5 King Solomon: “I am here in my garden, my darling, my bride! I gather my myrrh with my spices and eat my honeycomb with my honey. I drink my wine with my milk.”

The Young Women of Jerusalem: “Oh, lover and beloved, eat and drink! Yes, drink deeply!”

The Girl: ² “One night as I was sleeping, my heart awakened in a dream. I heard the voice of my beloved; he was knocking at my bedroom door. ‘Open to me, my darling, my lover, my lovely dove,’ he said, ‘for I have been out in the night and am covered with dew.’

³ “But I said, ‘I have disrobed. Shall I get dressed again? I have washed my feet, and should I get them soiled?’

⁴ “My beloved tried to unlatch the door, and my heart was thrilled within me. ⁵ I jumped up to open it, and my hands dripped with perfume, my fingers with lovely myrrh as I pulled back the bolt. ⁶ I opened to my beloved, but he was gone. My heart stopped. I searched for him but couldn’t find him anywhere. I called to him, but there was no reply. ⁷ The guards found me and struck and wounded me. The watchman on the wall tore off my veil. ⁸ I adjure you, O women of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved one, tell him that I am sick with love.”

The Young Women of Jerusalem: ⁹ “O woman of rare beauty, what is it about your loved one that is better than any other, that you command us this?”

The Girl: ¹⁰ “My beloved one is tanned and handsome, better than ten thousand others! ¹¹ His head is purest gold, and he has wavy, raven hair. ¹² His eyes are like doves beside the water brooks, deep and quiet. ¹³ His cheeks are like sweetly scented beds of spices. His lips are perfumed lilies, his breath like myrrh. ¹⁴ His arms are round bars of gold set with topaz; his body is bright ivory encrusted with jewels. ¹⁵ His legs are as pillars of marble set in sockets of finest gold, like cedars of Lebanon; none can rival him. ¹⁶ His mouth is altogether sweet, lovable in every way. Such, O women of Jerusalem, is my beloved, my friend.”