Song of Solomon 3:1-2, 4-11

“On my bed night after night [I dreamed that] I sought the one Whom my soul loves; I sought him but did not find him. [Is 26:9] “I said ‘So I must arise now and go out into the city; Into the streets and into the squares [places I do not know] I must seek him whom my soul loves.’ I sought him but I did not find him.

“Scarcely had I passed 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 chamber of her who conceived me.” [Rom 8:35; 1 Pet 2:25] ¶“I command that you take an oath, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the does of the field, That you do not rouse nor awaken my love Until she pleases.” ¶“What is this coming up from the wilderness Like [stately] pillars of smoke Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, With all the fragrant powders of the merchant?” “Behold, it is the couch (palanquin) of Solomon; Sixty mighty men around it, Of the mighty men of Israel. “All of them handle the sword, All expert in war; Each man has his sword at his thigh, Guarding against the terrors of the night. “King Solomon has made for himself a palanquin From the [cedar] wood of Lebanon. “He made its posts of silver, Its back of gold, Its seat of purple cloth, The interior lovingly and intricately wrought By the daughters of Jerusalem. “Go forth, O daughters of Zion, And gaze on King Solomon wearing the crown With which his mother [Bathsheba] has crowned him On the day of his wedding, On the day of his gladness of heart.”