Song of Solomon 5–8

He

5I ^gcame to my garden, my ^hsister, my bride,

I gathered my ⁱmyrrh with my spice,

I ate my ^jhoneycomb with my honey,

I ^kdrank my wine with my milk.

Others

Eat, ^lfriends, drink,

and be drunk with love!

The Bride Searches for Her Beloved

She

²I slept, but my heart was awake.

A sound! My beloved is ^mknocking.

“Open to me, my ⁿsister, my ^olove,

my ^pdove, my ^qperfect one,

for my head is wet with dew,

my ^rlocks with the drops of the night.”

^3sI had put off my garment;

how could I put it on?

I had ^tbathed my feet;

how could I soil them?

⁴My beloved put his hand to the latch,

and my heart was thrilled within me.

⁵I arose to open to my beloved,

and my hands dripped with myrrh,

my fingers with ^uliquid myrrh,

on the handles of the bolt.

⁶I opened to my beloved,

but my beloved had turned and gone.

My soul failed me when he ^vspoke.

^wI sought him, but found him not;

^xI called him, but he gave no answer.

^7yThe watchmen found me

as they went about in the city;

they beat me, they bruised me,

they took away my veil,

those watchmen of the walls.

⁸I ^zadjure you, O ^adaughters of Jerusalem,

if you find my beloved,

that you tell him

^bI am sick with love.

Others

⁹What is your beloved more than another beloved,

O ^cmost beautiful among women?

What is your beloved more than another beloved,

that you thus ^zadjure us?

The Bride Praises Her Beloved

She

¹⁰My beloved is radiant and ^druddy,

^edistinguished among ten thousand.

¹¹His head is the finest gold;

^fhis locks are wavy,

black as a raven.

¹²His ^geyes are like doves

beside streams of water,

bathed in milk,

sitting beside a full pool.¹

¹³His ⁱcheeks are like ^jbeds of spices,

mounds of sweet-smelling herbs.

His lips are ^klilies,

dripping ^uliquid myrrh.

¹⁴His arms are rods of gold,

set with ^ljewels.

His body is polished ivory,²

bedecked with ^msapphires.³

¹⁵His legs are alabaster columns,

set on bases of gold.

His appearance is like ^oLebanon,

choice as the cedars.

¹⁶His ^pmouth⁴ is most sweet,

and he is altogether desirable.

This is my beloved and this is my friend,

O ^adaughters of Jerusalem.

Others

6Where has your beloved gone,

O ^cmost beautiful among women?

Where has your beloved turned,

that we may seek him with you?

Together in the Garden of Love

She

²My beloved has gone down to his ^qgarden

to ^rthe beds of spices,

to ^sgraze¹ in the gardens

and to gather ^tlilies.

^3uI am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;

he grazes among the lilies.

Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other

He

⁴You are beautiful as ^vTirzah, ^wmy love,

^xlovely as ^yJerusalem,

^zawesome as an army with banners.

⁵Turn away your eyes from me,

for they overwhelm me—

^aYour hair is like a flock of goats

leaping down the slopes of Gilead.

^6bYour teeth are like a flock of ewes

that have come up from the washing;

all of them bear twins;

not one among them has lost its young.

^7cYour cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate

behind your veil.

⁸There are ^dsixty ^equeens and eighty ^econcubines,

and ^fvirgins without number.

⁹My ^gdove, my ^hperfect one, is the only one,

the only one of her mother,

pure to ⁱher who bore her.

^jThe young women saw her and called her blessed;

^ethe queens and ^econcubines also, and they praised her.

^10k“Who is this who looks down like the dawn,

beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,

^lawesome as an army with banners?”

She

¹¹I went down to the nut orchard

to look at ^mthe blossoms of the valley,

ⁿto see whether the vines had budded,

whether the pomegranates were in bloom.

^12oBefore I was aware, my desire set me

among ^pthe chariots of my kinsman, a prince.²

Others

¹³³ Return, return, O ^qShulammite,

return, return, that we may look upon you.

He

Why should you look upon ^qthe Shulammite,

as upon ^ra dance before ^stwo armies?⁴

7How beautiful are your feet in sandals,

O ^tnoble daughter!

Your rounded thighs are like ^ujewels,

the work of ^va master hand.

²Your navel is a rounded bowl

that never lacks mixed wine.

Your belly is a heap of wheat,

encircled with ^wlilies.

^3xYour two breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle.

⁴Your ^yneck is like an ivory tower.

Your ^zeyes are pools in ^aHeshbon,

by the gate of Bath-rabbim.

Your nose is like a tower of ^bLebanon,

which looks toward ^cDamascus.

⁵Your head crowns you like ^eCarmel,

and your ^fflowing locks are like purple;

a king is held captive in the tresses.

^6gHow beautiful and ^hpleasant you are,

O loved one, with all your delights!¹

⁷Your stature is like a palm tree,

and your breasts are like its clusters.

⁸I say I will climb the palm tree

and lay hold of its fruit.

Oh may your breasts be like ⁱclusters of the vine,

and the scent of your breath like apples,

⁹and your ^jmouth² like the best wine.

She

It goes down smoothly for my beloved,

gliding over lips and teeth.³

^10kI am my beloved’s,

^land his desire is for me.

The Bride Gives Her Love

^11mCome, my beloved,

let us go out into the fields

and lodge in the villages;⁴

¹²let us go out early to the vineyards

ⁿand see whether the vines have budded,

whether ^othe grape blossoms have opened

and the pomegranates are in bloom.

There I will give you my love.

^13pThe mandrakes give forth fragrance,

and beside our doors are all choice fruits,

^qnew as well as old,

which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.

Longing for Her Beloved

8Oh that you were like a brother to me

who nursed at my mother’s breasts!

If I found you outside, I would kiss you,

and none would despise me.

²I would lead you and ^rbring you

into the house of my mother—

she who used to teach me.

I would give you ^sspiced wine to drink,

the juice of my pomegranate.

^3tHis left hand is under my head,

and his right hand embraces me!

⁴I ^uadjure you, O ^vdaughters of Jerusalem,

^wthat you not stir up or awaken love

until it pleases.

^5xWho is that coming up from the wilderness,

leaning on her beloved?

Under the apple tree I awakened you.

There your mother was in labor with you;

there she who bore you was in labor.

⁶Set me as a seal upon your heart,

as ^ya seal upon your arm,

for ^zlove is strong as death,

^ajealousy¹ is fierce as the grave.²

Its flashes are flashes of fire,

the very ^bflame of the Lord.

⁷Many waters cannot quench love,

neither can floods drown it.

If a man offered for love

all the wealth of his ^chouse,

he³ would be utterly despised.

Final Advice

Others

⁸We have a little sister,

and she ^dhas no breasts.

What shall we do for our sister

on the day when she is spoken for?

⁹If she is a wall,

we will build on her a battlement of silver,

but if she is a door,

we will enclose her with ^eboards of cedar.

She

^10fI was a wall,

and my ^gbreasts were like towers;

then I was in his eyes

as one who finds⁴ peace.

¹¹Solomon had ^ha vineyard at Baal-hamon;

he ⁱlet out the vineyard to ^jkeepers;

each one was to bring for its fruit ^ka thousand pieces of silver.

¹²My vineyard, my very own, is before me;

you, O Solomon, may have the thousand,

and ^lthe keepers of the fruit two hundred.

He

^13mO you who dwell in the gardens,

with ⁿcompanions listening for your voice;

^olet me hear it.

She

^14pMake haste, my beloved,

and be ^qlike a gazelle

or a young stag

on ^rthe mountains of spices.