Song of Solomon 4:1–5:16

4Behold, ^ayou are fair, my love!

Behold, you are fair!

You have dove’s eyes behind your veil.

Your hair is like a ^bflock of goats,

Going down from Mount Gilead.

^2cYour teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep

Which have come up from the washing,

Every one of which bears twins,

And none is ¹barren among them.

³Your lips are like a strand of scarlet,

And your mouth is lovely.

^dYour temples behind your veil

Are like a piece of pomegranate.

^4eYour neck is like the tower of David,

Built ^ffor an armory,

On which hang a thousand ²bucklers,

All shields of mighty men.

^5gYour two breasts are like two fawns,

Twins of a gazelle,

Which feed among the lilies.

^6hUntil the day breaks

And the shadows flee away,

I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh

And to the hill of frankincense.

⁷ⁱYou are all fair, my love,

And there is no spot in you.

⁸Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse,

With me from Lebanon.

Look from the top of Amana,

From the top of Senir ^jand Hermon,

From the lions’ dens,

From the mountains of the leopards.

⁹You have ravished my heart,

My sister, my spouse;

You have ravished my heart

With one look of your eyes,

With one link of your necklace.

¹⁰How fair is your love,

My sister, my spouse!

^kHow much better than wine is your love,

And the ³scent of your perfumes

Than all spices!

¹¹Your lips, O my spouse,

Drip as the honeycomb;

^lHoney and milk are under your tongue;

And the fragrance of your garments

Is ^mlike the fragrance of Lebanon.

¹²A garden ⁴enclosed

Is my sister, my spouse,

A spring shut up,

A fountain sealed.

¹³Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates

With pleasant fruits,

Fragrant henna with spikenard,

¹⁴Spikenard and saffron,

Calamus and cinnamon,

With all trees of frankincense,

Myrrh and aloes,

With all the chief spices—

¹⁵A fountain of gardens,

A well of ⁿliving waters,

And streams from Lebanon.

¹⁶Awake, O north wind,

And come, O south!

Blow upon my garden,

That its spices may flow out.

^oLet my beloved come to his garden

And eat its pleasant ^pfruits.

5I ^ahave come to my garden, my ^bsister, my spouse;

I have gathered my myrrh with my spice;

^cI have eaten my honeycomb with my honey;

I have drunk my wine with my milk.

Eat, O ^dfriends!

Drink, yes, drink deeply,

O beloved ones!

The Shulamite’s Troubled Evening

²I sleep, but my heart is awake;

It is the voice of my beloved!

^eHe knocks, saying,

“Open for me, my sister, ¹my love,

My dove, my perfect one;

For my head is covered with dew,

My ²locks with the drops of the night.”

³I have taken off my robe;

How can I put it on again?

I have washed my feet;

How can I ³defile them?

⁴My beloved put his hand

By the ⁴latch of the door,

And my heart yearned for him.

⁵I arose to open for my beloved,

And my hands dripped with myrrh,

My fingers with liquid myrrh,

On the handles of the lock.

⁶I opened for my beloved,

But my beloved had turned away and was gone.

My ⁵heart leaped up when he spoke.

^fI sought him, but I could not find him;

I called him, but he gave me no answer.

^7gThe watchmen who went about the city found me.

They struck me, they wounded me;

The keepers of the walls

Took my veil away from me.

⁸I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

If you find my beloved,

That you tell him I am lovesick!

⁹What is your beloved

More than another beloved,

^hO fairest among women?

What is your beloved

More than another beloved,

That you so ⁶charge us?

¹⁰My beloved is white and ruddy,

⁷Chief among ten thousand.

¹¹His head is like the finest gold;

His locks are wavy,

And black as a raven.

¹²ⁱHis eyes are like doves

By the rivers of waters,

Washed with milk,

And ⁸fitly set.

¹³His cheeks are like a bed of spices,

Banks of scented herbs.

His lips are lilies,

Dripping liquid myrrh.

¹⁴His hands are rods of gold

Set with beryl.

His body is carved ivory

Inlaid with sapphires.

¹⁵His legs are pillars of marble

Set on bases of fine gold.

His countenance is like Lebanon,

Excellent as the cedars.

¹⁶His mouth is most sweet,

Yes, he is altogether lovely.

This is my beloved,

And this is my friend,

O daughters of Jerusalem!