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 Songs 5
EasyEnglish Bible
The young man:
5 I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride.
I have taken my myrrh with my spice.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey.
I have drunk my wine and my milk.
The writer:
Eat, friends, and drink, you who love each other!
Drink until you can drink no more![a]
A dream
The young woman:
2 I slept but my mind was awake.[b]
Listen! My lover is knocking on my door!
He said, ‘Open the door for me, my dear friend.
You are my sister,
the perfect one that I love.
To me you are like a beautiful dove.
Dew from the night air covers my head.
My hair is very wet.’
3 I said, ‘I have taken off my day clothes.
I do not want to dress myself again.
I have washed my feet.
I do not want them to get dirty again.’
4 My lover pushed his hand through the hole in the door.
My heart began to beat faster because he was near.
5 I got up to open the door for my lover.
My hands were wet with myrrh.
Myrrh dropped from my fingers
onto the handle of the door.
6 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.
7 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.
8 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!
The young women of Jerusalem:
9 Tell us this, most beautiful of all women.
Why do you think that your lover is better than other men?
Why must we promise to do this for you?
The young woman:
10 My lover is very handsome and healthy.
He is the greatest man among 10,000 men.
11 His head is like very pure gold.
The hairs on his head are like waves.
They are black like a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves beside streams of water.
They are like doves that someone has washed in milk.
They shine like jewels.
13 The sides of his face are like a garden with spice trees.
Their smell is like perfume.
His lips are like lilies
with myrrh that falls from them.
14 His arms are like bars of gold
with jewels in them.
His body shines like bright ivory,
with sapphire jewels to make it more beautiful.
15 His legs are like pillars of beautiful stone.
They stand on feet that are like pure gold.
He stands tall like the mountains of Lebanon.
He is as handsome as its best cedar trees.
16 The taste of his mouth is very sweet.
Everything about him causes me to love him.
I say to you, young women of Jerusalem,
this is my lover!
This is my true friend.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.