Song of Solomon 5

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

5 I have come into my garden, my sister, my [promised] bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my balsam and spice [from your sweet words I have gathered the richest perfumes and spices]. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends [feast on, O revelers of the palace; you can never make my lover disloyal to me]! Drink, yes, drink abundantly of love, O precious one [for now I know you are mine, irrevocably mine! With his confident words still thrilling her heart, through the lattice she saw her shepherd turn away and disappear into the night].^(A)

² I went to sleep, but my heart stayed awake. [I dreamed that I heard] the voice of my beloved as he knocked [at the door of my mother’s cottage]. Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my spotless one [he said], for I am wet with the [heavy] night dew; my hair is covered with it.^(B)

³ [But weary from a day in the vineyards, I had already sought my rest] I had put off my garment—^[a]how could I [again] put it on? I had washed my feet—how could I [again] soil them?^(C)

⁴ My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my heart was moved for him.

⁵ I rose up to open for my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, and my fingers with liquid [sweet-scented] myrrh, [which he had left] upon the handles of the bolt.

⁶ I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had turned away and withdrawn himself, and was gone! My soul went forth [to him] when he spoke, but it failed me [and now he was gone]! I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.

⁷ The watchmen who go about the city found me. They struck me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took my veil and my mantle from me.

⁸ I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him that I am sick from love [simply sick to be with him].^(D)

⁹ What is your beloved more than another beloved, O you fairest among women [taunted the ladies]? What is your beloved more than another beloved, that you should give us such a charge?^(E)

¹⁰ [She said] My beloved is fair and ruddy, the chief among ten thousand!^(F)

¹¹ His head is [as precious as] the finest gold; his locks are curly and bushy and black as a raven.

¹² His eyes are like doves beside the water brooks, bathed in milk and fitly set.

¹³ His cheeks are like a bed of spices or balsam, like banks of sweet herbs yielding fragrance. His lips are like bloodred anemones or lilies distilling liquid [sweet-scented] myrrh.

¹⁴ His hands are like rods of gold set with [nails of] beryl or topaz. His body is a figure of bright ivory overlaid with [veins of] sapphires.

¹⁵ His legs are like strong and steady pillars of marble set upon bases of fine gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, excellent, stately, and majestic as the cedars.

¹⁶ His voice and speech are exceedingly sweet; yes, he is altogether lovely [the whole of him delights and is precious]. ^[b]This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem!^(G)