Summary: Song of Solomon is structured around love, devotion, and poetic celebration of marriage.
Song of Solomon Chapter 1:1-17
The Bride’s Longing
1 The Song of songs, which is Solomon’s.
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth;
3 Your oils have a pleasing fragrance.
4 Take me away with you.
The Bride’s Beauty
5 I am dark, but lovely,
6 Don’t stare at me because I am dark,
7 Tell me, you whom my soul loves,
8 If you don’t know, most beautiful among women,
9 I have compared you, my love,
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings,
11 We will make you earrings of gold,
The Bride and Bridegroom Delight in Each Other
12 While the king sat at his table,
13 My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh,
14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
15 Behold, you are beautiful, my love.
16 Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, yes, pleasant;
17 The beams of our house are cedars.
Song of Solomon Chapter 2:1-17
The Bride’s Delight in Her Beloved
1 I am a rose of Sharon,
2 As a lily among thorns,
3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood,
4 He brought me to the banquet hall.
5 Strengthen me with raisins,
6 His left hand is under my head.
7 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,
The Beloved Calls to His Bride
8 The voice of my beloved!
9 My beloved is like a roe or a young deer.
10 My beloved spoke, and said to me,
11 For behold, the winter is past.
12 The flowers appear on the earth.
13 The fig tree ripens her green figs.
14 My dove in the clefts of the rock,
The Little Foxes
15 Catch for us the foxes,
My Beloved Is Mine
16 My beloved is mine, and I am his.
17 Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away,
Song of Solomon Chapter 3:1-11
The Bride Seeks Her Beloved
1 By night on my bed,
2 I will get up now, and go about the city;
3 The watchmen who go about the city found me;
4 I had scarcely passed from them,
5 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,
The Wedding Procession of Solomon
6 Who is this who comes up from the wilderness like pillars of smoke,
7 Behold, it is Solomon’s carriage!
8 They all handle the sword, and are expert in war.
9 King Solomon made himself a carriage
10 He made its pillars of silver,
11 Go out, you daughters of Zion, and see King Solomon,
Song of Solomon Chapter 4:1-16
The Bridegroom Praises the Bride
1 Behold, you are beautiful, my love.
2 Your teeth are like a newly shorn flock,
3 Your lips are like scarlet thread.
4 Your neck is like David’s tower built for an armory,
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns
6 Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away,
7 You are all beautiful, my love.
Come with Me from Lebanon
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,
9 You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride.
10 How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
11 Your lips, my bride, drip like the honeycomb.
A Garden Locked
12 My sister, my bride, is a locked up garden;
13 Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits,
14 spikenard and saffron,
15 a fountain of gardens,
The Bride Invites Her Beloved
16 Awake, north wind, and come, you south!
Song of Solomon Chapter 5:1-16
The Beloved Comes to His Garden
1 I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride.
The Bride’s Troubled Dream
2 I was asleep, but my heart was awake.
3 I have taken off my robe. Indeed, must I put it on?
4 My beloved thrust his hand in through the latch opening.
5 I rose up to open for my beloved.
6 I opened to my beloved;
7 The watchmen who go about the city found me.
8 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,
9 How is your beloved better than another beloved,
The Bride Describes Her Beloved
10 My beloved is white and ruddy.
11 His head is like the purest gold.
12 His eyes are like doves beside the water brooks,
13 His cheeks are like a bed of spices with towers of perfumes.
14 His hands are like rings of gold set with beryl.
15 His legs are like pillars of marble set on sockets of fine gold.
16 His mouth is sweetness;
Song of Solomon Chapter 6:1-13
Where Has Your Beloved Gone?
1 Where has your beloved gone, you fairest among women?
2 My beloved has gone down to his garden,
3 I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.
The Bridegroom Praises the Bride Again
4 You are beautiful, my love, as Tirzah,
5 Turn away your eyes from me,
6 Your teeth are like a flock of ewes,
7 Your temples are like a piece of a pomegranate behind your veil.
8 There are sixty queens, eighty concubines,
9 My dove, my perfect one, is unique.
10 Who is she who looks out as the morning,
The Bridegroom Delights in His Bride
11 I went down into the nut tree grove,
12 Without realizing it,
13 Return, return, Shulammite!
Song of Solomon Chapter 7:1-13
The Bride’s Beauty Praised
1 How beautiful are your feet in sandals, prince’s daughter!
2 Your body is like a round goblet,
3 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
4 Your neck is like an ivory tower.
5 Your head on you is like Carmel.
6 How beautiful and how pleasant you are,
7 This, your stature, is like a palm tree,
8 I said, “I will climb up into the palm tree.
9 Your mouth is like the best wine,
The Bride’s Desire for Her Beloved
10 I am my beloved’s.
11 Come, my beloved! Let’s go out into the field.
12 Let’s go early up to the vineyards.
13 The mandrakes produce fragrance.
Song of Solomon Chapter 8:1-14
Longing for Intimacy
1 Oh that you were like my brother,
2 I would lead you, bringing you into the house of my mother,
3 His left hand would be under my head.
4 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,
Love’s Strength
5 Who is this who comes up from the wilderness,
6 Set me as a seal on your heart,
7 Many waters can’t quench love,
The Family’s Counsel
8 We have a little sister.
9 If she is a wall,
10 I am a wall, and my breasts like towers,
Solomon’s Vineyard
11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon.
12 My own vineyard is before me.
The Bridegroom’s Call
13 You who dwell in the gardens, with friends in attendance,
14 Come away, my beloved!