How lovely are your dwelling places, O Lord,
Lord of Hosts!
My soul longs and yearns
for the courts of the Lord.
Even the sparrow finds a home,
the swallow its nest
near your altars, O Lord,
my King and my God,
my King and my God.
Happy is he who lives in your house,
ever singing your praise,
ever singing your praise.
Happy is he who finds in you the strength
and decides in his heart
to make the holy journey.
Passing through the valley of weeping,
he changes it into a spring;
his strength grows along the way,
till he arrives in Zion, till he arrives in Zion.
For me a day in your courts
is worth more
than a thousand elsewhere.
To dwell at the gate of your house
is better than to live in the palaces of the mighty.
Passing through the valley of weeping…
For me a day in your courts …

Let him kiss me
with the kisses of his mouth;
your love is sweeter than wine.
Your name is the fragrance of your perfume:
that’s why
the maidens love you.
Take me with you, let us go out:
draw me towards you, let us run!
We shall praise your love more than wine,
how wonderful it is to love you!
Tell me then, beloved of my heart,
where do you lead your flock to pasture,
so that I may not wander as a vagabond
behind other shepherds?
Tell me then, beloved of my heart,
where do you lead your flock to pasture,
so that I may not wander as a vagabond
behind other shepherds?
If you don’t know this,
O loveliest of women,
follow the tracks of my flock
and take your kids to graze
close by the shepherds’ tents.
Take me with you, let us go out…

Upon a dark night,
ablaze with love, with urgent longings,
O happy chance! –
I left without being noticed,
my house at last completely quiet.
In darkness, and secure,
by the secret ladder, in disguise,
O happy chance! –
in darkness and concealed,
my house at last completely quiet.
On this blessed night,
in secret and not seen by anyone,
I beheld nothing
with any other light or guide
but for that which in my heart was burning.
And this was guiding me,
more surely than the light of noon,
to where he was awaiting me –
he whom I knew so well –
and no one, no one else was there.
O night that was my guide!
O night more lovely than the dawn's first light!
O night that united
the Lover with his beloved,
the beloved in her Lover transformed.
Upon a dark night…
O night that was my guide…