Christian Standard Bible | Berean Study Bible |
1I 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. Narrator Eat, friends! Drink, be intoxicated with caresses! | 1I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends, and drink; drink freely, O beloved. |
2I was sleeping, but my heart was awake. A sound! My love was knocking! Man 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. | 2I sleep, but my heart is awake. A sound! My beloved 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.” |
3I have taken off my clothing. How can I put it back on? I have washed my feet. How can I get them dirty? | 3I have taken off my robe—must I put it back on? I have washed my feet—must I soil them again? |
4My love thrust his hand through the opening, and my feelings were stirred for him. | 4My beloved put his hand to the latch; my heart pounded for him. |
5I rose to open for my love. My hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh on the handles of the bolt. | 5I rose up to open for my beloved. My hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh on the handles of the bolt. |
6I opened to my love, but my love had turned and gone away. My heart sank because he had left. I sought him, but did not find him. I called him, but he did not answer. | 6I opened for my beloved, but he had turned and gone. My heart sank at his departure. I sought him, but did not find him. I called, but he did not answer. |
7The guards who go about the city found me. They beat and wounded me; they took my cloak from me--the guardians of the walls. | 7I encountered the watchmen on their rounds of the city. They beat me and bruised me; they took away my cloak, those guardians of the walls. |
8Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you, if you find my love, tell him that I am lovesick. | 8O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you, if you find my beloved, tell him I am sick with love. |
9What makes the one you love better than another, most beautiful of women? What makes him better than another, that you would give us this charge? | 9How is your beloved better than others, O most beautiful among women? How is your beloved better than another, that you charge us so? |
10My love is fit and strong, notable among ten thousand. | 10My beloved is dazzling and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand. |
11His head is purest gold. His hair is wavy and black as a raven. | 11His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven. |
12His eyes are like doves beside flowing streams, washed in milk and set like jewels. | 12His eyes are like doves beside the streams of water, bathed in milk and mounted like jewels. |
13His cheeks are like beds of spice, mounds of perfume. His lips are lilies, dripping with flowing myrrh. | 13His cheeks are like beds of spice, towers of perfume. His lips are like lilies, dripping with flowing myrrh. |
14His arms are rods of gold set with beryl. His body is an ivory panel covered with lapis lazuli. | 14His arms are rods of gold set with beryl. His body is an ivory panel bedecked with sapphires. |
15His legs are alabaster pillars set on pedestals of pure gold. His presence is like Lebanon, as majestic as the cedars. | 15His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, as majestic as the cedars. |
16His mouth is sweetness. He is absolutely desirable. This is my love, and this is my friend, young women of Jerusalem. | 16His mouth is most sweet; he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. |
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