Song of Songs 5

1 I came into my garden, my sister, my bride. I gathered my myrrh with my spices; I ate my bread with my honey; I drank my wine with my milk. Eat, friends; drink and drink deeply, brothers.

2 I am sleeping, but my heart is awake. The voice of my beloved! He is knocking at the door:

Open to me, my sister, my companion, my dove, my perfect one, for my head is filled with dew and my curls with the drops of the night.

3 I have taken off my tunic; how can I put it on again? I have washed my feet; how can I soil them?

4 My beloved reached his hand through the opening, and my inward parts trembled for him.

5 I got up to open for my beloved. My hands dripped myrrh, my fingers choice myrrh, onto the handles of the lock.

6 I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had passed by. My soul went out at his word. I sought him but did not find him; I called him, but he did not answer me.

7 The guards patrolling the city found me. They struck me and wounded me; the guards of the walls took my veil from me.

8 I make you swear, daughters of Jerusalem, by the powers and strengths of the field: if you find my beloved, what will you tell him? Tell him that I am wounded with love.

9 What makes your beloved better than another beloved, most beautiful among women? What makes your beloved better than another, that you make us swear this way?

10 My beloved is radiant white and ruddy, distinguished among tens of thousands.

11 His head is gold and Phaz; his curls are like fir branches, black as a raven.

12 His eyes are like doves beside pools of water, bathed in milk, sitting beside full pools.

13 His cheeks are like bowls of spices growing perfumes; his lips are lilies dripping choice myrrh.

14 His hands are crafted from gold and filled with beryl; his torso is an ivory tablet set on sapphire stone.

15 His legs are marble pillars set on golden bases; his appearance is like Lebanon, choice as the cedars.

16 His throat is sweetness, and all of him is desirable. This is my beloved, and this is my companion, daughters of Jerusalem.

17 Where has your beloved gone, most beautiful among women? Where has your beloved turned? We will seek him with you.