Song of Solomon 5:1–6:13
1 “1I have acome into my garden, bmy sister, my bride;
I have gathered my cmyrrh along with my balsam.
I have eaten my honeycomb 2and my dhoney;
I have edrunk my wine 2and my milk.
Eat, ffriends;
Drink and 3imbibe deeply, O lovers.”
2 “1I was asleep but my heart was awake.
A voice! My beloved was knocking:
‘Open to me, amy sister, my darling,
bMy dove, my perfect one!
For my head is 2drenched with dew,
My clocks with the 3damp of the night.’
3 “I have ataken off my dress,
How can I put it on again?
I have bwashed my feet,
How can I dirty them again?
4 “My beloved extended his hand through the opening,
And my 1afeelings were aroused for him.
5 “I arose to open to my beloved;
And my hands adripped with myrrh,
And my fingers with 1liquid myrrh,
On the handles of the bolt.
But my beloved had aturned away and had gone!
My 1heart went out to him as he bspoke.
I csearched for him but I did not find him;
I dcalled him but he did not answer me.
7 “The awatchmen who make the rounds in the city found me,
They struck me and wounded me;
The guardsmen of the walls took away my shawl from me.
8 “I aadjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
If you find my beloved,
As to what you will tell him:
For bI am lovesick.”
9 “1, 2What kind of beloved is your beloved,
O amost beautiful among women?
2What kind of beloved is your beloved,
That thus you adjure us?”
10 “1My beloved is dazzling and aruddy,
2bOutstanding among ten thousand.
11 “His head is like gold, pure gold;
His alocks are like clusters of dates
And black as a raven.
12 “His aeyes are like doves
Beside streams of water,
Bathed in milk,
And 1reposed in their bsetting.
13 “His cheeks are like a abed of balsam,
Banks of sweet-scented herbs;
His lips are blilies
cDripping with liquid myrrh.
14 “His hands are rods of gold
Set with aberyl;
His abdomen is carved ivory
15 “His legs are pillars of alabaster
Set on pedestals of pure gold;
His appearance is like aLebanon
Choice as the bcedars.
16 “His 1amouth is full of sweetness.
And he is wholly bdesirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.”
1 “1aWhere has your beloved gone,
O bmost beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
That we may seek him with you?”
2 “1My beloved has gone down to his agarden,
To the bbeds of balsam,
To cpasture his flock in the gardens
And gather dlilies.
3 “aI am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,
He who bpastures his flock among the lilies.”
4 “1aYou are as beautiful as bTirzah, my darling,
As eawesome as 2an army with banners.
5 “Turn your eyes away from me,
For they have confused me;
aYour hair is like a flock of goats
That have descended from Gilead.
6 “aYour teeth are like a flock of ewes
Which have come up from their washing,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has 1lost her young.
7 “aYour temples are like a slice of a pomegranate
Behind your veil.
8 “There are sixty aqueens and eighty concubines,
9 But amy dove, my perfect one, is 1unique:
She is her mother’s 1only daughter;
She is the pure child of the one who bore her.
The 2bmaidens saw her and called her blessed,
The cqueens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,
10 ‘Who is this that 1grows like the dawn,
As beautiful as the full amoon,
As pure bas the sun,
As cawesome as 2an army with banners?’
11 “I went down to the orchard of nut trees
To see the blossoms of the valley,
To see whether athe vine had budded
Or the bpomegranates had bloomed.
12 “Before I was aware, my soul set me
Over the chariots of 1my noble people.”
13 “1, 2Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
Come back, come back, that we may gaze at you!”
“3Why should you gaze at the Shulammite,