| 1 | I have come into my garden, my sister, my [promised] bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my balsam
and
spice [from your sweet words I have gathered the richest perfumes and spices]. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends [feast on, O revelers of the palace; you can never make my lover disloyal to me]! Drink, yes, drink abundantly of love, O precious one [for now I know you are mine, irrevocably mine! With his confident words still thrilling her heart, through the lattice she saw her shepherd turn away and disappear into the night]. |
| 2 | I went to sleep, but my heart stayed awake. [I dreamed that I heard] the voice of my beloved as he knocked [at the door of my mother’s cottage]. Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my spotless one [he said], for I am wet with the [heavy] night dew; my hair is covered with it. |
| 3 | [But weary from a day in the vineyards, I had already sought my rest] I had put off my garment—
[a]how could I [again] put it on? I had washed my feet—how could I [again] soil them? |
| 4 | My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my heart was moved for him. |
| 5 | I rose up to open for my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, and my fingers with liquid [sweet-scented] myrrh, [which he had left] upon the handles of the bolt. |
| 6 | I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had turned away
and
withdrawn himself, and was gone! My soul went forth [to him] when he spoke, but it failed me [and now he was gone]! I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer. |
| 7 | The watchmen who go about the city found me. They struck me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took my veil
and
my mantle from me. |
| 8 | I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him that I am sick from love [simply sick to be with him]. |
| 9 | What is your beloved more than another beloved, O you fairest among women [taunted the ladies]? What is your beloved more than another beloved, that you should give us such a charge? |
| 10 | [She said] My beloved is fair and ruddy, the chief among ten thousand! |
| 11 | His head is [as precious as] the finest gold; his locks are curly
and
bushy and black as a raven. |
| 12 | His eyes are like doves beside the water brooks, bathed in milk
and
fitly set. |
| 13 | His cheeks are like a bed of spices
or
balsam, like banks of sweet herbs yielding fragrance. His lips are like bloodred anemones or lilies distilling liquid [sweet-scented] myrrh. |
| 14 | His hands are like rods of gold set with [nails of] beryl
or
topaz. His body is a figure of bright ivory overlaid with [veins of] sapphires. |
| 15 | His legs are like strong and steady pillars of marble set upon bases of fine gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, excellent, stately,
and
majestic as the cedars. |
| 16 | His voice
and
speech are exceedingly sweet; yes, he is altogether lovely [the whole of him delights and is precious].
[b]This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem! |
Cross references:
-
Song of Solomon 5:1 : John 16:33.
-
Song of Solomon 5:2 : Job 11:13-15.
-
Song of Solomon 5:3 : Isa. 32:9; Heb. 3:15.
-
Song of Solomon 5:8 : Ps. 63:1.
-
Song of Solomon 5:9 : John 10:26.
-
Song of Solomon 5:10 : Ps. 45:2; John 1:14.
-
Song of Solomon 5:16 : Ps. 92:15; Col. 1:15.
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