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He Speaks:

My bride, my very own,
I come to my garden
    and enjoy its spices.
I eat my honeycomb and honey;
    I drink my wine and milk.

Their Friends Speak:

Eat and drink until
    you are drunk with love.

Another Dream

She Speaks:

I was asleep, but dreaming:
The one I love was at the door,
    knocking and saying,
“My darling, my very own,
my flawless dove,
    open the door for me!
My head is drenched
    with evening dew.”

But I had already undressed
    and bathed my feet.
Should I dress again
    and get my feet dirty?
Then my darling's hand
reached to open the latch,
    and my heart stood still.
When I rose to open the door,
my hands and my fingers
    dripped with perfume.

And I yearned for him
    while he spoke to me,
but when I opened the door,
    my darling had disappeared.
I searched and shouted,
but I could not find him—
    there was no answer.
Then I was found by the guards
patrolling the town
    and guarding the wall.
They beat me up
    and stripped off my robe.

Young women of Jerusalem,
    if you find the one I love,
please say to him,
    “She is weak with desire.”

Their Friends Speak:

Most beautiful of women,
why is the one you love
    more special than others?
Why do you ask us
    to tell him how you feel?

She Speaks:

10 He is handsome and healthy,
the most outstanding
    among ten thousand.
11 His head is purest gold;
his hair is wavy,
    black as a raven.
12 His eyes are a pair of doves
bathing in a stream
    flowing with milk.[a]
13 His face is a garden
    of sweet-smelling spices;
his lips are lilies
    dripping with perfume.

14 His arms are branches of gold
    covered with jewels;
his body is ivory[b]
    decorated with sapphires.
15 His legs are columns of marble
    on feet of gold.
He stands there majestic
like Mount Lebanon
    and its choice cedar trees.
16 His kisses are sweet.
    I desire him so much!
Young women of Jerusalem,
    he is my lover and friend.

Footnotes

  1. 5.12 milk: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 12.
  2. 5.14 his … ivory: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

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