Song of Solomon 5:1–6:13

The Beloved

5 I 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.

(To His Friends)

Eat, O dfriends!

Drink, yes, drink deeply,

O beloved ones!

The Shulamite’s Troubled Evening

The Shulamite

2 I 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.”

3 I have taken off my robe;

How can I put it on again?

I have washed my feet;

How can I 3defile them?

4 My beloved put his hand

By the 4latch of the door,

And my heart yearned for him.

5 I arose to open for my beloved,

And my hands dripped with myrrh,

My fingers with liquid myrrh,

On the handles of the lock.

6 I 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.

7 gThe 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.

8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

If you find my beloved,

That you tell him I am lovesick!

The Daughters of Jerusalem

9 What is your beloved

More than another beloved,

hO fairest among women?

What is your beloved

More than another beloved,

That you so 6charge us?

The Shulamite

10 My beloved is white and ruddy,

7Chief among ten thousand.

11 His head is like the finest gold;

His locks are wavy,

And black as a raven.

12 iHis eyes are like doves

By the rivers of waters,

Washed with milk,

And 8fitly set.

13 His cheeks are like a bed of spices,

Banks of scented herbs.

His lips are lilies,

Dripping liquid myrrh.

14 His hands are rods of gold

Set with beryl.

His body is carved ivory

Inlaid with sapphires.

15 His legs are pillars of marble

Set on bases of fine gold.

His countenance is like Lebanon,

Excellent as the cedars.

16 His mouth is most sweet,

Yes, he is altogether lovely.

This is my beloved,

And this is my friend,

O daughters of Jerusalem!

The Daughters of Jerusalem

6 Where has your beloved gone,

aO fairest among women?

Where has your beloved turned aside,

That we may seek him with you?

The Shulamite

2 My beloved has gone to his bgarden,

To the beds of spices,

To feed his flock in the gardens,

And to gather lilies.

3 cI am my beloved’s,

And my beloved is mine.

He feeds his flock among the lilies.

Praise of the Shulamite’s Beauty

The Beloved

4 O my love, you are as beautiful as Tirzah,

Lovely as Jerusalem,

Awesome as an army with banners!

5 Turn your eyes away from me,

For they have 1overcome me.

Your hair is dlike a flock of goats

Going down from Gilead.

6 eYour teeth are like a flock of sheep

Which have come up from the washing;

Every one bears twins,

And none is 2barren among them.

7 fLike a piece of pomegranate

Are your temples behind your veil.

8 There are sixty queens

And eighty concubines,

And gvirgins without number.

9 My dove, my hperfect one,

Is the only one,

The only one of her mother,

The favorite of the one who bore her.

The daughters saw her

And called her blessed,

The queens and the concubines,

And they praised her.

10 Who is she who looks forth as the morning,

Fair as the moon,

Clear as the sun,

iAwesome as an army with banners?

The Shulamite

11 I went down to the garden of nuts

To see the verdure of the valley,

jTo see whether the vine had budded

And the pomegranates had bloomed.

12 Before I was even aware,

My soul had made me

As the chariots of 3my noble people.

The Beloved and His Friends

13 Return, return, O Shulamite;

Return, return, that we may look upon you!

The Shulamite

What would you see in the Shulamite—

As it were, the dance of 4the two camps?