The Young Women
6 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
2 My beloved has gone down to his garden,
to the beds of spices,
to graze his flock[a] in the gardens
and gather lilies.
3 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
4 You are beautiful, my darling, like Tirzah,[c]
lovely like Jerusalem,
as awesome as an army with banners.
5 Turn your eyes from me,
for they excite me.[d]
Your hair is like a flock of goats
coming down from Mt. Gilead.
6 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.
7 Your temple[g] behind your veil
is like a slice of pomegranate.
8 There are sixty queens and eighty mistresses,[h]
and too many young women to count,
9 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
- Song of Solomon 6:2 The Heb. lacks his flock
- Song of Solomon 6:3 The Heb. lacks his flock
- Song of Solomon 6:4 I.e. a prominent city in the northern kingdom of Israel
- Song of Solomon 6:5 Or overwhelm me
- Song of Solomon 6:6 Lit. from washing
- Song of Solomon 6:6 Lit. been bereaved of; i.e. her teeth match
- Song of Solomon 6:7 Or brow
- Song of Solomon 6:8 Or concubines; i.e. secondary wives
- Song of Solomon 6:12 Lit. I did not know; i.e. was daydreaming
- Song of Solomon 6:12 Or of Amminadib
- Song of Solomon 6:13 This v. is 7:1 in MT
- Song of Solomon 6:13 Or look at Shulamit
- Song of Solomon 6:13 The Heb. lacks you watch
- Song of Solomon 6:13 Or the dance of Mahanaim