1On my bed at nightI sought the one I love;I sought him,but did not find him.2I will arise now and go about the city,through the streets and squares.I will seek the one I love.So I sought him but did not find him.3I encountered the watchmen on their rounds of the city:“Have you seen the one I love?”4I had just passed them when I found the one I love.I held him and would not let gountil I had brought him to my mother’s house,to the chamber of the one who conceived me.5O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure youby the gazelles and does of the field:Do not arouse or awaken loveuntil the time is right.6Who is this coming up from the wildernesslike a column of smoke,scented with myrrh and frankincensefrom all the spices of the merchant?7Behold, it is Solomon’s carriage,escorted by sixty of the mightiest men of Israel.8All are skilled with the sword,experienced in warfare.Each has his sword at his sideprepared for the terror of the night.9King Solomon has made his carriageout of the timber of Lebanon.10He has made its posts of silver,its base of gold, its seat of purple fabric.Its interior is inlaid with loveby the daughters of Jerusalem.11Come out, O daughters of Zion,and gaze at King Solomon,wearing the crown his mother bestowedon the day of his wedding—the day of his heart’s rejoicing.