1 Oh, I wish you were my brother,
    who nursed at my mother’s breasts.
Then I could kiss you no matter who was watching,
    and no one would criticize me.
² I would bring you to my childhood home,
    and there you would teach me.^[a]
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
    my sweet pomegranate wine.
³ Your left arm would be under my head,
    and your right arm would embrace me.

⁵ Who is this sweeping in from the desert,
    leaning on her lover?

I aroused you under the apple tree,
    where your mother gave you birth,
    where in great pain she delivered you.
⁶ Place me like a seal over your heart,
    like a seal on your arm.
For love is as strong as death,
    its jealousy^[c] as enduring as the grave.^[d]
Love flashes like fire,
    the brightest kind of flame.
⁷ Many waters cannot quench love,
    nor can rivers drown it.
If a man tried to buy love
    with all his wealth,
    his offer would be utterly scorned.

⁸ We have a little sister
    too young to have breasts.
What will we do for our sister
    if someone asks to marry her?
⁹ If she is a virgin, like a wall,
    we will protect her with a silver tower.
But if she is promiscuous, like a swinging door,
    we will block her door with a cedar bar.

¹⁰ I was a virgin, like a wall;
    now my breasts are like towers.
When my lover looks at me,
    he is delighted with what he sees.

¹³ O my darling, lingering in the gardens,
    your companions are fortunate to hear your voice.
    Let me hear it, too!

¹⁴ Come away, my love! Be like a gazelle
    or a young stag on the mountains of spices.

1 ^[a]How beautiful are your sandaled feet,
    O queenly maiden.
Your rounded thighs are like jewels,
    the work of a skilled craftsman.
² Your navel is perfectly formed
    like a goblet filled with mixed wine.
Between your thighs lies a mound of wheat
    bordered with lilies.
³ Your breasts are like two fawns,
    twin fawns of a gazelle.
⁴ Your neck is as beautiful as an ivory tower.
Your eyes are like the sparkling pools in Heshbon
    by the gate of Bath-rabbim.
Your nose is as fine as the tower of Lebanon
    overlooking Damascus.
⁵ Your head is as majestic as Mount Carmel,
    and the sheen of your hair radiates royalty.
    The king is held captive by its tresses.
⁶ Oh, how beautiful you are!
    How pleasing, my love, how full of delights!
⁷ You are slender like a palm tree,
    and your breasts are like its clusters of fruit.
⁸ I said, “I will climb the palm tree
    and take hold of its fruit.”
May your breasts be like grape clusters,
    and the fragrance of your breath like apples.
⁹ May your kisses be as exciting as the best wine—

Yes, wine that goes down smoothly for my lover,
    flowing gently over lips and teeth.^[b]
10 I am my lover’s,
    and he claims me as his own.
¹¹ Come, my love, let us go out to the fields
    and spend the night among the wildflowers.^[c]
12 Let us get up early and go to the vineyards
    to see if the grapevines have budded,
if the blossoms have opened,
    and if the pomegranates have bloomed.
    There I will give you my love.
¹³ There the mandrakes give off their fragrance,
    and the finest fruits are at our door,
new delights as well as old,
    which I have saved for you, my lover.

1 Where has your lover gone,
    O woman of rare beauty?
Which way did he turn
    so we can help you find him?

² My lover has gone down to his garden,
    to his spice beds,
to browse in the gardens
    and gather the lilies.
³ I am my lover’s, and my lover is mine.
    He browses among the lilies.

⁴ You are beautiful, my darling,
    like the lovely city of Tirzah.
Yes, as beautiful as Jerusalem,
    as majestic as an army with billowing banners.
⁵ Turn your eyes away,
    for they overpower me.
Your hair falls in waves,
    like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.
⁶ Your teeth are as white as sheep
    that are freshly washed.
Your smile is flawless,
    each tooth matched with its twin.^[a]
7 Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates
    behind your veil.

¹¹ I went down to the grove of walnut trees
    and out to the valley to see the new spring growth,
to see whether the grapevines had budded
    or the pomegranates were in bloom.
¹² Before I realized it,
    my strong desires had taken me to the chariot of a noble man.^[b]

^13 [c]Return, return to us, O maid of Shulam.
    Come back, come back, that we may see you again.

Why do you stare at this young woman of Shulam,
    as she moves so gracefully between two lines of dancers?^[d]

1 I have entered my garden, my treasure,^[a] my bride!
    I gather myrrh with my spices
and eat honeycomb with my honey.
    I drink wine with my milk.

Oh, lover and beloved, eat and drink!
    Yes, drink deeply of your love!

² I slept, but my heart was awake,
    when I heard my lover knocking and calling:
“Open to me, my treasure, my darling,
    my dove, my perfect one.
My head is drenched with dew,
    my hair with the dampness of the night.”

⁹ Why is your lover better than all others,
    O woman of rare beauty?
What makes your lover so special
    that we must promise this?

¹⁰ My lover is dark and dazzling,
    better than ten thousand others!
¹¹ His head is finest gold,
    his wavy hair is black as a raven.
¹² His eyes sparkle like doves
    beside springs of water;
they are set like jewels
    washed in milk.
¹³ His cheeks are like gardens of spices
    giving off fragrance.
His lips are like lilies,
    perfumed with myrrh.
¹⁴ His arms are like rounded bars of gold,
    set with beryl.
His body is like bright ivory,
    glowing with lapis lazuli.
¹⁵ His legs are like marble pillars
    set in sockets of finest gold.
His posture is stately,
    like the noble cedars of Lebanon.
¹⁶ His mouth is sweetness itself;
    he is desirable in every way.
Such, O women of Jerusalem,
    is my lover, my friend.

4 You are beautiful, my darling,
    beautiful beyond words.
Your eyes are like doves
    behind your veil.
Your hair falls in waves,
    like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.
² Your teeth are as white as sheep,
    recently shorn and freshly washed.
Your smile is flawless,
    each tooth matched with its twin.^[a]
3 Your lips are like scarlet ribbon;
    your mouth is inviting.
Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates
    behind your veil.
⁴ Your neck is as beautiful as the tower of David,
    jeweled with the shields of a thousand heroes.
⁵ Your breasts are like two fawns,
    twin fawns of a gazelle grazing among the lilies.
⁶ Before the dawn breezes blow
    and the night shadows flee,
I will hurry to the mountain of myrrh
    and to the hill of frankincense.
⁷ You are altogether beautiful, my darling,
    beautiful in every way.

¹⁶ Awake, north wind!
    Rise up, south wind!
Blow on my garden
    and spread its fragrance all around.
Come into your garden, my love;
    taste its finest fruits.

1 I am the spring crocus blooming on the Sharon Plain,^[a]
    the lily of the valley.

² Like a lily among thistles
    is my darling among young women.

³ Like the finest apple tree in the orchard
    is my lover among other young men.
I sit in his delightful shade
    and taste his delicious fruit.
⁴ He escorts me to the banquet hall;
    it’s obvious how much he loves me.
⁵ Strengthen me with raisin cakes,
    refresh me with apples,
    for I am weak with love.
⁶ His left arm is under my head,
    and his right arm embraces me.

¹⁴ My dove is hiding behind the rocks,
    behind an outcrop on the cliff.
Let me see your face;
    let me hear your voice.
For your voice is pleasant,
    and your face is lovely.

¹⁵ Catch all the foxes,
    those little foxes,
before they ruin the vineyard of love,
    for the grapevines are blossoming!

¹⁶ My lover is mine, and I am his.
    He browses among the lilies.
¹⁷ Before the dawn breezes blow
    and the night shadows flee,
return to me, my love, like a gazelle
    or a young stag on the rugged mountains.^[d]