Song of Solomon 5–8

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

I gather ^amy myrrh with my spices.

I eat my honeycomb with my honey.

I drink my wine with my milk.

NEat, friends!

Drink, be intoxicated with love! ^bc

W²I sleep, but my heart is awake.

A sound! My love is knocking! ^d

MOpen 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.

W³I have taken off my clothing. ^e

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, ^f

my fingers with flowing myrrh

on the handles of the bolt.

⁶I opened to my love,

but my love had turned and gone away.

I was crushed ^gthat he had left. ^h

I sought him, but did not find him. ⁱ

I called him, but he did not answer.

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

They beat and wounded me;

they took my cloak ^kfrom me—

the guardians of the walls. ^l

⁸Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you: ^m

if you find my love,

tell him that I am lovesick. ⁿ

Y⁹What makes the one you love better than another,

most beautiful of women? ^o

What makes him better than another,

that you would give us this charge?

W¹⁰My love is fit and strong, ^pq

notable among ten thousand. ^r

¹¹His head is purest gold.

His hair is wavy ^st

and black as a raven.

¹²His eyes are like doves ^u

beside streams of water,

washed in milk

and set like jewels. ^v

¹³His cheeks ^ware like beds of spice,

towers of ^xperfume.

His lips are lilies,

dripping with flowing myrrh. ^y

¹⁴His arms ^zare rods of gold

set ^awith topaz. ^bc

His body ^dis an ivory panel

covered with sapphires. ^e

¹⁵His legs are alabaster pillars

set on pedestals of pure gold.

His presence is like Lebanon, ^f

as majestic as the cedars. ^g

¹⁶His mouth is sweetness.

He is absolutely desirable. ^h

This is my love, and this is my friend,

young women of Jerusalem.

6YWhere has your love gone,

most beautiful of women?

Which way has he ⁱturned?

We will seek him with you.

W²My love has gone down to his garden, ^j

to beds of spice, ^k

to feed in the gardens ^l

and gather lilies. ^m

³I am my love’s and my love is mine; ⁿ

he feeds among the lilies.

M⁴You are as beautiful as Tirzah, ^omy darling,

lovely as Jerusalem,

awe-inspiring as an army with banners. ^p

⁵Turn your eyes away from me,

for they captivate me. ^q

Your hair is like a flock of goats

streaming down from Gilead. ^r

⁶Your teeth are like a flock of ewes

coming up from washing,

each one having a twin,

and not one missing. ^st

⁷Behind your veil, ^u

your brow ^vis like a slice of pomegranate.

⁸There are 60 queens

and 80 concubines ^w

and young women ^xwithout number.

⁹But my dove, ^ymy virtuous one, is unique; ^z

she is the favorite of her mother,

perfect to the one who gave her birth.

Women see her and declare her fortunate; ^a

queens and concubines also, and they sing her praises:

Y^b10Who is this ^cdwho shines like the dawn—

as beautiful as the moon,

bright as the sun,

awe-inspiring as an army with banners? ^e

W¹¹I came down to the walnut grove

to see the blossoms of the valley,

to see if the vines were budding ^f

and the pomegranates blooming.

¹²Before I knew it,

my desire put me

among the chariots of my noble people. ^g

Y^13hCome back, come back, Shulammite! ^ij

Come back, come back, that we may look at you!

MWhy are you looking at the Shulammite,

as you look at the dance ^kof the two camps? ^lm

7How beautiful are your sandaled feet, princess! ^no

The curves of your thighs are like jewelry,

the handiwork of a master.

²Your navel is a rounded bowl;

it never lacks mixed wine.

Your waist ^pis a mound of wheat

surrounded by lilies.

³Your breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle. ^q

⁴Your neck is like a tower of ivory, ^r

your eyes like pools in Heshbon

by the gate of Bath-rabbim.

Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon

looking toward Damascus.

⁵Your head crowns you ^slike Mount Carmel,

the hair of your head like purple cloth—

a king could be held captive ^tin your tresses.

⁶How beautiful you are and how pleasant, ^u

my love, with such delights!

⁷Your stature is like a palm tree;

your breasts are clusters of fruit.

⁸I said, “I will climb the palm tree

and take hold of its fruit.” ^v

May your breasts be like clusters of grapes,

and the fragrance of your breath like apricots. ^w

⁹Your mouth ^xis like fine wine ^y—

Wflowing smoothly for my love,

gliding past my lips and teeth! ^z

¹⁰I belong to my love,

and his desire ^ais for me. ^b

¹¹Come, my love,

let’s go to the field;

let’s spend the night among the henna blossoms. ^c

¹²Let’s go early to the vineyards;

let’s see if the vine has budded,

if the blossom has opened,

if the pomegranates are in bloom. ^d

There I will give you my love.

¹³The mandrakes ^egive off a fragrance,

and at our doors is every delicacy—

new as well as old.

I have treasured them up for you, my love.

8If only I could treat you like my brother, ^f

one who nursed at my mother’s breasts,

I would find you in public and kiss you,

and no one would scorn me.

²I would lead you, I would take you,

to the house of my mother ^gwho taught me. ^h

I would give you spiced wine to drink

from my pomegranate juice.

³His left hand is under my head,

and his right arm embraces me. ⁱ

⁴Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you:

do not stir up or awaken love

until the appropriate time. ^j

Y⁵Who is this ^kcoming up from the wilderness,

leaning on the one she loves?

WI awakened you under the apricot tree. ^l

There your mother conceived you;

there she conceived and gave you birth.

⁶Set me as a seal on your heart,

as a seal on your arm. ^m

For love is as strong as death; ⁿ

ardent love is as unrelenting as Sheol.

Love’s flames are fiery flames ^o—

the fiercest of all. ^p

⁷Mighty waters cannot extinguish love;

rivers cannot sweep it away.

If a man were to give all his wealth ^qfor love, ^r

it would be utterly scorned.

B⁸Our sister is young;

she has no breasts. ^s

What will we do for our sister

on the day she is spoken for?

⁹If she is a wall,

we will build a silver parapet on it.

If she is a door,

we will enclose it with cedar planks. ^tu

W¹⁰I am ^va wall

and my breasts like towers.

So in his eyes I have become

like one who finds peace. ^w

¹¹Solomon owned a vineyard in Baal-hamon. ^x

He leased the vineyard to tenants. ^y

Each was to bring for his fruit

1,000 pieces of silver. ^z

¹²I have my own vineyard. ^ab

The 1,000 are for you, Solomon,

but 200 for those who guard its fruits.

M¹³You ^cwho dwell in the gardens—

companions ^dare listening for your voice—

let me hear you! ^e

W¹⁴Hurry to me, my love,

and be like a gazelle

or a young stag

on the mountains of spices. ^f