Song of Solomon 5
Contemporary English Version
He Speaks:
5 My bride, my very own,
I come to my garden
and enjoy its spices.
I eat my honeycomb and honey;
I drink my wine and milk.
Their Friends Speak:
Eat and drink until
you are drunk with love.
Another Dream
She Speaks:
2 I was asleep, but dreaming:
The one I love was at the door,
knocking and saying,
“My darling, my very own,
my flawless dove,
open the door for me!
My head is drenched
with evening dew.”
3 But I had already undressed
and bathed my feet.
Should I dress again
and get my feet dirty?
4 Then my darling's hand
reached to open the latch,
and my heart stood still.
5 When I rose to open the door,
my hands and my fingers
dripped with perfume.
6 And I yearned for him
while he spoke to me,
but when I opened the door,
my darling had disappeared.
I searched and shouted,
but I could not find him—
there was no answer.
7 Then I was found by the guards
patrolling the town
and guarding the wall.
They beat me up
and stripped off my robe.
8 Young women of Jerusalem,
if you find the one I love,
please say to him,
“She is weak with desire.”
Their Friends Speak:
9 Most beautiful of women,
why is the one you love
more special than others?
Why do you ask us
to tell him how you feel?
She Speaks:
10 He is handsome and healthy,
the most outstanding
among ten thousand.
11 His head is purest gold;
his hair is wavy,
black as a raven.
12 His eyes are a pair of doves
bathing in a stream
flowing with milk.[a]
13 His face is a garden
of sweet-smelling spices;
his lips are lilies
dripping with perfume.
14 His arms are branches of gold
covered with jewels;
his body is ivory[b]
decorated with sapphires.
15 His legs are columns of marble
on feet of gold.
He stands there majestic
like Mount Lebanon
and its choice cedar trees.
16 His kisses are sweet.
I desire him so much!
Young women of Jerusalem,
he is my lover and friend.
Shir Hashirim 5
Orthodox Jewish Bible
5 I am come into my gan (garden), my sister, my kallah; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my devash (honey); I have drunk my yayin with my cholov (milk): Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, dodim.
2 I sleep, but my lev waketh: it is the voice of dodi (my beloved) that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my yonah (dove) tammati (my undefiled, my perfect one); for my head is filled with tal (dew), and my hair with the drops of the lailah.
3 I have put off my kuttonet (kesones, chiton, robe); how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
4 Dodi (my beloved) thrust his hand through the latchopening, my heart began pounding for him.
5 I arose to open to dodi (my beloved); and my hands dripped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the man’ul (lock, door bolt).
6 I opened to dodi (my beloved); but dodi had withdrawn and gone; my nefesh departed when he spoke; I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
7 The shomrim (watchmen) that went about the city found me, they beat me, they wounded me; the shomrei hachomat (i.e., the shomrim, the guardians [of the city on the wall]) took away my cloak from me.
8 I charge you, O banot Yerushalayim, if ye find dodi (my beloved), what will ye tell him? Tell him shecholat ahavah ani (I am faint with ahavah, lovesick [see 2:5]).
9 How is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among nashim? How is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?
10 Dodi (my beloved) is radiant and ruddy, unrivaled by ten thousand.
11 His head is like the purest gold, his hair is wavy and shachor (black) as the raven.
12 His eyes are like yonim (doves) by the streams of mayim, washed with cholov, jewels fitly set.
13 His cheeks are like beds of spices, like sweet flowers; his lips like shoshanim (lilies), dripping sweet scented myrrh.
14 His hands are like rods of zahav set with chrysolites; his body is like a polished work of ivory decorated with sapphires.
15 His legs are like pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine zahav; his countenance is like the Levanon, bachor (one being choice) like the cedars.
16 His mouth is most sweet; yea, he is machamaddim (altogether desirable [see Shir HaShirim 2:3; Chaggai 2:7 says Moshiach is the Desired of all Nations]). This is dodi (my beloved), and this is my friend, O banot Yerushalayim. [T.N. The next chapter is commented on extensively beginning at page vii. This section is one of the most important Scriptures in the Bible because it buttresses Isa 7:14 and its foundational meaning.]
Cantico dei Cantici 5
Conferenza Episcopale Italiana
Lo sposo
5 Son venuto nel mio giardino, sorella mia, sposa,
e raccolgo la mia mirra e il mio balsamo;
mangio il mio favo e il mio miele,
bevo il mio vino e il mio latte.
Mangiate, amici, bevete;
inebriatevi, o cari.
QUARTO POEMA
La sposa
2 Io dormo, ma il mio cuore veglia.
Un rumore! E' il mio diletto che bussa:
«Aprimi, sorella mia,
mia amica, mia colomba, perfetta mia;
perché il mio capo è bagnato di rugiada,
i miei riccioli di gocce notturne».
3 «Mi sono tolta la veste;
come indossarla ancora?
Mi sono lavata i piedi;
come ancora sporcarli?».
4 Il mio diletto ha messo la mano nello spiraglio
e un fremito mi ha sconvolta.
5 Mi sono alzata per aprire al mio diletto
e le mie mani stillavano mirra,
fluiva mirra dalle mie dita
sulla maniglia del chiavistello.
6 Ho aperto allora al mio diletto,
ma il mio diletto gia se n'era andato, era scomparso.
Io venni meno, per la sua scomparsa.
L'ho cercato, ma non l'ho trovato,
l'ho chiamato, ma non m'ha risposto.
7 Mi han trovato le guardie che perlustrano la città;
mi han percosso, mi hanno ferito,
mi han tolto il mantello
le guardie delle mura.
8 Io vi scongiuro, figlie di Gerusalemme,
se trovate il mio diletto,
che cosa gli racconterete?
Che sono malata d'amore!
Il coro
9 Che ha il tuo diletto di diverso da un altro,
o tu, la più bella fra le donne?
Che ha il tuo diletto di diverso da un altro,
perché così ci scongiuri?
La sposa
10 Il mio diletto è bianco e vermiglio,
riconoscibile fra mille e mille.
11 Il suo capo è oro, oro puro,
i suoi riccioli grappoli di palma,
neri come il corvo.
12 I suoi occhi, come colombe
su ruscelli di acqua;
i suoi denti bagnati nel latte,
posti in un castone.
13 Le sue guance, come aiuole di balsamo,
aiuole di erbe profumate;
le sue labbra sono gigli,
che stillano fluida mirra.
14 Le sue mani sono anelli d'oro,
incastonati di gemme di Tarsis.
Il suo petto è tutto d'avorio,
tempestato di zaffiri.
15 Le sue gambe, colonne di alabastro,
posate su basi d'oro puro.
Il suo aspetto è quello del Libano,
magnifico come i cedri.
16 Dolcezza è il suo palato;
egli è tutto delizie!
Questo è il mio diletto, questo è il mio amico,
o figlie di Gerusalemme.
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