Song of Songs 5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
5 I come to my garden, my sister, my bride;
I gather my myrrh with my spice;
I eat my honeycomb with my honey;
I drink my wine with my milk.
Eat, friends, drink,
and be drunk with love.(A)
Another Dream
2 I was sleeping, but my heart was awake.
The sound of my beloved knocking!
“Open to me, my sister, my love,
my dove, my perfect one,
for my head is wet with dew,
my locks with the drops of the night.”(B)
3 I had put off my garment;
how could I put it on again?
I had bathed my feet;
how could I soil them?(C)
4 My beloved thrust his hand into the opening,
and my inmost being yearned for him.
5 I arose to open to my beloved,
and my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with liquid myrrh,
upon the handles of the bolt.(D)
6 I opened to my beloved,
but my beloved had turned away and was gone.
My soul failed me when he spoke.
I sought him but did not find him;
I called him, but he gave no answer.(E)
7 Making their rounds in the city
the sentinels found me;
they beat me; they wounded me;
they took away my mantle,
those sentinels of the walls.(F)
8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
if you find my beloved,
tell him this:
I am faint with love.(G)
Colloquy of Friends and the Young Woman
9 What is your beloved more than another beloved,
O fairest among women?
What is your beloved more than another beloved,
that you thus charge us?(H)
10 My beloved is all radiant and ruddy,
distinguished among ten thousand.
11 His head is the finest gold;
his locks are wavy,
black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves
beside springs of water,
bathed in milk,
fitly set.[a](I)
13 His cheeks are like beds of spices,
yielding fragrance.
His lips are lilies,
dripping liquid myrrh.(J)
14 His arms are rounded gold,
set with jewels.
His body is an ivory panel,[b]
decorated with sapphires.
15 His legs are alabaster columns,
set upon bases of gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
choice as the cedars.
16 His speech is most sweet,
and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved, and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.(K)
Song of Songs 5
Christian Standard Bible
Man
5 I have come to my garden—my sister, my bride.
I gather[a] my myrrh with my spices.
I eat my honeycomb with my honey.
I drink my wine with my milk.
Narrator
Woman
2 I was sleeping, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My love was knocking!(B)
Man
Open to me, my sister, my darling,
my dove, my perfect one.
For my head is drenched with dew,
my hair with droplets of the night.
Woman
3 I have taken off my clothing.(C)
How can I put it back on?
I have washed my feet.
How can I get them dirty?
4 My love thrust his hand through the opening,
and my feelings were stirred for him.
5 I rose to open for my love.
My hands dripped with myrrh,(D)
my fingers with flowing myrrh
on the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened to my love,
but my love had turned and gone away.
My heart sank[c] because he had left.[d]
I sought him, but did not find him.(E)
I called him, but he did not answer.
7 The guards who go about the city found me.(F)
They beat and wounded me;
they took my cloak[e] from me—
the guardians of the walls.(G)
8 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you,(H)
if you find my love,
tell him that I am lovesick.(I)
Young Women
9 What makes the one you love better than another,
most beautiful of women?(J)
What makes him better than another,
that you would give us this charge?
Woman
11 His head is purest gold.
His hair is wavy[g](M)
and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves(N)
beside flowing streams,
washed in milk
and set like jewels.[h]
13 His cheeks(O) are like beds of spice,
mounds of[i] perfume.
His lips are lilies,
dripping with flowing myrrh.(P)
14 His arms[j] are rods of gold
set[k] with beryl.(Q)
His body[l] is an ivory panel
covered with lapis lazuli.(R)
15 His legs are alabaster pillars
set on pedestals of pure gold.
His presence is like Lebanon,(S)
as majestic as the cedars.(T)
16 His mouth is sweetness.
He is absolutely desirable.(U)
This is my love, and this is my friend,
young women of Jerusalem.
Footnotes
- 5:1 Lit pluck
- 5:1 Or Drink your fill, lovers
- 5:6 Lit My soul went out
- 5:6 Or spoken
- 5:7 Or veil, or shawl
- 5:10 Or is radiant and ruddy
- 5:11 Or is like palm leaves; Hb obscure
- 5:12 Lit milk sitting in fullness
- 5:13 LXX, Vg read spice, yielding
- 5:14 Lit hands
- 5:14 Lit filled; Sg 5:2,12
- 5:14 Lit abdomen
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.