Man
4 How beautiful you are, my darling.
How very beautiful!
Behind your veil,
your eyes are doves.(A)
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down Mount Gilead.(B)
2 Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep
coming up from washing,
each one bearing twins,
and none has lost its young.[a](C)
3 Your lips are like a scarlet cord,(D)
and your mouth[b] is lovely.
Behind your veil,
your brow[c] is like a slice of pomegranate.(E)
4 Your neck is like the tower of David,(F)
constructed in layers.
A thousand shields are hung on it—
all of them shields of warriors.
5 Your breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle,(G) that feed among the lilies.
6 Until the day breaks[d]
and the shadows flee,(H)
I will make my way to the mountain of myrrh
and the hill of frankincense.(I)
7 You are absolutely beautiful,(J) my darling;
there is no imperfection in you.
8 Come with me from Lebanon,[e](K) my bride;(L)
come with me from Lebanon!
Descend from the peak of Amana,
from the summit of Senir and Hermon,(M)
from the dens of the lions,
from the mountains of the leopards.
9 You have captured my heart,(N) my sister,(O) my bride.
You have captured my heart with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
10 How delightful your caresses are, my sister, my bride.
Your caresses are much better than wine,(P)
and the fragrance of your perfume than any balsam.
11 Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride.(Q)
Honey and milk(R) are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 My sister, my bride, you are a locked garden—
a locked garden[f] and a sealed spring.(S)
13 Your branches are a paradise[g] of pomegranates
with choicest fruits;(T)
henna with nard,
14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,(U)
with all the trees of frankincense,(V)
myrrh and aloes,(W)
with all the best spices.
15 You are a garden spring,
a well of flowing water(X)
streaming from Lebanon.
Woman
16 Awaken,(Y) 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.(Z)
Footnotes
- 4:2 Lit and no one bereaved among them
- 4:3 Or speech
- 4:3 Or temple, or cheek, or lips
- 4:6 Lit breathes
- 4:8 In Hb, the word for Lebanon is similar to “frankincense” in Sg 4:6,14,15.
- 4:12 Some Hb mss read locked fountain
- 4:13 Or park, or orchard
Cross references
- 4:1 : Sg 1:15; 5:12
- 4:1 : Sg 6:5
- 4:2 : Sg 6:6
- 4:3 : Jos 2:18
- 4:3 : Sg 6:7
- 4:4 : Sg 7:4
- 4:5 : Sg 7:3
- 4:6 : Sg 2:17
- 4:6 : Sg 3:6; 4:14
- 4:7 : Sg 1:15; Eph 5:27
- 4:8 : 1Kg 4:33
- 4:8 : Is 62:5
- 4:8 : Dt 3:9; 1Ch 5:23
- 4:9 : Sg 6:5; 7:5
- 4:9 : Sg 5:1–2
- 4:10 : Sg 1:2,4
- 4:11 : Pr 5:3
- 4:11 : Ex 3:8,17; Nm 14:8; 16:13–14
- 4:12 : 1Kg 21:8; Est 8:10; Jb 9:7
- 4:13 : Sg 7:13
- 4:14 : Ex 30:23
- 4:14 : Sg 4:6
- 4:14 : Sg 3:6; Jn 19:39
- 4:15 : Gn 26:19; Lv 14:5; Jr 2:13
- 4:16 : Sg 2:7; 3:5; 8:4
- 4:16 : Sg 7:13