| 1. | I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride; I gather my myrrh and my spices, I eat my honey and my sweetmeats, I drink my wine and my milk. Eat, friends; drink! Drink freely of love! |
| 2. | I was sleeping, but my heart kept vigil; I heard my lover knocking: "Open to me, my sister, my beloved, my dove, my perfect one! For my head is wet with dew, my locks with the moisture of the night." |
| 3. | I have taken off my robe, am I then to put it on? I have bathed my feet, am I then to soil them? |
| 4. | My lover put his hand through the opening; my heart trembled within me, and I grew faint when he spoke. |
| 5. | I rose to open to my lover, with my hands dripping myrrh: With my fingers dripping choice myrrh upon the fittings of the lock. |
| 6. | I opened to my lover - but my lover had departed, gone. I sought him but I did not find him; I called to him but he did not answer me. |
| 7. | The watchmen came upon me as they made their rounds of the city; They struck me, and wounded me, and took my mantle from me, the guardians of the walls. |
| 8. | I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my lover - What shall you tell him? - that I am faint with love. |
| 9. | How does your lover differ from any other, O most beautiful among women? How does your lover differ from any other, that you adjure us so? |
| 10. | My lover is radiant and ruddy; he stands out among thousands. |
| 11. | His head is pure gold; his locks are palm fronds, black as the raven. |
| 12. | His eyes are like doves beside running waters, His teeth would seem bathed in milk, and are set like jewels. |
| 13. | His cheeks are like beds of spice with ripening aromatic herbs. His lips are red blossoms; they drip choice myrrh. |
| 14. | His arms are rods of gold adorned with chrysolites. His body is a work of ivory covered with sapphires. |
| 15. | His legs are columns of marble resting on golden bases. His stature is like the trees on Lebanon, imposing as the cedars. |
| 16. | His mouth is sweetness itself; he is all delight. Such is my lover, and such my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. |
