SONG OF SOLOMON 4-6

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Solomon’s Love Expressed4:1 “How beautiful you are, my darling,

How beautiful you are!

Your eyes are like doves behind your veil;

Your hair is like a flock of goats

That have descended from Mount Gilead.

2 “Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn ewes

Which have come up from their washing,

All of which bear twins,

And not one among them has lost her young.

3 “Your lips are like a scarlet thread,

And your mouth is lovely.

Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate

Behind your veil.

4 “Your neck is like the tower of David,

Built with rows of stones

On which are hung a thousand shields,

All the round shields of the mighty men.

5 “Your two breasts are like two fawns,

Twins of a gazelle

Which feed among the lilies.

6 “Until the cool of the day

When the shadows flee away,

I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh

And to the hill of frankincense.

7 “You are altogether beautiful, my darling,

And there is no blemish in you.

8 “Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,

May you come with me from Lebanon.

Journey down from the summit of Amana,

From the summit of Senir and Hermon,

From the dens of lions,

From the mountains of leopards.

9 “You have made my heart beat faster, my sister, my bride;

You have made my heart beat faster with a single glance of your eyes,

With a single strand of your necklace.

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

How much better is your love than wine,

And the fragrance of your oils

Than all kinds of spices!

11 “Your lips, my bride, drip honey;

Honey and milk are under your tongue,

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

12 “A garden locked is my sister, my bride,

A rock garden locked, a spring sealed up.

13 “Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates

With choice fruits, henna with nard plants,

14 Nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,

With all the trees of frankincense,

Myrrh and aloes, along with all the finest spices.

15 “You are a garden spring,

A well of fresh water,

And streams flowing from Lebanon.”

16 “Awake, O north wind,

And come, wind of the south;

Make my garden breathe out fragrance,

Let its spices be wafted abroad.

May my beloved come into his garden

And eat its choice fruits!”

The Torment of Separation5:1 “I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;

I have gathered my myrrh along with my balsam.

I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;

I have drunk my wine and 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 drenched with dew,

My locks with the damp of the night.’

3 “I have taken off my dress,

How can I put it on again?

I have washed my feet,

How can I dirty them again?

4 “My beloved extended his hand through the opening,

And my feelings were aroused for him.

5 “I arose to open to my beloved;

And my hands dripped with myrrh,

And my fingers with liquid myrrh,

On the handles of the bolt.

6 “I opened to my beloved,

But my beloved had turned away and had gone!

My heart 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.

7 “The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me,

They struck me and wounded me;

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

8 “I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

If you find my beloved,

As to what you will tell him:

For I am lovesick.”

9 “What kind of beloved is your beloved,

O most beautiful among women?

What kind of beloved is your beloved,

That thus you adjure us?”

Admiration by the Bride10 “My beloved is dazzling and ruddy,

Outstanding among ten thousand.

11 “His head is like gold, pure gold;

His locks are like clusters of dates

And black as a raven.

12 “His eyes are like doves

Beside streams of water,

Bathed in milk,

And reposed in their setting.

13 “His cheeks are like a bed of balsam,

Banks of sweet-scented herbs;

His lips are lilies

Dripping with liquid myrrh.

14 “His hands are rods of gold

Set with beryl;

His abdomen is carved ivory

Inlaid with sapphires.

15 “His legs are pillars of alabaster

Set on pedestals of pure gold;

His appearance is like Lebanon

Choice as the cedars.

16 “His mouth is full of sweetness.

And he is wholly desirable.

This is my beloved and this is my friend,

O daughters of Jerusalem.”

Mutual Delight in Each Other6:1 “Where has your beloved gone,

O most beautiful among women?

Where has your beloved turned,

That we may seek him with you?”

2 “My beloved has gone down to his garden,

To the beds of balsam,

To pasture his flock in the gardens

And gather lilies.

3 “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,

He who pastures his flock among the lilies.”

4 “You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,

As lovely as Jerusalem,

As awesome as an army with banners.

5 “Turn your eyes away from me,

For they have confused me;

Your hair is like a flock of goats

That have descended from Gilead.

6 “Your teeth are like a flock of ewes

Which have come up from their washing,

All of which bear twins,

And not one among them has lost her young.

7 “Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate

Behind your veil.

8 “There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,

And maidens without number;

9 But my dove, my perfect one, is unique:

She is her mother’s only daughter;

She is the pure child of the one who bore her.

The maidens saw her and called her blessed,

The queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,

10 ‘Who is this that grows like the dawn,

As beautiful as the full moon,

As pure as the sun,

As awesome as an army with banners?’

11 “I went down to the orchard of nut trees

To see the blossoms of the valley,

To see whether the vine had budded

Or the pomegranates had bloomed.

12 “Before I was aware, my soul set me

Over the chariots of my noble people.”

13 “Come back, come back, O Shulammite;

Come back, come back, that we may gaze at you!”

“Why should you gaze at the Shulammite,

As at the dance of the two companies?

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