Song of Solomon 5

He

¹I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;

I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.

I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;

I have drunk my wine and my milk.

Friends

Eat, friends, and drink;

drink your fill of love.

She

²I slept but my heart was awake.

Listen! My beloved is knocking:

“Open to me, my sister, my darling,

my dove, my flawless one.

My head is drenched with dew,

my hair with the dampness of the night.”

³I have taken off my robe—

must I put it on again?

I have washed my feet—

must I soil them again?

⁴My beloved thrust his hand through the latch-opening;

my heart began to pound for him.

⁵I arose to open for my beloved,

and my hands dripped with myrrh,

my fingers with flowing myrrh,

on the handles of the bolt.

⁶I opened for my beloved,

but my beloved had left; he was gone.

My heart sank at his departure.

I looked for him but did not find him.

I called him but he did not answer.

⁷The watchmen found me

as they made their rounds in the city.

They beat me, they bruised me;

they took away my cloak,

those watchmen of the walls!

⁸Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you—

if you find my beloved,

what will you tell him?

Tell him I am faint with love.

Friends

⁹How is your beloved better than others,

most beautiful of women?

How is your beloved better than others,

that you so charge us?

She

¹⁰My beloved is radiant and ruddy,

outstanding among ten thousand.

¹¹His head is purest gold;

his hair is wavy

and black as a raven.

¹²His eyes are like doves

by the water streams,

washed in milk,

mounted like jewels.

¹³His cheeks are like beds of spice

yielding perfume.

His lips are like lilies

dripping with myrrh.

¹⁴His arms are rods of gold

set with topaz.

His body is like polished ivory

decorated with lapis lazuli.

¹⁵His legs are pillars of marble

set on bases of pure gold.

His appearance is like Lebanon,

choice as its cedars.

¹⁶His mouth is sweetness itself;

he is altogether lovely.

This is my beloved, this is my friend,

daughters of Jerusalem.