daughters of Jerusalem,
Like the tents of Kedar,
Like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not look upon me, because I am dark,
Because the sun has [e]tanned me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
They made me the keeper of the vineyards,
But my own (F)vineyard I have not kept.

#### (To Her Beloved)

7 Tell me, O you whom I love,
Where you feed your flock,
Where you make it rest at noon.
For why should I be as one who [f]veils herself
By the flocks of your companions?

#### The Beloved

8 If you do not know, (G)O fairest among women,
[g]Follow in the footsteps of the flock,
And feed your little goats
Beside the shepherds’ tents.
9 I have compared you, (H)my love,
(I)To my filly among Pharaoh’s chariots.
10 (J)Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
Your neck with chains of gold.

#### The Daughters of Jerusalem

11 We will make [h]you ornaments of gold
With studs of silver.

#### The Shulamite

12 While the king is at his table,
My [i]spikenard sends forth its fragrance.
13 A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me,
That lies all night between my breasts.
14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blooms
In the vineyards of En Gedi.

#### The Beloved

15 (K)Behold, you are fair, [j]my love!
Behold, you are fair!
You have dove’s eyes.

#### The Shulamite

16 Behold, you are (L)handsome, my beloved!
Yes, pleasant!
Also our [k]bed is green.
17 The beams of our houses are cedar,
And our rafters of fir.

#### Footnotes

1. Song of Solomon 1:2 A young woman from the town of Shulam or Shunem, Song 6:13. The speaker and audience are identified according to the number, gender, and person of the Hebrew words. Occasionally the identity is not certain.
2. Song of Solomon 1:2 Masc. sing.: the Beloved
3. Song of Solomon 1:4 Masc. sing.: the Beloved
4. Song of Solomon 1:4 Fem. sing.: the Shulamite
5. Song of Solomon 1:6 Lit. looked upon me
6. Song of Solomon 1:7 LXX, Syr., Vg. wanders
7. Song of Solomon 1:8 Lit. Go out
8. Song of Solomon 1:11 Fem. sing.: the Shulamite
9. Song of Solomon 1:12 perfume
10. Song of Solomon 1:15 my companion, friend
11. Song of Solomon 1:16 couch

#### Cross references

1. Song of Solomon 1:1 : 1 Kin. 4:32
2. Song of Solomon 1:2 : Song 4:10
3. Song of Solomon 1:4 : Hos. 11:4; John 6:44; 12:32
4. Song of Solomon 1:4 : Phil. 3:12–14
5. Song of Solomon 1:4 : Ps. 45:14, 15; John 14:2; Eph. 2:6
6. Song of Solomon 1:6 : Song 8:11, 12
7. Song of Solomon 1:8 : Song 5:9
8. Song of Solomon 1:9 : Song 2:2, 10, 13; 4:1, 7; John 15:14
9. Song of Solomon 1:9 : 2 Chr. 1:16
10. Song of Solomon 1:10 : Ezek. 16:11
11. Song of Solomon 1:15 : Song 4:1; 5:12
12. Song of Solomon 1:16 : Song 5:10–16

New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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