Song of Songs 5:8-16
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
8 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
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?(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)
Song of Songs 5:8-16
Evangelical Heritage Version
8 Daughters of Jerusalem, you must swear to me—
if you find my lover—
what will you tell him?
—that I am sick with love.
The Friends
9 What makes your lover better than any other lover,
most beautiful of women?
What makes your lover better than any other lover,
that you make us swear in this way?
My Lover Is Radiant
The Woman
10 My lover is radiant and ruddy,
outstanding among ten thousand.
11 His head is the best gold, the purest gold.
His locks are wavy, black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves by streams of water.
They are washed in milk.
They are set in sockets.
13 His cheeks are like a bed of spice,
like towers of perfumes.
His lips are lilies, dripping with liquid myrrh.
14 His arms are rods of gold, set with topaz.[a]
His stomach is like polished ivory,
decorated with sapphires.[b]
15 His thighs are pillars of marble,[c]
set on bases of pure gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
choice as cedars.
16 His mouth is so sweet.
He is completely desirable.
This is my lover.
This is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
Footnotes
- Song of Songs 5:14 The identification of this gem is uncertain.
- Song of Songs 5:14 Perhaps lapis lazuli
- Song of Songs 5:15 Or alabaster
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 Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.