Be Reconciled

⁴ “You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,
As lovely as Jerusalem,
As awesome as an army with banners.
⁵ Turn your eyes away from me,
For they have confused me;
Your hair is like a flock of goats
That have descended from Gilead.
⁶ Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
That have come up from their watering place,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has lost her young.
⁷ Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate
Behind your veil.
⁸ There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,
And young women without number;
⁹ But my dove, my perfect one, is unique:
She is her mother’s only daughter;
She is the pure child of the one who gave birth to her.
The young women saw her and called her blessed,
The queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,

¹³ “Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
Come back, come back, so that we may look at you!”

“Why should you look at the Shulammite,
As at the dance of the two armies?

7 “How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
Prince’s daughter!
The curves of your hips are like jewels,
The work of the hands of an artist.
² Your navel is like a round goblet
That never lacks mixed wine;
Your belly is like a heap of wheat,
Surrounded with lilies.
³ Your two breasts are like two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle.
⁴ Your neck is like a tower of ivory,
Your eyes like the pools in Heshbon
By the gate of Bath-rabbim;
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon,
Which looks toward Damascus.
⁵ Your head crowns you like Carmel,
And the flowing hair of your head is like purple threads;
The king is captivated by your tresses.
⁶ How beautiful and how delightful you are,
My love, with all your delights!
⁷ Your stature is like a palm tree,
And your breasts are like its clusters.
⁸ I said, ‘I will climb the palm tree,
I will grasp its fruit stalks.’
Oh, may your breasts be like clusters of the vine,
And the fragrance of your breath like apples,
⁹ And your mouth like the best wine!”

“It goes down smoothly for my beloved,
Flowing gently through the lips of those who are asleep.

¹⁰ “I am my beloved’s,
And his desire is for me.
¹¹ Come, my beloved, let’s go out to the country,
Let’s spend the night in the villages.
¹² Let’s rise early and go to the vineyards;
Let’s see whether the vine has grown
And its buds have opened,
And whether the pomegranates have bloomed.
There I will give you my love.
¹³ The mandrakes have given forth fragrance;
And over our doors are all delicious fruits,
New as well as old,
Which I have saved for you, my beloved.

8 “Oh that you were like a brother to me
Who nursed at my mother’s breasts.
If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you;
No one would despise me, either.
² I would lead you and bring you
Into the house of my mother, who used to instruct me;
I would give you spiced wine to drink from the juice of my pomegranates.
³ Let his left hand be under my head,
And his right hand embrace me.”

⁴ “Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem:
Do not disturb or awaken my love
Until she pleases.”