SONG OF SONGS 1:5-16

⁵I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.

⁶Look not upon me, because I am swarthy, because the sun hath scorched me. My mother’s sons were incensed against me, they made me keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.

⁷Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest thy flock, where thou makest it to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that is veiled beside the flocks of thy companions?

⁸If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents.

⁹I have compared thee, O my love, to a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots.

¹⁰Thy cheeks are comely with plaits of hair, thy neck with strings of jewels

¹¹We will make thee plaits of gold with studs of silver.

¹²While the king sat at his table, my spikenard sent forth its fragrance.

¹³My beloved is unto me as a bundle of myrrh, that lieth betwixt my breasts.

¹⁴My beloved is unto me as a cluster of henna-flowers in the vineyards of En-gedi.

¹⁵Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thine eyes are as doves.

¹⁶Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our couch is green.