Young Women

Where has your love gone,
most beautiful of women?
Which way has he[a] turned?
We will seek him with you.

Woman

My love has gone down to his garden,(A)
to beds of spice,(B)
to feed in the gardens(C)
and gather lilies.(D)
I am my love’s and my love is mine;(E)
he feeds among the lilies.

Man

You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,
lovely as Jerusalem,
awe-inspiring as an army with banners.(F)
Turn your eyes away from me,
for they captivate me.(G)
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down from Gilead.(H)
Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
coming up from washing,
each one having a twin,
and not one missing.[b](I)
Behind your veil,(J)
your brow[c] is like a slice of pomegranate.
There are sixty queens
and eighty concubines(K)
and young women[d] without number.
But my dove,(L) my virtuous one, is unique;(M)
she is the favorite of her mother,
perfect to the one who gave her birth.
Women see her and declare her fortunate;(N)
queens and concubines also, and they sing her praises:
10 Who is this(O) who shines like the dawn,
as beautiful as the moon,
bright as the sun,
awe-inspiring as an army with banners?(P)

Woman

11 I came down to the walnut grove
to see the blossoms of the valley,
to see if the vines were budding(Q)
and the pomegranates blooming.
12 I didn’t know what was happening to me.
I felt like I was
in a chariot with a nobleman.[e]

Young Women

13 Come back, come back, Shulammite![f]
Come back, come back, that we may look at you!

Man

How you gaze at the Shulammite,
as you look at the dance(R) of the two camps![g](S)

Footnotes

  1. 6:1 Lit your love
  2. 6:6 Lit and no one bereaved among them
  3. 6:7 Or temple, or cheek, or lips
  4. 6:8 Or and virgins; Sg 1:3
  5. 6:12 Hb obscure
  6. 6:13 Or the perfect one, or the peaceable one
  7. 6:13 Or 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.