SHIR HA’SHIRIM 5

1 I have come to my garden,
My sister, my bride;
I have plucked my myrrh with my spice;
I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey;
I have drunk my wine with my milk.
Eat, O friends!
Drink, and drink deeply,
O beloved ones!

2 I was sleeping,
But my heart was awake –
The voice of my beloved! He knocks,
“Open for me, my sister,
My love, my dove, my perfect one;
For my head is drenched with dew,
My locks with the drops of the night.”

3 I have taken off my robe,
Should I put it on?
I have washed my feet,
Should I dirty them?

4 My beloved put his hand by the latch,
And my feelings were deeply moved for him.

5 I rose to open for my beloved,
And my hands dripped with myrrh,
My fingers with flowing myrrh,
On the handles of the lock.

6 I opened for my beloved,
But my beloved had turned away, gone.
My being went out when he spoke.
I sought him, but I could not find him;
I called him, but he gave me no answer.

7 The watchmen found me,
Who went about the city.
They struck me, they bruised me;
The keepers of the walls
Lifted my veil from me.

8 I have put you under oath,
O daughters of Yerushalayim,
If you find my beloved,
That you inform him
That I am faint with love!

9 What kind of a beloved is your beloved,
O fairest among women?
What kind of a beloved is your beloved,
That you have put us under oath?

10 My beloved is dazzling and tanned,
Chief among ten thousand.

11 His head is refined gold;
His locks are wavy,
Black as a raven.

12 His eyes are like doves
By streams of waters,
Washed with milk,
And fitly placed.

13 His cheeks are like a bed of spices,
A raised bed of scented plants.
His lips are lilies,
Dripping, flowing myrrh.

14 His hands are rods of gold
Filled with beryl.
His body is carved ivory
Covered with sapphires.

15 His legs are columns of marble
Founded on sockets of fine gold.
His appearance is like Leḇanon,
Choice as the cedars.

16 His mouth is most sweet,
And he is altogether lovely.
This is my beloved, and this is my friend,
O daughters of Yerushalayim!