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I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
    if you find my beloved,
tell him this:
    I am faint with love.(A)

Colloquy of Friends and the Young Woman

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?(B)

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](C)
13 His cheeks are like beds of spices,
    yielding fragrance.
His lips are lilies,
    dripping liquid myrrh.(D)
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.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. 5.12 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  2. 5.14 Meaning of Heb uncertain

Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you,(A)
if you find my love,
tell him that I am lovesick.(B)

Young Women

What makes the one you love better than another,
most beautiful of women?(C)
What makes him better than another,
that you would give us this charge?

Woman

10 My love is fit and strong,[a](D)
notable among ten thousand.(E)

11 His head is purest gold.
His hair is wavy[b](F)
and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves(G)
beside flowing streams,
washed in milk
and set like jewels.[c]
13 His cheeks(H) are like beds of spice,
mounds of[d] perfume.
His lips are lilies,
dripping with flowing myrrh.(I)
14 His arms[e] are rods of gold
set[f] with beryl.(J)
His body[g] is an ivory panel
covered with lapis lazuli.(K)
15 His legs are alabaster pillars
set on pedestals of pure gold.
His presence is like Lebanon,(L)
as majestic as the cedars.(M)
16 His mouth is sweetness.
He is absolutely desirable.(N)
This is my love, and this is my friend,
young women of Jerusalem.

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Footnotes

  1. 5:10 Or is radiant and ruddy
  2. 5:11 Or is like palm leaves; Hb obscure
  3. 5:12 Lit milk sitting in fullness
  4. 5:13 LXX, Vg read spice, yielding
  5. 5:14 Lit hands
  6. 5:14 Lit filled; Sg 5:2,12
  7. 5:14 Lit abdomen