Song of Songs 5
Christian Standard Bible
Man
5 I have come to my garden—my sister, my bride.
I gather[a] my myrrh with my spices.
I eat my honeycomb with my honey.
I drink my wine with my milk.
Narrator
Woman
2 I was sleeping, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My love was knocking!(B)
Man
Open to me, my sister, my darling,
my dove, my perfect one.
For my head is drenched with dew,
my hair with droplets of the night.
Woman
3 I have taken off my clothing.(C)
How can I put it back on?
I have washed my feet.
How can I get them dirty?
4 My love thrust his hand through the opening,
and my feelings were stirred for him.
5 I rose to open for my love.
My hands dripped with myrrh,(D)
my fingers with flowing myrrh
on the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened to my love,
but my love had turned and gone away.
My heart sank[c] because he had left.[d]
I sought him, but did not find him.(E)
I called him, but he did not answer.
7 The guards who go about the city found me.(F)
They beat and wounded me;
they took my cloak[e] from me—
the guardians of the walls.(G)
8 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you,(H)
if you find my love,
tell him that I am lovesick.(I)
Young Women
9 What makes the one you love better than another,
most beautiful of women?(J)
What makes him better than another,
that you would give us this charge?
Woman
11 His head is purest gold.
His hair is wavy[g](M)
and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves(N)
beside flowing streams,
washed in milk
and set like jewels.[h]
13 His cheeks(O) are like beds of spice,
mounds of[i] perfume.
His lips are lilies,
dripping with flowing myrrh.(P)
14 His arms[j] are rods of gold
set[k] with beryl.(Q)
His body[l] is an ivory panel
covered with lapis lazuli.(R)
15 His legs are alabaster pillars
set on pedestals of pure gold.
His presence is like Lebanon,(S)
as majestic as the cedars.(T)
16 His mouth is sweetness.
He is absolutely desirable.(U)
This is my love, and this is my friend,
young women of Jerusalem.
Footnotes
- 5:1 Lit pluck
- 5:1 Or Drink your fill, lovers
- 5:6 Lit My soul went out
- 5:6 Or spoken
- 5:7 Or veil, or shawl
- 5:10 Or is radiant and ruddy
- 5:11 Or is like palm leaves; Hb obscure
- 5:12 Lit milk sitting in fullness
- 5:13 LXX, Vg read spice, yielding
- 5:14 Lit hands
- 5:14 Lit filled; Sg 5:2,12
- 5:14 Lit abdomen
Song of Solomon 5
New American Standard Bible 1995
The Torment of Separation
5 “[a]I have (A)come into my garden, (B)my sister, my bride;
I have gathered my (C)myrrh along with my balsam.
I have eaten my honeycomb [b]and my (D)honey;
I have (E)drunk my wine [c]and my milk.
Eat, (F)friends;
Drink and [d]imbibe deeply, O lovers.”
2 “[e]I was asleep but my heart was awake.
A voice! My beloved was knocking:
‘Open to me, (G)my sister, my darling,
(H)My dove, my perfect one!
For my head is [f]drenched with dew,
My (I)locks with the [g]damp of the night.’
3 “I have (J)taken off my dress,
How can I put it on again?
I have (K)washed my feet,
How can I dirty them again?
4 “My beloved extended his hand through the opening,
And my [h](L)feelings were aroused for him.
5 “I arose to open to my beloved;
And my hands (M)dripped with myrrh,
And my fingers with [i]liquid myrrh,
On the handles of the bolt.
6 “I opened to my beloved,
But my beloved had (N)turned away and had gone!
My [j]heart went out to him as he (O)spoke.
I (P)searched for him but I did not find him;
I (Q)called him but he did not answer me.
7 “The (R)watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me,
They struck me and wounded me;
The guardsmen of the walls took away my shawl from me.
8 “I (S)adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
If you find my beloved,
As to what you will tell him:
For (T)I am lovesick.”
9 “[k][l]What kind of beloved is your beloved,
O (U)most beautiful among women?
[m]What kind of beloved is your beloved,
That thus you adjure us?”
Admiration by the Bride
10 “[n]My beloved is dazzling and (V)ruddy,
[o](W)Outstanding among ten thousand.
11 “His head is like gold, pure gold;
His (X)locks are like clusters of dates
And black as a raven.
12 “His (Y)eyes are like doves
Beside streams of water,
Bathed in milk,
And [p]reposed in their (Z)setting.
13 “His cheeks are like a (AA)bed of balsam,
Banks of sweet-scented herbs;
His lips are (AB)lilies
(AC)Dripping with liquid myrrh.
14 “His hands are rods of gold
Set with (AD)beryl;
His abdomen is carved ivory
Inlaid with [q](AE)sapphires.
15 “His legs are pillars of alabaster
Set on pedestals of pure gold;
His appearance is like (AF)Lebanon
Choice as the (AG)cedars.
16 “His [r](AH)mouth is full of sweetness.
And he is wholly (AI)desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.”
Footnotes
- Song of Solomon 5:1 BRIDEGROOM
- Song of Solomon 5:1 Lit with
- Song of Solomon 5:1 Lit with
- Song of Solomon 5:1 Or become drunk
- Song of Solomon 5:2 BRIDE
- Song of Solomon 5:2 Lit filled
- Song of Solomon 5:2 Lit drops
- Song of Solomon 5:4 Lit bowels
- Song of Solomon 5:5 Lit passing
- Song of Solomon 5:6 Lit soul
- Song of Solomon 5:9 CHORUS
- Song of Solomon 5:9 Or What is your beloved more than another beloved
- Song of Solomon 5:9 Or What is your beloved more than another beloved
- Song of Solomon 5:10 BRIDE
- Song of Solomon 5:10 Lit Lifted up banner
- Song of Solomon 5:12 Lit sitting upon
- Song of Solomon 5:14 Lit lapis lazuli
- Song of Solomon 5:16 Lit palate
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New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
