| 1 | I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk. Eat, O friends, and drink; drink your fill, O lovers. | |
| 2 | I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My lover is knocking: "Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night." | |
| 3 | I have taken off my robe--must I put it on again? I have washed my feet--must I soil them again? | |
| 4 | My lover thrust his hand through the latch-opening; my heart began to pound for him. | |
| 5 | I arose to open for my lover, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh, on the handles of the lock. | |
| 6 | I opened for my lover, but my lover had left; he was gone. My heart sank at his departure. I looked for him but did not find him. I called him but he did not answer. | |
| 7 | The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. They beat me, they bruised me; they took away my cloak, those watchmen of the walls! | |
| 8 | O daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you--if you find my lover, what will you tell him? Tell him I am faint with love. | |
| 9 | How is your beloved better than others, most beautiful of women? How is your beloved better than others, that you charge us so? | |
| 10 | My lover is radiant and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand. | |
| 11 | His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven. | |
| 12 | His eyes are like doves by the water streams, washed in milk, mounted like jewels. | |
| 13 | His cheeks are like beds of spice yielding perfume. His lips are like lilies dripping with myrrh. | |
| 14 | His arms are rods of gold set with chrysolite. His body is like polished ivory decorated with sapphires. | |
| 15 | His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars. | |
| 16 | His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely. This is my lover, this my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. | |