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Chapter 3

1

B ¹ On my bed at night I sought him
whom my heart loves -
I sought him but I did not find him.

2

I will rise then and go about the city;
in the streets and crossings I will seek
Him whom my heart loves.
I sought him but I did not find him.

3

The watchmen came upon me
as they made their rounds of the city:
Have you seen him whom my heart loves?

4

I had hardly left them
when I found him whom my heart loves.
I took hold of him and would not let him go
till I should bring him to the home of my mother,
to the room of my parent.

5

I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles and hinds of the field,
Do not arouse, do not stir up love
before its own time.

6

D ² What is this coming up from the desert,
like a column of smoke
Laden with myrrh, with frankincense,
and with the perfume of every exotic dust?

7

Ah, it is the litter of Solomon;
sixty valiant men surround it,
of the valiant men of Israel:

8

All of them expert with the sword,
skilled in battle,
Each with his sword at his side
against danger in the watches of the night.

9

King Solomon made himself a carriage
of wood from Lebanon.

10

He made its columns of silver,
its roof of gold,
Its seat of purple cloth,
its framework inlaid with ivory.

11

Daughters of Jerusalem, come forth
and look upon King Solomon
In the crown with which his mother has crowned him
on the day of his marriage,
on the day of the joy of his heart.