3  On my bed by night

I sought him ⁱwhom my soul loves;

I ^jsought him, but found him not.

2  I will rise now and go about the city,

in the streets and in the squares;

I will seek him whom my soul loves.

I sought him, but found him not.

3  ^kThe watchmen found me

as they went about in the city.

“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”

4  Scarcely had I passed them

when I found him whom my soul loves.

I held him, and would not let him go

until I had ^lbrought him into my mother’s house,

and into the chamber of her who conceived me.

5  ^mI adjure you, O ⁿdaughters of Jerusalem,

by the gazelles or the does of the field,

that you not stir up or awaken love

until it pleases.

6  ^oWhat is that coming up from the wilderness

like columns of smoke,

perfumed with ^pmyrrh and frankincense,

with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?

7  Behold, it is the litter¹ of ^qSolomon!

Around it are sixty mighty men,

some of the mighty men of Israel,

8  all of them wearing swords

and expert in war,

each with his sword at his thigh,

against terror by night.

9  King Solomon made himself a carriage²

from the wood of Lebanon.

10  He made its posts of silver,

its back of gold, its seat of purple;

its interior was inlaid with love

by the daughters of Jerusalem.

11  Go out, O daughters of Zion,

and look upon King Solomon,

with the crown with which his mother crowned him

on the day of his wedding,

on the day of the gladness of his heart.

4  ^rBehold, ^syou are beautiful, ^tmy love,

behold, you are beautiful!

^uYour eyes are doves

behind your ^vveil.

^wYour hair is like a flock of goats

leaping down the slopes of Gilead.

2  ^xYour teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes

that have come up from the washing,

all of which bear twins,

and not one among them has lost its young.

3  Your lips are like a scarlet thread,

and your mouth is lovely.

^yYour cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate

behind your veil.

4  ^zYour neck is like the tower of David,

built in rows of stone;¹

on it hang a thousand shields,

all of them shields of warriors.

5  ^aYour two breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle,

that ^bgraze among the lilies.

6  ^cUntil the day breathes

and the shadows flee,

I will go away to the ^dmountain of myrrh

and the hill of frankincense.

7  You are altogether beautiful, my love;

there is no flaw in you.

8  Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;

come with me from Lebanon.

Depart² from the peak of Amana,

from the peak of Senir and Hermon,

from the dens of lions,

from the mountains of leopards.

9  You have captivated my heart, ^emy sister, my bride;

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

with one jewel of your necklace.

10  How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!

How much better is your love ^fthan wine,

and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!

11  Your lips drip nectar, my bride;

^ghoney and milk are under your tongue;

the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

12  A garden locked is my sister, my bride,

a ^hspring locked, a fountain sealed.

13  Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates

with all ⁱchoicest fruits,

^jhenna with ^knard,

14  nard and saffron, ^lcalamus and cinnamon,

with all trees of frankincense,

^mmyrrh and aloes,

with all choice spices—

15  a garden fountain, a well of living water,

and flowing streams from Lebanon.

16  Awake, O north wind,

and come, O south wind!

Blow upon my ⁿgarden,

let its spices flow.

Let ^omy beloved come to his garden,

and eat its choicest fruits.

5  I came to my ^pgarden, ^qmy sister, my bride,

I gathered my myrrh with my spice,

I ate my honeycomb with my ^rhoney,

I drank my wine with my milk.

Eat, friends, drink,

and be drunk with love!

2  I slept, but my heart was awake.

A sound! ^sMy beloved is knocking.

“Open to me, my sister, ^tmy love,

^umy dove, my perfect one,

for my head is wet with dew,

my locks with the drops of the night.”

3  I had put off my garment;

how could I put it on?

I had bathed my feet;

how could I soil them?

4  My beloved put his hand to the latch,

and my heart was thrilled within me.

5  I arose to open to my beloved,

and my hands dripped with myrrh,

my fingers with liquid myrrh,

on the handles of the bolt.

6  I opened to my beloved,

but my beloved had turned and gone.

My soul failed me when he spoke.

I ^vsought him, but found him not;

I called him, but he gave no answer.

7  ^wThe watchmen found me

as they went about in the city;

they beat me, they bruised me,

they took away my veil,

those watchmen of the walls.

8  I adjure you, O ^xdaughters of Jerusalem,

if you find my beloved,

that you tell him

^yI am sick with love.

9  What is your beloved more than another beloved,

^zO most beautiful among women?

What is your beloved more than another beloved,

that you thus adjure us?

10  My beloved is radiant and ^aruddy,

distinguished among ten thousand.

11  His head is the finest gold;

his locks are wavy,

black as a raven.

12  ^bHis eyes are like doves

beside streams of water,

bathed in milk,

sitting beside a full pool.¹

13  His cheeks are like ^cbeds of spices,

mounds of sweet-smelling herbs.

His lips are lilies,

dripping liquid myrrh.

14  His arms are rods of gold,

set with jewels.

His body is polished ivory,²

bedecked with sapphires.³

15  His legs are alabaster columns,

set on bases of gold.

His appearance is like Lebanon,

choice as the cedars.

16  His ^dmouth⁴ is most sweet,

and he is altogether desirable.

This is my beloved and this is my friend,

O daughters of Jerusalem.

6  Where has your beloved gone,

^eO most beautiful among women?

Where has ^fyour beloved turned,

that we may ^gseek him with you?

2  My beloved has gone down to his ^hgarden

to the ⁱbeds of spices,

to graze¹ in the gardens

and to gather lilies.

3  ^jI am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;

he ^kgrazes among the lilies.

4  ^lYou are beautiful as ^mTirzah, ⁿmy love,

lovely as Jerusalem,

awesome as an army with banners.

5  Turn away your eyes from me,

for they overwhelm me—

^oYour hair is like a flock of goats

leaping down the slopes of Gilead.

6  ^pYour teeth are like a flock of ewes

that have come up from the washing;

all of them bear twins;

not one among them has lost its young.

7  ^qYour cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate

behind your veil.

8  There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,

and virgins without number.

9  ^rMy dove, my perfect one, is the only one,

the only one of her mother,

pure to her who bore her.

The young women saw her and called her blessed;

the queens and concubines also, and they praised her.

10  “Who is this who looks down like the dawn,

beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,

awesome as an army with banners?”

11  I went down to the nut orchard

to look at the blossoms of the valley,

to ^ssee whether the vines had budded,

whether the pomegranates were in bloom.

12  Before I was aware, my desire set me

among the chariots of my kinsman, a prince.²

13  ³ Return, return, O Shulammite,

return, return, that we may look upon you.

Why should you look upon the Shulammite,

as upon a dance before two armies?⁴

7 How beautiful are your feet in sandals,

O noble daughter!

Your rounded thighs are like jewels,

the work of a master hand.

2  Your navel is a rounded bowl

that never lacks mixed wine.

Your belly is a heap of wheat,

encircled with lilies.

3  ^tYour two breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle.

4  ^uYour neck is like an ivory tower.

Your eyes are pools in Heshbon,

by the gate of Bath-rabbim.

Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon,

which looks toward Damascus.

5  Your head crowns you like Carmel,

and your flowing locks are like purple;

a king is held captive in the tresses.

6  How beautiful and pleasant you are,

O loved one, with all your delights!¹

7  Your stature is like a palm tree,

and your breasts are like its clusters.

8  I say I will climb the palm tree

and lay hold of its fruit.

Oh may your breasts be like clusters of the vine,

and the scent of your breath like apples,

9  and your ^vmouth² like the best wine.

It goes down smoothly for my beloved,

gliding over lips and teeth.³

10  ^wI am my beloved’s,

and his desire is for me.

11  Come, my beloved,

let us go out into the fields

and lodge in the villages;⁴

12  let us go out early to the vineyards

and ^xsee whether the vines have budded,

whether the grape ^yblossoms have opened

and the pomegranates are in bloom.

There I will give you my love.

13  The ^zmandrakes give forth fragrance,

and beside our doors are all ^achoice fruits,

new as well as old,

which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.