1 By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. 2 [I said], I will rise now, and go about the city; In the streets and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. 3 The watchmen that go about the city found me; [To whom I said], Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? 4 It was but a little that I passed from them, When I found him whom my soul loveth: 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 that conceived me. 5 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the roes, or by the hinds of the field, That ye stir not up, nor awake [my] love, Until he please. 6 Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness Like pillars of smoke, Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, With all powders of the merchant? 7 Behold, it is the litter of Solomon; Threescore mighty men are about it, Of the mighty men of Israel. 8 They all handle the sword, [and] are expert in war: Every man hath his sword upon his thigh, Because of fear in the night. 9 King Solomon made himself a palanquin Of the wood of Lebanon. 10 He made the pillars thereof of silver, The bottom thereof of gold, the seat of it of purple, The midst thereof being paved with love, From the daughters of Jerusalem. 11 Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon, With the crown wherewith his mother hath crowned him In the day of his espousals, And in the day of the gladness of his heart.
Song of Songs · American Standard Version (1901)
Song of Songs 3 American Standard Version (1901)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Cross references (11)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 1 Peter 1:8; Song of Songs 5:6; Song of Songs 1:7; Isaiah 26:9; Isaiah 55:6
- 2 Ephesians 5:14; Romans 13:11; Isaiah 64:7; Proverbs 1:20–21; Psalm 22:1–2
- 3 Song of Songs 5:7; John 20:15; Ezekiel 33:2–9; Isaiah 21:11–12; Isaiah 21:6–8
- 4 Proverbs 8:17; Matthew 7:7; Song of Songs 6:12; Song of Songs 8:2; Proverbs 4:13
- 5 Song of Songs 2:7; Song of Songs 8:4; Micah 4:8
- 6 Song of Songs 8:5; Revelation 12:14; Song of Songs 4:6; Song of Songs 1:13; Isaiah 43:19
- 7 1 Kings 14:27; Hebrews 1:14; 2 Kings 6:17; 1 Samuel 28:2; Song of Songs 1:16
- 8 Psalm 45:3; Ephesians 6:16–18; Psalm 149:5–9; Isaiah 27:3; Nehemiah 4:21–22
- 9 Song of Songs 3:7; 2 Samuel 23:5; Revelation 14:6
- 10 Romans 5:8; Revelation 3:12; Ephesians 3:18–19; Psalm 87:3; Song of Songs 1:5
- 11 Isaiah 62:5; Jeremiah 2:2; Hosea 2:19–20; Psalm 9:14; Revelation 1:7
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).
… proclaimed by soldiers; and Jesus also must in a figure be crowned by soldiers; so that for this cause the Scripture says in the Canticles, Go forth, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, and look upon King Solomon in the crown wherewith His mother crowned Him.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
On my bed I sought Him by night, I sought Him, and I found Him not.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
It was but a little that I passed from them (that is, from the two Angels), until I found Him Whom my soul loved. I held Him, and would not let Him go.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)