Song of Solomon

The Bridegroom Praises the Bride

The Beloved

Behold, you are fair, my love!

Behold, you are fair!

You have dove’s eyes behind your veil.

Your hair is like a flock of goats,

Going down from Mount Gilead.

Your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep

Which have come up from the washing,

Every one of which bears twins,

And none is [a]barren among them.

Your lips are like a strand of scarlet,

And your mouth is lovely.

Your temples behind your veil

Are like a piece of pomegranate.

Your neck is like the tower of David,

Built for an armory,

On which hang a thousand [b]bucklers,

All shields of mighty men.

Your two breasts are like two fawns,

Twins of a gazelle,

Which feed among the lilies.

Until the day breaks

And the shadows flee away,

I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh

And to the hill of frankincense.

You are all fair, my love,

And there is no spot in you.

Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse,

With me from Lebanon.

Look from the top of Amana,

From the top of Senir and Hermon,

From the lions’ dens,

From the mountains of the leopards.

You have ravished my heart,

My sister, my spouse;

You have ravished my heart

With one look of your eyes,

With one link of your necklace.

10 How fair is your love,

My sister, my spouse!

How much better than wine is your love,

And the [c]scent of your perfumes

Than all spices!

11 Your lips, O my spouse,

Drip as the honeycomb;

Honey and milk are under your tongue;

And the fragrance of your garments

Is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

12 A garden [d]enclosed

Is my sister, my spouse,

A spring shut up,

A fountain sealed.

13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates

With pleasant fruits,

Fragrant henna with spikenard,

14 Spikenard and saffron,

Calamus and cinnamon,

With all trees of frankincense,

Myrrh and aloes,

With all the chief spices—

15 A fountain of gardens,

A well of living waters,

And streams from Lebanon.

The Shulamite

16 Awake, O north wind,

And come, O south!

Blow upon my garden,

That its spices may flow out.

Let my beloved come to his garden

And eat its pleasant fruits.

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 4:2 bereaved
  2. Song of Solomon 4:4 Small shields
  3. Song of Solomon 4:10 fragrance
  4. Song of Solomon 4:12 locked or barred