Song of Solomon 4:1–8:14

The Beloved

4 Behold, ayou are fair, my love!

Behold, you are fair!

You have dove’s eyes behind your veil.

Your hair is like a bflock of goats,

Going down from Mount Gilead.

2 cYour teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep

Which have come up from the washing,

Every one of which bears twins,

And none is 1barren among them.

3 Your lips are like a strand of scarlet,

And your mouth is lovely.

dYour temples behind your veil

Are like a piece of pomegranate.

4 eYour neck is like the tower of David,

Built ffor an armory,

On which hang a thousand 2bucklers,

All shields of mighty men.

5 gYour two breasts are like two fawns,

Twins of a gazelle,

Which feed among the lilies.

6 hUntil the day breaks

And the shadows flee away,

I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh

And to the hill of frankincense.

7 iYou are all fair, my love,

And there is no spot in you.

8 Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse,

With me from Lebanon.

Look from the top of Amana,

From the top of Senir jand Hermon,

From the lions’ dens,

From the mountains of the leopards.

9 You have ravished my heart,

My sister, my spouse;

You have ravished my heart

With one look of your eyes,

With one link of your necklace.

10 How fair is your love,

My sister, my spouse!

kHow much better than wine is your love,

And the 3scent of your perfumes

Than all spices!

11 Your lips, O my spouse,

Drip as the honeycomb;

lHoney and milk are under your tongue;

And the fragrance of your garments

Is mlike the fragrance of Lebanon.

12 A garden 4enclosed

Is my sister, my spouse,

A spring shut up,

A fountain sealed.

13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates

With pleasant fruits,

Fragrant henna with spikenard,

14 Spikenard and saffron,

Calamus and cinnamon,

With all trees of frankincense,

Myrrh and aloes,

With all the chief spices—

15 A fountain of gardens,

A well of nliving waters,

And streams from Lebanon.

The Shulamite

16 Awake, O north wind,

And come, O south!

Blow upon my garden,

That its spices may flow out.

oLet my beloved come to his garden

And eat its pleasant pfruits.

The Beloved

5 I ahave come to my garden, my bsister, my spouse;

I have gathered my myrrh with my spice;

cI have eaten my honeycomb with my honey;

I have drunk my wine with my milk.

(To His Friends)

Eat, O dfriends!

Drink, yes, drink deeply,

O beloved ones!

The Shulamite’s Troubled Evening

The Shulamite

2 I sleep, but my heart is awake;

It is the voice of my beloved!

eHe knocks, saying,

“Open for me, my sister, 1my love,

My dove, my perfect one;

For my head is covered with dew,

My 2locks with the drops of the night.”

3 I have taken off my robe;

How can I put it on again?

I have washed my feet;

How can I 3defile them?

4 My beloved put his hand

By the 4latch of the door,

And my heart yearned for him.

5 I arose to open for my beloved,

And my hands dripped with myrrh,

My fingers with liquid myrrh,

On the handles of the lock.

6 I opened for my beloved,

But my beloved had turned away and was gone.

My 5heart leaped up when he spoke.

fI sought him, but I could not find him;

I called him, but he gave me no answer.

7 gThe watchmen who went about the city found me.

They struck me, they wounded me;

The keepers of the walls

Took my veil away from me.

8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

If you find my beloved,

That you tell him I am lovesick!

The Daughters of Jerusalem

9 What is your beloved

More than another beloved,

hO fairest among women?

What is your beloved

More than another beloved,

That you so 6charge us?

The Shulamite

10 My beloved is white and ruddy,

7Chief among ten thousand.

11 His head is like the finest gold;

His locks are wavy,

And black as a raven.

12 iHis eyes are like doves

By the rivers of waters,

Washed with milk,

And 8fitly set.

13 His cheeks are like a bed of spices,

Banks of scented herbs.

His lips are lilies,

Dripping liquid myrrh.

14 His hands are rods of gold

Set with beryl.

His body is carved ivory

Inlaid with sapphires.

15 His legs are pillars of marble

Set on bases of fine gold.

His countenance is like Lebanon,

Excellent as the cedars.

16 His mouth is most sweet,

Yes, he is altogether lovely.

This is my beloved,

And this is my friend,

O daughters of Jerusalem!

The Daughters of Jerusalem

6 Where has your beloved gone,

aO fairest among women?

Where has your beloved turned aside,

That we may seek him with you?

The Shulamite

2 My beloved has gone to his bgarden,

To the beds of spices,

To feed his flock in the gardens,

And to gather lilies.

3 cI am my beloved’s,

And my beloved is mine.

He feeds his flock among the lilies.

Praise of the Shulamite’s Beauty

The Beloved

4 O my love, you are as beautiful as Tirzah,

Lovely as Jerusalem,

Awesome as an army with banners!

5 Turn your eyes away from me,

For they have 1overcome me.

Your hair is dlike a flock of goats

Going down from Gilead.

6 eYour teeth are like a flock of sheep

Which have come up from the washing;

Every one bears twins,

And none is 2barren among them.

7 fLike a piece of pomegranate

Are your temples behind your veil.

8 There are sixty queens

And eighty concubines,

And gvirgins without number.

9 My dove, my hperfect one,

Is the only one,

The only one of her mother,

The favorite of the one who bore her.

The daughters saw her

And called her blessed,

The queens and the concubines,

And they praised her.

10 Who is she who looks forth as the morning,

Fair as the moon,

Clear as the sun,

iAwesome as an army with banners?

The Shulamite

11 I went down to the garden of nuts

To see the verdure of the valley,

jTo see whether the vine had budded

And the pomegranates had bloomed.

12 Before I was even aware,

My soul had made me

As the chariots of 3my noble people.

The Beloved and His Friends

13 Return, return, O Shulamite;

Return, return, that we may look upon you!

The Shulamite

What would you see in the Shulamite—

As it were, the dance of 4the two camps?

Expressions of Praise

The Beloved

7 How beautiful are your feet in sandals,

aO prince’s daughter!

The curves of your thighs are like jewels,

The work of the hands of a skillful workman.

2 Your navel is a rounded goblet;

It lacks no 1blended beverage.

Your waist is a heap of wheat

Set about with lilies.

3 bYour two breasts are like two fawns,

Twins of a gazelle.

4 cYour neck is like an ivory tower,

Your eyes like the pools in Heshbon

By the gate of Bath Rabbim.

Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon

Which looks toward Damascus.

5 Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel,

And the hair of your head is like purple;

A king is held captive by your tresses.

6 How fair and how pleasant you are,

O love, with your delights!

7 This stature of yours is like a palm tree,

And your breasts like its clusters.

8 I said, “I will go up to the palm tree,

I will take hold of its branches.”

Let now your breasts be like clusters of the vine,

The fragrance of your 2breath like apples,

9 And the roof of your mouth like the best wine.

The Shulamite

The wine goes down smoothly for my beloved,

3Moving gently the 4lips of sleepers.

10 dI am my beloved’s,

And ehis desire is toward me.

11 Come, my beloved,

Let us go forth to the field;

Let us lodge in the villages.

12 Let us get up early to the vineyards;

Let us fsee if the vine has budded,

Whether the grape blossoms are open,

And the pomegranates are in bloom.

There I will give you my love.

13 The gmandrakes give off a fragrance,

And at our gates hare pleasant fruits,

All manner, new and old,

Which I have laid up for you, my beloved.

8 Oh, that you were like my brother,

Who nursed at my mother’s breasts!

If I should find you outside,

I would kiss you;

I would not be despised.

2 I would lead you and bring you

Into the ahouse of my mother,

She who used to instruct me.

I would cause you to drink of bspiced wine,

Of the juice of my pomegranate.

(To the Daughters of Jerusalem)

3 cHis left hand is under my head,

And his right hand embraces me.

4 dI charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

Do not stir up nor awaken love

Until it pleases.

Love Renewed in Lebanon

A Relative

5 eWho is this coming up from the wilderness,

Leaning upon her beloved?

I awakened you under the apple tree.

There your mother brought you forth;

There she who bore you brought you forth.

The Shulamite To Her Beloved

6 fSet me as a seal upon your heart,

As a seal upon your arm;

For love is as strong as death,

gJealousy as 1cruel as 2the grave;

Its flames are flames of fire,

3A most vehement flame.

7 Many waters cannot quench love,

Nor can the floods drown it.

hIf a man would give for love

All the wealth of his house,

It would be utterly despised.

The Shulamite’s Brothers

8 iWe have a little sister,

And she has no breasts.

What shall we do for our sister

In the day when she is spoken for?

9 If she is a wall,

We will build upon her

A battlement of silver;

And if she is a door,

We will enclose her

With boards of cedar.

The Shulamite

10 I am a wall,

And my breasts like towers;

Then I became in his eyes

As one who found peace.

11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon;

jHe leased the vineyard to keepers;

Everyone was to bring for its fruit

A thousand silver coins.

(To Solomon)

12 My own vineyard is before me.

You, O Solomon, may have a thousand,

And those who tend its fruit two hundred.

The Beloved

13 You who dwell in the gardens,

The companions listen for your voice—

kLet me hear it!

The Shulamite

14 lMake 4haste, my beloved,

And mbe like a gazelle

Or a young stag

On the mountains of spices.