1: Restless in bed and sleepless through the night, I longed for my lover. I wanted him desperately. His absence was painful.
2: So I got up, went out and roved the city, hunting through streets and down alleys. I wanted my lover in the worst way! I looked high and low, and didn't find him.
3: And then the night watchmen found me as they patrolled the darkened city. "Have you seen my dear lost love?" I asked.
4: No sooner had I left them than I found him, found my dear lost love. I threw my arms around him and held him tight, wouldn't let him go until I had him home again, safe at home beside the fire.
5: Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem, by the gazelles, yes, by all the wild deer: Don't excite love, don't stir it up, until the time is ripe--and you're ready.
6: What's this I see, approaching from the desert, raising clouds of dust, Filling the air with sweet smells and pungent aromatics?
7: Look! It's Solomon's carriage, carried and guarded by sixty soldiers, sixty of Israel's finest,
8: All of them armed to the teeth, trained for battle, ready for anything, anytime.
9: King Solomon once had a carriage built from fine-grained Lebanon cedar.
10: He had it framed with silver and roofed with gold. The cushions were covered with a purple fabric, the interior lined with tooled leather.
11: Come and look, sisters in Jerusalem. Oh, sisters of Zion, don't miss this! My King-Lover, dressed and garlanded for his wedding, his heart full, bursting with joy!