Canticle of Canticles 5

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	NEW JERUSALEM
1 I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride;	1 LOVER: I come into my garden, my sister, my promised bride, I pick my myrrh and balsam, I eat myhoney and my honeycomb, I drink my wine and my milk. POET: Eat, friends, and drink, drink deep, my dearestfriends.
2 I was sleeping, but my heart kept vigil;	2 BELOVED: I sleep, but my heart is awake. I hear my love knocking. 'Open to me, my sister, my beloved,my dove, my perfect one, for my head is wet with dew, my hair with the drops of night.'
3 I have taken off my robe,	3 -'I have taken off my tunic, am I to put it on again? I have washed my feet, am I to dirty them again?'
4 My lover put his hand through the opening;	4 My love thrust his hand through the hole in the door; I trembled to the core of my being.
5 I rose to open to my lover,	5 Then I got up to open to my love, myrrh ran off my hands, pure myrrh off my fingers, on to the handle ofthe bolt.
6 I opened to my lover-	6 I opened to my love, but he had turned and gone. My soul failed at his flight, I sought but could not findhim, I cal ed, but he did not answer.
7 The watchmen came upon me	7 The watchmen met me, those who go on their rounds in the city. They beat me, they wounded me, theytook my cloak away from me: those guardians of the ramparts!
8 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,	8 I charge you, daughters of Jerusalem, if you should find my love, what are you to tel him? -That I amsick with love!
9 How does your lover differ from any other,	9 CHORUS: What makes your lover better than other lovers, O loveliest of women? What makes yourlover better than other lovers, to put us under such an oath?
10 My lover is radiant and ruddy;	10 BELOVED: My love is fresh and ruddy, to be known among ten thousand.
11 His head is pure gold;	11 His head is golden, purest gold, his locks are palm fronds and black as the raven.
12 His eyes are like doves	12 His eyes are like doves beside the water-courses, bathing themselves in milk, perching on a fountain-rim.
13 His cheeks are like beds of spice	13 His cheeks are beds of spices, banks sweetly scented. His lips are lilies, distil ing pure myrrh.
14 His arms are rods of gold	14 His hands are golden, rounded, set with jewels of Tarshish. His bel y a block of ivory covered withsapphires.
15 His legs are columns of marble	15 His legs are alabaster columns set in sockets of pure gold. His appearance is that of Lebanon,unrival ed as the cedars.
16 His mouth is sweetness itself;	16 His conversation is sweetness itself, he is altogether lovable. Such is my love, such is my friend, Odaughters of Jerusalem.