Song 5 | HCSB | STEP | M : I have come to my garden – my sister , my bride . I gather my myrrh with my spices . I eat my honeycomb with my honey . I drink my wine with my milk . N : Eat , friends ! Drink , be intoxicated with love !

Song of Solomon 5

1 M : I have come to my garden – my sister, my bride.

I gather ^{▼▼Lit pluck} my myrrh with my spices.
I eat my honeycomb with my honey.
I drink my wine with my milk.

N : Eat, friends!
Drink, be intoxicated with love! ^{▼▼Or Drink your fill, lovers
,} ^c

2 W : I sleep, but my heart is awake.
A sound! My love is knocking! ^d

M : Open to me, my sister, my darling,
my dove, my perfect one.
For my head is drenched with dew,
my hair with droplets of the night.

3 W : I have taken off my clothing. ^e
How can I put it back on?
I have washed my feet.
How can I get them dirty?
4 My love thrust his hand through the opening,
and my feelings were stirred for him.
5 I rose to open for my love.
My hands dripped with myrrh, ^f
my fingers with flowing myrrh
on the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened to my love,
but my love had turned and gone away.
I was crushed ^{▼▼Lit My soul went out} that he had left. ^{▼▼Or spoken}
I sought him, but did not find him. ⁱ
I called him, but he did not answer.
7 The guards who go about the city found me. ^j
They beat and wounded me;
they took my cloak ^{▼▼Or veil, or shawl} from me –
the guardians of the walls. ^l
8 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you: ^m
if you find my love,
tell him that I am lovesick. ⁿ

9 Y : What makes the one you love better than another,
most beautiful of women? ^o
What makes him better than another,
that you would give us this charge?

10 W : My love is fit and strong, ^{▼▼Or is radiant and ruddy
,} ^q
notable among ten thousand. ^r
11 His head is purest gold.
His hair is wavy ^{▼▼Or is [like] palm leaves; Hb obscure
,} ^t
and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves ^u
beside streams of water,
washed in milk
and set like jewels. ^{▼▼Lit milk sitting in fullness}
13 His cheeks ^w are like beds of spice,
towers of ^{▼▼LXX, Vg read spice, yielding} perfume.
His lips are lilies,
dripping with flowing myrrh. ^y
14 His arms ^{▼▼Lit hands} are rods of gold
set ^{▼▼Lit filled; Sg 5:2,12} with topaz. ^{▼▼Probably yellow topaz
,} ^ac
His body ^{▼▼Lit abdomen} is an ivory panel
covered with sapphires. ^ae
15 His legs are alabaster pillars
set on pedestals of pure gold.
His presence is like Lebanon, ^af
as majestic as the cedars. ^ag
16 His mouth is sweetness.
He is absolutely desirable. ^ah
This is my love, and this is my friend,
young women of Jerusalem.