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Lover

Behold, you are beautiful, my love.

    Behold, you are beautiful.
Your eyes are like doves behind your veil.
    Your hair is as a flock of goats,
    that descend from Mount Gilead.
Your teeth are like a newly shorn flock,
    which have come up from the washing,
    where every one of them has twins.
    None is bereaved among them.
Your lips are like scarlet thread.
    Your mouth is lovely.
    Your temples are like a piece of a pomegranate behind your veil.
Your neck is like David’s tower built for an armory,
    on which a thousand shields hang,
    all the shields of the mighty men.
Your two breasts are like two fawns
    that are twins of a roe,
    which feed among the lilies.

Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away,
    I will go to the mountain of myrrh,
    to the hill of frankincense.

You are all beautiful, my love.
    There is no spot in you.
Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,
    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 bride.
    You have ravished my heart with one of your eyes,
    with one chain of your neck.
10 How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
    How much better is your love than wine,
    the fragrance of your perfumes than all kinds of spices!
11 Your lips, my bride, drip like the honeycomb.
    Honey and milk are under your tongue.
    The smell of your garments is like the smell of Lebanon.
12 My sister, my bride, is a locked up garden;
    a locked up spring,
    a sealed fountain.
13 Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits,
    henna with spikenard plants,
14     spikenard and saffron,
    calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree;
    myrrh and aloes, with all the best spices,
15     a fountain of gardens,
    a well of living waters,
    flowing streams from Lebanon.

Beloved

16 Awake, north wind, and come, you south!
    Blow on my garden, that its spices may flow out.
Let my beloved come into his garden,
    and taste his precious fruits.

How fair you are, my love [he said], how very fair! Your eyes behind your veil [remind me] of those of a dove; your hair [makes me think of the black, wavy fleece] of a flock of [the Arabian] goats which one sees trailing down Mount Gilead [beyond the Jordan on the frontiers of the desert].

Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes which have come up from the washing, of which all are in pairs, and none is missing among them.

Your lips are like a thread of scarlet, and your mouth is lovely. Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil.

Your neck is like the tower of David, built for an arsenal, whereon hang a thousand bucklers, all of them shields of warriors.

Your two breasts are like two fawns, like twins of a gazelle that feed among the lilies.

Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, [in my thoughts] I will get to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense [to him whom my soul adores].

[He exclaimed] O my love, how beautiful you are! There is no flaw in you!(A)

Come [a]away with me from Lebanon, my [promised] bride, come with me from Lebanon. Depart from the top of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards.(B)

You have ravished my heart and given me courage, my sister, my [promised] bride; you have ravished my heart and given me courage with one look from your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.

10 How beautiful is your love, my sister, my [promised] bride! How much better is your love than wine! And the fragrance of your ointments than all spices!(C)

11 Your lips, O my [promised] bride, drop honey as the honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue. And the odor of your garments is like the odor of Lebanon.

12 A garden enclosed and barred is my sister, my [promised] bride—a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.

13 Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates or a paradise with precious fruits, henna with spikenard plants,(D)

14 Spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes, with all the chief spices.

15 You are a fountain [springing up] in a garden, a well of living waters, and flowing streams from Lebanon.(E)

16 [You have called me a garden, she said] Oh, I pray that the [cold] [b]north wind and the [soft] south wind may blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out [in abundance for you in whom my soul delights]. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat its choicest fruits.

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 4:8 Do I heed Christ when He bids me to come away from the lions’ den of temptation and dwell with Him?
  2. Song of Solomon 4:16 Am I willing to have the north wind of adversity blow upon me, if it will better fit me for Christ’s presence and companionship?