< Song of Solomon 6 >
1 So where has your love gone, most beautiful of women? Which direction did he go so we can look for him with you?
Where has your beloved gone, you fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you?
2 My love has gone down to his garden, to his flowerbeds of spices. He enjoys feeding in the gardens and plucks lilies.
My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
3 I am my love's, and my love is mine! He is the one who feeds among the lilies.
I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. He browses among the lilies,
4 You are beautiful, my darling, as pretty as Tirzah, as lovely as Jerusalem—you look stunning!
You are beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners.
5 Please turn your eyes away from me—they're driving me insane! Your hair flows down like a flock of goats descending Mount Gilead.
Turn away your eyes from me, for they have overcome me. Your hair is like a flock of goats, that lie along the side of Gilead.
6 Your teeth are as white as a flock of sheep that are just shorn and washed. None of them are missing—they are all perfectly matched!
Your teeth are like a flock of ewes, which have come up from the washing; of which every one has twins; none is bereaved among them.
7 Your cheeks are the blushing color of pomegranates behind your veil.
Your temples are like a piece of a pomegranate behind your veil.
8 There may be sixty queens and eighty concubines, and countless more women,
There are sixty queens, eighty secondary wives, and virgins without number.
9 but my love, my perfect love, she's the only one! She's her mother's favorite, special to the one who gave birth to her. Young women see her and say how lucky she is; queens and concubines sing her praises.
My dove, my perfect one, is unique. She is her mother's only daughter. She is the favorite one of her who bore her. The daughters saw her, and called her blessed; the queens and the secondary wives, and they praised her.
10 Who is this who is like the dawn shining down from above, beautiful as the moon, bright as the shining sun? You look stunning!
Who is she who looks forth as the morning, beautiful as the moon, clear as the sun, and awesome as an army with banners?
11 I went down to the walnut orchard to see if the trees were in leaf in the valley, to find out whether the grapevines had budded or the pomegranates were in bloom.
I went down into the nut tree grove, to see the green plants of the valley, to see whether the vine budded, and the pomegranates were in flower.
12 I was so excited it was like I was riding in a royal chariot.
Without realizing it, my desire set me with my royal people's chariots.
13 Come back, come back, Shulammite woman; come back, come back, so we can look at you! Woman: Why do you want to look at the Shulammite dancing the dance of two camps?
Return, return, Shulammite. Return, return, that we may gaze at you. Why do you desire to gaze at the Shulammite, as at the dance of Mahanaim?