The Beloved about Her Lover:
3:1 All night long 1 on my bed 2
I longed for 3 my lover. 4
I longed for 5 him but he never appeared. 6
3:2 “I will arise 7 and look all around 8 throughout the town,
and throughout the streets 9 and squares;
I will search for my beloved.”
I searched for him but I did not find him. 10
3:3 The night watchmen found me – the ones who guard the city walls. 11
“Have you seen my beloved?” 12
3:4 Scarcely 13 had I passed them by
when I found my beloved!
I held onto him 14 tightly and would not let him go 15
until I brought him to my mother’s house, 16
to the bedroom chamber 17 of the one who conceived me.
The Beloved to the Maidens:
3:5 18 I admonish you, O maidens of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles and by the young does of the open fields:
“Do not awake or arouse love until it pleases!”
The Speaker: 19
3:6 Who is this coming up from the desert
like a column of smoke,
like 20 a fragrant billow 21 of myrrh and frankincense, 22
every kind of fragrant powder 23 of the traveling merchants? 24
3:7 Look! It is Solomon’s portable couch! 25
It is surrounded by sixty warriors,
some of Israel’s mightiest warriors.
3:8 All of them are skilled with a sword, 26
well-trained in the art of warfare. 27
Each has his sword at his side,
to guard against the terrors of the night.
3:9 King Solomon made a sedan chair 28 for himself
of wood imported from Lebanon. 29
3:10 Its posts were made 30 of silver; 31
its back 32 was made of gold.
Its seat was upholstered with purple wool; 33
its interior was inlaid 34 with leather 35 by the maidens 36 of Jerusalem.
3:11 Come out, O maidens of Zion,
and gaze upon King Solomon!
He is wearing the crown with which his mother crowned him
on his wedding day,
on the most joyous day of his life! 37
The Lover to His Beloved:
4:1 Oh, 39 you are beautiful, my darling! 40
Oh, you are beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil are like doves. 41
Your hair is like a flock of female goats
descending 42 from Mount Gilead.
4:2 Your teeth are like a flock of newly-shorn sheep
coming up from the washing place; 43
each of them has a twin,
and not one of them is missing.
4:3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread; 44
your mouth is lovely.
Your forehead 45 behind your veil
is like a slice of pomegranate.
4:4 Your neck is like the tower 46 of David
built with courses of stones; 47
one thousand shields are hung on it –
all shields of valiant warriors. 48
4:5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of the gazelle
grazing among the lilies.
4:6 Until the dawn arrives 49
and the shadows flee,
I will go up to the mountain of myrrh,
and to the hill of frankincense.
4:7 You are altogether beautiful, my darling!
There is no blemish in you!
4:8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,
come with me from Lebanon.
Descend from the crest of Amana,
from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon,
from the lions’ dens
and the mountain haunts of the leopards.
4:9 You have stolen my heart, 50 my sister, 51 my bride!
You have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, 52
with one jewel of your necklace.
4:10 How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine;
the fragrance of your perfume is better than any spice!
4:11 Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride,
honey and milk are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
The Lover to His Beloved:
4:12 You are a locked garden, 53 my sister, my bride;
you are an enclosed spring, a sealed-up fountain.
4:13 Your shoots are a royal garden 54 full of pomegranates
with choice fruits:
henna with nard,
4:14 nard and saffron;
calamus and cinnamon with every kind of spice,
myrrh and aloes with all the finest spices. 55
4:15 You are a garden spring, 56
a well 57 of fresh water 58 flowing down from Lebanon.
The Beloved to Her Lover:
4:16 Awake, O north wind; come, O south wind!
Blow on my garden so that its fragrant spices may send out their sweet smell. 59
May my beloved come into his garden
and eat its delightful fruit!