| New International Version | NET Bible |
| 1All night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves; I looked for him but did not find him. | 1All night long on my bed I longed for my lover. I longed for him but he never appeared. |
| 2I will get up now and go about the city, through its streets and squares; I will search for the one my heart loves. So I looked for him but did not find him. | 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 made their rounds in the city. "Have you seen the one my heart 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 the one my heart loves. I held him and would not let him go till I had brought him to my mother's house, to the room of the one 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. |
| 5Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires. | 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!" |
| 6Who is this coming up from the wilderness like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and incense made from all the spices of the 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? |
| 7Look! It is Solomon's carriage, escorted by sixty warriors, the noblest 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 the sword, all experienced in battle, each with his sword at his side, prepared for the terrors of the 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 for himself the carriage; he made it of wood from Lebanon. | 9King Solomon made a sedan chair for himself of wood imported from Lebanon. |
| 10Its posts he made of silver, its base of gold. Its seat was upholstered with purple, its interior inlaid with love. 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. |
| 11come out, and look, you daughters of Zion. Look on King Solomon wearing a crown, the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, the day his heart rejoiced. | 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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