Song of Solomon 5:8-16
New Living Translation
8 Make this promise, O women of Jerusalem—
If you find my lover,
tell him I am weak with love.
Young Women of Jerusalem
9 Why is your lover better than all others,
O woman of rare beauty?
What makes your lover so special
that we must promise this?
Young Woman
10 My lover is dark and dazzling,
better than ten thousand others!
11 His head is finest gold,
his wavy hair is black as a raven.
12 His eyes sparkle like doves
beside springs of water;
they are set like jewels
washed in milk.
13 His cheeks are like gardens of spices
giving off fragrance.
His lips are like lilies,
perfumed with myrrh.
14 His arms are like rounded bars of gold,
set with beryl.
His body is like bright ivory,
glowing with lapis lazuli.
15 His legs are like marble pillars
set in sockets of finest gold.
His posture is stately,
like the noble cedars of Lebanon.
16 His mouth is sweetness itself;
he is desirable in every way.
Such, O women of Jerusalem,
is my lover, my friend.
Song of Solomon 5:8-16
International Standard Version
8 I charge you, young women of Jerusalem,
“If you find my beloved, what are you to tell him?
Tell him[a] that I’m weak with love.”
The Young Women
9 What is so special about your beloved,[b]
most beautiful of women?
What is so special about your beloved,
that you charge us like this?
The Loved One
10 My beloved is dazzling,
with a dark and healthy complexion,
outstanding among ten thousand.
11 His head is pure gold,
his hair is wavy, black like a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves
by streams of water,
bathed in milk,
mounted like jewels.
13 His cheeks are like beds of spices,
like towers of perfume.
His lips are lilies,
dripping with liquid myrrh.
14 His hands are rods of gold,
set with beryl.
His stomach is carved ivory,
inlaid with sapphires.[c]
15 His legs are pillars of marble
set on bases of pure gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
choice like its cedars.
16 His mouth[d] is sweetness,
and all of him is desirable.
This is my beloved, this is my friend,
young women of Jerusalem!
Footnotes
- Song of Solomon 5:8 The Heb. lacks Tell him
- Song of Solomon 5:9 Or How is your beloved better than other beloveds
- Song of Solomon 5:14 Or lapis lazuli
- Song of Solomon 5:16 Lit. palate
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
