Song of Songs 5
[ GROOM ]
1 My bride, my sister, I will come to my garden.
I will gather my myrrh with my spice.
I will eat my honeycomb with my honey.
I will drink my wine with my milk.
Eat, my friends!
Drink and become intoxicated with expressions of love!
The Young Woman Dreams of Marriage with Her Husband
[ BRIDE ]
2 I sleep, but my mind is awake.
Listen! My beloved is knocking.
[ GROOM ]
Open to me, my true love, my sister,
my dove, my perfect one.
My head is wet with dew,
my hair with the dewdrops of night.
[ BRIDE ]
3 I have taken off my clothes! Why should I put them on ⌞again⌟?
I have washed my feet! Why should I get them dirty ⌞again⌟?
4 My beloved put his hand through the keyhole.
My heart throbbed for him.
5 I got up to open for my beloved.
My hands dripped with myrrh,
and my fingers were drenched with liquid myrrh,
on the handles of the lock.
6 I opened for my beloved,
but my beloved had turned away. He was gone!
I almost died when he left.
I looked for him, but I did not find him.
I called for him, but he did not answer me.
7 The watchmen making their rounds in the city found me.
They struck me!
They wounded me!
Those watchmen on the walls took my robe from me!
8 Young women of Jerusalem, swear to me
that if you find my beloved
you will tell him I am hopelessly lovesick.
[ THE CHORUS OF YOUNG WOMEN ]
9 Most beautiful of women,
what makes your beloved better than any other beloved?
What makes your beloved better than any other beloved
that you make us swear this way?
[ BRIDE ]
10 My beloved is dazzling yet ruddy.
He stands out among 10,000 men.
11 His head is the finest gold.
His hair is wavy, black as a raven.
12 His eyes are set like doves bathing in milk.
13 His cheeks are like a garden of spices,
a garden that produces scented herbs.
His lips are lilies that drip with myrrh.
14 His hands are disks of gold set with emerald.
His chest is a block of ivory covered with sapphires.
15 His legs are columns of marble set on bases of pure gold.
His form is like Lebanon, choice as the cedars.
16 His mouth is sweet in every way.
Everything about him is desirable!
This is my beloved, and this is my friend, young women of Jerusalem.
Song of Songs 6
[ THE CHORUS OF YOUNG WOMEN ]
1 Where did your beloved go, most beautiful of women?
Where did your beloved turn?
We will look for him with you.
[ BRIDE ]
2 My beloved went to his garden,
to the beds of spices,
to graze his flock in the gardens and gather lilies.
3 I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.
He is the one who grazes his flock among the lilies.
Solomon Desires the Young Woman More Than the Rest of His Wives
[ GROOM ]
4 You are beautiful, my true love, like Tirzah,
lovely like Jerusalem,
awe-inspiring like those great cities.*
5 Turn your eyes away from me. They enchant me!
Your hair is like a flock of goats moving down from Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep,
sheep that come up from the washing.
All of them bear twins, and not one has lost its young.
7 Your temples behind your veil are like slices of pomegranate.
8 There are 60 queens, 80 concubines,† and countless virgins,
9 but she is unique, my dove, my perfect one.
Her mother thinks she is unique.
She is pure to the one who gave birth to her.
Her sisters saw her and blessed her.
Queens and concubines saw her and praised her.
The Young Woman’s Home in Shulam
[ THE CHORUS OF YOUNG WOMEN ]
10 Who is this young woman?
She looks like the dawn.
She is beautiful like the moon,
pure like the sun,
awe-inspiring like those heavenly bodies.
[ BRIDE ]
11 I went to the walnut grove
to look at the blossoms in the valley,
to see if the grapevine had budded
and if the pomegranates were in bloom.
12 I did not know that I had become
like the chariots of my noble people.‡
[ THE CHORUS OF YOUNG WOMEN ]
13 Come back! Come back, young woman from Shulam!
Come back! Come back so that we may look at you!
[ BRIDE ]
Why do you look at me, the young woman from Shulam,
as you look at the dance of Mahanaim?
Song of Songs 7
[ THE CHORUS OF YOUNG WOMEN ]
1 *How beautiful are your feet in their sandals, noble daughter!
The curves of your thighs are like ornaments,
like the work of an artist’s hands.
2 Your navel is a round bowl.
May it always be filled with spiced wine.
Your waist is a bundle of wheat enclosed in lilies.
3 Your breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
4 Your neck is like an ivory tower.
Your eyes are like pools in Heshbon, pools by the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like a Lebanese tower facing Damascus.
5 You hold your head as high as Mount Carmel.
Your dangling curls are royal beauty.
Your flowing locks could hold a king captive.
Solomon Longs for the Young Woman’s Affection
[ GROOM ]
6 How beautiful and charming you are, my love, with your elegance.
7 Young woman,
your figure is like a palm tree,
and your breasts are like its clusters.
8 I thought, “I will climb the palm tree
and take hold of its fruit.”
May your breasts be like clusters on the vine.
May the fragrance of your breath be like apples.
9 May your mouth taste like the best wine …
[ BRIDE ]
… that goes down smoothly to my beloved
and glides over the lips of those about to sleep.†
10 I am my beloved’s, and he longs for me.
11 Come, my beloved.
Let’s go into the field.
Let’s spend the night among the henna flowers.‡
12 Let’s go to the vineyards early.
Let’s see if the vines have budded,
if the grape blossoms have opened,
if the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my love.
13 The mandrakes § give off a fragrance,
and at our door are all kinds of precious fruits.
I have saved new and old things
for you alone, my beloved.
Song of Songs 8
1 If only you were my brother,
one who nursed at my mother’s breasts.
If I saw you on the street,
I would kiss you, and no one would look down on me.
2 I would lead you.
I would bring you into my mother’s house.
(She is the one who was my teacher.)
I would give you some spiced wine to drink,
some juice squeezed from my pomegranates.
3 His left hand is under my head.
His right hand caresses me.
4 Young women of Jerusalem, swear to me
that you will not awaken love
or arouse love before its proper time!
The Young Woman’s Love for Her Beloved
[ THE CHORUS OF YOUNG WOMEN ]
5 Who is this young woman coming from the wilderness
with her arm around her beloved?
[ BRIDE ]
Under the apple tree I woke you up.
There your mother went into labor with you.
There she went into labor
and gave birth to you!
6 Wear me as a signet ring on your heart,
as a ring on your hand.
Love is as overpowering as death.
Devotion is as unyielding as the grave.
Love’s flames are flames of fire,
flames that come from the Lord.
7 Raging water cannot extinguish love,
and rivers will never wash it away.
If a man exchanged all his family’s wealth for love,
people would utterly despise him.
The Young Woman with Her Family and Her Beloved
[ THE BROTHERS ]
8 We have a little sister, and she has no breasts.
What will we do for our sister on the day she becomes engaged?
9 If she is a wall, we will build a silver barrier around her.
If she is a door, we will barricade her with cedar boards.
[ BRIDE ]
10 I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers.
So he considers me to be one who has found peace.*
11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon.
He entrusted that vineyard to caretakers.
Each one was to bring 25 pounds of silver
in exchange for its fruit.
12 My own vineyard is in front of me.
That 25 pounds is yours, Solomon,
and 5 pounds go to those who take care of its fruit.
[ GROOM ]
13 Young woman living in the gardens,
while your friends are listening to your voice,
let me hear….
[ BRIDE ]
14 Come away quickly, my beloved.
Run like a gazelle or a young stag
on the mountains of spices.