MSB SNG Chapter 1

The Bride Confesses Her Love

(Ephesians 5:22–33, 1 Peter 3:1–7)

This [is] Solomon’s Song of Songs.[fn]

2 

The Bride

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!

For your love is more delightful than wine.

3 

The fragrance of your perfume is pleasing;

your name is like perfume poured out.

No wonder the maidens adore you.

4 

Take me away with you— let us hurry!

May the king bring me to his chambers.

The Friends

We will rejoice and delight in you;

we will praise your love more than wine.

The Bride

It is only right that they adore you.

5 

I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem,

like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.

6 

Do not stare because I am dark,

for the sun has gazed upon me.

My mother’s sons were angry with me;

they made me a keeper of the vineyards,

[but] my own vineyard I have neglected

7 

Tell me, O one I love,

where do you pasture your sheep?

Where do you rest them at midday?

Why should I be like a veiled woman

beside the flocks of your companions?

8 

The Friends

If you do not know O fairest of women,

follow the tracks of the flock,

and graze your young goats

near the tents of the shepherds.

9 

The Bridegroom

I compare you, my darling,

to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.

10 

Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments,

your neck with strings of jewels.

11 

The Friends

We will make you ornaments of gold,

[studded] with beads of silver.

12 

The Bride

While the king was at his table,

my perfume spread its fragrance.

13 

My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh

resting between my breasts.

14 

My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms

in the vineyards vvv of En-gedi.

15 

The Bridegroom

How beautiful [you are], my darling!

Oh, how very beautiful!

Your eyes are [like] doves.

16 

The Bride

How handsome [you are], my beloved!

Oh, how delightful!

The soft grass [is] our bed.

17 

The Bridegroom

The beams of our house are cedars;

our rafters [are fragrant] firs.