Song of Solomon 5-8

New American Standard Bible

5 “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 with my ^(D)honey;
I have ^(E)drunk my wine with my milk.
Eat, ^(F)friends;
Drink and ^[a]drink deeply, lovers.”

² “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 ^[b]drenched with dew,
My ^(I)locks with the dew drops 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 ^(L)feelings were stirred for him.
⁵ I arose to open to my beloved;
And my hands ^(M)dripped with myrrh,
And my fingers with drops of myrrh,
On the handles of the bolt.
⁶ I opened to my beloved,
But my beloved had ^(N)turned away and had gone!
My ^[c]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 guards of the walls took my shawl away from me.
^8 (S)Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem,
If you find my beloved,
As to what you will tell him:
For ^(T)I am lovesick.”

⁹ “^[d]What kind of beloved is your beloved,
O ^(U)most beautiful among women?
^[e]What kind of beloved is your beloved,
That you make us swear in this way?”

¹⁰ “My beloved is dazzling and ^[f](V)reddish,
^(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 perched in their ^(Z)setting.
¹³ His cheeks are like a ^(AA)bed of balsam,
^[g]Banks of herbal spices;
His lips are ^(AB)lilies
^(AC)Dripping with drops of myrrh.
¹⁴ His hands are rods of gold
Set with ^(AD)topaz;
His abdomen is panels of ivory
Covered with ^[h](AE)sapphires.
¹⁵ His thighs are pillars of alabaster
Set on pedestals of pure gold;
His appearance is like ^(AF)Lebanon,
Choice as the ^(AG)cedars.
¹⁶ His ^[i](AH)mouth is full of sweetness.
And he is wholly ^(AI)desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
You daughters of Jerusalem.”

6 “^(AJ)Where has your beloved gone,
O ^(AK)most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
That we may seek him with you?”

² “My beloved has gone down to his ^(AL)garden,
To the ^(AM)beds of balsam,
To ^(AN)pasture his flock in the gardens
And gather ^(AO)lilies.
^3 (AP)I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,
He who ^(AQ)pastures his flock among the lilies.”

⁴ “^(AR)You are as beautiful as ^(AS)Tirzah, my darling,
As ^(AT)lovely as ^(AU)Jerusalem,
As ^(AV)awesome as an army with banners.
⁵ Turn your eyes away from me,
For they have confused me;
^(AW)Your hair is like a flock of goats
That have descended from Gilead.
^6 (AX)Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
That have come up from their watering place,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has lost her young.
^7 (AY)Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate
Behind your veil.
⁸ There are sixty ^(AZ)queens and eighty concubines,
And ^[j](BA)young women without number;
⁹ But ^(BB)my dove, my perfect one, is ^[k]unique:
She is her mother’s ^[l]only daughter;
She is the pure child of the one who gave birth to her.
The ^[m](BC)young women saw her and called her ^[n]blessed,
The ^(BD)queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,

¹³ “^[q]Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
Come back, come back, so that we may look at you!”

“Why should you look at the Shulammite,
As at the ^(BJ)dance of ^[r](BK)the two armies?

7 “^[s]How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
^[t](BL)Prince’s daughter!
The curves of your hips are like jewels,
The work of the hands of an artist.
² Your navel is like a round goblet
That never lacks mixed wine;
Your belly is like a heap of wheat,
^[u]Surrounded with lilies.
³ Your ^(BM)two breasts are like two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle.
⁴ Your ^(BN)neck is like a tower of ivory,
Your eyes like the pools in ^(BO)Heshbon
By the gate of Bath-rabbim;
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon,
Which looks toward Damascus.
⁵ Your head ^[v]crowns you like ^(BP)Carmel,
And the flowing hair of your head is like purple threads;
The king is captivated by your tresses.
⁶ How ^(BQ)beautiful and how delightful you are,
^[w]My love, with all your delights!
^7 [x]Your stature is like a palm tree,
And your breasts are like its clusters.
⁸ I said, ‘I will climb the palm tree,
I will grasp its fruit stalks.’
Oh, may your breasts be like clusters of the vine,
And the fragrance of your ^[y]breath like ^(BR)apples,
⁹ And your ^[z](BS)mouth like the best wine!”

“It ^(BT)goes down smoothly for my beloved,
Flowing gently through the lips of those who are asleep.

¹⁰ “^(BU)I am my beloved’s,
And his ^(BV)desire is for me.
¹¹ Come, my beloved, let’s go out to the ^[aa]country,
Let’s spend the night in the villages.
¹² Let’s rise early and go to the vineyards;
Let’s ^(BW)see whether the vine has grown
And its buds have opened,
And whether the pomegranates have bloomed.
There I will give you my love.
¹³ The ^(BX)mandrakes have given forth fragrance;
And over our doors are all ^(BY)delicious fruits,
New as well as old,
Which I have saved for you, my beloved.

8 “Oh that you were like a brother to me
Who nursed at my mother’s breasts.
If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you;
No one would despise me, either.
² I would lead you and ^(BZ)bring you
Into the house of my mother, who used to instruct me;
I would give you spiced wine to drink from the juice of my pomegranates.
³ Let ^(CA)his left hand be under my head,
And his right hand embrace me.”

⁴ “^(CB)Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem:
^[ab]Do not disturb or awaken my love
Until she pleases.”

⁵ “^(CC)Who is this coming up from the wilderness,
Leaning on her beloved?”

“Beneath the ^(CD)apple tree I awakened you;
There your mother went into labor with you,
There she was in labor and gave birth to you.
⁶ Put me like a seal over your heart,
Like a ^(CE)seal on your arm.
For love is as strong as death,
^[ac](CF)Jealousy is as severe as Sheol;
Its flames are flames of fire,
^[ad]The flame of the Lord.
⁷ Many waters cannot quench love,
Nor will rivers flood over it;
^(CG)If a man were to give all the riches of his house for love,
It would be utterly despised.”

⁸ “We have a little sister,
And she ^(CH)has no breasts;
What shall we do for our sister
On the day when she is spoken for?
⁹ If she is a wall,
We will build on her a battlement of silver;
But if she is a door,
We will barricade her with ^(CI)planks of cedar.”

¹⁰ “I was a wall, and ^(CJ)my breasts were like towers;
Then I became in his eyes as one who finds peace.
¹¹ Solomon had a ^(CK)vineyard at Baal-hamon;
He ^(CL)entrusted the vineyard to ^(CM)caretakers.
Each one was to bring a ^(CN)thousand shekels of silver for its ^(CO)fruit.
¹² My very own vineyard is ^[ae]at my disposal;
The thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,
And two hundred are for those who take care of its fruit.”

¹³ “You who sit in the gardens:
My ^(CP)companions are listening for your voice—
^(CQ)Let me hear it!”

¹⁴ “^[af]Hurry, my beloved,
And be ^(CR)like a gazelle or a young ^[ag]stag
On the ^(CS)mountains of balsam trees!”