Love Is Better than Wine
1 This is Solomon's
most beautiful song.
She Speaks:
2 Kiss me tenderly!
Your love is better than wine,
3 and you smell so sweet.
All the young women adore you;
the very mention of your name
is like spreading perfume.
* 4 Hurry, my king! Let's hurry.
Take me to your home.
The Young Women Speak:
We are happy for you!
And we praise your love
even more than wine.
She Speaks:
Young women of Jerusalem,
it is only right
that you should adore him.
5 My skin is dark and beautiful,
like a tent in the desert
or like Solomon's curtains.
6 Don't stare at me
just because the sun
has darkened my skin.
My brothers were angry with me;
they made me work in the vineyard,
and so I neglected
my complexion.
7 My darling, I love you!
Where do you feed your sheep
and let them rest at noon?
Don't let the other shepherds
think badly of me.
I'm not one of those women
who shamelessly follow
after shepherds.
He Speaks:
8 My dearest, if you don't know,
just follow the path
of the sheep.
Then feed your young goats
near the shepherds' tents.
9 You move as gracefully
as the pony that leads
the chariot of the king.
10 Earrings add to your beauty,
and you wear a necklace
of precious stones.
11 Let's make you some jewelry
of gold, woven with silver.
She Speaks:
12 My king, while you
were on your couch,
my aroma was a magic charm.
13 My darling, you are perfume
between my breasts;
14 you are flower blossoms
from the gardens of En-Gedi.
He Speaks:
15 My darling, you are lovely,
so very lovely—
your eyes are those of a dove.
She Speaks:
16 My love, you are handsome,
truly handsome—
the fresh green grass
will be our wedding bed
17 in the shade of cedar
and cypress trees.
1 The most beautiful of songs, by Solomon.
The First Song
The Woman
2 Your lips cover me with kisses;
your love is better than wine.
3 There is a fragrance about you;
the sound of your name recalls it.
No woman could keep from loving you.
4 Take me with you, and we'll run away;
be my king and take me to your room.
We will be happy together,
drink deep, and lose ourselves in love.
No wonder all women love you!
5 Women of Jerusalem, I am dark but beautiful,
dark as the desert tents of Kedar,
but beautiful as the draperies in Solomon's palace.
6 Don't look down on me because of my color,
because the sun has tanned me.
My brothers were angry with me
and made me work in the vineyard.
I had no time to care for myself.
7 Tell me, my love,
Where will you lead your flock to graze?
Where will they rest from the noonday sun?
Why should I need to look for you
among the flocks of the other shepherds?
The Man
8 Don't you know the place, loveliest of women?
Go and follow the flock;
find pasture for your goats
near the tents of the shepherds.
9 You, my love, excite men
as a mare excites the stallions of Pharaoh's chariots.
10 Your hair is beautiful upon your cheeks
and falls along your neck like jewels.
11 But we will make for you a chain of gold
with ornaments of silver.
The Woman
12 My king was lying on his couch,
and my perfume filled the air with fragrance.
13 My lover has the scent of myrrh
as he lies upon my breasts.
14 My lover is like the wild flowers
that bloom in the vineyards at Engedi.
The Man
15 How beautiful you are, my love;
how your eyes shine with love!
The Woman
16 How handsome you are, my dearest;
how you delight me!
The green grass will be our bed;
17 the cedars will be the beams of our house,
and the cypress trees the ceiling.