The Bride Searches for Her Beloved

1“[†]I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;

I have picked my myrrh along with my balsam.

I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey;

I have drunk my wine with my milk.

Eat, friends;

Drink and [†]imbibe deeply, O lovers.”

2“[†]I was asleep, but my heart was awake.

A voice! My beloved was knocking:

‘Open to me, my sister, my darling,

My dove, my perfect one!

For my head is full of dew,

My locks with the [†]damp of the night.’

3I have taken off my long-sleeved garment,

How can I put it on again?

I have washed my feet,

How can I dirty them again?

4My beloved sent forth his hand through the opening,

And my [†]feelings moaned for him.

5I arose to open to my beloved;

And my hands dripped with myrrh,

And my fingers with [†]liquid myrrh,

On the handles of the lock.

6I opened to my beloved,

But my beloved had turned away and passed by!

My soul went out to him as he spoke.

I searched for him, but I did not find him;

I called him, but he did not answer me.

7The watchmen who go about in the city found me,

They struck me and wounded me;

The guardsmen of the walls took away my shawl from me.

8I call you to solemnly swear, O daughters of Jerusalem,

If you find my beloved,

What will you tell him?

Tell him that I am sick with love.”

9“[†]What is your beloved that he is more than any other beloved,

O most beautiful among women?

What is your beloved that he is more than any other beloved,

That thus you call us to solemnly swear?”

The Bride Extols Her Beloved

10“[†]My beloved is dazzling and ruddy,

Lifted up as a banner among ten thousand.

11His head is like gold, fine gold;

His locks are like clusters of dates

And black as a raven.

12His eyes are like doves

Beside streams of water,

Washed in milk,

And sitting in their setting.

13His cheeks are like a bed of spices,

Towers of sweet-scented herbs;

His lips are lilies

Dripping with liquid myrrh.

14His hands are rods of gold

Set with beryl;

His abdomen is a plate of ivory

Inlaid with [†]sapphires.

15His legs are pillars of marble

Set on bases of fine gold;

His appearance is like Lebanon

Choice as the cedars.

16His [†]mouth is full of sweetness.

And he is wholly desirable.

This is my beloved and this is my friend,

O daughters of Jerusalem.”