Song of Songs · American Standard Version (1901)
Song of Songs 1 American Standard Version (1901)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 The Song of songs, which is Solomon’s.
1 The Song of songs, which is Solomon’s.
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; For thy love is better than wine.
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; for your love is better than wine.
3 Thine oils have a goodly fragrance; Thy name is [as] oil poured forth; Therefore do the virgins love thee.
3 Your oils have a pleasing fragrance. Your name is oil poured out, therefore the virgins love you.
4 Draw me; we will run after thee: The king hath brought me into his chambers; We will be glad and rejoice in thee; We will make mention of thy love more than of wine: Rightly do they love thee.
4 Take me away with you. Let’s hurry. The king has brought me into his rooms. Friends We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will praise your love more than wine! Beloved They are right to love you.
5 I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, As the tents of Kedar, As the curtains of Solomon.
5 I am dark, but lovely, you daughters of Jerusalem, like Kedar’s tents, like Solomon’s curtains.
6 Look not upon me, because I am swarthy, Because the sun hath scorched me. My mother’s sons were incensed against me; They made me keeper of the vineyards; [But] mine own vineyard have I not kept.
6 Don’t stare at me because I am dark, because the sun has scorched me. My mother’s sons were angry with me. They made me keeper of the vineyards. I haven’t kept my own vineyard.
7 Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, Where thou feedest [thy flock], Where thou makest [it] to rest at noon: For why should I be as one that is veiled Beside the flocks of thy companions?
7 Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you graze your flock, where you rest them at noon; for why should I be as one who is veiled beside the flocks of your companions?
8 If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, And feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents.
8 If you don’t know, most beautiful among women, follow the tracks of the sheep. Graze your young goats beside the shepherds’ tents.
9 I have compared thee, O my love, To a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots.
9 I have compared you, my love, to a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots.
10 Thy cheeks are comely with plaits [of hair], Thy neck with strings of jewels.
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels.
11 We will make thee plaits of gold With studs of silver.
11 We will make you earrings of gold, with studs of silver.
12 While the king sat at his table, My spikenard sent forth its fragrance.
12 While the king sat at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.
13 My beloved is unto me [as] a bundle of myrrh, That lieth betwixt my breasts.
13 My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh, that lies between my breasts.
14 My beloved is unto me [as] a cluster of henna-flowers In the vineyards of En-gedi.
14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi.
15 Behold, thou art fair, my love; Behold thou art fair; Thine eyes are [as] doves.
15 Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are like doves.
16 Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: Also our couch is green.
16 Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, yes, pleasant; and our couch is verdant.
17 The beams of our house are cedars, [And] our rafters are firs.
17 The beams of our house are cedars. Our rafters are firs.
Cross references (16)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 2 Song of Songs 4:10; Song of Songs 1:4; Psalm 36:7; Psalm 63:3–5; Isaiah 55:1–2
- 3 Ecclesiastes 7:1; Exodus 30:23–28; Song of Songs 4:10; John 12:3; Psalm 45:7–8
- 4 John 6:44; Hosea 11:4; Psalm 45:14–15; John 12:32; Hebrews 12:1
- 5 Song of Songs 2:14; Luke 15:22; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Song of Songs 5:16; Song of Songs 2:7
- 6 Song of Songs 8:11–12; Luke 12:51–53; Mark 4:6; Jeremiah 12:6; Psalm 69:8
- 7 Song of Songs 3:1–4; Isaiah 13:20; Psalm 23:1–2; Psalm 28:1; Genesis 37:16
- 8 Song of Songs 6:1; Song of Songs 5:9; James 2:21; James 5:10; Hebrews 11:4–40
- 9 Song of Songs 2:10; Song of Songs 2:13; John 15:14–15; Isaiah 31:1; Song of Songs 2:2
- 10 Ezekiel 16:11–13; 1 Peter 3:4; Song of Songs 5:13; Genesis 24:47; Song of Songs 4:9
- 11 Psalm 149:4; Philippians 3:21; Genesis 1:26; Ephesians 5:25–27; Song of Songs 8:9
- 12 John 12:3; Revelation 3:20; Mark 14:3; Song of Songs 4:13–16; Luke 24:30–32
- 13 John 19:39; Psalm 45:8; Ephesians 3:17; Song of Songs 4:14; Genesis 43:11
- 14 Song of Songs 2:3; 1 Samuel 23:29–24:1; Song of Songs 1:13; Joshua 15:62; Song of Songs 4:13–14
- 15 Song of Songs 4:1; Song of Songs 5:12; Song of Songs 4:7; Ephesians 1:17–18; 2 Corinthians 11:2–3
- 16 Song of Songs 2:3; Psalm 45:2; Zechariah 9:17; Revelation 5:11–13; Song of Songs 5:10–16
- 17 Hebrews 11:10; Psalm 92:12; 2 Chronicles 2:8–9; 1 Kings 6:9; Song of Songs 7:5
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
An example of this is that passage in the Song of Solomon, "I am black, but comely, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon." For it is not said, I was black as the tents of Kedar, but am now comely as the curtains of Solomon.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
For now meanwhile thou standest outside the door: but God grant that you all may say, The King hath brought me into His chamber.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
So then this Bridegroom, "fair in beauty above the children of men," became deformed that He might make His Spouse fair to whom it is said, "O thou beauteous among women," of whom it is said, "Who is this that cometh up, whitened" with the brightness of light, not the colouring of falsehood!
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)
… with you, all Beauteous as He was, prayed for you; "Father," saith He, "forgive them, for they know not what they do." For if He were without comeliness, how is it that she loveth Him, who saith, "Tell me, O Thou whom my soul loveth"? How is it that she loveth Him?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)