Song of Solomon

¹ breathed the sweet fragrance. I ate the fruit and honey, I drank the nectar and wine. Celebrate with me, friends! Raise your glasses—"To life! To love!"

² Oh, listen! It's the sound of my lover knocking, calling! "Let me in, dear companion, dearest friend, my dove, consummate lover! I'm soaked with the dampness of the night, drenched with dew, shivering and cold."

³ I'm bathed and in bed—do you want me to get dirty?"

⁴ and the longer he knocked, the more excited I became.

⁵ sweetly ready to receive him, Desiring and expectant as I turned the door handle.

⁶ My loved one had tired of waiting and left. And I died inside—oh, I felt so bad! I ran out looking for him But he was nowhere to be found. I called into the darkness—but no answer.

⁷ as they patrolled the streets of the city. They slapped and beat and bruised me, ripping off my clothes, These watchmen, who were supposed to be guarding the city.

⁸ if you find my lover, Please tell him I want him, that I'm heartsick with love for him.

⁹ What's so special about him that you beg for our help?

¹⁰ red-blooded, radiant! He's one in a million. There's no one quite like him!

¹¹ with raven black curls tumbling across his shoulders.

¹² but deep-set, brimming with meaning, like wells of water.

¹³ His voice, his words, warm and reassuring.

¹⁴ quiet and beautiful. His torso is the work of a sculptor, hard and smooth as ivory.

¹⁵ strong and deep-rooted, A rugged mountain of a man, aromatic with wood and stone.

¹⁶ Everything about him delights me, thrills me through and through! That's my lover, that's my man, dear Jerusalem sisters.