that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; all of which bear twins, and none is barren among them.
3 Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of pomegranate within thy locks.
4 Thy neck is like the tower of David built for an armoury, on which hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.
5 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.
6 Until the day shall break, and the shadows flee away, I will go up to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. [1]
7 Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards.
9 Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thy eyes, with one chain of thy neck. [2]
10 How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the fragrance of thy ointments than all spices!
11 Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the scent of thy garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. [3] [4]
13 Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; henna, with spikenard, [5]
14 Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:
15 A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.
16 Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.
CHAP. 5.
I have come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. [6]
2 I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
4 My beloved put his hand through the opening of the door, and my heart was moved for him. [7]
5 I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands flowed with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock. [8]
6 I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spoke: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
7 The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.
8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick with love. [9]
9 What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?
10 My beloved is white and ruddy, the chief among ten thousand. [10]
11 His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven. [11]
12 His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set. [12]
13 His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh. [13]
14 His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.
15 His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.
16 His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. [14]
CHAP. 6.
Where is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? where is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.
2 My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
3 I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies.
4 Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners.
5 Turn away thy eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead. [15]
6 Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, of which every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them.
- ↑ break: Heb. breathe
- ↑ ravished: or, taken away
- ↑ inclosed: Heb. barred
- ↑ shut up: Heb. barred
- ↑ camphire: or, cypress
- ↑ yea...: or, and be drunken with loves
- ↑ for him: or, (as some read) in me
- ↑ sweet...: Heb. passing, or, running about
- ↑ that ye: Heb. what, etc
- ↑ the chiefest: Heb. a standard-bearer
- ↑ bushy: or, curled
- ↑ fitly...: Heb. sitting in fulness, that is, fitly placed, and set as a precious stone in the foil of a ring
- ↑ sweet flowers: or, towers of perfumes
- ↑ mouth: Heb. palate
- ↑ overcome...: or, puffed me up
