Song of Solomon 5:1–16

The Bride Searches for Her Beloved

¹“¹I have ^acome into my garden, ^bmy sister, my bride;

I have picked my ^cmyrrh along with my balsam.

I have eaten my honeycomb with my ^dhoney;

I have ^edrunk my wine with my milk.

Eat, ^ffriends;

Drink and ²imbibe 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 full of dew,

My ^clocks with the ²damp of the night.’

³“I have ^ataken off my long-sleeved garment,

How can I put it on again?

I have ^bwashed my feet,

How can I dirty them again?

⁴“My beloved sent forth his hand through the opening,

And my ^1afeelings moaned 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 lock.

⁶“I opened to my beloved,

But my beloved had ^aturned away and passed by!

My soul 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 go about in the city found me,

They struck me and wounded me;

The guardsmen of the walls took away my shawl from me.

⁸“I ^acall you to solemnly swear, O daughters of Jerusalem,

If you find my beloved,

What will you tell him?

Tell him that ^bI am sick with love.”

⁹“¹What is your beloved that he is more than any other beloved,

O ^amost beautiful among women?

What is your beloved that he is more than any other beloved,

That thus you call us to solemnly swear?”

The Bride Extols Her Beloved

¹⁰“¹My beloved is dazzling and ^aruddy,

^bLifted up as a banner among ten thousand.

¹¹“His head is like gold, fine gold;

His ^alocks are like clusters of dates

And black as a raven.

¹²“His ^aeyes are like doves

Beside streams of water,

Washed in milk,

And sitting in their ^bsetting.

¹³“His cheeks are like a ^abed of spices,

Towers 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 a plate of ivory

Inlaid with ^1bsapphires.

¹⁵“His legs are pillars of marble

Set on bases of fine 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.”