2  Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!

For your love is ^bbetter than wine;

3  your anointing oils are fragrant;

your name is oil poured out;

therefore virgins love you.

4  ^cDraw me after you; let us run.

The king has ^dbrought me into his chambers.

We will exult and rejoice in you;

we will extol your love more than wine;

rightly do they love you.

5  I am very dark, but lovely,

O ^edaughters of Jerusalem,

like the ^ftents of Kedar,

like the curtains of Solomon.

6  Do not gaze at me because I am dark,

because the sun has looked upon me.

My mother’s sons were angry with me;

they made me ^gkeeper of the vineyards,

but ^hmy own vineyard I have not kept!

7  Tell me, you ⁱwhom my soul loves,

where you pasture your flock,

where you make it lie down at noon;

for why should I be like one who veils herself

beside the flocks of your ^jcompanions?

8  If you do not know,

^kO most beautiful among women,

follow in the tracks of the flock,

and pasture your young goats

beside the shepherds’ tents.

9  I compare you, ^lmy love,

to a mare among Pharaoh’s ^mchariots.

10  Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,

your neck with strings of jewels.

11  We will make for you² ornaments of gold,

studded with silver.

12  While the king was on his couch,

my ⁿnard gave forth its fragrance.

13  My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh

that lies between my breasts.

14  My beloved is to me a cluster of ^ohenna blossoms

in the vineyards of Engedi.

15  ^pBehold, ^qyou are beautiful, my love;

behold, you are beautiful;

^ryour eyes are doves.

16  Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightful.

Our couch is green;

17  the beams of our house are cedar;

our rafters are pine.