Song of Songs 3:1-2, 4-11

At night on my bed, I looked for the one I love; I looked for him, but I could not find him. I got up and went around the city, in the streets and squares, looking for the one I love. I looked for him, but I could not find him.

As soon as I had left them, I found the one I love. I held him and would not let him go until I brought him to my mother’s house, to the room where I was born. Women of Jerusalem, promise me by the gazelles and the deer not to awaken or excite my feelings of love until it is ready. Who is this coming out of the desert like a cloud of smoke? Who is this that smells like myrrh, incense, and other spices? Look, it’s Solomon’s couch with sixty soldiers around it, the finest soldiers of Israel. These soldiers all carry swords and have been trained in war. Every man wears a sword at his side and is ready for the dangers of the night. King Solomon had a couch made for himself of wood from Lebanon. He made its posts of silver and its braces of gold. The seat was covered with purple cloth that the women of Jerusalem wove with love. Women of Jerusalem, go out and see King Solomon. He is wearing the crown his mother put on his head on his wedding day, when his heart was happy!