1  I ^gcame to my garden, my ^hsister, my bride,

I gathered my ⁱmyrrh with my spice,

I ate my ^jhoneycomb with my honey,

I ^kdrank my wine with my milk.

Eat, ^lfriends, drink,

and be drunk with love!

2  I slept, but my heart was awake.

A sound! My beloved is ^mknocking.

“Open to me, my ⁿsister, my ^olove,

my ^pdove, my ^qperfect one,

for my head is wet with dew,

my ^rlocks with the drops of the night.”

3  ^sI had put off my garment;

how could I put it on?

I had ^tbathed my feet;

how could I soil them?

4  My beloved put his hand to the latch,

and my heart was thrilled within me.

5  I arose to open to my beloved,

and my hands dripped with myrrh,

my fingers with ^uliquid myrrh,

on the handles of the bolt.

6  I opened to my beloved,

but my beloved had turned and gone.

My soul failed me when he ^vspoke.

^wI sought him, but found him not;

^xI called him, but he gave no answer.

7  ^yThe watchmen found me

as they went about in the city;

they beat me, they bruised me,

they took away my veil,

those watchmen of the walls.

8  I ^zadjure you, O ^adaughters of Jerusalem,

if you find my beloved,

that you tell him

^bI am sick with love.

9  What is your beloved more than another beloved,

O ^cmost beautiful among women?

What is your beloved more than another beloved,

that you thus ^zadjure us?

10  My beloved is radiant and ^druddy,

^edistinguished among ten thousand.

11  His head is the finest gold;

^fhis locks are wavy,

black as a raven.

12  His ^geyes are like doves

beside streams of water,

bathed in milk,

sitting beside a full pool.¹

13  His ⁱcheeks are like ^jbeds of spices,

mounds of sweet-smelling herbs.

His lips are ^klilies,

dripping ^uliquid myrrh.

14  His arms are rods of gold,

set with ^ljewels.

His body is polished ivory,²

bedecked with ^msapphires.³

15  His legs are alabaster columns,

set on bases of gold.

His appearance is like ^oLebanon,

choice as the cedars.

16  His ^pmouth⁴ is most sweet,

and he is altogether desirable.

This is my beloved and this is my friend,

O ^adaughters of Jerusalem.