3:1 All night long1 on my bed2
I longed for5 him but he never appeared.6
3:2 “I will arise7 and look all around8 throughout the town,
and throughout the streets9 and squares;
I will search for my beloved.”
I searched for him but I did not find him.10
3:3 The night watchmen found me—the ones who guard the city walls.11
“Have you seen my beloved?”12
3:4 Scarcely13 had I passed them by
when I found my beloved!
I held onto him14 tightly and would not let him go15
until I brought him to my mother’s house,16
to the bedroom chamber17 of the one who conceived me.
The Adjuration Refrain
The Beloved to the Maidens:
3:518 I admonish you, O maidens of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles and by the young does of the open fields:
“Do not awake or arouse love until it pleases!”
The Royal Wedding Procession
The Speaker:19
3:6 Who is this coming up from the desert
like a column of smoke,
like20 a fragrant billow21 of myrrh and frankincense,22
every kind of fragrant powder23 of the traveling merchants?24
3:7 Look! It is Solomon’s portable couch!25
It is surrounded by sixty warriors,
some of Israel’s mightiest warriors.
3:8 All of them are skilled with a sword,26
well-trained in the art of warfare.27
Each has his sword at his side,
to guard against the terrors of the night.
3:9 King Solomon made a sedan chair28 for himself
of wood imported from Lebanon.29
3:10 Its posts were made30 of silver;31
its back32 was made of gold.
Its seat was upholstered with purple wool;33
its interior was inlaid34 with leather35 by the maidens36 of Jerusalem.
3:11 Come out, O maidens of Zion,
and gaze upon King Solomon!
He is wearing the crown with which his mother crowned him
on his wedding day,
on the most joyous day of his life!37
The Wedding Night: Praise of the Bride38
The Lover to His Beloved: