1Friends Where has your beloved gone, most beautiful of women? Which way did your beloved turn, that we may look for him with you? She2My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to browse in the gardens and to gather lilies.3I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine; he browses among the lilies. He4You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling, as lovely as Jerusalem, as majestic as troops with banners.5Turn your eyes from me; they overwhelm me. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Gilead.6Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing. Each has its twin, not one of them is missing.7Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate.8Sixty queens there may be, and eighty concubines, and virgins beyond number;9but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the only daughter of her mother, the favourite of the one who bore her. The young women saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines praised her. Friends10Who is this that appears like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as the stars in procession? He11I 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.12Before I realised it, my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people.[1] Friends13Come 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 of Mahanaim?[2]
Song of Solomon 6
English Standard Version
1Others: Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you? (So 5:9)
Together in the Garden of Love
2She: My beloved has gone down to his garden to the beds of spices, to graze[1] in the gardens and to gather lilies. (So 1:7; So 2:1; So 4:16; So 5:1; So 5:13)3I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine; he grazes among the lilies. (So 2:16; So 7:10)
Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other
4He: You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners. (1Ki 14:17; Ps 48:2; Ps 50:2; So 1:5; So 1:15; So 6:10; La 2:15; Re 21:2)5Turn away your eyes from me, for they overwhelm me— Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead. (So 4:1)6Your teeth are like a flock of ewes that have come up from the washing; all of them bear twins; not one among them has lost its young. (So 4:2)7Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil. (So 4:3)8There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and virgins without number. (1Ki 11:3; Ps 45:9; Ps 45:14; So 3:7)9My dove, my perfect one, is the only one, the only one of her mother, pure to her who bore her. The young women saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines also, and they praised her. (Ge 30:13; Pr 17:25; So 2:14; So 5:2; So 6:8)10“Who is this who looks down like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as an army with banners?” (So 3:6; So 6:4)11She: I went down to the nut orchard to look at the blossoms of the valley, to see whether the vines had budded, whether the pomegranates were in bloom. (Job 8:11; So 7:12)12Before I was aware, my desire set me among the chariots of my kinsman, a prince.[2] (2Ki 2:12; 2Ki 13:14; Ps 35:8; Pr 5:6)13Others: [3] Return, return, O Shulammite, return, return, that we may look upon you. He: Why should you look upon the Shulammite, as upon a dance before two armies?[4] (Ge 32:2; Jud 21:21; 2Sa 17:24; 1Ki 1:3; 2Ki 4:12)