English Standard Version ESV
New Living Translation NLT
1 I came to my garden, my sister, my bride, I gathered my myrrh with my spice, I ate my honeycomb with my honey, I drank my wine with my milk. Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk with love!
1
I have entered my garden, my treasure, my bride! I gather myrrh with my spices and eat honeycomb with my honey. I drink wine with my milk. Young Women of Jerusalem Oh, lover and beloved, eat and drink! Yes, drink deeply of your love!
2 I slept, but my heart was awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking. “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one, for my head is wet with dew, my locks with the drops of the night. ”
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.”
3 I had put off my garment; how could I put it on? I had bathed my feet; how could I soil them?
3
But I responded, “I have taken off my robe. Should I get dressed again? I have washed my feet. Should I get them soiled?”
4 My beloved put his hand to the latch, and my heart was thrilled within me.
4
My lover tried to unlatch the door, and my heart thrilled within me.
5 I arose to open to my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh, on the handles of the bolt.
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I jumped up to open the door for my love, and my hands dripped with perfume. My fingers dripped with lovely myrrh as I pulled back the bolt.
6 I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and gone. My soul failed me when he spoke. I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.
6
I opened to my lover, but he was gone! My heart sank. I searched for him but could not find him anywhere. I called to him, but there was no reply.
7 The 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.
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The night watchmen found me as they made their rounds. They beat and bruised me and stripped off my veil, those watchmen on the walls.
8 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am sick with love.
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Make this promise, O women of Jerusalem— If you find my lover, tell him I am weak with love.
9 What is your beloved more than another beloved, O most beautiful among women? What is your beloved more than another beloved, that you thus adjure us?
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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 beloved is radiant and ruddy, distinguished among ten thousand.
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My lover is dark and dazzling, better than ten thousand others!
11 His head is the finest gold; his locks are wavy, black as a raven.
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His head is finest gold, his wavy hair is black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves beside streams of water, bathed in milk, sitting beside a full pool.
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His eyes sparkle like doves beside springs of water; they are set like jewels washed in milk.
13 His cheeks are like beds of spices, mounds of sweet-smelling herbs. His lips are lilies, dripping liquid myrrh.
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His cheeks are like gardens of spices giving off fragrance. His lips are like lilies, perfumed with myrrh.
14 His arms are rods of gold, set with jewels. His body is polished ivory, bedecked with sapphires.
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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 alabaster columns, set on bases of gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as the cedars.
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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 most sweet, and he is altogether desirable. This is my beloved and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
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His mouth is sweetness itself; he is desirable in every way. Such, O women of Jerusalem, is my lover, my friend.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.