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I opened myself to my beloved,
    but my beloved had turned and gone;[a]
my heart sank[b] when he turned away.[c]
I sought him, but I did not find him;
    I called him, but he did not answer me.
The sentinels making rounds in the city found me;
    they beat me, they wounded me;
they took my cloak[d] away from me—
    those sentinels on the walls![e]

Adjuration Refrain

I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem,[f]
    if you find my beloved, what will you tell him?
Tell him that I am lovesick![g]

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Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 5:6 Or “my beloved had left; he was gone”
  2. Song of Solomon 5:6 Or “my soul left”
  3. Song of Solomon 5:6 Or “when he was speaking.” Translations equivocate on how to translate this verb, since there are two terms in Hebrew spelled identically: “to speak” and “to turn aside” (HALOT 1:210). The context suggests the latter
  4. Song of Solomon 5:7 Or “mantle”
  5. Song of Solomon 5:7 Literally “the sentinels of the walls”
  6. Song of Solomon 5:8 Literally “O daughters of Jerusalem”
  7. Song of Solomon 5:8 Literally “sick with love”

I opened the door for my lover.
    But he had already turned away.
    He had gone!
I was very upset that he had gone away.
    I looked for him but I did not find him.
    I called to him but he did not answer me.
The city guards found me
    as they walked in the streets of the city.
They beat me and they hurt my body.
    Those guards on the city walls took away my robe.

Young women of Jerusalem,
    please find my lover!
Promise me to tell him this, if you find him.
    Tell him that my love for him has made me weak!

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