Canticle of Canticles 1

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