The Song of Songs
Chapter 1

1 ^1:1雅歌，撒罗满作。

2 B ² Let him kiss me with kisses of his mouth!
More delightful is your love than wine!

3 Your name spoken is a spreading perfume-
that is why the maidens love you.

4 Draw me!-
D We will follow you eagerly!

B Bring me, O king, to your chambers.
D With you we rejoice and exult,
we extol your love; it is beyond wine:
how rightly you are loved!

5 B ³ I am as dark-but lovely,
O daughters of Jerusalem-
As the tents of Kedar,
as the curtains of Salma.

6 ⁴ Do not stare at me because I am swarthy,
because the sun has burned me.
My brothers have been angry with me;
they charged me with the care of the vineyards:
my own vineyard I have not cared for.

7 B ⁵ Tell me, you whom my heart loves,
where you pasture your flock,
where you give them rest at midday,
Lest I be found wandering
after the flocks of your companions.

我心爱的！请告诉我：你在那儿放羊？中午又在那儿卧羊？别令我在你伴侣的羊群间，独自徘徊！

8 G If you do not know,
O most beautiful among women,
Follow the tracks of the flock
and pasture the young ones
near the shepherds' camps.

9 G ⁶ To the steeds of Pharaoh's chariots
would I liken you, my beloved:

10 Your cheeks lovely in pendants,
your neck in jewels.

11 We will make pendants of gold for you,
and silver ornaments.

12 B ⁷ For the king's banquet
my nard gives forth its fragrance.

13 ⁸ My lover is for me a sachet of myrrh
to rest in my bosom.

14 ⁹ My lover is for me a cluster of henna
from the vineyards of Engedi.

15 G ¹⁰ Ah, you are beautiful, my beloved,
ah, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves!

16 B ¹¹ Ah, you are beautiful, my lover-
yes, you are lovely.
Our couch, too, is verdant;

新娘 - 我的爱人，你多么英俊，多么可爱！我们的床榻，是青绿的草地。

17 the beams of our house are cedars,
our rafters, cypresses.

Next Chapter

Footnotes（注解）

¹ [1] This title is actually the first verse of chapter 1.

² [1:2-8:14] The marginal letters indicate the speaker of the verses: B-Bride; D-Daughters of Jerusalem; G-Bridegroom. In Song 1:2-7 the bride and the daughters address the bridegroom who appears here as a king, but more often in the poem as a shepherd. King and shepherd are familiar figures of the Lord in the Sacred Scriptures. Cf Psalm 23:1; Isaiah 40:11; John 10:1-16.

³ [5] Daughters of Jerusalem: the chorus whom the bride addresses and who ask her questions (Song 5:9; 6:1) thus developing action within the poem. Kedar: a Syrian desert region whose name suggests blackness; tents were often made of black goat hair. Curtains: tent coverings of Salma, a region close to Kedar.

⁴ [6] Swarthy: tanned by the sun from working in her brothers' vineyards. My own vineyard: the bride herself; cf Isaiah 5:1-7 where Israel is designated as the vineyard and the Lord is the Lover.

⁵ [7] Here and elsewhere in the Song (Song 3:1; 5:8; 6:1), the bride expresses her desire to be in the company of her lover. These verses point to a certain tension in the poem. Only at the end (Song 8:5-14) does mutual possession of the lovers become final.

⁶ [9-11] The bridegroom compares the girl's beauty to the rich adornment of the royal chariot of Pharaoh.

⁷ [12] Nard: a precious perfume, a figure of the bride; cf Song 4:14.

⁸ [13] Myrrh: produced from aromatic resin of balsam or roses.

⁹ [14] Henna: a plant which bears white scented flowers.

¹⁰ [15] Doves: suggesting innocence and charm.

¹¹ [16-17] Though the meeting place of the lovers is but a shepherd's hut of green branches, it becomes a palace with beams of cedar and rafters of cypress when adorned with their love.