Song of Songs, chapter 3
Beautiful Dreams
hile in bed at night, I reached for the one I love
with heart and soul.
I looked for him, but he wasn't there.
2So I searched through the town for the one I love.
I looked on every street, but he wasn't there.
3I even asked the guards patrolling the town,
“Have you seen the one I love so much?”
4Right after that, I found him. I held him
and would not let go until I had taken him
to the home of my mother.
5Young women of Jerusalem,
promise me by the power of deer and gazelles,
never to awaken love before it is ready.
Love Plans
Images of a royal wedding begin this section (3.6-11), which continues with the adoring words of the young man (4.1-15). The young woman invites him to enter her “garden” and enjoy its fruits and spices (4.16—5.1). Then she dreams that her lover comes to her room, but when he is not there she has to wander the street in search of him (5.2-8). Her adoring words (5.10-16) include her firm belief that she and her lover belong to each other (6.3). He praises her as the one he desires above all others (6.4-10).
The Groom and the Wedding Party
6What do we see approaching from the desert
like a cloud of smoke?
With it comes the sweet smell of spices,
including myrrh and frankincense.
7It is King Solomon carried on a throne,
surrounded by sixty of Israel's best soldiers.
8Each of them wears a sword.
They are experts at fighting, even in the dark.
9The throne is made of trees from Lebanon.
10Its posts are silver, the back is gold,
and the seat is covered with purple cloth.
You women of Jerusalem have taken great care
to furnish the inside.
11Now come and see the crown given to Solomon
by his mother on his happy wedding day.