Chapter 4

Solomon Admires His Bride's Beauty

He

1  Behold, you are beautiful, my love,
    behold, you are beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
    behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
    leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
2  Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
    that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
    and not one among them has lost its young.
3  Your lips are like a scarlet thread,
    and your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
    behind your veil.
4  Your neck is like the tower of David,
    built in rows of stone; ^{1 4:4 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain}
on it hang a thousand shields,
    all of them shields of warriors.
5  Your two breasts are like two fawns,
    twins of a gazelle,
    that graze among the lilies.
6  Until the day breathes
    and the shadows flee,
I will go away to the mountain of myrrh
    and the hill of frankincense.
7  You are altogether beautiful, my love;
    there is no flaw in you.
8  Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;
    come with me from Lebanon.
Depart ^{2 4:8 Or Look} from the peak of Amana,
    from the peak of Senir and Hermon,
from the dens of lions,
    from the mountains of leopards.

9  You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride;
    you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,
    with one jewel of your necklace.
10  How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
    How much better is your love than wine,
    and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
11  Your lips drip nectar, my bride;
    honey and milk are under your tongue;
    the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12  A garden locked is my sister, my bride,
    a spring locked, a fountain sealed.
13  Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates
    with all choicest fruits,
    henna with nard,
14  nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
    with all trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes,
    with all choice spices—
15  a garden fountain, a well of living water,
    and flowing streams from Lebanon.

16  Awake, O north wind,
    and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden,
    let its spices flow.

Together in the Garden of Love

She

Let my beloved come to his garden,
    and eat its choicest fruits.

Chapter 5

He

1  I came to my garden, my sister, my bride,
    I gathered my myrrh with my spice,
    I ate my honeycomb with my honey,
    I drank my wine with my milk.

Others

Eat, friends, drink,
    and be drunk with love!

The Bride Searches for Her Beloved

She

2  I slept, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My beloved is knocking.
“Open to me, my sister, my love,
    my dove, my perfect one,
for my head is wet with dew,
    my locks with the drops of the night.”
3  I had put off my garment;
    how could I put it on?
I had bathed my feet;
    how could I soil them?
4  My beloved put his hand to the latch,
    and my heart was thrilled within me.
5  I arose to open to my beloved,
    and my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with liquid myrrh,
    on the handles of the bolt.
6  I opened to my beloved,
    but my beloved had turned and gone.
My soul failed me when he spoke.
I sought him, but found him not;
    I called him, but he gave no answer.
7  The watchmen found me
    as they went about in the city;
they beat me, they bruised me,
    they took away my veil,
    those watchmen of the walls.
8  I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
    if you find my beloved,
that you tell him
    I am sick with love.

Others

9  What is your beloved more than another beloved,
    O most beautiful among women?
What is your beloved more than another beloved,
    that you thus adjure us?

The Bride Praises Her Beloved

She

10  My beloved is radiant and ruddy,
    distinguished among ten thousand.
11  His head is the finest gold;
    his locks are wavy,
    black as a raven.
12  His eyes are like doves
    beside streams of water,
bathed in milk,
    sitting beside a full pool. ^{3 5:12 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain}
13  His cheeks are like beds of spices,
    mounds of sweet-smelling herbs.
His lips are lilies,
    dripping liquid myrrh.
14  His arms are rods of gold,
    set with jewels.
His body is polished ivory, ^{4 5:14 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain}
    bedecked with sapphires. ^{5 5:14 Hebrew lapis lazuli}
15  His legs are alabaster columns,
    set on bases of gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
    choice as the cedars.
16  His mouth ^{6 5:16 Hebrew palate} is most sweet,
    and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
    O daughters of Jerusalem.

Chapter 6

Others

1  Where has your beloved gone,
    O most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
    that we may seek him with you?

Together in the Garden of Love

She

2  My beloved has gone down to his garden
    to the beds of spices,
to graze ^{7 6:2 Or to pasture his flock; also verse 3} in the gardens
    and to gather lilies.
3  I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine;
    he grazes among the lilies.

Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other

He

4  You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love,
    lovely as Jerusalem,
    awesome as an army with banners.
5  Turn away your eyes from me,
    for they overwhelm me—
Your hair is like a flock of goats
    leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
6  Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
    that have come up from the washing;
all of them bear twins;
    not one among them has lost its young.
7  Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
    behind your veil.
8  There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,
    and virgins without number.
9  My dove, my perfect one, is the only one,
    the only one of her mother,
    pure to her who bore her.
The young women saw her and called her blessed;
    the queens and concubines also, and they praised her.

10  “Who is this who looks down like the dawn,
    beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,
    awesome as an army with banners?”

She

11  I went down to the nut orchard
    to look at the blossoms of the valley,
to see whether the vines had budded,
    whether the pomegranates were in bloom.
12  Before I was aware, my desire set me
    among the chariots of my kinsman, a prince. ^{8 6:12 Or chariots of Ammi-Nadib}

Others

13  ^{9 6:13 Ch 7:1 in Hebrew} Return, return, O Shulammite,
    return, return, that we may look upon you.

He

Why should you look upon the Shulammite,
    as upon a dance before two armies? ^{10 6:13 Or dance of Mahanaim}