Add parallel Print Page Options

The king says to the Shulammite woman

“You are like a prince’s daughter.
    Your feet in sandals are so beautiful.
Your graceful legs are like jewels.
    The hands of an artist must have shaped them.
Your navel is like a round bowl
    that always has mixed wine in it.
Your waist is like a mound of wheat
    surrounded by lilies.
Your two breasts are lovely.
    They are like two young antelopes.
Your neck is smooth and beautiful like an ivory tower.
Your eyes are like the pools of Heshbon
    by the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like the towering mountains of Lebanon
    that face the city of Damascus.
Your head is like a crown on you.
    It is as beautiful as Mount Carmel.
Your hair is as smooth as purple silk.
    I am captured by your flowing curls.
You are so beautiful! You please me so much!
    You are so delightful, my love!
You are as graceful as a palm tree.
    Your breasts are as sweet as the freshest fruit.
I said, ‘I will climb the palm tree.
    I’ll take hold of its fruit.’
May your breasts be as sweet as grapes on the vine.
    May your breath smell like the tastiest apples.
    May your lips be like the finest wine.”

The woman says

“May my wine go straight to you, my love.
    May it flow gently over our lips as we sleep.

10 “I belong to you, my love.
    And you long for me.
11 Come, my love. Let’s go to the country.
    Let’s spend the night in the villages.
12 Let’s go out to the vineyards early.
    Let’s go and see if the vines have budded.
Let’s find out whether their flowers have opened.
    Let’s see if the pomegranate trees are blooming.
    There I will give you my love.
13 The mandrake flowers give off their strong smell.
    All the best things are waiting for us,
new and old alike.
    I’ve stored them up for you, my love.

[a]How beautiful your sandaled feet,
    O prince’s(A) daughter!
Your graceful legs are like jewels,
    the work of an artist’s hands.
Your navel is a rounded goblet
    that never lacks blended wine.
Your waist is a mound of wheat
    encircled by lilies.
Your breasts(B) are like two fawns,
    like twin fawns of a gazelle.
Your neck is like an ivory tower.(C)
Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon(D)
    by the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon(E)
    looking toward Damascus.
Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel.(F)
    Your hair is like royal tapestry;
    the king is held captive by its tresses.
How beautiful(G) you are and how pleasing,
    my love, with your delights!(H)
Your stature is like that of the palm,
    and your breasts(I) like clusters of fruit.
I said, “I will climb the palm tree;
    I will take hold of its fruit.”
May your breasts be like clusters of grapes on the vine,
    the fragrance of your breath like apples,(J)
    and your mouth like the best wine.

She

May the wine go straight to my beloved,(K)
    flowing gently over lips and teeth.[b]
10 I belong to my beloved,
    and his desire(L) is for me.(M)
11 Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside,
    let us spend the night in the villages.[c]
12 Let us go early to the vineyards(N)
    to see if the vines have budded,(O)
if their blossoms(P) have opened,
    and if the pomegranates(Q) are in bloom(R)
    there I will give you my love.
13 The mandrakes(S) send out their fragrance,
    and at our door is every delicacy,
both new and old,
    that I have stored up for you, my beloved.(T)

Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 7:1 In Hebrew texts 7:1-13 is numbered 7:2-14.
  2. Song of Songs 7:9 Septuagint, Aquila, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew lips of sleepers
  3. Song of Songs 7:11 Or the henna bushes