Song of Solomon 4–5

Chapter 4

Solomon’s Love Expressed

¹“¹²How beautiful ^ayou are, my darling,

How beautiful you are!

Your ^beyes are like doves ^cbehind your veil;

Your ^dhair is like a flock of goats

That have descended from Mount ^eGilead.

²“Your ^ateeth are like a flock of newly shorn ewes

Which have come up from their washing,

All of which bear twins,

And not one among them has ¹lost her young.

³“Your lips are like a ^ascarlet thread,

And your ^bmouth is lovely.

Your ^ctemples are like a slice of a pomegranate

Behind your veil.

⁴“Your ^aneck is like the tower of David,

Built ¹with rows of stones

On which are ^bhung a thousand shields,

All the round ^cshields of the mighty men.

⁵“Your ^atwo breasts are like two fawns,

Twins of a gazelle

Which ^bfeed among the lilies.

⁶“^aUntil ¹the cool of the day

When the shadows flee away,

I will go my way to the mountain of ^bmyrrh

And to the hill of frankincense.

⁷“^aYou are altogether beautiful, my darling,

And there is no blemish in you.

⁸“Come with me from ^aLebanon, my ^bbride,

May you come with me from Lebanon.

¹Journey down from the summit of ^cAmana,

From the summit of ^dSenir and Hermon,

From the dens of lions,

From the mountains of leopards.

⁹“You have made my heart beat faster, ^amy sister, my bride;

You have made my heart beat faster with a single glance of your eyes,

With a single strand of your ^bnecklace.

¹⁰“^aHow beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!

How much ^bbetter is your love than wine,

And the ^cfragrance of your oils

Than all kinds of ¹spices!

¹¹“Your lips, my bride, ^adrip ^bhoney;

Honey and milk are under your tongue,

And the fragrance of your garments is like the ^cfragrance of Lebanon.

¹²“A garden locked is my sister, my bride,

A ¹rock garden locked, a ^aspring ^bsealed up.

¹³“Your shoots are an ^1aorchard of ^bpomegranates

With ^cchoice fruits, ^dhenna with nard plants,

^14aNard and saffron, calamus and ^bcinnamon,

With all the trees of ^cfrankincense,

^dMyrrh and aloes, along with all the finest ¹spices.

¹⁵“You are a garden spring,

A well of ^1afresh water,

And streams flowing from Lebanon.”

¹⁶“¹Awake, O north wind,

And come, wind of the south;

Make my ^agarden breathe out fragrance,

Let its ²spices ³be wafted abroad.

May ^bmy beloved come into his garden

And eat its ^cchoice fruits!”

Chapter 5

The Torment of Separation

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

I have gathered my ^cmyrrh along with my balsam.

I have eaten my honeycomb ²and my ^dhoney;

I have ^edrunk my wine and my milk.

Eat, ^ffriends;

Drink and ³imbibe 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 ²drenched with dew,

My ^clocks with the ³damp of the night.’

³“I have ^ataken off my dress,

How can I put it on again?

I have ^bwashed my feet,

How can I dirty them again?

⁴“My beloved extended his hand through the opening,

And my ^1afeelings were aroused 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 bolt.

⁶“I opened to my beloved,

But my beloved had ^aturned away and had gone!

My ¹heart 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 make the rounds in the city found me,

They struck me and wounded me;

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

⁸“I ^aadjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

If you find my beloved,

As to what you will tell him:

For ^bI am lovesick.”

⁹“¹²What kind of beloved is your beloved,

O ^amost beautiful among women?

What kind of beloved is your beloved,

That thus you adjure us?”

Admiration by the Bride

¹⁰“¹My beloved is dazzling and ^aruddy,

^2bOutstanding among ten thousand.

¹¹“His head is like gold, pure gold;

His ^alocks are like clusters of dates

And black as a raven.

¹²“His ^aeyes are like doves

Beside streams of water,

Bathed in milk,

And ¹reposed in their ^bsetting.

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

Banks 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 carved ivory

Inlaid with ^1bsapphires.

¹⁵“His legs are pillars of alabaster

Set on pedestals of pure 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.”