< Song of Solomon 4 >
1 How beautiful you look, my darling, how beautiful! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair flows down like a flock of goats descending Mount Gilead.
Behold, thou art beautiful, my beloved, behold, thou art beautiful: thy dovelike eyes [look forth] from behind thy vail; thy hair is like a flock of goats, that come quietly down from Mount Gil'ad.
2 Your teeth are as white as a flock of sheep that are just shorn and washed. None of them are missing—they are all perfectly matched.
Thy teeth are like a flock of well-selected sheep, which are come up from the washing, all of which bear twins, and there is not one among them that is deprived of her young.
3 Your lips are as red as scarlet thread. Your mouth is gorgeous. Your cheeks are the blushing color of pomegranates behind your veil.
Like a thread of scarlet are thy lips, and thy mouth is comely: like the half of a pomegranate is the upper part of thy cheek behind thy vail.
4 Your neck is as tall and shapely as David's tower, with your necklaces like the hanging shields of a thousand warriors.
Thy neck is like the tower of David built on terraces, a thousand shields hang-thereon, all the quivers of the mighty men.
5 Your breasts are like two fawns, two gazelles feeding among the lilies.
Thy two breasts are like two fawns, the twins of the roe, that feed among the lilies.
6 Before the morning breezes blow and the shadows disappear, I must hurry to those mountains of myrrh and frankincense.
Until the day became cool, and the shadows flee away, will I get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.
7 You are incredibly beautiful, my darling—you are absolutely flawless!
Thou art altogether beautiful, my beloved, and there is no blemish on thee.—
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come from Lebanon. Come down from the peak of Amana, from the peaks of Senir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains where leopards live.
Come with me from Lebanon, O bride, with me from Lebanon: look about from the top of Amanah, from the top of Senir and Chermon, from the lions' dens, from the leopards' mountains.
9 You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride. With just one look you stole my heart, with just one sparkle from a single one of your necklaces.
Thou hast ravished my heart, O my sister, [my] bride; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thy eyes, with one chain of thy neck.
10 How wonderful is your love, my sister, my bride! Your love is sweeter than wine. The way you smell from your perfumed oils is better than any spice.
How beautiful are thy caresses, O my sister, [my] bride! how much more pleasant are thy caresses than wine! and the smell of thy fragrant oils more than all spices.
11 Nectar drips from your lips; milk and honey are under your tongue. The smell of your clothes is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
Of sweet honey drop thy lips, O bride: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the scent of thy garments is like the scent of Lebanon.
12 My sister, my bride, is a locked garden, a spring of water that is closed, a fountain that is sealed.
A locked-up garden is my sister, [my] bride; a locked-up spring, a sealed fountain.
13 Your channel is a paradise of pomegranates, full of the best fruits, with henna and nard,
Thy sprouts are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits, copher and spikenard;
14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all kinds of trees producing frankincense, myrrh, aloes, and the finest spices.
Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all the trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief of spices;
15 You are a garden fountain, a well of living water, a flowing stream from Lebanon.
A garden-spring, a well of living waters, and flowing down from Lebanon.—
16 Wake up, north wind! Come, south wind! Blow on my garden so its scent may be carried on the breeze. Let my love come to his garden and eat its best fruits.
Awake, O north wind; and come thou, O south; blow over my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my friend come into his garden, and eat its precious fruits.—