Solomon Admires His Bride

The Bridegroom

1How beautiful you are, my darling—

how very beautiful!

Your eyes are like doves

behind your veil.

Your hair is like a flock of goats

streaming down Mount Gilead (rocky region).

2Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep

coming up from the washing;

each has its twin,

and not one of them is lost.

3Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon,

and your mouth is lovely.

Your brow behind your veil

is like a slice of pomegranate.

4Your neck is like the tower of David (beloved),

built with rows of stones;

on it hang a thousand shields,

all of them shields of warriors.

5Your breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle grazing among the lilies.

6Before the day breaks and the shadows flee,

I will make my way

to the mountain of myrrh

and to the hill of frankincense.

7You are altogether beautiful, my darling;

in you there is no flaw.

8Come with me from Lebanon (whiteness), my bride,

come with me from Lebanon!

Descend (Look down)a from the peak of Amana (support),

from the summits of Senir (snow mountain) and Hermon (a sanctuary),

from the dens of the lions,

from the mountains of the leopards.

9You have captured my heart,

my sister, my bride;

you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes,

with one jewel of your neck.

10How delightful is your love,

my sister, my bride!

Your love is much better than wine,

and the fragrance of your perfume than all spices.

11Your lips, my bride,

drip sweetness like the honeycomb;

honey and milk are under your tongue,

and the fragrance of your garments

is like the aroma of Lebanon (whiteness).

12My sister, my bride, you are a garden locked up,

a spring enclosed, a fountain sealed.

13Your branches are an orchard of pomegranates

with the choicest of fruits, with henna and nard,

14with nard and saffron, with calamus and cinnamon,

with every kind of frankincense tree,

with myrrh and aloes,

with all the finest spices.

15You are a garden spring,

a well of fresh water (living water)b

flowing down from Lebanon (whiteness).

The Bride

16Awake, O north wind,

and come, O south wind.

Breathe on my garden

and spread the fragrance of its spices.

Let my beloved come into his garden

and taste its choicest fruits.