I compare you, my darling,(A)
to a[a] mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.(B)
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with jewelry,(C)
your neck with its necklace.
11 We will make gold jewelry for you,
accented with silver.

Woman

12 While the king is on his couch,[b]
my perfume[c] releases its fragrance.(D)
13 The one I love is a sachet of myrrh to me,(E)
spending the night between my breasts.
14 The one I love is a cluster of henna blossoms to me,(F)
in the vineyards of En-gedi.(G)

Man

15 How beautiful you are, my darling.
How very beautiful!
Your eyes are doves.(H)

Woman

16 How handsome you are, my love.(I)
How delightful!
Our bed is verdant;
17 the beams of our house are cedars,
and our rafters are cypresses.[d]
I am a wildflower[e] of Sharon,
a lily[f] of the valleys.(J)

Man

Like a lily among thorns,
so is my darling among the young women.

Woman

Like an apricot[g] tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my love among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
He brought me to the banquet hall,[h](K)
and he looked on me with love.[i](L)
Sustain me with raisins;
refresh me with apricots,[j]
for I am lovesick.(M)
May his left hand be under my head,
and his right arm embrace me.(N)
Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field,
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.[k](O)

Footnotes

  1. 1:9 Lit my
  2. 1:12 Or is at his table
  3. 1:12 Lit nard
  4. 1:17 Or firs, or pines
  5. 2:1 Traditionally rose
  6. 2:1 Or lotus
  7. 2:3 Or apple
  8. 2:4 Lit the house of wine
  9. 2:4 Or and his banner over me is love
  10. 2:5 Or apples
  11. 2:7 Lit until it pleases

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