Song of Solomon 4
1 My darling, you are beautiful, you are very beautiful! Underneath your veil, your eyes are [as gentle as] [MET] doves. Your [long black] hair [moves from side to side] like [SIM] a flock of [black] goats moving down the slopes of Gilead Mountain.
How beautiful you look, my darling, how beautiful! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair flows down like a flock of goats descending Mount Gilead.
2 Your teeth are [very white] like [SIM] a flock of sheep [whose wool] has [just] been (shorn/cut off) and that have come up from being washed [in a stream]. You have all of your teeth; none of them is missing.
Your teeth are as white as a flock of sheep that are just shorn and washed. None of them are missing—they are all perfectly matched.
3 Your lips are like [SIM] a scarlet ribbon, and your mouth is lovely. Beneath your veil, your [round, rosy/red] cheeks are like [SIM] the halves of a pomegranate.
Your lips are as red as scarlet thread. Your mouth is gorgeous. Your cheeks are the blushing color of pomegranates behind your veil.
4 Your [long] neck is [beautiful] like [SIM] the tower of [King] David that was built using layers/rows of stone. [The ornaments on your necklaces are like] 1,000 [HYP] shields that are hanging [on the walls of a tower]; each one belongs to a warrior.
Your neck is as tall and shapely as David's tower, with your necklaces like the hanging shields of a thousand warriors.
5 Your breasts are [as beautiful] [SIM] as two (fawns/young gazelles) that eat [grass] among lilies.
Your breasts are like two fawns, two gazelles feeding among the lilies.
6 Until dawn [tomorrow morning] and the nighttime shadows/darkness disappear, I will [lie close to your breasts] that are [like] [MET] hills that are covered with incense [DOU].
Before the morning breezes blow and the shadows disappear, I must hurry to those mountains of myrrh and frankincense.
7 My darling, you are completely beautiful; your body is perfectly [formed]!
You are incredibly beautiful, my darling—you are absolutely flawless!
8 My bride, [it is as though you are in] [MET] Lebanon [far away, where I cannot reach you]; come back to me. [It is as though you are inaccessible] [MET] on the top of Hermon Mountain or the nearby peaks. Come from where the lions have their dens and where the leopards live on the mountains.
Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come from Lebanon. Come down from the peak of Amana, from the peaks of Senir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains where leopards live.
9 My bride [DOU], you who are dearer to me than my sister, you have captured my affection [IDM] by only once quickly looking at me, and by one [strand of] jewels in your necklace.
You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride. With just one look you stole my heart, with just one sparkle from a single one of your necklaces.
10 My bride, your love for me is delightful! It more delightful than wine! And the fragrance of your perfume is more pleasing than any spice!
How wonderful is your love, my sister, my bride! Your love is sweeter than wine. The way you smell from your perfumed oils is better than any spice.
11 Being kissed by you is [as enjoyable as eating] [MTY] honey; your kisses are as sweet as milk [mixed with] honey. The aroma of your clothes is like [SIM] the aroma of [cedar trees in] Lebanon.
Nectar drips from your lips; milk and honey are under your tongue. The smell of your clothes is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 My bride, [you who are dearer to me than] [MET] my sister, you are [like] [MET] a garden that is locked [in order that other men cannot enter it]; [you are like] [MET] a spring or a fountain that is covered [in order that others may not drink from it].
My sister, my bride, is a locked garden, a spring of water that is closed, a fountain that is sealed.
13 You are [like] [MET] an orchard of pomegranate trees full of delicious fruit, and plenty of [plants that produce] henna and nard [spices],
Your channel is a paradise of pomegranates, full of the best fruits, with henna and nard,
14 and saffron and calamus and cinnamon and many other kinds of incense, and myrrh and aloes and many [other] fine spices.
nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all kinds of trees producing frankincense, myrrh, aloes, and the finest spices.
15 [You are like] [MET] a fountain in a garden, [like] [MET] a spring of clear water that flows [down] from [the mountains of] Lebanon.
You are a garden fountain, a well of living water, a flowing stream from Lebanon.
16 [I want] the north wind and the south wind to come, and blow on my garden, [in order that] the fragrance [of the spices will] spread through the air. [Similarly], I want the one who loves me to come and enjoy [cuddling up to me] [like] [MET, EUP] someone comes into a garden and enjoys eating the fruit [that grows there].
Wake up, north wind! Come, south wind! Blow on my garden so its scent may be carried on the breeze. Let my love come to his garden and eat its best fruits.
