12 My sister, my bride, you are a locked garden—
a locked garden[a] and a sealed spring.(A)
13 Your branches are a paradise[b] of pomegranates
with choicest fruits;(B)
henna with nard,
14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,(C)
with all the trees of frankincense,(D)
myrrh and aloes,(E)
with all the best spices.
15 You are a garden spring,
a well of flowing water(F)
streaming from Lebanon.

Woman

16 Awaken,(G) north wind;
come, south wind.
Blow on my garden,
and spread the fragrance of its spices.
Let my love come to his garden
and eat its choicest fruits.(H)

Man

I have come to my garden—my sister, my bride.
I gather[c] my myrrh with my spices.
I eat my honeycomb with my honey.
I drink my wine with my milk.

Narrator

Eat, friends!
Drink, be intoxicated with caresses![d](I)

Footnotes

  1. 4:12 Some Hb mss read locked fountain
  2. 4:13 Or park, or orchard
  3. 5:1 Lit pluck
  4. 5:1 Or Drink your fill, lovers

12 You are a garden(A) locked up, my sister, my bride;(B)
    you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.(C)
13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates(D)
    with choice fruits,
    with henna(E) and nard,
14     nard and saffron,
    calamus and cinnamon,(F)
    with every kind of incense tree,
    with myrrh(G) and aloes(H)
    and all the finest spices.(I)
15 You are[a] a garden(J) fountain,(K)
    a well of flowing water
    streaming down from Lebanon.

She

16 Awake, north wind,
    and come, south wind!
Blow on my garden,(L)
    that its fragrance(M) may spread everywhere.
Let my beloved(N) come into his garden
    and taste its choice fruits.(O)

He

I have come into my garden,(P) my sister, my bride;(Q)
    I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;
    I have drunk my wine and my milk.(R)

Friends

Eat, friends, and drink;
    drink your fill of love.

Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 4:15 Or I am (spoken by She)