Song of Songs 1:5-17

5Dark am I, yet lovely, daughters of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedar, like the tent curtains of Solomon.

6Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun. My mother’s sons were angry with me and made me take care of the vineyards; my own vineyard I had to neglect.

7Tell me, you whom I love, where you graze your flock and where you rest your sheep at midday. Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your friends?

8If you do not know, most beautiful of women, follow the tracks of the sheep and graze your young goats by the tents of the shepherds.

9I liken you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.

10Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels.

11We will make you earrings of gold, studded with silver.

12While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.

13My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.

14My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi.

15How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves.

16How handsome you are, my beloved! Oh, how charming! And our bed is verdant.

17The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are firs.