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A new wife

The young man:

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]
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.
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]
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.
Your breasts are perfect,
    like two young gazelles that are twins.
    They feed themselves among the lilies.
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.
You are completely beautiful, my dear friend.
    Your body is perfect in every way.

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.

A wedding night

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.

The young woman:

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!

Footnotes

  1. 4:1 Mount Gilead is a mountain in Israel, where Solomon was king.
  2. 4:3 The woman may be wearing a veil. This may show that she has just married the man. But the word veil may mean only that her husband does not know her very well yet.
  3. 4:4 King David was Solomon's father.
  4. 4:8 Lebanon, Amana, Senir and Hermon are all places that are a long way away.
  5. 4:9 The man calls her ‘sister’ because now he is part of her family.
  6. 4:14 Henna, nard, saffron, calamus, cinnamon, myrrh and aloes are all things that come from plants. Some have bright colours and they may smell like perfume.

He

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)
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)
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)
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.
Your breasts(J) are like two fawns,
    like twin fawns of a gazelle(K)
    that browse among the lilies.(L)
Until the day breaks
    and the shadows flee,(M)
I will go to the mountain of myrrh(N)
    and to the hill of incense.
You are altogether beautiful,(O) my darling;
    there is no flaw(P) in you.

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.
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.

She

16 Awake, north wind,
    and come, south wind!
Blow on my garden,(AM)
    that its fragrance(AN) may spread everywhere.
Let my beloved(AO) come into his garden
    and taste its choice fruits.(AP)

Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 4:4 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  2. Song of Songs 4:15 Or I am (spoken by She)