2 I slept but my mind was awake.

Listen! My lover is knocking on my door!

He said, ‘Open the door for me, my dear friend.

You are my sister,

the perfect one that I love.

To me you are like a beautiful dove.

Dew 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 dress myself again.

I have washed my feet.

I do not want them to get dirty again.’

4 My lover pushed his hand through the hole in the door.

My heart began to beat faster because he was near.

5 I got up to open the door for my lover.

My hands were wet with myrrh.

Myrrh dropped from my fingers

onto the handle of the door.

6 I opened the door for my lover.

But he had already turned away.

He had gone!

I was very upset that he had gone away.

I looked for him but I did not find him.

I called to him but he did not answer me.

7 The city guards found me

as they walked in the streets of the city.

They beat me and they hurt my body.

Those guards on the city walls took away my robe.

8 Young women of Jerusalem,

please find my lover!

Promise me to tell him this, if you find him.

Tell him that my love for him has made me weak!

The young women of Jerusalem:

9 Tell us this, most beautiful of all women.

Why do you think that your lover is better than other men?

Why must we promise to do this for you?

The young woman:

10 My lover is very handsome and healthy.

He is the greatest man among 10,000 men.

11 His head is like very pure gold.

The hairs on his head are like waves.

They are black like a raven.

12 His eyes are like doves beside streams of water.

They are like doves that someone has washed in milk.

They shine like jewels.

13 The sides of his face are like a garden with spice trees.

Their smell is like perfume.

His lips are like lilies

with myrrh that falls from them.

14 His arms are like bars of gold

with jewels in them.

His body shines like bright ivory,

with sapphire jewels to make it more beautiful.

15 His legs are like pillars of beautiful stone.

They stand on feet that are like pure gold.

He stands tall like the mountains of Lebanon.

He is as handsome as its best cedar trees.

16 The taste of his mouth is very sweet.

Everything about him causes me to love him.

I say to you, young women of Jerusalem,

this is my lover!

This is my true friend.

Song of Songs 6

The young women of Jerusalem:

1 Tell us this, most beautiful of all women.

Where has your lover gone?

Which way did he go?

Tell us, so that we can look for him with you.

The young woman:

2 My lover has gone down to his garden.

He has gone to his garden of spice trees.

He has gone there to walk in the gardens

and to pick lilies.

3 My lover belongs to me,

and I belong to him.

He moves among the lilies with his sheep.

The young man:

4 My dear friend, you are as beautiful as Tirzah.

You are as lovely as Jerusalem.

You are as wonderful as an army that is waving its flags.

5 Turn your eyes away from me.

They give me pleasure that is too strong for me!

Your hair is like a group of goats

that are coming down from Mount Gilead.

6 Your teeth are very white

like a group of clean sheep that is coming from the pool of water.

Each tooth is one of a pair.

Not one of them is alone.

7 The sides of your face are beautiful,

like the halves of a pomegranate.

I see them through your veil.

8 A king may have 60 queens.

He may have 80 slave wives.

He may have many other young women too.

There may be too many for him to count!

9 But there is only one woman that I want.

Nobody is like her in any way.

She is my perfect one, as lovely as a dove.

She is the special daughter of her mother.

Her mother loves her best among all her children.

The young women saw her and they praised her.

The queens and the slave wives also praised her.

10 They said, ‘She is like the light that appears at dawn.

She is as beautiful as the moon.

She is as bright as the sun.

She is as wonderful as the stars that shine brightly in their places.’

11 I went down to the garden of walnut trees.

I wanted to see the new plants that were growing in the valley;

to see if the vines had new leaves now;

to see if the pomegranate trees had flowers.

12 I became so happy

that I did not understand what was happening.

I knew that I wanted to be with her.

I felt that I was riding with the king's men in their chariots.

The young women of Jerusalem:

13 Come back, come back, young woman from Shulam!

Yes, come back,

so that we can look at you again.

The young man:

Why do you want to look at the young woman from Shulam?

Do not look at her as if she is dancing the dance of Mahanaim.