Read the Bible

¹ My bride, my very own,
I come to my garden
    and enjoy its spices.
I eat my honeycomb and honey;
    I drink my wine and milk.

Eat and drink
until
    you are drunk with love.

² I was asleep, but dreaming:
The one I love was at the door,
    knocking and saying,
"My darling, my very own,
my flawless dove,
    open the door for me!
My head is drenched
    with evening dew."

³ But I had already undressed
    and bathed my feet.
Should I dress again
    and get my feet dirty?
⁴ Then my darling's hand
reached to open the latch,
    and my heart stood still.
⁵ When I rose to open the door,
my hands and my fingers
    dripped with perfume.

⁶ My heart stood still
    while he spoke to me,
but when I opened the door,
    my darling had disappeared.
I searched and shouted,
but I could not find him—
    there was no answer.
⁷ Then I was found by the guards
patrolling the town
    and guarding the wall.
They beat me up
    and stripped off my robe.

⁸ Young women of Jerusalem,
    if you find the one I love,
please say to him,
    "She is weak with desire."

⁹ Most beautiful of women,
why is the one you love
    more special than others?
Why do you ask us
    to tell him how you feel?

¹⁰ He is handsome and healthy,
the most outstanding
    among ten thousand.
¹¹ His head is purest gold;
his hair is wavy,
    black as a raven.
¹² His eyes are a pair of doves
bathing in a stream
    flowing with milk.^[a]
13 His face is a garden
    of sweet-smelling spices;
his lips are lilies
    dripping with perfume.

¹⁴ His arms are branches of gold
    covered with jewels;
his body is ivory^[b]
    decorated with sapphires.
¹⁵ His legs are columns of marble
    on feet of gold.
He stands there majestic
like Mount Lebanon
    and its choice cedar trees.
¹⁶ His kisses are sweet.
    I desire him so much!
Young women of Jerusalem,
    he is my lover and friend.