Admiration by the Bridegroom

1How beautiful are your sandaled feet,

O daughter of the prince!

The curves of your thighs are like jewels,

the handiwork of a master.

2Your navel is a rounded goblet;

it never lacks blended wine.

Your waist is a mound of wheat

encircled by the lilies.

3Your breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle.

4Your neck is like a tower

made of ivory;

your eyes are like the pools of Heshbon

by the gate of Bath-rabbim;

your nose is like the tower of Lebanon,

facing toward Damascus.

5Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel,

the hair of your head like purple threads;

the king is captured in your tresses.

6How fair and pleasant you are,

O love, with your delights!

7Your stature is like a palm tree;

your breasts are clusters of fruit.

8I said, “I will climb the palm tree;

I will take hold of its fruit.”

May your breasts be like clusters of the vine,

the fragrance of your breath like apples,

9and your mouth 7:9 Hebrew palate like the finest wine.

The Bride

May it flow smoothly to my beloved,

gliding gently over lips and teeth.7:9 LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate; Hebrew gliding gently over lips as we sleep

10I belong to my beloved,

and his desire is for me.

11Come, my beloved,

let us go to the countryside;

let us spend the night among the wildflowers.7:11 Or among the henna blossoms or in the villages

12Let us go early to the vineyards

to see if the vine has budded,

if the blossom has opened,

if the pomegranates are in bloom—

there I will give you my love.

13The mandrakes send forth a fragrance,

and at our door is every delicacy,

new as well as old,

that I have treasured up for you, my beloved.