Song of Solomon 4–5

Man

4How beautiful you are, my darling.

How very beautiful!

Behind your veil,

your eyes are doves.^d

Your hair is like a flock of goats

streaming down Mount Gilead.^e

²Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep

coming up from washing,

each one bearing twins,

and none has lost its young.^Bf

³Your lips are like a scarlet cord,^g

and your mouth^C is lovely.

Behind your veil,

your brow^D is like a slice of pomegranate.^h

⁴Your neck is like the tower of David,ⁱ

constructed in layers.

A thousand shields are hung on it—

all of them shields of warriors.

⁵Your breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle,^j that feed among the lilies.

⁶Until the day breaks^E

and the shadows flee,^k

I will make my way to the mountain of myrrh

and the hill of frankincense.^l

⁷You are absolutely beautiful,^m my darling;

there is no imperfection in you.

⁸Come with me from Lebanon,ⁿ my bride;^o

come with me from Lebanon!

Descend from the peak of Amana,

from the summit of Senir and Hermon,^p

from the dens of the lions,

from the mountains of the leopards.

⁹You have captured my heart,^q my sister,^r my bride.

You have captured my heart with one glance of your eyes,

with one jewel of your necklace.

¹⁰How delightful your caresses are, my sister, my bride.

Your caresses are much better than wine,^s

and the fragrance of your perfume than any balsam.

¹¹Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride.^t

Honey and milk^u are under your tongue.

The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

¹²My sister, my bride, you are a locked garden—

a locked garden^A and a sealed spring.^v

¹³Your branches are a paradise^B of pomegranates

with choicest fruits;^w

henna with nard,

¹⁴nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,^x

with all the trees of frankincense,^y

myrrh and aloes,^z

with all the best spices.

¹⁵You are a garden spring,

a well of flowing water^aa

streaming from Lebanon.

Woman

¹⁶Awaken,^ab north wind;

come, south wind.

Blow on my garden,

and spread the fragrance of its spices.

Let my love come to his garden

and eat its choicest fruits.^ac

Man

5I have come to my garden—my sister, my bride.

I gather^C my myrrh with my spices.

I eat my honeycomb with my honey.

I drink my wine with my milk.

Narrator

Eat, friends!

Drink, be intoxicated with caresses!^Dad

Woman

²I was sleeping, but my heart was awake.

A sound! My love was knocking!^a

Man

Open to me, my sister, my darling,

my dove, my perfect one.

For my head is drenched with dew,

my hair with droplets of the night.

Woman

³I have taken off my clothing.^b

How can I put it back on?

I have washed my feet.

How can I get them dirty?

⁴My love thrust his hand through the opening,

and my feelings were stirred for him.

⁵I rose to open for my love.

My hands dripped with myrrh,^c

my fingers with flowing myrrh

on the handles of the bolt.

⁶I opened to my love,

but my love had turned and gone away.

My heart sank^E because he had left.^F

I sought him, but did not find him.^d

I called him, but he did not answer.

⁷The guards who go about the city found me.^e

They beat and wounded me;

they took my cloak^G from me—

the guardians of the walls.^f

⁸Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you,^g

if you find my love,

tell him that I am lovesick.^h

Young Women

⁹What makes the one you love better than another,

most beautiful of women?ⁱ

What makes him better than another,

that you would give us this charge?

Woman

¹⁰My love is fit and strong,^Aj

notable among ten thousand.^k

¹¹His head is purest gold.

His hair is wavy^Bl

and black as a raven.

¹²His eyes are like doves^m

beside flowing streams,

washed in milk

and set like jewels.^C

¹³His cheeksⁿ are like beds of spice,

mounds of^D perfume.

His lips are lilies,

dripping with flowing myrrh.^o

¹⁴His arms^E are rods of gold

set with beryl.^p

His body^G is an ivory panel

covered with lapis lazuli.^q

¹⁵His legs are alabaster pillars

set on pedestals of pure gold.

His presence is like Lebanon,^r

as majestic as the cedars.^s

¹⁶His mouth is sweetness.

He is absolutely desirable.^t

This is my love, and this is my friend,

young women of Jerusalem.