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Song of Solomon 4-5
Easy-to-Read Version
Song of Solomon 4-5
Easy-to-Read Version
He Speaks to Her
4 My darling, you are so beautiful!
Oh, you are beautiful!
Your eyes are like doves
under your veil.
Your hair is long and flowing,
like little goats dancing down the slopes of Mount Gilead.
2 Your teeth are white like ewes[a]
just coming from their bath.
They all give birth to twins;
not one of them has lost a baby.
3 Your lips are like a red silk thread.
Your mouth is beautiful.
Your cheeks under your veil
are like two slices of pomegranate.
4 Your neck is long and thin
like David’s tower.
That tower was built to be decorated[b]
with a thousand shields on its walls,
with the shields of powerful soldiers.
5 Your breasts are like twin fawns,
like twins of a gazelle,
feeding among the lilies.
6 I will go to that mountain of myrrh
and to that hill of frankincense
while the day breathes its last breath,
and the shadows run away.
7 My darling, you are beautiful all over.
Every part of you is perfect.
8 Come with me, my bride, from Lebanon.
Come with me from Lebanon.
Come from the peak of Amana,[c]
from the top of Senir[d] and Hermon,
from the lion’s caves,
from the mountain of the leopards.
9 My darling,[e] my bride, you excite me!
You have stolen my heart with just one quick look from your eyes,
with just one of the jewels from your necklace.
10 Your love is so beautiful, my darling, my bride!
Your love is better than wine.
The smell of your perfume
is better than any kind of spice!
11 My bride, your lips drip honey.
Honey and milk are under your tongue.
Your clothes smell as sweet as perfume.[f]
12 My darling, my bride,
you are pure like a locked garden.
You are like a locked pool,
a closed fountain.
13 Your limbs are like a garden
filled with pomegranates and other pleasant fruit,
with all the best spices:
henna,[g]
14 nard, saffron,[h] calamus,[i] and cinnamon.[j]
Your limbs are like a garden
filled with trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloe.
15 You are like a garden fountain—
a well of fresh water—
flowing down from the mountains of Lebanon.
She Speaks
16 Wake up, north wind.
Come, south wind.
Blow on my garden.
Spread its sweet smell.
Let my lover enter his garden
and eat its pleasant fruit.
He Speaks
5 My darling my bride, I have entered my garden.
I have gathered my myrrh and spice.
I have eaten my honey and honeycomb.
I have drunk my wine and milk.
The Women Speak to the Lovers
Dearest friends, eat, drink!
Be drunk with love!
She Speaks
2 I am asleep,
but my heart is awake.
I hear my lover knocking, saying,
“Open to me, my darling, my love,
my dove, my perfect one!
My head is soaked with dew.
My hair is wet with the mist of the night.”
3 “I have taken off my robe.[k]
I don’t want to put it on again.
I have washed my feet.
I don’t want to get them dirty again.”
4 But my lover put his hand through the opening,[l]
and I felt sorry for him.[m]
5 I got up to open for my lover,
myrrh dripping from my hands,
myrrh scented lotion dripped from my fingers
onto the handles of the lock.
6 I opened for my lover,
but my lover had turned away and was gone!
I nearly died
when he came and went.[n]
I looked for him,
but I couldn’t find him.
I called for him,
but he didn’t answer me.
7 The guards patrolling the city found me.
They hit me.
They hurt me.
The guards on the wall
took my robe from me.
8 I tell you, women of Jerusalem,
if you find my lover, tell him I am weak with love.[o]
The Women of Jerusalem Answer Her
9 Beautiful woman,
how is your lover different from other lovers?
Is your lover better than other lovers?
Is that why you ask us to make this promise?
She Answers the Women of Jerusalem
10 My lover is tanned and radiant.
He would stand out among 10,000 men.
11 His head is like the purest gold.
His hair is curly and as black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves by a stream,
like doves in a pool of milk,
like a jewel in its setting.
13 His cheeks are like a garden of spices,
like flowers used for perfume.
His lips are like lilies,
dripping with liquid myrrh.
14 His arms are like gold rods,
filled with jewels.
His body is like smooth ivory
with sapphires set in it.
15 His legs are like marble pillars
on bases of fine gold.
He stands tall
like the finest cedar tree in Lebanon!
16 Yes, women of Jerusalem, my lover is everything I desire.
His mouth is the sweetest of all.
This is my lover;
this is my darling.
Footnotes
- Song of Solomon 4:2 ewes Female goats.
- Song of Solomon 4:4 Your neck … decorated Or “Your neck is like David’s tower, built with rows of stone.” This would mean she wore many necklaces, one above the other, which looked like rows of stone in a tower.
- Song of Solomon 4:8 Amana The name of a mountain in Lebanon.
- Song of Solomon 4:8 Senir The Amorite word for “Snow Mountain.” This means Mount Hermon.
- Song of Solomon 4:9 darling Literally, “sister.” Also in verses 10, 11; 5:1, 2.
- Song of Solomon 4:11 perfume Or “Lebanon.”
- Song of Solomon 4:13 henna A plant with sweet-smelling, blue-yellow flowers that grows in clusters (groups) like grapes.
- Song of Solomon 4:14 saffron A kind of yellow flower used in making perfume.
- Song of Solomon 4:14 calamus A kind of reed plant used in making perfume.
- Song of Solomon 4:14 cinnamon A kind of plant used as a spice and in making perfume.
- Song of Solomon 5:3 robe Or “veil,” a piece of cloth used to cover a person’s face. Also in verse 7.
- Song of Solomon 5:4 put … opening Or “pulled his hand from the opening.” In one sense, this might refer to a lock and key. Some ancient keys were shaped like a hand. The key was inserted through a hole in the door, and the “fingers” fit into special holes that allowed the bolt to slide, locking and unlocking the door.
- Song of Solomon 5:4 I felt sorry for him Literally, “My insides stirred for him.”
- Song of Solomon 5:6 I nearly died … went Or “My soul left when he spoke.”
- Song of Solomon 5:8 I am weak with love Or “I am lovesick.”
Song of Songs 4-5
New International Version
Song of Songs 4-5
New International Version
He
4 How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil(A) are doves.(B)
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from the hills of Gilead.(C)
2 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn,
coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin;
not one of them is alone.(D)
3 Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
your mouth(E) is lovely.(F)
Your temples behind your veil
are like the halves of a pomegranate.(G)
4 Your neck is like the tower(H) of David,
built with courses of stone[a];
on it hang a thousand shields,(I)
all of them shields of warriors.
5 Your breasts(J) are like two fawns,
like twin fawns of a gazelle(K)
that browse among the lilies.(L)
6 Until the day breaks
and the shadows flee,(M)
I will go to the mountain of myrrh(N)
and to the hill of incense.
7 You are altogether beautiful,(O) my darling;
there is no flaw(P) in you.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,(Q)
come with me from Lebanon.
Descend from the crest of Amana,
from the top of Senir,(R) the summit of Hermon,(S)
from the lions’ dens
and the mountain haunts of leopards.
9 You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;(T)
you have stolen my heart
with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.(U)
10 How delightful(V) is your love(W), my sister, my bride!
How much more pleasing is your love than wine,(X)
and the fragrance of your perfume(Y)
more than any spice!
11 Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride;
milk and honey are under your tongue.(Z)
The fragrance of your garments
is like the fragrance of Lebanon.(AA)
12 You are a garden(AB) locked up, my sister, my bride;(AC)
you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.(AD)
13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates(AE)
with choice fruits,
with henna(AF) and nard,
14 nard and saffron,
calamus and cinnamon,(AG)
with every kind of incense tree,
with myrrh(AH) and aloes(AI)
and all the finest spices.(AJ)
15 You are[b] a garden(AK) fountain,(AL)
a well of flowing water
streaming down from Lebanon.
She
16 Awake, north wind,
and come, south wind!
Blow on my garden,(AM)
that its fragrance(AN) may spread everywhere.
Let my beloved(AO) come into his garden
and taste its choice fruits.(AP)
He
5 I have come into my garden,(AQ) my sister, my bride;(AR)
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;
I have drunk my wine and my milk.(AS)
Friends
Eat, friends, and drink;
drink your fill of love.
She
2 I slept but my heart was awake.
Listen! My beloved is knocking:
“Open to me, my sister, my darling,
my dove,(AT) my flawless(AU) one.(AV)
My head is drenched with dew,
my hair with the dampness of the night.”
3 I have taken off my robe—
must I put it on again?
I have washed my feet—
must I soil them again?
4 My beloved thrust his hand through the latch-opening;
my heart began to pound for him.
5 I arose to open for my beloved,
and my hands dripped with myrrh,(AW)
my fingers with flowing myrrh,
on the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened for my beloved,(AX)
but my beloved had left; he was gone.(AY)
My heart sank at his departure.[c]
I looked(AZ) for him but did not find him.
I called him but he did not answer.
7 The watchmen found me
as they made their rounds in the city.(BA)
They beat me, they bruised me;
they took away my cloak,
those watchmen of the walls!
8 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you(BB)—
if you find my beloved,(BC)
what will you tell him?
Tell him I am faint with love.(BD)
Friends
9 How is your beloved better than others,
most beautiful of women?(BE)
How is your beloved better than others,
that you so charge us?
She
10 My beloved is radiant and ruddy,
outstanding among ten thousand.(BF)
11 His head is purest gold;
his hair is wavy
and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves(BG)
by the water streams,
washed in milk,(BH)
mounted like jewels.
13 His cheeks(BI) are like beds of spice(BJ)
yielding perfume.
His lips are like lilies(BK)
dripping with myrrh.(BL)
14 His arms are rods of gold
set with topaz.
His body is like polished ivory
decorated with lapis lazuli.(BM)
15 His legs are pillars of marble
set on bases of pure gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,(BN)
choice as its cedars.
16 His mouth(BO) is sweetness itself;
he is altogether lovely.
This is my beloved,(BP) this is my friend,
daughters of Jerusalem.(BQ)
Footnotes
- Song of Songs 4:4 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
- Song of Songs 4:15 Or I am (spoken by She)
- Song of Songs 5:6 Or heart had gone out to him when he spoke
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.