Song of Solomon 5:2-6:13

New American Standard Bible

² “I was asleep but my heart was awake.
A voice! My beloved was knocking:
‘Open to me, ^(A)my sister, my darling,
^(B)My dove, my perfect one!
For my head is ^[a]drenched with dew,
My ^(C)locks with the dew drops of the night.’
³ I have ^(D)taken off my dress,
How can I put it on again?
I have ^(E)washed my feet,
How can I dirty them again?
⁴ My beloved extended his hand through the opening,
And my ^(F)feelings were stirred for him.
⁵ I arose to open to my beloved;
And my hands ^(G)dripped with myrrh,
And my fingers with drops of myrrh,
On the handles of the bolt.
⁶ I opened to my beloved,
But my beloved had ^(H)turned away and had gone!
My ^[b]heart went out to him as he ^(I)spoke.
I ^(J)searched for him but I did not find him;
I ^(K)called him but he did not answer me.
⁷ The ^(L)watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me,
They struck me and wounded me;
The guards of the walls took my shawl away from me.
^8 (M)Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem,
If you find my beloved,
As to what you will tell him:
For ^(N)I am lovesick.”

⁹ “^[c]What kind of beloved is your beloved,
O ^(O)most beautiful among women?
^[d]What kind of beloved is your beloved,
That you make us swear in this way?”

¹⁰ “My beloved is dazzling and ^[e](P)reddish,
^(Q)Outstanding among ten thousand.
¹¹ His head is like gold, pure gold;
His ^(R)locks are like clusters of dates
And black as a raven.
¹² His ^(S)eyes are like doves
Beside streams of water,
Bathed in milk,
And perched in their ^(T)setting.
¹³ His cheeks are like a ^(U)bed of balsam,
^[f]Banks of herbal spices;
His lips are ^(V)lilies
^(W)Dripping with drops of myrrh.
¹⁴ His hands are rods of gold
Set with ^(X)topaz;
His abdomen is panels of ivory
Covered with ^[g](Y)sapphires.
¹⁵ His thighs are pillars of alabaster
Set on pedestals of pure gold;
His appearance is like ^(Z)Lebanon,
Choice as the ^(AA)cedars.
¹⁶ His ^[h](AB)mouth is full of sweetness.
And he is wholly ^(AC)desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
You daughters of Jerusalem.”

6 “^(AD)Where has your beloved gone,
O ^(AE)most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
That we may seek him with you?”

² “My beloved has gone down to his ^(AF)garden,
To the ^(AG)beds of balsam,
To ^(AH)pasture his flock in the gardens
And gather ^(AI)lilies.
^3 (AJ)I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,
He who ^(AK)pastures his flock among the lilies.”

⁴ “^(AL)You are as beautiful as ^(AM)Tirzah, my darling,
As ^(AN)lovely as ^(AO)Jerusalem,
As ^(AP)awesome as an army with banners.
⁵ Turn your eyes away from me,
For they have confused me;
^(AQ)Your hair is like a flock of goats
That have descended from Gilead.
^6 (AR)Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
That have come up from their watering place,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has lost her young.
^7 (AS)Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate
Behind your veil.
⁸ There are sixty ^(AT)queens and eighty concubines,
And ^[i](AU)young women without number;
⁹ But ^(AV)my dove, my perfect one, is ^[j]unique:
She is her mother’s ^[k]only daughter;
She is the pure child of the one who gave birth to her.
The ^[l](AW)young women saw her and called her ^[m]blessed,
The ^(AX)queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,

¹³ “^[p]Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
Come back, come back, so that we may look at you!”

“Why should you look at the Shulammite,
As at the ^(BD)dance of ^[q](BE)the two armies?