Impulsive, this is the best Bible link I've found... you can read the Song of Songs (also called the Song of Solomon) in a ream of different translations.
http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?
Really - it's amazing.
I think Toni Morrison also produced a translation of the Song of Songs (or was it Maya Angelou?) but I haven't read that one.
Compare:
quote:5 Dark am I, yet lovely,
O daughters of Jerusalem,
dark like the tents of Kedar,
like the tent curtains of Solomon. [3]
6 Do not stare at me because I am dark,
because I am darkened by the sun.
My mother's sons were angry with me
and made me take care of the vineyards;
my own vineyard I have neglected.
7 Tell me, you whom I love, where you graze your flock
and where you rest your sheep at midday.
Why should I be like a veiled woman
beside the flocks of your friends?
New International Version
quote:5 I am black, but comely, Oh ye daughters of Jerusalem, As the tents of Kedar, As the curtains of Solomon.
6 Look not upon me, because I am swarthy, Because the sun hath scorched me. My mother's sons were incensed against me; They made me keeper of the vineyards; But mine own vineyard have I not kept.
7 Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, Where thou feedest thy flock, Where thou makest it to rest at noon: For why should I be as one that is veiled Beside the flocks of thy companions?American Standard Version
quote: 5 I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
6 Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.
7 Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?
King James Version
quote:5I am so black; but [you are] lovely and pleasant [the ladies assured her]. O you daughters of Jerusalem, [I am as dark] as the tents of [the Bedouin tribe] Kedar, like the [beautiful] curtains of Solomon!
6[Please] do not look at me, [she said, for] I am swarthy. [I have worked out] in the sun and it has left its mark upon me. My stepbrothers were angry with me, and they made me keeper of the vineyards; but my own vineyard [my complexion] I have not kept.
7[Addressing her shepherd, she said] Tell me, O [1] you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon. For why should I [as I think of you] be as a veiled one straying beside the flocks of your companions?(1)
>>Show footnotes
>>Does my spirit crave the Divine Shepherd, even in the presence of the best that the world can offer me?
Amplified Bible
You get the picture - there's a wide variety of language used.
If you want to get more Catholic Bibles, check out this page.
The Song of Songs is a tricky bit of the Bible, because it is *sexy*. Solomon, I just recently discovered (I'm reading 1 Kings for Lent this year), actually died in disgrace for worshipping foreign gods at the end of his reign. He was tricky, since his big thing is that God offered him, as son of David, a boon at the beginning of his reign, and Solomon chose not power or wealth, but wisdom. And at the end, he fucks up. It's tricky.
And then there's this whole 'nother book about him wooing one of his (72?) wives. The standard interpretation is that it follows that God is the husband, the Church is his bride model, but I'm not sure I buy that. |
