Song of Solomon 4–5

He

4How beautiful you are, my darling!

Oh, how beautiful!

Your eyes behind your veil^s are doves.^t

Your hair is like a flock of goats

descending from the hills of Gilead.^u

²Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn,

coming up from the washing.

Each has its twin;

not one of them is alone.^v

³Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;

your mouth^w is lovely.^x

Your temples behind your veil

are like the halves of a pomegranate.^y

⁴Your neck is like the tower^z of David,

built with courses of stone^a;

on it hang a thousand shields,^a

all of them shields of warriors.

⁵Your breasts^b are like two fawns,

like twin fawns of a gazelle^c

that browse among the lilies.^d

⁶Until the day breaks

and the shadows flee,^e

I will go to the mountain of myrrh^f

and to the hill of incense.

⁷You are altogether beautiful,^g my darling;

there is no flaw^h in you.

⁸Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,ⁱ

come with me from Lebanon.

Descend from the crest of Amana,

from the top of Senir,^j the summit of Hermon,^k

from the lions’ dens

and the mountain haunts of leopards.

⁹You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;^l

you have stolen my heart

with one glance of your eyes,

with one jewel of your necklace.^m

¹⁰How delightfulⁿ is your love^o, my sister, my bride!

How much more pleasing is your love than wine,^p

and the fragrance of your perfume^q

more than any spice!

¹¹Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride;

milk and honey are under your tongue.^r

The fragrance of your garments

is like the fragrance of Lebanon.^s

¹²You are a garden^t locked up, my sister, my bride;^u

you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.^v

¹³Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates^w

with choice fruits,

with henna^x and nard,

¹⁴nard and saffron,

calamus and cinnamon,^y

with every kind of incense tree,

with myrrh^z and aloes^a

and all the finest spices.^b

¹⁵You are^b a garden^c fountain,^d

a well of flowing water

streaming down from Lebanon.

She

¹⁶Awake, north wind,

and come, south wind!

Blow on my garden,^e

that its fragrance^f may spread everywhere.

Let my beloved^g come into his garden

and taste its choice fruits.^h

He

5I have come into my garden,ⁱ my sister, my bride;^j

I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.

I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;

I have drunk my wine and my milk.^k

Friends

Eat, friends, and drink;

drink your fill of love.

She

²I slept but my heart was awake.

Listen! My beloved is knocking:

“Open to me, my sister, my darling,

my dove,^l my flawless^m one.ⁿ

My head is drenched with dew,

my hair with the dampness of the night.”

³I have taken off my robe—

must I put it on again?

I have washed my feet—

must I soil them again?

⁴My beloved thrust his hand through the latch-opening;

my heart began to pound for him.

⁵I arose to open for my beloved,

and my hands dripped with myrrh,^o

my fingers with flowing myrrh,

on the handles of the bolt.

⁶I opened for my beloved,^p

but my beloved had left; he was gone.^q

My heart sank at his departure.^a

I looked^r for him but did not find him.

I called him but he did not answer.

⁷The watchmen found me

as they made their rounds in the city.^s

They beat me, they bruised me;

they took away my cloak,

those watchmen of the walls!

⁸Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you^t—

if you find my beloved,^u

what will you tell him?

Tell him I am faint with love.^v

Friends

⁹How is your beloved better than others,

most beautiful of women?^w

How is your beloved better than others,

that you so charge us?

She

¹⁰My beloved is radiant and ruddy,

outstanding among ten thousand.^x

¹¹His head is purest gold;

his hair is wavy

and black as a raven.

¹²His eyes are like doves^y

by the water streams,

washed in milk,^z

mounted like jewels.

¹³His cheeks^a are like beds of spice^b

yielding perfume.

His lips are like lilies^c

dripping with myrrh.^d

¹⁴His arms are rods of gold

set with topaz.

His body is like polished ivory

decorated with lapis lazuli.^e

¹⁵His legs are pillars of marble

set on bases of pure gold.

His appearance is like Lebanon,^f

choice as its cedars.

¹⁶His mouth^g is sweetness itself;

he is altogether lovely.

This is my beloved,^h this is my friend,

daughters of Jerusalem.ⁱ