Song of Solomon 5–8

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.”

Chapter 6

Mutual Delight in Each Other

¹“^1aWhere has your beloved gone,

O ^bmost beautiful among women?

Where has your beloved turned,

That we may seek him with you?”

²“¹My beloved has gone down to his ^agarden,

To the ^bbeds of balsam,

To ^cpasture his flock in the gardens

And gather ^dlilies.

³“^aI am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,

He who ^bpastures his flock among the lilies.”

⁴“^1aYou are as beautiful as ^bTirzah, my darling,

As ^clovely as ^dJerusalem,

As ^eawesome as ²an army with banners.

⁵“Turn your eyes away from me,

For they have confused me;

^aYour hair is like a flock of goats

That have descended from Gilead.

⁶“^aYour teeth are like a flock of ewes

Which have come up from their washing,

All of which bear twins,

And not one among them has ¹lost her young.

⁷“^aYour temples are like a slice of a pomegranate

Behind your veil.

⁸“There are sixty ^aqueens and eighty concubines,

And ^1bmaidens without number;

⁹But ^amy dove, my perfect one, is ¹unique:

She is her mother’s only daughter;

She is the pure child of the one who bore her.

The ^2bmaidens saw her and called her blessed,

The ^cqueens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,

¹⁰‘Who is this that ¹grows like the dawn,

As beautiful as the full ^amoon,

As pure ^bas the sun,

As ^cawesome as ²an army with banners?’

¹¹“I went down to the orchard of nut trees

To see the blossoms of the valley,

To see whether ^athe vine had budded

Or the ^bpomegranates had bloomed.

¹²“Before I was aware, my soul set me

Over the chariots of ¹my noble people.”

¹³“¹²Come back, come back, O Shulammite;

Come back, come back, that we may gaze at you!”

“³Why should you gaze at the Shulammite,

As at the ^adance of ^4bthe two companies?

Chapter 7

Admiration by the Bridegroom

¹“¹How beautiful are your ²feet in sandals,

O ^3aprince’s daughter!

The curves of your hips are like ⁴jewels,

The work of the hands of an artist.

²“Your navel is like a round goblet

Which never lacks mixed wine;

Your belly is like a heap of wheat

Fenced about with lilies.

³“Your ^atwo breasts are like two fawns,

Twins of a gazelle.

⁴“Your ^aneck is like a tower of ivory,

Your eyes like the pools in ^bHeshbon

By the gate of Bath-rabbim;

Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon,

Which faces toward Damascus.

⁵“Your head ¹crowns you like ^aCarmel,

And the flowing locks of your head are like purple threads;

The king is captivated by your tresses.

⁶“How ^abeautiful and how delightful you are,

¹My love, with all your charms!

⁷“¹Your stature is like a palm tree,

And your breasts are like its clusters.

⁸“I said, ‘I will climb the palm tree,

I will take hold of its fruit stalks.’

Oh, may your breasts be like clusters of the vine,

And the fragrance of your ¹breath like ^2aapples,

⁹And your ^1amouth like the best wine!”

“²It ^bgoes down smoothly for my beloved,

Flowing gently through the lips of those who fall asleep.

The Union of Love

¹⁰“^aI am my beloved’s,

And his ^bdesire is for me.

¹¹“Come, my beloved, let us go out into the ¹country,

Let us spend the night in the villages.

¹²“Let us rise early and go to the vineyards;

Let us ^asee whether the vine has budded

And its blossoms have opened,

And whether the pomegranates have bloomed.

There I will give you my love.

¹³“The ^amandrakes have given forth fragrance;

And over our doors are all ^bchoice fruits,

Both new and old,

Which I have saved up for you, my beloved.

Chapter 8

The Lovers Speak

¹“Oh that you were like a brother to me

Who nursed at my mother’s breasts.

If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you;

No one would despise me, either.

²“I would lead you and ^abring you

Into the house of my mother, who used to instruct me;

I would give you spiced wine to drink from the juice of my pomegranates.

³“Let ^ahis left hand be under my head

And his right hand embrace me.”

⁴“^1aI want you to swear, O daughters of Jerusalem,

²Do not arouse or awaken my love

Until ³she pleases.”

⁵“^1aWho is this coming up from the wilderness

Leaning on her beloved?”

“²Beneath the ^3bapple tree I awakened you;

There your mother was in labor with you,

There she was in labor and gave you birth.

⁶“Put me like a ¹seal over your heart,

Like a ^aseal on your arm.

For love is as strong as death,

^2bJealousy is as severe as Sheol;

Its flashes are flashes of fire,

³The very flame of the Lord.

⁷“Many waters cannot quench love,

Nor will rivers overflow it;

^aIf a man were to give all the riches of his house for love,

It would be utterly despised.”

⁸“¹We have a little sister,

And she ^ahas no breasts;

What shall we do for our sister

On the day when she is spoken for?

⁹“If she is a wall,

We will build on her a battlement of silver;

But if she is a door,

We will barricade her with ^aplanks of cedar.”

¹⁰“¹I was a wall, and ^amy breasts were like towers;

Then I became in his eyes as one who finds peace.

¹¹“Solomon had a ^avineyard at Baal-hamon;

He ^bentrusted the vineyard to ^ccaretakers.

Each one was to bring a ^dthousand shekels of silver for its ^efruit.

¹²“My very own vineyard is ¹at my disposal;

The thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,

And two hundred are for those who take care of its fruit.”

¹³“¹O you who sit in the gardens,

My ^acompanions are listening for your voice—

^bLet me hear it!”

¹⁴“¹²Hurry, my beloved,

And be ^alike a gazelle or a young ³stag

On the ^bmountains of spices.”