Song of Solomon 4

New American Standard Bible

Solomon’s Love Expressed

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.
²Your ^(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.
³Your 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.
⁴Your ^(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.
⁵Your ^(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.
⁸Come 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.
⁹You 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!
¹¹Your 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.
¹²A locked garden is my sister, my bride,
A locked spring, a ^(AE)sealed ^(AF)fountain.
¹³Your 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.
¹⁵You are a garden spring,
A well of ^[i]^(AO)fresh water,
And flowing streams from Lebanon.”

The Bride

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!”