Study Desk

He

You are as beautiful as Tirzah,^(h) my darling, as lovely as Jerusalem,⁽ⁱ⁾ as majestic as troops with banners.^(j)

Turn your eyes from me; they overwhelm me. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Gilead.^(k)

Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing. Each has its twin, not one of them is missing.^(l)

Your temples behind your veil^(m) are like the halves of a pomegranate.⁽ⁿ⁾

Sixty queens^(o) there may be, and eighty concubines,^(p) and virgins beyond number;

but my dove,^(q) my perfect one,^(r) is unique, the only daughter of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her.^(s) The young women saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines praised her.

Friends

Who is this that appears like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as the stars in procession?

He

I went down to the grove of nut trees to look at the new growth in the valley, to see if the vines had budded or the pomegranates were in bloom.^(t)

Before I realized it, my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people.^[a]

Friends

Come back, come back, O Shulammite; come back, come back, that we may gaze on you!

He

Why would you gaze on the Shulammite as on the dance^(u) of Mahanaim?^[b]

^[a]How beautiful your sandaled feet, O prince's^(a) daughter! Your graceful legs are like jewels, the work of an artist's hands.

Your navel is a rounded goblet that never lacks blended wine. Your waist is a mound of wheat encircled by lilies.

Your breasts^(b) are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle.

Your neck is like an ivory tower.^(c) Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon^(d) by the gate of Bath Rabbim. Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon^(e) looking toward Damascus.

Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel.^(f) Your hair is like royal tapestry; the king is held captive by its tresses.

How beautiful^(g) you are and how pleasing, my love, with your delights!^(h)

Your stature is like that of the palm, and your breasts⁽ⁱ⁾ like clusters of fruit.

I said, "I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit." May your breasts be like clusters of grapes on the vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples,^(j)

and your mouth like the best wine.

She

May the wine go straight to my beloved,^(k) flowing gently over lips and teeth.^[b]

I belong to my beloved, and his desire^(l) is for me.^(m)

Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside, let us spend the night in the villages.^[c]

Let us go early to the vineyards⁽ⁿ⁾ to see if the vines have budded,^(o) if their blossoms^(p) have opened, and if the pomegranates^(q) are in bloom^(r)— there I will give you my love.

The mandrakes^(s) send out their fragrance, and at our door is every delicacy, both new and old, that I have stored up for you, my beloved.^(t)

If only you were to me like a brother, who was nursed at my mother's breasts! Then, if I found you outside, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me.

I would lead you and bring you to my mother's house^(a)— she who has taught me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the nectar of my pomegranates.

His left arm is under my head and his right arm embraces me.^(b)

Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.^(c)