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, friends, drink, and drink freely, O beloved ones! VP
2 I [was] asleep, and my heart was aroused. A sound! My beloved is knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. For my head is full of dew, my locks of the drops of the night.” VP
3 I have taken off my garment—how do I put it on? I have washed my feet—how do I soil them? VP
4 My beloved stretched out his hand to the latch, and my bowels murmured for him. VP
5 I arose to open up for my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, and my fingers covered over with myrrh on the palms of the bolt. VP
6 I opened for my beloved, and my beloved had turned away [and] had gone! My heart went forth at his speaking. I sought him, and could not find him; I called [to] him, and he did not answer me. VP
7 The guards found me in [their] going round about the city. They struck me, they bruised me, the guards of the walls; they lifted my wrap from me. VP
8 I adjure you⁺, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you⁺ find my beloved, what you⁺ should declare to him: I [am] sick with love. VP
9 How [is] your beloved above [any] beloved, O beautiful one among the women? How [is] your beloved above [any] beloved, that thus you adjure us? VP
10 My beloved is dazzling and ruddy, distinguished above a myriad. VP
11 His head [is] gold, pure gold; his locks [are] wavy, black like the raven. VP
12 His eyes [are] like doves beside channels of waters, washed with milk, sitting beside a full pool. VP
13 His cheeks [are] like a bed of spice, towers of perfume. His lips lilies, dripping with flowing myrrh. VP
14 His hands [are] rods of gold, set with beryl; his belly [is] a plate of ivory, covered with sapphires; VP
15 his legs [are] pillars of marble, set on bases of pure gold; his appearance [is] like the Lebanon, being excellent like the cedars. VP
16 His mouth [is] sweetness, and all of him [is] desirable. This [is] my beloved, and this [is] my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem! VP