Song of Solomon 3:1-9 ▼

1 On my bed at night I sought him whom my soul loves— I sought him but I did not find him.

2 “Let me rise then and go about the city, through the streets and squares; Let me seek him whom my soul loves.” I sought him but I did not find him.

3 The watchmen found me, as they made their rounds in the city: “Him whom my soul loves—have you seen him?”

4 Hardly had I left them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the chamber of her who conceived me.

5 I adjure you, Daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and the does of the field, Do not awaken or stir up love until it is ready.

6 Who is this coming up from the desert, like columns of smoke Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all kinds of exotic powders?

7 See! 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 the terrors of the night.

9 King Solomon made himself an enclosed litter of wood from Lebanon.