Verse 1

The Lover to His Beloved: I have entered my garden, O my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my balsam spice. I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk!The Poet to the Couple: Eat, friends, and drink! Drink freely, O lovers!

Referenced Verses

  • Song 6:2 : 2 The Beloved to the Maidens: My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the flowerbeds of balsam spices, to graze in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
  • Isa 61:11 : 11 For just as the ground produces its crops and a garden yields its produce, so the Sovereign LORD will cause deliverance to grow, and give his people reason to praise him in the sight of all the nations.
  • John 15:14-15 : 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because the slave does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because I have revealed to you everything I heard from my Father.
  • John 3:29 : 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. This then is my joy, and it is complete.
  • Song 4:16 : 16 The Beloved to Her Lover: Awake, O north wind; come, O south wind! Blow on my garden so that its fragrant spices may send out their sweet smell. May my beloved come into his garden and eat its delightful fruit!
  • John 14:21-23 : 21 The person who has my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him.” 22 “Lord,” Judas(not Judas Iscariot) said,“what has happened that you are going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus replied,“If anyone loves me, he will obey my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him.
  • Acts 11:29 : 29 So the disciples, each in accordance with his financial ability, decided to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.
  • 2 Cor 9:11-15 : 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you may be generous on every occasion, which is producing through us thanksgiving to God, 12 because the service of this ministry is not only providing for the needs of the saints but is also overflowing with many thanks to God. 13 Through the evidence of this service they will glorify God because of your obedience to your confession in the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your sharing with them and with everyone. 14 And in their prayers on your behalf they long for you because of the extraordinary grace God has shown to you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
  • Eph 5:18 : 18 And do not get drunk with wine, which is debauchery, but be filled by the Spirit,
  • 1 Thess 3:8-9 : 8 For now we are alive again, if you stand firm in the Lord. 9 For how can we thank God enough for you, for all the joy we feel because of you before our God?
  • Heb 2:12-14 : 12 saying,“I will proclaim your name to my brothers; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.” 13 Again he says,“I will be confident in him,” and again,“Here I am, with the children God has given me.” 14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death(that is, the devil),
  • Rev 22:17 : 17 And the Spirit and the bride say,“Come!” And let the one who hears say:“Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wants it take the water of life free of charge.
  • Isa 23:18 : 18 Her profits and earnings will be set apart for the LORD. They will not be stored up or accumulated, for her profits will be given to those who live in the LORD’s presence and will be used to purchase large quantities of food and beautiful clothes.
  • Isa 51:3 : 3 Certainly the LORD will console Zion; he will console all her ruins. He will make her wilderness like Eden, her arid rift valley like the Garden of the LORD. Happiness and joy will be restored to her, thanksgiving and the sound of music.
  • Isa 53:11 : 11 Having suffered, he will reflect on his work, he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done.“My servant will acquit many, for he carried their sins.
  • Isa 55:1-2 : 1 The Lord Gives an Invitation“Hey, all who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come! Buy and eat! Come! Buy wine and milk without money and without cost! 2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? Why spend your hard-earned money on something that will not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is nourishing! Enjoy fine food!
  • Isa 58:11 : 11 The LORD will continually lead you; he will feed you even in parched regions. He will give you renewed strength, and you will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring that continually produces water.
  • Isa 62:8-9 : 8 The LORD swears an oath by his right hand, by his strong arm:“I will never again give your grain to your enemies as food, and foreigners will not drink your wine, which you worked hard to produce. 9 But those who harvest the grain will eat it, and will praise the LORD. Those who pick the grapes will drink the wine in the courts of my holy sanctuary.”
  • Isa 65:13 : 13 So this is what the Sovereign LORD says:“Look, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry! Look, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty! Look, my servants will rejoice, but you will be humiliated!
  • Isa 66:14 : 14 When you see this, you will be happy, and you will be revived. The LORD will reveal his power to his servants and his anger to his enemies.
  • Zech 9:15-17 : 15 The LORD of Heaven’s Armies will guard them, and they will prevail and overcome with sling stones. Then they will drink, and will become noisy like drunkards, full like the sacrificial basin or like the corners of the altar. 16 On that day the LORD their God will deliver them as the flock of his people, for they are the precious stones of a crown sparkling over his land. 17 How precious and fair! Grain will make the young men flourish and new wine the young women.
  • Matt 25:40 : 40 And the king will answer them,‘I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me.’
  • Luke 12:4 : 4 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more they can do.
  • Luke 15:6-7 : 6 Returning home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, telling them,‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.
  • Luke 15:9-9 : 9 Then when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying,‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”
  • Song 6:11 : 11 The Return to the VineyardsThe Lover to His Beloved: I went down to the orchard of walnut trees, to look for the blossoms of the valley, to see if the vines had budded or if the pomegranates were in bloom.
  • Song 8:1 : 1 The Beloved’s Wish SongThe Beloved to Her Lover: Oh, how I wish you were my little brother, nursing at my mother’s breasts; if I saw you outside, I could kiss you– surely no one would despise me!
  • Song 8:13 : 13 Epilogue: The Lover’s Request and His Beloved’s InvitationThe Lover to His Beloved: O you who stay in the gardens, my companions are listening attentively for your voice; let me be the one to hear it!
  • Deut 16:13-17 : 13 The Festival of Temporary Shelters You must celebrate the Feast of Shelters for seven days, at the time of the grain and grape harvest. 14 You are to rejoice in your festival, you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows who are in your villages. 15 You are to celebrate the festival seven days before the LORD your God in the place he chooses, for he will bless you in all your productivity and in whatever you do; so you will indeed rejoice! 16 Three times a year all your males must appear before the LORD your God in the place he chooses for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Shelters; and they must not appear before him empty-handed. 17 Every one of you must give as you are able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you.
  • Deut 26:10-14 : 10 So now, look! I have brought the first of the ground’s produce that you, LORD, have given me.” Then you must set it down before the LORD your God and worship before him. 11 You will celebrate all the good things that the LORD your God has given you and your family, along with the Levites and the resident foreigners among you. 12 Presentation of the Third-year Tithe When you finish tithing all your income in the third year(the year of tithing), you must give it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows so that they may eat to their satisfaction in your villages. 13 Then you shall say before the LORD your God,“I have removed the sacred offering from my house and given it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows just as you have commanded me. I have not violated or forgotten your commandments. 14 I have not eaten anything when I was in mourning, or removed any of it while ceremonially unclean, or offered any of it to the dead; I have obeyed you and have done everything you have commanded me.
  • 2 Chr 31:6-9 : 6 The Israelites and people of Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also contributed a tenth of their cattle and sheep, as well as a tenth of the holy items consecrated to the LORD their God. They brought them and placed them in many heaps. 7 In the third month they began piling their contributions in heaps and finished in the seventh month. 8 When Hezekiah and the officials came and saw the heaps, they praised the LORD and pronounced blessings on his people Israel. 9 When Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the heaps, 10 Azariah, the head priest from the family of Zadok, said to him,“Since the contributions began arriving in the LORD’s temple, we have had plenty to eat and have a large quantity left over. For the LORD has blessed his people, and this large amount remains.”
  • Ps 16:3 : 3 As for God’s chosen people who are in the land, and the leading officials I admired so much–
  • Ps 147:11 : 11 The LORD takes delight in his faithful followers, and in those who wait for his loyal love.
  • Prov 9:5 : 5 “Come, eat some of my food, and drink some of the wine I have mixed.
  • Song 4:9-9 : 9 You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride! You have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. 10 How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine; the fragrance of your perfume is better than any spice! 11 Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride, honey and milk are under your tongue. The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. 12 The Wedding Night: The Delightful GardenThe Lover to His Beloved: You are a locked garden, my sister, my bride; you are an enclosed spring, a sealed-up fountain. 13 Your shoots are a royal garden full of pomegranates with choice fruits: henna with nard, 14 nard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon with every kind of spice, myrrh and aloes with all the finest spices.
  • Isa 5:1 : 1 A Love Song Gone Sour I will sing to my love– a song to my lover about his vineyard. My love had a vineyard on a fertile hill.