Song of Solomon 2-6

English Standard Version

² As a lily among brambles,
    so is ^(B)my love among the young women.

³ As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
    so is my ^(C)beloved among the young men.
With great delight I sat ^(D)in his shadow,
    and his ^(E)fruit was sweet to my taste.
⁴ He ^(F)brought me to the banqueting house,^[b]
    and his ^(G)banner over me was love.
⁵ Sustain me with ^(H)raisins;
    refresh me with apples,
    ^(I)for I am sick with love.
⁶ His ^(J)left hand is under my head,
    and his right hand ^(K)embraces me!
⁷ I ^(L)adjure you,^[c] O ^(M)daughters of Jerusalem,
    by ^(N)the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
    until it pleases.

⁸ The voice of my beloved!
    Behold, he comes,
leaping ^(O)over the mountains,
    bounding over the hills.
⁹ My beloved is like ^(P)a gazelle
    or a young stag.
Behold, there he stands
    behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
    looking through the lattice.
¹⁰ My beloved speaks and says to me:
^(Q)“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
    and come away,
¹¹ for behold, the winter is past;
    ^(R)the rain is over and gone.
^12 (S)The flowers appear on the earth,
    the time of singing^[d] has come,
and the voice of ^(T)the turtledove
    is heard in our land.
^13 (U)The fig tree ripens its figs,
    and ^(V)the vines are in blossom;
    they give forth fragrance.
^(W)Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
    and come away.
¹⁴ O my ^(X)dove, in the ^(Y)clefts of the rock,
    in the crannies of the cliff,
let me see your face,
    let me ^(Z)hear your voice,
for your voice is sweet,
    and your face is ^(AA)lovely.
¹⁵ Catch ^(AB)the foxes^[e] for us,
    the little foxes
that spoil the vineyards,
    ^(AC)for our vineyards are in blossom.”

3 On my bed ^(AI)by night
I sought ^(AJ)him whom my soul loves;
    ^(AK)I sought him, but found him not.
² I will rise now and go about the city,
    in ^(AL)the streets and in the squares;
I will seek ^(AM)him whom my soul loves.
    I sought him, but found him not.
^3 (AN)The watchmen found me
    as they went about in the city.
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
⁴ Scarcely had I passed them
    when I found ^(AO)him whom my soul loves.
I ^(AP)held him, and would not let him go
    until I had ^(AQ)brought him into my mother's house,
    and into the chamber of ^(AR)her who conceived me.
^5 (AS)I adjure you, ^(AT)O daughters of Jerusalem,
    ^(AU)by the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
    until it pleases.

^6 (AV)What is that coming up from the wilderness
    like ^(AW)columns of smoke,
perfumed with ^(AX)myrrh and frankincense,
    with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?
⁷ Behold, it is the litter^[h] of Solomon!
Around it are ^(AY)sixty ^(AZ)mighty men,
    some of the mighty men of Israel,
⁸ all of them wearing swords
    and expert in war,
each with his ^(BA)sword at his thigh,
    against ^(BB)terror by night.
⁹ King Solomon made himself a carriage^[i]
    from the wood of Lebanon.
¹⁰ He made its posts of silver,
    its back of gold, its seat of purple;
its interior was inlaid with love
    by ^(BC)the daughters of Jerusalem.
¹¹ Go out, O ^(BD)daughters of Zion,
    and look upon King Solomon,
with the crown with which his mother crowned him
    on ^(BE)the day of his wedding,
    on the day of the gladness of his heart.

4 Behold, ^(BF)you are beautiful, my love,
    behold, you are beautiful!
^(BG)Your eyes are doves
    ^(BH)behind your veil.
^(BI)Your hair is like a flock of goats
    leaping down ^(BJ)the slopes of Gilead.
² Your ^(BK)teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
    that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
    and not one among them has lost its young.
³ Your lips are like ^(BL)a scarlet thread,
    and your mouth is ^(BM)lovely.
Your ^(BN)cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
    ^(BO)behind your veil.
⁴ Your ^(BP)neck is like the tower of David,
    built in ^(BQ)rows of stone;^[j]
on it ^(BR)hang a thousand shields,
    all of ^(BS)them shields of warriors.
⁵ Your ^(BT)two breasts are like two ^(BU)fawns,
    twins of a gazelle,
    that ^(BV)graze among the lilies.
^6 (BW)Until the day breathes
    and the shadows flee,
I will go away to the mountain of ^(BX)myrrh
    and the hill of ^(BY)frankincense.
^7 (BZ)You are altogether beautiful, my love;
    there is no ^(CA)flaw in you.
^8 (CB)Come with me from ^(CC)Lebanon, my ^(CD)bride;
    come with me from ^(CE)Lebanon.
Depart^[k] from the peak of Amana,
    from the peak of ^(CF)Senir and ^(CG)Hermon,
from the dens of lions,
    from the mountains of leopards.

^(DG)Let my beloved come to his ^(DH)garden,
    and eat its ^(DI)choicest fruits.

5 I ^(DJ)came to my garden, my ^(DK)sister, my bride,
    I gathered my ^(DL)myrrh with my spice,
    I ate my ^(DM)honeycomb with my honey,
    I ^(DN)drank my wine with my milk.

Eat, ^(DO)friends, drink,
    and be drunk with love!

² I slept, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My beloved is ^(DP)knocking.
“Open to me, my ^(DQ)sister, my ^(DR)love,
    my ^(DS)dove, my ^(DT)perfect one,
for my head is wet with dew,
    my ^(DU)locks with the drops of the night.”
^3 (DV)I had put off my garment;
    how could I put it on?
I had ^(DW)bathed my feet;
    how could I soil them?
⁴ My beloved put his hand to the latch,
    and my heart was thrilled within me.
⁵ I arose to open to my beloved,
    and my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with ^(DX)liquid myrrh,
    on the handles of the bolt.
⁶ I opened to my beloved,
    but my beloved had turned and gone.
My soul failed me when he ^(DY)spoke.
^(DZ)I sought him, but found him not;
    ^(EA)I called him, but he gave no answer.
^7 (EB)The watchmen found me
    as they went about in the city;
they beat me, they bruised me,
    they took away my veil,
    those watchmen of the walls.
⁸ I ^(EC)adjure you, O ^(ED)daughters of Jerusalem,
    if you find my beloved,
that you tell him
    ^(EE)I am sick with love.

⁹ What is your beloved more than another beloved,
    O ^(EF)most beautiful among women?
What is your beloved more than another beloved,
    that you thus ^(EG)adjure us?

¹⁰ My beloved is radiant and ^(EH)ruddy,
    ^(EI)distinguished among ten thousand.
¹¹ His head is the finest gold;
    ^(EJ)his locks are wavy,
    black as a raven.
¹² His ^(EK)eyes are like doves
    beside streams of water,
bathed in milk,
    sitting beside a full pool.^[l]
13 His ^(EL)cheeks are like ^(EM)beds of spices,
    mounds of sweet-smelling herbs.
His lips are ^(EN)lilies,
    dripping ^(EO)liquid myrrh.
¹⁴ His arms are rods of gold,
    set with ^(EP)jewels.
His body is polished ivory,^[m]
    bedecked with ^(EQ)sapphires.^[n]
15 His legs are alabaster columns,
    set on bases of gold.
His appearance is like ^(ER)Lebanon,
    choice as the cedars.
¹⁶ His ^(ES)mouth^[o] is most sweet,
    and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
    O ^(ET)daughters of Jerusalem.

6 Where has your beloved gone,
    O ^(EU)most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
    that we may seek him with you?

² My beloved has gone down to his ^(EV)garden
    to ^(EW)the beds of spices,
to ^(EX)graze^[p] in the gardens
    and to gather ^(EY)lilies.
^3 (EZ)I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine;
    he grazes among the lilies.

⁴ You are beautiful as ^(FA)Tirzah, ^(FB)my love,
    ^(FC)lovely as ^(FD)Jerusalem,
    ^(FE)awesome as an army with banners.
⁵ Turn away your eyes from me,
    for they overwhelm me—
^(FF)Your hair is like a flock of goats
    leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
^6 (FG)Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
    that have come up from the washing;
all of them bear twins;
    not one among them has lost its young.
^7 (FH)Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
    behind your veil.
⁸ There are ^(FI)sixty ^(FJ)queens and eighty ^(FK)concubines,
    and ^(FL)virgins without number.
⁹ My ^(FM)dove, my ^(FN)perfect one, is the only one,
    the only one of her mother,
    pure to ^(FO)her who bore her.
^(FP)The young women saw her and called her blessed;
    ^(FQ)the queens and ^(FR)concubines also, and they praised her.

¹¹ I went down to the nut orchard
    to look at ^(FU)the blossoms of the valley,
^(FV)to see whether the vines had budded,
    whether the pomegranates were in bloom.
^12 (FW)Before I was aware, my desire set me
    among ^(FX)the chariots of my kinsman, a prince.^[q]

^13 [r] Return, return, O ^(FY)Shulammite,
    return, return, that we may look upon you.

Why should you look upon ^(FZ)the Shulammite,
    as upon ^(GA)a dance before ^(GB)two armies?^[s]