6 Where has your lover gone,
most beautiful among women?
Where has your lover turned,
so we may seek him with you?
2 My lover went down to his garden,
to the beds of balsam
to graze his flocks in the gardens
and to gather lilies.
3 I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.
He browses among the lilies.
Acclaiming the Bride’s Beauty
4 You are beautiful, my darling,
like Tirzah,
lovely as Jerusalem,
awesome as an army with banners.
5 Turn your eyes away from me,
for they overwhelm me!
Your hair is like a flock of ewe goats
descending down from Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
that have come up from the washing.
Each of them has a twin,
and none among them is missing.
7 Your temple is like a slice of pomegranate
behind your veil.
8 There are sixty queens, eighty concubines,
and young women beyond number.
9 Yet my dove, my perfect one is unique.
She is her mother’s only one—
a virtuous child of the one who bore her.
Maidens saw her and called her blessed.
Queens and concubines praised her.
10 Who is this that appears like dawn?
As beautiful as the moon,
bright as the sun,
awesome as an army with banners.
11 I went down into the garden of nut trees
to look at the fruit of the valley,
to see if the vine had budded,
or the pomegranates had bloomed.
12 Before I was aware, my soul set me
among the chariots of my princely people.