| English Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1On my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not. | 1All night long on my bed I longed for my lover. I longed for him but he never appeared. |
| 2I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but found him not. | 2"I will arise and look all around throughout the town, and throughout the streets and squares; I will search for my beloved." I searched for him but I did not find him. |
| 3The watchmen found me as they went about in the city. “Have you seen him whom my soul loves?” | 3The night watchmen found me--the ones who guard the city walls. "Have you seen my beloved?" |
| 4Scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her who conceived me. | 4Scarcely had I passed them by when I found my beloved! I held onto him tightly and would not let him go until I brought him to my mother's house, to the bedroom chamber of the one who conceived me. |
| 5I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases. | 5I admonish you, O maidens of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and by the young does of the open fields: "Do not awake or arouse love until it pleases!" |
| 6What is that coming up from the wilderness like columns of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the fragrant powders of a merchant? | 6Who is this coming up from the desert like a column of smoke, like a fragrant billow of myrrh and frankincense, every kind of fragrant powder of the traveling merchants? |
| 7Behold, it is the litter of Solomon! Around it are sixty mighty men, some of the mighty men of Israel, | 7Look! It is Solomon's portable couch! It is surrounded by sixty warriors, some of Israel's mightiest warriors. |
| 8all of them wearing swords and expert in war, each with his sword at his thigh, against terror by night. | 8All of them are skilled with a sword, well-trained in the art of warfare. Each has his sword at his side, to guard against the terrors of the night. |
| 9King Solomon made himself a carriage from the wood of Lebanon. | 9King Solomon made a sedan chair for himself of wood imported from Lebanon. |
| 10He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple; its interior was inlaid with love by the daughters of Jerusalem. | 10Its posts were made of silver; its back was made of gold. Its seat was upholstered with purple wool; its interior was inlaid with leather by the maidens of Jerusalem. |
| 11Go out, O daughters of Zion, and look upon King Solomon, with the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of the gladness of his heart. | 11Come out, O maidens of Zion, and gaze upon King Solomon! He is wearing the crown with which his mother crowned him on his wedding day, on the most joyous day of his life! |
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