¹ How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
O noble daughter!
Your rounded thighs are like jewels,
the work of a master hand.
² Your navel is a rounded bowl
that never lacks mixed wine.
Your belly is a heap of wheat,
encircled with lilies.
³ Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
⁴ Your neck is like an ivory tower.
Your eyes are pools in Heshbon,
by the gate of Bath-rabbim.
Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon,
which looks toward Damascus.
⁵ Your head crowns you like Carmel,
and your flowing locks are like purple;
a king is held captive in the tresses.

⁶ How beautiful and pleasant you are,
O loved one, with all your delights!
⁷ Your stature is like a palm tree,
and your breasts are like its clusters.
⁸ I say I will climb the palm tree
and lay hold of its fruit.
Oh may your breasts be like clusters of the vine,
and the scent of your breath like apples,
⁹ and your mouth like the best wine.

She

It goes down smoothly for my beloved,
gliding over lips and teeth.

¹⁰ I am my beloved’s,
and his desire is for me.

The Bride Gives Her Love

¹¹ Come, my beloved,
let us go out into the fields
and lodge in the villages;
¹² let us go out early to the vineyards
and see whether the vines have budded,
whether the grape blossoms have opened
and the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my love.
¹³ The mandrakes give forth fragrance,
and beside our doors are all choice fruits,
new as well as old,
which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.

 

 

Reflection

• The lover offers his beloved praise in exquisite detail in vv1-9. What does this reveal about their love?
• In v10 we see another variation of the refrain of 2:16 and 6:3. What truth about love and desire do you find here?
• How does sexual love within a marriage involve discoveries “both new and old” (v13) that a one-night stand does not? In what situations are you likely to be led astray by the media’s depictions of love?
• Married love is exclusive. Spouses belong to one another in a way they do not belong to any other person on earth. The exclusive fidelity of a marriage is a form of chastity, a sacred commitment. However, this exclusivity can sometimes be eroded as time passes and betrayed.
• Here is a suggestion: copy out your marriage vows or this verse v10 on an index card or piece of paper. Place it somewhere that you will see it often – in your Bible as a bookmark, in your wallet, on your smartphone, etc. Each time you see it, reflect on how well you are honoring your vows.

Prayer & Journaling:

Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what he wants to tell me. Then write down any thought and/or prayer in the “Spiritual Journal” book.