1 “ How beautiful you are, my love! How beautiful you are! Your eyes are like doves behind your face-covering. Your hair is like a flock of goats coming down from Mount Gilead.

Lo, thou fair, my friend, lo, thou fair, Thine eyes doves behind thy veil, Thy hair as a row of the goats That have shone from mount Gilead,

2 Y our teeth are like a flock of sheep that have just had their wool cut and have come up from their washing. All have given birth to two lambs, and not one among them has lost her young.

Thy teeth as a row of the shorn ones That have come up from the washing, For all of them are forming twins, And a bereaved one is not among them.

3 Y our lips are like a bright red string. Your mouth is beautiful. The sides of your face are like a piece of a pomegranate under your covering.

As a thread of scarlet thy lips, And thy speech comely, As the work of the pomegranate thy temple behind thy veil,

4 Y our neck is like the tower of David, built with beauty. On it hang a thousand battle-coverings, the coverings of men of war.

As the tower of David thy neck, built for an armoury, The chief of the shields are hung on it, All shields of the mighty.

5 Y our two breasts are like two young deer, the two young ones of a gazelle, that eat among the lilies.

Thy two breasts as two fawns, Twins of a roe, that are feeding among lilies.

6 U ntil the morning comes and the shadows hurry away, I will go to the mountain of perfume plants, to the hill of special perfume.

Till the day doth break forth, And the shadows have fled away, I will get me unto the mountain of myrrh, And unto the hill of frankincense.

7 “ You are all beautiful, my love. You are perfect.

Thou all fair, my friend, And a blemish there is not in thee. Come from Lebanon, O spouse,

8 C ome with me from Lebanon, my bride. May you come with me from Lebanon. Travel down from the top of Amana, from the top of Senir and Hermon, from the homes of lions, from the mountain homes of leopards.

Come from Lebanon, come thou in. Look from the top of Amana, From the top of Shenir and Hermon, From the habitations of lions, From the mountains of leopards.

9 Y ou have made my heart beat faster, my sister, my bride. You have made my heart beat faster with one look from your eyes, with one piece of the beautiful chain around your neck.

Thou hast emboldened me, my sister-spouse, Emboldened me with one of thine eyes, With one chain of thy neck.

10 H ow beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the sweet smell of your oils than all kinds of spices!

How wonderful have been thy loves, my sister-spouse, How much better have been thy loves than wine, And the fragrance of thy perfumes than all spices.

11 H oney comes from your lips, my bride. Honey and milk are under your tongue. And the sweet smell of your clothing is like the smell of Lebanon.

Thy lips drop honey, O spouse, Honey and milk under thy tongue, And the fragrance of thy garments as the fragrance of Lebanon.

12 A garden closed and locked is my sister, my bride, a garden shut up and covered over.

A garden shut up my sister-spouse, A spring shut up -- a fountain sealed.

13 Y our young branches are a garden of pomegranates with all the best fruits, henna with nard plants.

Thy shoots a paradise of pomegranates, With precious fruits,

14 T here is nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all the best spices.

Cypresses with nard -- nard and saffron, Cane and cinnamon, With all trees of frankincense, Myrrh and aloes, with all chief spices.

15 Y ou are a garden well, a well of flowing water, and rivers coming from Lebanon.” The Woman

A fount of gardens, a well of living waters, And flowings from Lebanon!

16 “ Wake up, O north wind! Come, south wind! Blow upon my garden so the sweet smells will spread far. May my loved one come into his garden and eat its best fruits.”

Awake, O north wind, and come, O south, Cause my garden to breathe forth, its spices let flow, Let my beloved come to his garden, And eat its pleasant fruits!