Canticle of Canticles 1

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Bride: "May he kiss me with the kiss of his mouth."	1
2 Groom to Bride: "So much better than wine are your breasts, fragranced with the finest perfumes."	2 Let him kiss me with kisses of his mouth!
3 Bride to Groom: "Your name is oil that has been poured out; therefore, the maidens have loved you. Draw me forward."	3 Your name spoken is a spreading perfume-
4 Chorus to Bride: "We will run after you in the odor of your perfumes."	4 Draw me!-
5 Bride to Chorus: "The king has led me into his storerooms."	5 I am as dark-but lovely,
6 Chorus to Bride: "We will exult and rejoice in you, remembering your breasts above wine."	6 Do not stare at me because I am swarthy,
7 Groom to Bride: "The righteous love you."	7 Tell me, you whom my heart loves,
8 Bride to Chorus: "O daughters of Jerusalem: I am black, but shapely, like the tabernacles of Kedar, like the tents of Solomon."	8 If you do not know,
9 "Do not be concerned that I am dark, for the sun has changed my color."	9 To the steeds of Pharaoh's chariots
10 "The sons of my mother have fought against me. They have made me the keeper of the vineyards. My own vineyard I have not kept."	10 Your cheeks lovely in pendants,
11 Bride to Groom: "Reveal to me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture, where you recline at midday, lest I begin to wander after the flocks of your companions."	11 We will make pendants of gold for you,
12 Groom to Bride: "If you yourself do not know, O most beautiful among women, then go out and follow after the steps of the flocks, and pasture your young goats beside the tabernacles of the shepherds."	12 For the king's banquet
13 "O my love, I have compared you to my company of horsemen against the chariots of Pharaoh."	13 My lover is for me a sachet of myrrh
14 "Your cheeks are beautiful, like those of a turtledove. Your neck is like a bejeweled collar."	14 My lover is for me a cluster of henna
15 Chorus to Bride: "We will fashion for you chains of gold, accented with reddened silver."	15 Ah, you are beautiful, my beloved,
16 Groom to Bride: "The timbers of our houses are of cedar; our ceilings are of cypress."	16 Ah, you are beautiful, my lover-
	17 the beams of our house are cedars,