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Song of Solomon 5
Lexham English Bible

5 I have come to my garden, my sister bride,
    I have gathered my myrrh with my spice,
I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey,
    I have drunk my wine with my milk!
Eat, O friends! Drink and become drunk with love![a]

Maiden’s Dream: Seeking and Not Finding

2 I was asleep but[b] my heart was awake.
    A sound! My beloved knocking![c]
“Open to me, my sister, my beloved,
    my dove, my perfect one!
For my head is full of dew,
    my hair drenched from the moist night air.”[d]
3 I have taken off my tunic, must I put it on?[e]
    I have bathed my feet, must I soil them?[f]
4 My beloved thrust his hand into the opening,
    and my inmost yearned for him.
5 I myself arose to open to my beloved;
    my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with liquid myrrh
    upon the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened myself to my beloved,
    but my beloved had turned and gone;[g]
my heart sank[h] when he turned away.[i]
I sought him, but I did not find him;
    I called him, but he did not answer me.
7 The sentinels making rounds in the city found me;
    they beat me, they wounded me;
they took my cloak[j] away from me—
    those sentinels on the walls![k]

Adjuration Refrain

8 I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem,[l]
    if you find my beloved, what will you tell him?
Tell him that I am lovesick![m]

Maiden’s Praise of Her Beloved

9 How is your beloved better than another lover,[n]
    O most beautiful among women?
How is your beloved better than another lover, [o]
    that you adjure us thus?
10 My beloved is radiant and ruddy,[p]
    distinguished among[q] ten thousand.
11 His head is gold, refined gold;
    his locks are wavy, black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves beside springs[r] of water,
    bathed in milk, set like mounted jewels.[s][t]
13 His cheeks are like beds of spice, a tower of fragrances;
    his lips are lilies dripping liquid myrrh.
14 His arms are rods[u][v] of gold engraved with[w] jewels;
    his belly[x] is polished ivory covered with sapphires.[y]
15 His legs are columns of alabaster,[z] set on bases of gold;
    his appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars.[aa]
16 His mouth[ab] is sweet,
    and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved;
    this is my friend, O young women of Jerusalem.[ac]

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 5:1 Or “Drink and become drunk, O lovers!”
  2. Song of Solomon 5:2 Or “and”
  3. Song of Solomon 5:2 Or “The sound of my beloved knocking!”
  4. Song of Solomon 5:2 Literally “my locks with drops of night”
  5. Song of Solomon 5:3 Literally “How will I put it on?”
  6. Song of Solomon 5:3 Literally “How will I soil them?”
  7. Song of Solomon 5:6 Or “my beloved had left; he was gone”
  8. Song of Solomon 5:6 Or “my soul left”
  9. Song of Solomon 5:6 Or “when he was speaking.” Translations equivocate on how to translate this verb, since there are two terms in Hebrew spelled identically: “to speak” and “to turn aside” (HALOT 1:210). The context suggests the latter
  10. Song of Solomon 5:7 Or “mantle”
  11. Song of Solomon 5:7 Literally “the sentinels of the walls”
  12. Song of Solomon 5:8 Literally “O daughters of Jerusalem”
  13. Song of Solomon 5:8 Literally “sick with love”
  14. Song of Solomon 5:9 Literally “What is your beloved more than another beloved …?”
  15. Song of Solomon 5:9 Literally “What is your beloved more than another beloved …?”
  16. Song of Solomon 5:10 Literally “red”
  17. Song of Solomon 5:10 Literally “more than”
  18. Song of Solomon 5:12 Or “streams”
  19. Song of Solomon 5:12 Literally “dwelling in a setting”
  20. Song of Solomon 5:12 Or “seated at a suitable mounting”
  21. Song of Solomon 5:14 Literally “cylinders”
  22. Song of Solomon 5:14 Or “rings”
  23. Song of Solomon 5:14 Literally “filled with”
  24. Song of Solomon 5:14 Or “body”
  25. Song of Solomon 5:14 Or “works of ivory set with sapphire”
  26. Song of Solomon 5:15 Or “marble”
  27. Song of Solomon 5:15 Literally “the cedars”
  28. Song of Solomon 5:16 Or “his palate”
  29. Song of Solomon 5:16 Literally “O daughters of Jerusalem”
Listen to Song of Songs 5
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Song of Songs 5
New International Version

He

5 I have come into my garden,(A) my sister, my bride;(B)
    I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;
    I have drunk my wine and my milk.(C)

Friends

Eat, friends, and drink;
    drink your fill of love.

She

2 I slept but my heart was awake.
    Listen! My beloved is knocking:
“Open to me, my sister, my darling,
    my dove,(D) my flawless(E) one.(F)
My head is drenched with dew,
    my hair with the dampness of the night.”
3 I have taken off my robe—
    must I put it on again?
I have washed my feet—
    must I soil them again?
4 My beloved thrust his hand through the latch-opening;
    my heart began to pound for him.
5 I arose to open for my beloved,
    and my hands dripped with myrrh,(G)
my fingers with flowing myrrh,
    on the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened for my beloved,(H)
    but my beloved had left; he was gone.(I)
    My heart sank at his departure.[a]
I looked(J) for him but did not find him.
    I called him but he did not answer.
7 The watchmen found me
    as they made their rounds in the city.(K)
They beat me, they bruised me;
    they took away my cloak,
    those watchmen of the walls!
8 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you(L)—
    if you find my beloved,(M)
what will you tell him?
    Tell him I am faint with love.(N)

Friends

9 How is your beloved better than others,
    most beautiful of women?(O)
How is your beloved better than others,
    that you so charge us?

She

10 My beloved is radiant and ruddy,
    outstanding among ten thousand.(P)
11 His head is purest gold;
    his hair is wavy
    and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves(Q)
    by the water streams,
washed in milk,(R)
    mounted like jewels.
13 His cheeks(S) are like beds of spice(T)
    yielding perfume.
His lips are like lilies(U)
    dripping with myrrh.(V)
14 His arms are rods of gold
    set with topaz.
His body is like polished ivory
    decorated with lapis lazuli.(W)
15 His legs are pillars of marble
    set on bases of pure gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,(X)
    choice as its cedars.
16 His mouth(Y) is sweetness itself;
    he is altogether lovely.
This is my beloved,(Z) this is my friend,
    daughters of Jerusalem.(AA)

Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 5:6 Or heart had gone out to him when he spoke
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Song of Solomon 4
Song of Solomon 6
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