Song of Solomon 3

International Children’s Bible

3 At night on my bed,
    I looked for the one I love.
I looked for him, but I could not find him.
² I will get up now. I will go around the city,
    in the streets and squares.
I will look for the one I love.
    I looked for him, but I could not find him.
³ The watchmen found me as they patrolled the city.
    I asked, “Have you seen the one I love?”
⁴ As soon as I had left them
    I found the one I love.
I held him. I would not let him go
    until I had brought him to my mother’s house.
    I brought him into the room where I was born.

⁵ Women of Jerusalem, promise me
    by the gazelles and the deer.
Promise not to wake love.
    Don’t excite my feelings of love
    until I’m ready.
⁶ Who is this coming out of the desert
    like a cloud of smoke?
Who is this that smells like myrrh, incense
    and other spices?
⁷ Look, it’s Solomon’s couch^[a]
    with 60 soldiers around it.
    They are the finest soldiers of Israel.
⁸ These soldiers all carry swords.
    They have been trained in war.
Every man wears his sword at his side.
    He is ready for the dangers of the night.
⁹ King Solomon had a couch made for himself.
    It is made of wood from Lebanon.
¹⁰ He made its posts of silver
    and its braces of gold.
The seat was covered with purple cloth.
    The women of Jerusalem wove it with love.
¹¹ Women of Jerusalem, go out and see King Solomon.
    He is wearing the crown his mother put on his head.
It was his wedding day,
    when his heart was happy!