Song of Songs 5

Man

1 I have come into my garden, my sister and my new wife.

I have taken my myrrh with my spice.

I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey.

I have drunk my wine and my milk.

The Writer

Eat, friends, and drink. You love each other!

Drink until you no longer need a drink.

Woman

2 I slept but my heart was awake.

Listen! The man who loves me is knocking.

‘Open the door for me, my sister’, he said.

‘You are my best friend that I love the most.

To me you are like a dove.

Nobody is lovelier than you.

Water from the night air covers my head.

My hair is very wet.’

3 I said, ‘I have taken off my day clothes.

I do not want to put them on again.

I have washed my feet.

I do not want them to get dirty again.’

4 The man who loves me pushed his hand through the hole in the door.

My heart began to go quicker for him.

I could feel it and I could almost hear it.

5 I stood up to open the door for the man who loves me.

My hands were wet with myrrh.

Myrrh was dropping from my fingers onto the door handle.

6 I opened the door for the man who loves me. But he had left.

He was gone.

I felt full of love for him when he spoke.

I looked for him but I did not find him.

I spoke his name loudly but he did not answer.

7 The security guards were working.

They found me while they were walking through the streets of the city.

They hit me and they hurt me.

And the marks on my body show this.

Those security guards of the walls took away my shawl.

8 Please find the man who loves me, Daughters of Jerusalem!

If you find him, please speak to him about me.

Please tell him that I am weak with love.

Friends

9 You are the most beautiful among women.

How is the man that you love better than other men?

How is he better than other men, that you ask us to say this?

Woman

10 His face and his body shine because of the sun.

He is the greatest among 10,000 men.

11 His head is valuable like pure gold.

The hairs on his head are black, but they are not straight.

They are black like the night with no moon.

12 His eyes are like doves by the water streams.

They are like doves that someone has washed in milk.

They sometimes shine like valuable stones.

13 The sides of his face are like spice plants in the ground that have a lovely smell.

His lips are like lilies with myrrh that falls from them.

14 His arms are like long round pieces of gold

and some valuable stones are over them.

His body is like ivory that someone has caused to shine.

A few valuable, blue stones make it even more beautiful.

15 His legs are straight and strong like round pieces of beautiful stone.

His feet are of pure gold.

He is tall like Lebanon, quite as handsome as its best cedars.

16 His mouth is very nice in every way.

Everything about him is lovely.

This is the man who loves me.

This is my friend, Daughters of Jerusalem.