5:1 I HAVE come into my garden, my sister, my [promised] bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my balsam {and} spice [from your sweet words I have gathered the richest perfumes and spices]. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends [feast on, O revelers of the palace; you can never make my lover disloyal to me]! Drink, yes, drink abundantly of love, O precious one [for now I know you are mine, irrevocably mine! With his confident words still thrilling her heart, through the lattice she saw her shepherd turn away and disappear into the night]. |
5:2 I went to sleep, but my heart stayed awake. [I dreamed that I heard] the voice of my beloved as he knocked [at the door of my mother's cottage]. Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my spotless one [he said], for I am wet with the [heavy] night dew; my hair is covered with it. |
5:3 [But weary from a day in the vineyards, I had already sought my rest] I had put off my garment--how could I [again] put it on? I had washed my feet--how could I [again] soil them? |
5:4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my heart was moved for him. |
5:5 I rose up to open for my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, and my fingers with liquid [sweet-scented] myrrh, [which he had left] upon the handles of the bolt. |
5:6 I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had turned away {and} withdrawn himself, and was gone! My soul went forth [to him] when he spoke, but it failed me [and now he was gone]! I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer. |
5:7 The watchmen who go about the city found me. They struck me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took my veil {and} my mantle from me. |
5:8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him that I am sick from love [simply sick to be with him]. |
5:9 What is your beloved more than another beloved, O you fairest among women [taunted the ladies]? What is your beloved more than another beloved, that you should give us such a charge? |
5:10 [She said] My beloved is fair and ruddy, the chief among ten thousand! |
5:11 His head is [as precious as] the finest gold; his locks are curly {and} bushy and black as a raven. |
5:12 His eyes are like doves beside the water brooks, bathed in milk {and} fitly set. |
5:13 His cheeks are like a bed of spices {or} balsam, like banks of sweet herbs yielding fragrance. His lips are like bloodred anemones or lilies distilling liquid [sweet-scented] myrrh. |
5:14 His hands are like rods of gold set with [nails of] beryl {or} topaz. His body is a figure of bright ivory overlaid with [veins of] sapphires. |
5:15 His legs are like strong and steady pillars of marble set upon bases of fine gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, excellent, stately, {and} majestic as the cedars. |
5:16 His voice {and} speech are exceedingly sweet; yes, he is altogether lovely [the whole of him delights and is precious]. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem! |