Song of Songs 4 - 5

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Solomon Praises the Beauty of His Bride

“Behold, you are beautiful, my darling,

Behold, you are beautiful!

Your eyes are like doves behind your veil;

Your hair is like a flock of goats

That have leapt down from Mount Gilead.

Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn ewes

Which have come up from their washing,

All of which bear twins,

And not one among them has lost her young.

Your lips are like a scarlet thread,

And your mouth is lovely.

Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate

Behind your veil.

Your neck is like the tower of David,

Built with rows of stones

On which are hung one thousand shields,

All the small shields of the mighty men.

Your two breasts are like two fawns,

Twins of a gazelle

Which feed among the lilies.

Until the day breathes

And the shadows flee,

I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh

And to the hill of frankincense.

“You are altogether beautiful, my darling,

And there is no blemish in you.

Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,

May you come with me from Lebanon.

Journey down from the top of Amana,

From the top of Senir and Hermon,

From the dens of lions,

From the mountains of leopards.

You have made my heart beat faster, my sister, my bride;

You have made my heart beat faster with a single glance of your eyes,

With a single strand of your necklace.

How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!

How much better is your love than wine,

And the fragrance of your oils

Than all kinds of spices!

Your lips, my bride, drip honey from the comb;

Honey and milk are under your tongue,

And the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

A garden locked is my sister, my bride,

A rock garden locked, a spring sealed up.

Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates

With choice fruits, henna with nard plants,

Nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,

With all the trees of frankincense,

Myrrh and aloes, along with all the finest spices.

You are a garden spring,

A well of fresh water,

And streams flowing from Lebanon.”

“Awake, O north wind,

And come, wind of the south;

Make my garden breathe out fragrance,

Let its spices flow forth.

May my beloved come into his garden

And eat its choice fruits!”

The Bride Searches for Her Beloved

“I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;

I have picked my myrrh along with my balsam.

I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey;

I have drunk my wine with my milk.

Eat, friends;

Drink and imbibe deeply, O lovers.”

“I was asleep, but my heart was awake.

A voice! My beloved was knocking:

‘Open to me, my sister, my darling,

My dove, my perfect one!

For my head is full of dew,

My locks with the damp of the night.’

I have taken off my long‑sleeved garment,

How can I put it on again?

I have washed my feet,

How can I dirty them again?

My beloved sent forth his hand through the opening,

And my feelings moaned for him.

I arose to open to my beloved;

And my hands dripped with myrrh,

And my fingers with liquid myrrh,

On the handles of the lock.

I opened to my beloved,

But my beloved had turned away and passed by!

My soul went out to him as he spoke.

I searched for him, but I did not find him;

I called him, but he did not answer me.

The watchmen who go about in the city found me,

They struck me and wounded me;

The guardsmen of the walls took away my shawl from me.

I call you to solemnly swear, O daughters of Jerusalem,

If you find my beloved,

What will you tell him?

Tell him that I am sick with love.”

“What is your beloved that he is more than any other beloved,

O most beautiful among women?

What is your beloved that he is more than any other beloved,

That thus you call us to solemnly swear?”

The Bride Extols Her Beloved

“My beloved is dazzling and ruddy,

Lifted up as a banner among ten thousand.

His head is like gold, fine gold;

His locks are like clusters of dates

And black as a raven.

His eyes are like doves

Beside streams of water,

Washed in milk,

And sitting in their setting.

His cheeks are like a bed of spices,

Towers of sweet‑scented herbs;

His lips are lilies

Dripping with liquid myrrh.

His hands are rods of gold

Set with beryl;

His abdomen is a plate of ivory

Inlaid with sapphires.

His legs are pillars of marble

Set on bases of fine gold;

His appearance is like Lebanon

Choice as the cedars.

His mouth is full of sweetness.

And he is wholly desirable.

This is my beloved and this is my friend,

O daughters of Jerusalem.”

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