< Song of Solomon 6 >
1 Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.
Chorus to Bride: Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? To where has your beloved turned aside, so that we may seek him with you?
2 My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
Bride: My beloved has descended to his garden, to the courtyard of aromatic plants, in order to pasture in the gardens and gather the lilies.
3 I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies.
I am for my beloved, and my beloved is for me. He pastures among the lilies.
4 Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners.
Groom to Bride: My love, you are beautiful: sweet and graceful, like Jerusalem; terrible, like an army in battle array.
5 Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.
Avert your eyes from me, for they have caused me to fly away. Your hair is like a flock of goats, which have appeared out of Gilead.
6 Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them.
Your teeth are like a flock of sheep, which have ascended from the washing, each one with its identical twin, and not one among them is barren.
7 As a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks.
Like the skin of a pomegranate, so are your cheeks, except for your hiddenness.
8 There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number.
There are sixty queens, and eighty concubines, and maidens without number.
9 My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.
One is my dove, my perfect one. One is her mother; elect is she who bore her. The daughters saw her, and they proclaimed her most blessed. The queens and concubines saw her, and they praised her.
10 Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?
Chorus to Groom: Who is she, who advances like the rising dawn, as beautiful as the moon, as elect as the sun, as terrible as an army in battle array?
11 I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded.
Bride: I descended to the garden of nuts, in order to see the fruits of the steep valleys, and to examine whether the vineyard had flourished and the pomegranates had produced buds.
12 Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib.
I did not understand. My soul was stirred up within me because of the chariots of Amminadab.
13 Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies.
Chorus to Bride: Return, return, O Sulamitess. Return, return, so that we may consider you. Chorus to Groom: What will you see in the Sulamitess, other than choruses of encampments?