መኃልየ መኃልይ 7

Come back, Shulammite

¹Come back, come back, Shulammite; \q come back, come back, so that we may look at you! \q Why do you want to look at the Shulammite \q as at the dance of Mahanaim?^{abcd 2}How beautiful your feet are in sandals, noble daughter! \q The curves of your thighs are like jewels, \q the work of a master craftsman.^{e 3}Your navel is a rounded bowl; \q may it never lack spiced wine. \q Your belly is a heap of wheat \q bordered with lilies. ⁴Your breasts are like two fawns, \q the twins of a gazelle. ⁵Your neck is like an ivory tower; \q your eyes are the pools of Heshbon beside the gate of Bath-rabbim; \q your nose is like Lebanon’s tower \q that looks out toward Damascus. ⁶Your head crowns you like Carmel, \q and your flowing hair is like purple; \q a king is held captive by its locks. ⁷How beautiful and how pleasing you are, \q love, with all your delights!^{f 8}You are as tall as a palm tree, \q and your breasts are like its clusters of fruit. ⁹I said: I will climb the palm tree \q and take hold of its branches of fruit. \q Oh, may your breasts be like clusters of grapes, \q and the scent of your breath like apples, ¹⁰and your mouth like the finest wine, \q flowing smoothly to my beloved, \q gliding over the lips of those who sleep.^{gh 11}I am my beloved’s, \q and his desire is for me.

She invites him to the fields

¹²Come, my beloved, let us go out into the country \q and spend the night in the villages.^{i 13}Let us go early to the vineyards \q to see if the vines have budded and their blossoms opened, \q and if the pomegranates are in flower. \q There I will give my love to you. ¹⁴The mandrakes give off their scent, and at our doors are all kinds of choice fruits, \q new as well as old, \q which I have saved for you, my beloved.