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What a magnificent young woman you are!
    How beautiful are your feet in sandals.
The curve of your thighs
    is like the work of an artist.
A bowl is there,
    that never runs out of spiced wine.
A sheaf of wheat is there,
    surrounded by lilies.
Your breasts are like twin deer,
    like two gazelles.
Your neck is like a tower of ivory.
Your eyes are like the pools in the city of Heshbon,
    near the gate of that great city.
Your nose is as lovely as the tower of Lebanon
    that stands guard at Damascus.
Your head is held high like Mount Carmel.
Your braided hair shines like the finest satin;
    its beauty[a] could hold a king captive.

How pretty you are, how beautiful;
    how complete the delights of your love.
You are as graceful as a palm tree,
    and your breasts are clusters of dates.
I will climb the palm tree
    and pick its fruit.
To me your breasts are like bunches of grapes,
    your breath like the fragrance of apples,
    and your mouth like the finest wine.

The Woman

Then let the wine flow straight to my lover,
    flowing over his lips and teeth.[b]
10 I belong to my lover, and he desires me.
11 Come, darling, let's go out to the countryside
    and spend the night in the villages.[c]
12 We will get up early and look at the vines
    to see whether they've started to grow,
    whether the blossoms are opening
    and the pomegranate trees are in bloom.
There I will give you my love.
13 You can smell the scent of mandrakes,
    and all the pleasant fruits are near our door.
Darling, I have kept for you
    the old delights and the new.

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 7:5 beauty; Hebrew unclear.
  2. Song of Solomon 7:9 Some ancient translations lips and teeth; Hebrew lips of those who sleep.
  3. Song of Solomon 7:11 villages; or fields.

[a]How beautiful your sandaled feet,
    O prince’s(A) daughter!
Your graceful legs are like jewels,
    the work of an artist’s hands.
Your navel is a rounded goblet
    that never lacks blended wine.
Your waist is a mound of wheat
    encircled by lilies.
Your breasts(B) are like two fawns,
    like twin fawns of a gazelle.
Your neck is like an ivory tower.(C)
Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon(D)
    by the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon(E)
    looking toward Damascus.
Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel.(F)
    Your hair is like royal tapestry;
    the king is held captive by its tresses.
How beautiful(G) you are and how pleasing,
    my love, with your delights!(H)
Your stature is like that of the palm,
    and your breasts(I) like clusters of fruit.
I said, “I will climb the palm tree;
    I will take hold of its fruit.”
May your breasts be like clusters of grapes on the vine,
    the fragrance of your breath like apples,(J)
    and your mouth like the best wine.

She

May the wine go straight to my beloved,(K)
    flowing gently over lips and teeth.[b]
10 I belong to my beloved,
    and his desire(L) is for me.(M)
11 Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside,
    let us spend the night in the villages.[c]
12 Let us go early to the vineyards(N)
    to see if the vines have budded,(O)
if their blossoms(P) have opened,
    and if the pomegranates(Q) are in bloom(R)
    there I will give you my love.
13 The mandrakes(S) send out their fragrance,
    and at our door is every delicacy,
both new and old,
    that I have stored up for you, my beloved.(T)

Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 7:1 In Hebrew texts 7:1-13 is numbered 7:2-14.
  2. Song of Songs 7:9 Septuagint, Aquila, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew lips of sleepers
  3. Song of Songs 7:11 Or the henna bushes