Read the Bible

¹ M How beautiful you are, my darling.
How very beautiful!
Behind your veil,
your eyes are doves.^(a)
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down Mount Gilead.^(b)
2 Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep
coming up from washing,
each one having a twin,
and not one missing.^[a](c)
3 Your lips are like a scarlet cord,^(d)
and your mouth^[b] is lovely.
Behind your veil,
your brow^[c] is like a slice of pomegranate.^(e)
4 Your neck is like the tower of David,^(f)
constructed in layers.
A thousand bucklers are hung on it—
all of them shields of warriors.^[d]
5 Your breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle,^(g) that feed among the lilies.
⁶ Before the day breaks^[e]
and the shadows flee,^(h)
I will make my way to the mountain of myrrh
and the hill of frankincense.^(i)
7 You are absolutely beautiful,^(j) my darling,
with no imperfection in you.

⁸ Come with me from Lebanon,^[f](k) my bride^(l)—
with me from Lebanon!
Descend from the peak of Amana,
from the summit of Senir and Hermon,^(m)
from the dens of the lions,
from the mountains of the leopards.
⁹ You have captured my heart,⁽ⁿ⁾ my sister,^[g](o) my bride.
You have captured my heart with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
¹⁰ How delightful your love is, my sister, my bride.
Your love is much better than wine,^(p)
and the fragrance of your perfume than any balsam.
¹¹ Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride.^(q)
Honey and milk^(r) are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

¹² My sister, my bride, you are a locked garden—
a locked garden^[h] and a sealed spring.^(s)
13 Your branches are a paradise^[i] of pomegranates
with choicest fruits,^(t)
henna with nard—
¹⁴ nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,^(u)
with all the trees of frankincense,^(v)
myrrh and aloes,^(w)
with all the best spices.
¹⁵ You are a garden spring,
a well of flowing water^(x)
streaming from Lebanon.

¹⁶ W Awaken,^(y) north wind—
come, south wind.
Blow on my garden,
and spread the fragrance of its spices.
Let my love come to his garden
and eat its choicest fruits.^(z)