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The Young Women

Where did your beloved go,
most beautiful of women?
Where did your beloved turn,
so we may look for him with you?

The Loved One

My beloved has gone down to his garden,
    to the beds of spices,
to graze his flock[a] in the gardens
    and gather lilies.
I belong to my beloved, and my beloved belongs to me.
    He is the one who grazes his flock[b] among the lilies.

The Lover

You are beautiful, my darling, like Tirzah,[c]
    lovely like Jerusalem,
        as awesome as an army with banners.
Turn your eyes from me,
    for they excite me.[d]
Your hair is like a flock of goats
    coming down from Mt. Gilead.
Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
    coming up from being washed.[e]
All of them are twins,
    not one has lost[f] her young.
Your temple[g] behind your veil
    is like a slice of pomegranate.
There are sixty queens and eighty mistresses,[h]
    and too many young women to count,
but my dove, my perfect one, is unique.
She’s unique to her mother,
    she’s pure to the one who gave birth to her.
Young women see her and call her blessed,
    queens and mistresses praise her.

The Young Women

10 Who is this who appears like the dawn,
    beautiful as the moon,
bright as the sun,
    awesome as an army with banners?

The Loved One

11 I went down to the walnut orchard,
    to look at the green sprouts in the valley,
to see whether the vine had budded,
    whether the pomegranates had blossomed.
12 Before I knew it,[i] I imagined myself
    among the chariots of my noble people.[j]

The Young Women

13 [k]Return, return, Shulammite,
    return, return, so we may look at you!

The Lover

Why should you look at the Shulammite,[l]
    like you watch[m] the dance of the two camps?[n]

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 6:2 The Heb. lacks his flock
  2. Song of Solomon 6:3 The Heb. lacks his flock
  3. Song of Solomon 6:4 I.e. a prominent city in the northern kingdom of Israel
  4. Song of Solomon 6:5 Or overwhelm me
  5. Song of Solomon 6:6 Lit. from washing
  6. Song of Solomon 6:6 Lit. been bereaved of; i.e. her teeth match
  7. Song of Solomon 6:7 Or brow
  8. Song of Solomon 6:8 Or concubines; i.e. secondary wives
  9. Song of Solomon 6:12 Lit. I did not know; i.e. was daydreaming
  10. Song of Solomon 6:12 Or of Amminadib
  11. Song of Solomon 6:13 This v. is 7:1 in MT
  12. Song of Solomon 6:13 Or look at Shulamit
  13. Song of Solomon 6:13 The Heb. lacks you watch
  14. Song of Solomon 6:13 Or the dance of Mahanaim

Friends

Where has your beloved(A) gone,
    most beautiful of women?(B)
Which way did your beloved turn,
    that we may look for him with you?

She

My beloved has gone(C) down to his garden,(D)
    to the beds of spices,(E)
to browse in the gardens
    and to gather lilies.
I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;(F)
    he browses among the lilies.(G)

He

You are as beautiful as Tirzah,(H) my darling,
    as lovely as Jerusalem,(I)
    as majestic as troops with banners.(J)
Turn your eyes from me;
    they overwhelm me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
    descending from Gilead.(K)
Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
    coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin,
    not one of them is missing.(L)
Your temples behind your veil(M)
    are like the halves of a pomegranate.(N)
Sixty queens(O) there may be,
    and eighty concubines,(P)
    and virgins beyond number;
but my dove,(Q) my perfect one,(R) is unique,
    the only daughter of her mother,
    the favorite of the one who bore her.(S)
The young women saw her and called her blessed;
    the queens and concubines praised her.

Friends

10 Who is this that appears like the dawn,
    fair as the moon, bright as the sun,
    majestic as the stars in procession?

He

11 I went down to the grove of nut trees
    to look at the new growth in the valley,
to see if the vines had budded
    or the pomegranates were in bloom.(T)
12 Before I realized it,
    my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people.[a]

Friends

13 Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
    come back, come back, that we may gaze on you!

He

Why would you gaze on the Shulammite
    as on the dance(U) of Mahanaim?[b]

Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 6:12 Or among the chariots of Amminadab; or among the chariots of the people of the prince
  2. Song of Songs 6:13 In Hebrew texts this verse (6:13) is numbered 7:1.