4 My dear friend, how beautiful you are!
Yes, you are very beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil are like doves.
Your hair is like a group of goats
that are coming down from Mount Gilead. [ a ]
2 Your teeth are very white like a group of sheep.
They are like sheep after someone has cut off their dirty wool
and they are coming from the pool of water.
Each tooth is one of a pair.
Not one of them is alone.
3 Your lips are like bright red strings.
Your mouth is lovely.
The sides of your face are beautiful,
like the halves of a pomegranate.
I see them through your veil. [ b ]
4 Your neck is like the great tower of King David. [ c ]
It is round and strong.
Your necklace is like the shields of 1,000 brave soldiers
that hang from the stones of the tower.
5 Your breasts are perfect,
like two young gazelles that are twins.
They feed themselves among the lilies.
6 I will go to the mountain of myrrh
and the hill of frankincense.
I will stay among them until the dawn comes
and the shadows go away.
7 You are completely beautiful, my dear friend.
Your body is perfect in every way.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride.
Yes, come with me from Lebanon.
Come down from the top of Amana, from the top of Senir.
Come down from the highest part of Hermon. [ d ]
Come away from those mountains where lions live,
and where there are leopards.
9 I love you so much that I never want to leave you,
my sister and my bride. [ e ]
When you looked at me only once
and I saw one jewel in your necklace,
I knew that I could never leave you.
10 Your love for me is wonderful,
my sister and my bride.
I enjoy your love even more than I enjoy wine.
Your perfume has a smell
that is more lovely than any spice!
11 Your lips taste very sweet to me, my bride.
They taste like honey that falls from the honeycomb.
Milk and honey are under your tongue.
The smell of your clothes
is like the cedar trees of Lebanon.
12 My sister and my bride, you are like a garden for me
that is locked to other men.
You are like a spring or a fountain
that other people may not drink water from.
13 Your body is like a special garden.
It is full of pomegranate trees with their sweet fruit.
There are wonderful fruits to enjoy.
There are also henna and nard.
14 There are nard, saffron, calamus, cinnamon
and many different spices.
There are myrrh, aloes
and all the best spices. [ f ]
15 You are like a spring of water in a garden.
You are like a well that has fresh water.
The water runs down from Lebanon's mountains.
16 Wake up, north wind! Come now, south wind!
Blow on my garden!
Make the sweet smell of its spices move in the air.
May my lover come into his garden now!
Let him taste its wonderful fruits!
4 My darling, you are so beautiful!
Oh, you are beautiful!
Your eyes are like doves
under your veil.
Your hair is long and flowing,
like little goats dancing down the slopes of Mount Gilead.
2 Your teeth are white like ewes [ a ]
just coming from their bath.
They all give birth to twins;
not one of them has lost a baby.
3 Your lips are like a red silk thread.
Your mouth is beautiful.
Your cheeks under your veil
are like two slices of pomegranate.
4 Your neck is long and thin
like David’s tower.
That tower was built to be decorated [ b ]
with a thousand shields on its walls,
with the shields of powerful soldiers.
5 Your breasts are like twin fawns,
like twins of a gazelle,
feeding among the lilies.
6 I will go to that mountain of myrrh
and to that hill of frankincense
while the day breathes its last breath,
and the shadows run away.
7 My darling, you are beautiful all over.
Every part of you is perfect.
8 Come with me, my bride, from Lebanon.
Come with me from Lebanon.
Come from the peak of Amana, [ c ]
from the top of Senir [ d ] and Hermon,
from the lion’s caves,
from the mountain of the leopards.
9 My darling, [ e ] my bride, you excite me!
You have stolen my heart with just one quick look from your eyes,
with just one of the jewels from your necklace.
10 Your love is so beautiful, my darling, my bride!
Your love is better than wine.
The smell of your perfume
is better than any kind of spice!
11 My bride, your lips drip honey.
Honey and milk are under your tongue.
Your clothes smell as sweet as perfume. [ f ]
12 My darling, my bride,
you are pure like a locked garden.
You are like a locked pool,
a closed fountain.
13 Your limbs are like a garden
filled with pomegranates and other pleasant fruit,
with all the best spices:
henna, [ g ]
14 nard, saffron, [ h ] calamus, [ i ] and cinnamon. [ j ]
Your limbs are like a garden
filled with trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloe.
15 You are like a garden fountain—
a well of fresh water—
flowing down from the mountains of Lebanon.
16 Wake up, north wind.
Come, south wind.
Blow on my garden.
Spread its sweet smell.
Let my lover enter his garden
and eat its pleasant fruit.
4 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.
2 Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them.
3 Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.
4 Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.
5 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.
6 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.
7 Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards.
9 Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck.
10 How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!
11 Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.
12 A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
13 Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard,
14 Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:
15 A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.
16 Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.
4 “ [ a ] How beautiful ( A ) you are, my darling,
[ b ] How beautiful you are!
Your ( B ) eyes are like doves ( C ) behind your veil;
Your ( D ) hair is like a flock of goats
That have descended from Mount ( E ) Gilead.
2 Your ( F ) teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep
Which have come up from their watering place,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has lost her young.
3 Your lips are like a ( G ) scarlet thread,
And your ( H ) mouth is beautiful.
Your ( I ) temples are like a slice of a pomegranate
Behind your veil.
4 Your ( J ) neck is like the tower of David,
Built with layers of stones
On which are ( K ) hung a thousand shields,
All the round ( L ) shields of the warriors.
5 Your ( M ) two breasts are like two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle
That ( N ) graze among the lilies.
6 ( O ) Until [ c ] the cool of the day
When the shadows flee,
I will go my way to the mountain of ( P ) myrrh
And to the hill of ( Q ) frankincense.
7 “ ( R ) You are altogether beautiful, my darling,
And there is no blemish on you.
8 Come with me from ( S ) Lebanon, my ( T ) bride,
You shall come with me from Lebanon.
You shall [ d ] come down from the summit of ( U ) Amana,
From the summit of ( V ) Senir and Hermon,
From the dens of lions,
From the mountains of leopards.
9 You have [ e ] enchanted my heart, ( W ) my sister, my bride;
You have [ f ] enchanted my heart with a single glance of your eyes,
With a single strand of your ( X ) necklace.
10 ( Y ) How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much [ g ] ( Z ) sweeter is your love than wine,
And the ( AA ) fragrance of your oils
Than that of all kinds of balsam oils!
11 Your lips ( AB ) drip ( AC ) honey, my bride;
Honey and milk are under your tongue,
And the fragrance of your garments is like the ( AD ) fragrance of Lebanon.
12 A locked garden is my sister, my bride,
A locked spring, a ( AE ) sealed ( AF ) fountain.
13 Your branches are an [ h ] ( AG ) orchard of ( AH ) pomegranates
With ( AI ) delicious fruits, ( AJ ) henna with nard plants,
14 ( AK ) Nard and saffron, spice reed and ( AL ) cinnamon,
With all the trees of ( AM ) frankincense,
( AN ) Myrrh, and aloes, along with all the finest balsam oils.
15 You are a garden spring,
A well of [ i ] ( AO ) fresh water,
And flowing streams from Lebanon.”
16 “Awake, north wind ,
And come, wind of the south;
[ j ] Make my ( AP ) garden breathe out fragrance ,
May its balsam oils flow.
May ( AQ ) my beloved come into his garden
And eat its ( AR ) delicious fruits!”
4 How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil ( A ) are doves. ( B )
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from the hills of Gilead. ( C )
2 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn,
coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin;
not one of them is alone. ( D )
3 Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
your mouth ( E ) is lovely. ( F )
Your temples behind your veil
are like the halves of a pomegranate. ( G )
4 Your neck is like the tower ( H ) of David,
built with courses of stone [ a ] ;
on it hang a thousand shields, ( I )
all of them shields of warriors.
5 Your breasts ( J ) are like two fawns,
like twin fawns of a gazelle ( K )
that browse among the lilies. ( L )
6 Until the day breaks
and the shadows flee, ( M )
I will go to the mountain of myrrh ( N )
and to the hill of incense.
7 You are altogether beautiful, ( O ) my darling;
there is no flaw ( P ) in you.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, ( Q )
come with me from Lebanon.
Descend from the crest of Amana,
from the top of Senir, ( R ) the summit of Hermon, ( S )
from the lions’ dens
and the mountain haunts of leopards.
9 You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; ( T )
you have stolen my heart
with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace. ( U )
10 How delightful ( V ) is your love ( W ) , my sister, my bride!
How much more pleasing is your love than wine, ( X )
and the fragrance of your perfume ( Y )
more than any spice!
11 Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride;
milk and honey are under your tongue. ( Z )
The fragrance of your garments
is like the fragrance of Lebanon. ( AA )
12 You are a garden ( AB ) locked up, my sister, my bride; ( AC )
you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain. ( AD )
13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates ( AE )
with choice fruits,
with henna ( AF ) and nard,
14 nard and saffron,
calamus and cinnamon, ( AG )
with every kind of incense tree,
with myrrh ( AH ) and aloes ( AI )
and all the finest spices. ( AJ )
15 You are [ b ] a garden ( AK ) fountain, ( AL )
a well of flowing water
streaming down from Lebanon.
