3:1 “On my bed night after night I sought him
Whom my soul loves;
I sought him but did not find him.
3:2 ‘ ①I must arise now and ②go around in the city;
In the streets and in the public squares
③I must seek him whom my soul loves.’
I sought him but did not find him.
▷ ①Or Let me arise ②Or Let me go about ③Or Let me seek
3:3 The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me,
And I said, ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’
3:4 Hardly had I ①left them
When I found him whom my soul loves;
I held on to him and would not let him go
Until I had brought him to my mother’s house,
And into the room of her who conceived me.”
▷ ①Lit passed
3:5 “Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem,
By the gazelles or by the does of the field,
That you will not disturb or awaken my love
Until she pleases.”
3:6 “ ①What is this coming up from the wilderness
Like columns of smoke,
Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
With all the scented powders of the merchant?
▷ ①Lit Who
3:7 Behold, it is ①the traveling couch of Solomon;
Sixty warriors around it,
Of the warriors of Israel.
▷ ①I.e., an elegant couch designed to be carried with poles by servants
3:8 All of them are wielders of the sword,
Expert in war;
Each man has his sword at his side,
Guarding against the ①terrors of the night.
▷ ①Lit terror in the nights
3:9 King Solomon has made for himself a ①sedan chair
From the timber of Lebanon.
▷ ①I.e., an elegant throne with poles, carried by servants
3:10 He made its posts of silver,
Its ①back of gold
And its seat of purple fabric,
With its interior lovingly inlaid
By the daughters of Jerusalem.
▷ ①Or support
3:11 Go out, you daughters of Zion,
And look at King Solomon with the ①crown
With which his mother has crowned him
On the day of his wedding,
And on the day of the joy of his heart.”
▷ ①Or wreath