Song of Solomon 5:2–8:14
The Maiden’s Dream: Seeking and Not Finding
2 I was asleep butb my heart was awake.
A sound! My beloved knocking!c
“Open to me, my sister, my beloved,
my dove, my perfect one!
For my head is full of dew,
⌊my hair drenched from the moist night air⌋.”d
3 I have taken off my tunic, ⌊must I put it on⌋?e
I have bathed my feet, ⌊must I soil them⌋?f
4 My beloved thrust his hand into the opening,
and my inmost yearned for him.
5 I myself arose to open to my beloved;
my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with liquid myrrh
upon the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened myself to my beloved,
but my beloved had turned and gone;g
my heart sankh when he turned away.i
I sought him, but I did not find him;
I called him, but he did not answer me.
7 The sentinels making rounds in the city found me;
they beat me, they wounded me;
they took my cloakj away from me—
⌊those sentinels on the walls⌋!k
8 I adjure you, ⌊O maidens of Jerusalem⌋,l
if you find my beloved, what will you tell him?
Tell him that I am ⌊lovesick⌋!m
The Maiden’s Praise of Her Beloved
9 ⌊How is your beloved better than another lover⌋,n
O most beautiful among women?
⌊How is your beloved better than another lover⌋, o
that you adjure us thus?
10 My beloved is radiant and ⌊ruddy⌋,p
distinguished ⌊among⌋q ten thousand.
11 His head is gold, refined gold;
his locks are wavy, black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves beside springsr of water,
bathed in milk, ⌊set like mounted jewels⌋.s t
13 His cheeks are like beds of spice, a tower of fragrances;
his lips are lilies dripping liquid myrrh.
14 His arms are ⌊rods⌋u v of gold ⌊engraved with⌋w jewels;
his bellyx is polished ivory covered with sapphires.y
15 His legs are columns of alabaster,z set on bases of gold;
his appearance is like Lebanon, choice as ⌊its cedars⌋.a
16 ⌊His mouth⌋b is sweet,
and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved;
this is my friend, ⌊O young women of Jerusalem⌋.c
6 Where has your beloved gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned
that we may seek him with you?
2 My beloved has gone down to his garden,
to the garden bed of the spice,
to pasture his flock and to gather lilies in the garden.
3 ⌊I belong to my beloved and my beloved belongs to me⌋;a
he pastures his flock among the lilies.
Solomon’s Praise of His Beloved
4 You are beautiful, my beloved, as Tirzah,
lovely as Jerusalem,
⌊overwhelming as an army with banners⌋.b
5 Turn away your eyes from before me,
for they overwhelm me.
Your hair is like a flock of the goats
that moves down from Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of the ewes
that have come up from the washing,
all of them bearing twins,
and there is none bereaved among them.
7 Your cheeks ⌊behind⌋c your veil
are like halves of a pomegranate.
The Maiden’s Beauty Is Without Peer
8 Sixty queens there are, eighty concubines,
and maidens beyond number.
9 My dove, ⌊she is the one⌋;d e
my perfect, ⌊she is the only one⌋;f g
she is ⌊the favorite of⌋h i her mother who bore her.
Maidens see her and consider her fortunate;j
queens and concubines praise her:
10 “Who is this that looks down like the dawn,
beautiful as the moon,
⌊overwhelming as an army with banners⌋?”m
11 I went down to the orchard of the walnut trees
to look at the blossoms of the valley,
to see whether the vines have sprouted,
whether the pomegranates have blossomed.
12 I did not know my ⌊heart⌋n set me
in a chariot of my princely people.o
13p Turn, turn,q O Shulammite!r
Turn, turns so that we may look upon you!
Why do you look upon the Shulammite
as at a dance of the two armies?
Solomon’s Praise of His Dancing Maiden
7 How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
O royal princess!a
The curves of your ⌊thighs⌋b are like ⌊jewels⌋,c
the work of the hands of a craftsman.
2 Your navel is ⌊a round wine-mixing bowl⌋d
that does not lack mixede wine!
Your belly is a heap of wheat
encircled with lilies.
3 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
4 Your neck is like a tower of ivory;
your eyes are pools in Heshbon at the gate of Beth Rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon
⌊looking out over Damascus⌋.f
5 ⌊Your head crowns you like Carmel⌋;g h
the flowing locks of your head are like ⌊purple tapestry⌋;i
a king is held captive in the tresses!
6 How beautiful you are and how pleasant,
O loved one in the delights!
7 ⌊Your stature⌋j is like the palm tree,
and your breasts are like clusters.
8 I say, “I will climb up the palm tree;
I will lay hold of its fruit clusters.”
Let your breasts be pleasing like clusters of the vine
and the scent of your breath like the apples.
9 Your palate is like the best wine that goes down for my beloved,
smoothly gliding over my lips and teeth.k
10 ⌊I belong to my beloved⌋,l
⌊and he desires me⌋!m
11 Come, my beloved, let us ⌊go out to the countryside⌋;n
let us spend the nighto in the villages.
12 Let us rise early to gop to the vineyards;
let us see whether the vine has budded,q
whether the grape blossom has opened,
and whether the pomegranates ⌊are in bloom⌋;r
there I will give my love to you.
13 The mandrakes give off their fragrance,
and ⌊over our doorway is every kind of delicious fruit⌋;s
both ⌊fresh and dried fruit I have stored up⌋t for you, O my beloved.
8 ⌊How I wish that you were my little brother⌋,a b
who nursed ⌊upon my mother’s breasts⌋!c
If ⌊I met you outside⌋,d I would kiss you,
⌊and no one would despise me⌋!e
2 ⌊I would surely bring you⌋f g to the house of my mother,
⌊who would surely teach me⌋;h
⌊I would give you spiced wine to drink⌋,i
the ⌊sweet wine⌋j of my pomegranates.k
Double Refrain: Embrace and Adjuration
3 His left hand is under my head,
and his right hand embracesl me.
4 I adjure you, ⌊O maidens of Jerusalem⌋,m
do notn arouse or awaken love until it pleases!o
Up from the Wilderness and under the Apple Tree
5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness,
leaning upon her beloved?
Under the apple tree I awakened you;
there your mother ⌊conceived you⌋;p
there she who was in labor gave birth to you.
The Nature of Genuine Romantic Love
6 Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm;
for love is strong as death;
passion is fierce as Sheol;
its flashes are flashes of fire;
it is a blazing flame.
7 Many waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot sweep it away.q
If a man were to give all the wealth of his house ⌊for love⌋,r
he would be utterly scorned.s
The Maiden’s Virtuous Chastity and Voluptuous Beauty
8 ⌊We have a little sister⌋,t
⌊and she does not yet have any breasts⌋.u
What should we do for our sister
⌊on the day when she is betrothed⌋?v w
⌊we will adorn her with a turret of silver⌋;x y
but if she is a door,
we will barricade her with boards of cedar.z
10 I was a wall, and my breasts were like the towers,
⌊so my betrothed viewed me with great delight⌋.a
Solomon’s Vineyard and the Maiden’s Gift
11 ⌊Solomon had a vineyard⌋b at Baal-hamon;
⌊he entrusted his vineyard to the keepers⌋;c
⌊people paid a thousand silver pieces for its fruit⌋.d
12 ⌊My own “vineyard” belongs to me⌋;e
the “thousand” are for you, O Solomon,
⌊and “two hundred” for those who tend its fruit⌋.f
13 O you who dwell in the garden,
my companions are listening to your voice.
Let me hear it!
⌊Be like a gazelle⌋g or ⌊a young stag⌋h
upon ⌊the perfumed mountains⌋!i