Song of Songs 3:1-6:3

New International Version

3 All night long on my bed
    I looked^(A) for the one my heart loves;
    I looked for him but did not find him.
²I will get up now and go about the city,
    through its streets and squares;
I will search for the one my heart loves.
    So I looked for him but did not find him.
³The watchmen found me
    as they made their rounds in the city.^(B)
    “Have you seen the one my heart loves?”
⁴Scarcely had I passed them
    when I found the one my heart loves.
I held him and would not let him go
    till I had brought him to my mother’s house,^(C)
    to the room of the one who conceived me.^(D)
⁵Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you^(E)
    by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
    until it so desires.^(F)

⁶Who is this coming up from the wilderness^(G)
    like a column of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh^(H) and incense
    made from all the spices^(I) of the merchant?
⁷Look! It is Solomon’s carriage,
    escorted by sixty warriors,^(J)
    the noblest of Israel,
⁸all of them wearing the sword,
    all experienced in battle,
each with his sword at his side,
    prepared for the terrors of the night.^(K)
⁹King Solomon made for himself the carriage;
    he made it of wood from Lebanon.
¹⁰Its posts he made of silver,
    its base of gold.
Its seat was upholstered with purple,
    its interior inlaid with love.
Daughters of Jerusalem, ¹¹come out,
    and look, you daughters of Zion.^(L)
Look^[a] on King Solomon wearing a crown,
    the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
    the day his heart rejoiced.^(M)

He

4 How beautiful you are, my darling!
    Oh, how beautiful!
    Your eyes behind your veil^(N) are doves.^(O)
Your hair is like a flock of goats
    descending from the hills of Gilead.^(P)
²Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn,
    coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin;
    not one of them is alone.^(Q)
³Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
    your mouth^(R) is lovely.^(S)
Your temples behind your veil
    are like the halves of a pomegranate.^(T)
⁴Your neck is like the tower^(U) of David,
    built with courses of stone^[b];
on it hang a thousand shields,^(V)
    all of them shields of warriors.
⁵Your breasts^(W) are like two fawns,
    like twin fawns of a gazelle^(X)
    that browse among the lilies.^(Y)
⁶Until the day breaks
    and the shadows flee,^(Z)
I will go to the mountain of myrrh^(AA)
    and to the hill of incense.
⁷You are altogether beautiful,^(AB) my darling;
    there is no flaw^(AC) in you.

⁸Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,^(AD)
    come with me from Lebanon.
Descend from the crest of Amana,
    from the top of Senir,^(AE) the summit of Hermon,^(AF)
from the lions’ dens
    and the mountain haunts of leopards.
⁹You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;^(AG)
    you have stolen my heart
with one glance of your eyes,
    with one jewel of your necklace.^(AH)
¹⁰How delightful^(AI) is your love^(AJ), my sister, my bride!
    How much more pleasing is your love than wine,^(AK)
and the fragrance of your perfume^(AL)
    more than any spice!
¹¹Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride;
    milk and honey are under your tongue.^(AM)
The fragrance of your garments
    is like the fragrance of Lebanon.^(AN)
¹²You are a garden^(AO) locked up, my sister, my bride;^(AP)
    you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.^(AQ)
¹³Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates^(AR)
    with choice fruits,
    with henna^(AS) and nard,
¹⁴    nard and saffron,
    calamus and cinnamon,^(AT)
    with every kind of incense tree,
    with myrrh^(AU) and aloes^(AV)
    and all the finest spices.^(AW)
¹⁵You are^[c] a garden^(AX) fountain,^(AY)
    a well of flowing water
    streaming down from Lebanon.

She

¹⁶Awake, north wind,
    and come, south wind!
Blow on my garden,^(AZ)
    that its fragrance^(BA) may spread everywhere.
Let my beloved^(BB) come into his garden
    and taste its choice fruits.^(BC)

He

5 I have come into my garden,^(BD) my sister, my bride;^(BE)
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;
I have drunk my wine and my milk.^(BF)

Friends

Eat, friends, and drink;
drink your fill of love.

She

²I slept but my heart was awake.
    Listen! My beloved is knocking:
“Open to me, my sister, my darling,
    my dove,^(BG) my flawless^(BH) one.^(BI)
My head is drenched with dew,
    my hair with the dampness of the night.”
³I have taken off my robe—
    must I put it on again?
I have washed my feet—
    must I soil them again?
⁴My beloved thrust his hand through the latch-opening;
    my heart began to pound for him.
⁵I arose to open for my beloved,
    and my hands dripped with myrrh,^(BJ)
my fingers with flowing myrrh,
    on the handles of the bolt.
⁶I opened for my beloved,^(BK)
    but my beloved had left; he was gone.^(BL)
    My heart sank at his departure.^[d]
I looked^(BM) for him but did not find him.
    I called him but he did not answer.
⁷The watchmen found me
    as they made their rounds in the city.^(BN)
They beat me, they bruised me;
    they took away my cloak,
    those watchmen of the walls!
⁸Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you^(BO)—
    if you find my beloved,^(BP)
what will you tell him?
    Tell him I am faint with love.^(BQ)

Friends

⁹How is your beloved better than others,
most beautiful of women?^(BR)
How is your beloved better than others,
that you so charge us?

She

¹⁰My beloved is radiant and ruddy,
    outstanding among ten thousand.^(BS)
¹¹His head is purest gold;
    his hair is wavy
    and black as a raven.
¹²His eyes are like doves^(BT)
    by the water streams,
washed in milk,^(BU)
    mounted like jewels.
¹³His cheeks^(BV) are like beds of spice^(BW)
    yielding perfume.
His lips are like lilies^(BX)
    dripping with myrrh.^(BY)
¹⁴His arms are rods of gold
    set with topaz.
His body is like polished ivory
    decorated with lapis lazuli.^(BZ)
¹⁵His legs are pillars of marble
    set on bases of pure gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,^(CA)
    choice as its cedars.
¹⁶His mouth^(CB) is sweetness itself;
    he is altogether lovely.
This is my beloved,^(CC) this is my friend,
    daughters of Jerusalem.^(CD)

Friends

6 Where has your beloved^(CE) gone,
most beautiful of women?^(CF)
Which way did your beloved turn,
that we may look for him with you?

She

²My beloved has gone^(CG) down to his garden,^(CH)
    to the beds of spices,^(CI)
to browse in the gardens
    and to gather lilies.
³I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;^(CJ)
    he browses among the lilies.^(CK)

Footnotes

Song of Songs 3:11 Or interior lovingly inlaid / by the daughters of Jerusalem. / ¹¹Come out, you daughters of Zion, / and look
Song of Songs 4:4 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
Song of Songs 4:15 Or I am (spoken by She)
Song of Songs 5:6 Or heart had gone out to him when he spoke