Song of Solomon 4

Modern

Literal

Solomon Admires His Bride

The Bridegroom

¹How beautiful you are, my darling—

how very beautiful!

Your eyes are like doves

behind your veil.

Your hair is like a flock of goats

streaming down Mount Gilead.

¹Behold, you are beautiful, my darling, behold, you are beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind your veil; your hair is like a flock of the goats streaming down from Mount Gilead.

²Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep

coming up from the washing;

each has its twin,

and not one of them is lost.

²Your teeth are like a flock shorn, having come up from the washing, all of which have twins, and there is not a bereaved one among them.

³Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon,

and your mouth is lovely.

Your brow behind your veil

is like a slice of pomegranate.

³Like a thread of scarlet are your lips, and your mouth is lovely. Like the halves of the pomegranate is your temple, behind your veil.

⁴Your neck is like the tower of David,

built with rows of stones;

on it hang a thousand shields,

all of them shields of warriors.

⁴Like the tower of David is your neck, built with rows of stones; a thousand shields hang on it, all the shields of the mighty ones.

⁵Your breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle grazing among the lilies.

⁵Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, grazing among the lilies.

⁶Before the day breaks and the shadows flee,

I will make my way

to the mountain of myrrh

and to the hill of frankincense.

⁶Until the day breathes, and the shadows flee, I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.

⁷You are altogether beautiful, my darling;

in you there is no flaw.

⁷All of you is beautiful, my darling, and there is not a blemish on you.

⁸Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,

come with me from Lebanon!

Descend^a from the peak of Amana,

from the summits of Senir and Hermon,

from the dens of the lions,

from the mountains of the leopards.

⁸Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, with me from Lebanon! Descend from the top of Amana, from the top of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of the lions, from the mountains of the leopards.

⁹You have captured my heart,

my sister, my bride;

you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes,

with one jewel of your neck.

⁹You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captured my heart with one of your eyes, with one jewel of your neck.

¹⁰How delightful is your love,

my sister, my bride!

Your love is much better than wine,

and the fragrance of your perfume than all spices.

¹⁰How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the scent of your oils than all spices!

¹¹Your lips, my bride,

drip sweetness like the honeycomb;

honey and milk are under your tongue,

and the fragrance of your garments

is like the aroma of Lebanon.

¹¹Your lips drip with nectar, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue, and the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

¹²My sister, my bride, you are a garden locked up,

a spring enclosed, a fountain sealed.

¹²A garden locked up is my sister, my bride—a spring locked up, a fountain sealed.

¹³Your branches are an orchard of pomegranates

with the choicest of fruits, with henna and nard,

¹³Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with the choicest of fruits, henna with nard,

¹⁴with nard and saffron, with calamus and cinnamon,

with every kind of frankincense tree,

with myrrh and aloes,

with all the finest spices.

¹⁴nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all the finest spices,

¹⁵You are a garden spring,

a well of fresh water^a

flowing down from Lebanon.

¹⁵a fountain of gardens, a well of living water, and flowing down from Lebanon.

The Bride

¹⁶Awake, O north wind,

and come, O south wind.

Breathe on my garden

and spread the fragrance of its spices.

Let my beloved come into his garden

and taste its choicest fruits.

¹⁶Awake, north wind, and come, south wind! Breathe on my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat the fruit of its excellencies.