Song of Solomon 6

1 You who are the most beautiful of all the women, where has the one who loves you gone? [If you tell us] which [RHQ] direction he went, we will go with you to search for him.

Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Which way has he turned? We will seek him with you.

2 The one who loves me has now come [to me, who am like] [MET, EUP] his garden, He has come to [enjoy my (charms/physical attractions) which are like] [MET, EUP] spices, to enjoy cuddling up to me [EUP, MET], and [kissing my lips, which are like] [MET] lilies.

My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flock in the gardens and to gather lilies.

3 I belong to the one who loves me, and the one who loves me belongs to me; he [enjoys kissing] my lips like [MET] [a shepherd enjoys] taking care of [his sheep].

I belong to my beloved and he belongs to me; he pastures his flock among the lilies.

4 My darling, you are beautiful, like [SIM] Tirzah [the capital city of Israel] and Jerusalem [the capital city of Judah are beautiful]; you are as exciting [MET] as a [group/battalion of] troops holding up their banners.

You are as beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, as lovely as Jerusalem, as majestic as troops with banners.

5 Quit looking at me like that, because your eyes excite me very much. Your [long black] hair [moves from side to side] like [SIM] a flock of [black] goats [moving down the slopes] of Gilead [Mountain].

Turn your eyes away from me, for they have overcome me. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down from Gilead.

6 Your teeth are [very white] like [SIM] a flock of sheep [whose wool] has just been shorn and that have come up from being washed [in a stream]. You have all of your teeth; none of them is missing.

Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing; each has its twin, and not one of them is lost.

7 Beneath your veil, your cheeks are like [SIM] the halves of a pomegranate.

Your brow behind your veil is like a slice of pomegranate.

8 Even if a king had 60 queens and 80 (concubines/slave wives) and more young women than anyone can count,

There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and maidens without number,

9 [none of them would be like] my dove, who is perfect, you who are your mother’s only daughter, whom your mother considers to be very precious. [Other] young women who see you say that you are fortunate, and the queens and concubines recognize that you [are very beautiful].

but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the favorite of the mother who bore her. The maidens see her and call her blessed; the queens and concubines sing her praises.

10 Who is [RHQ] this woman who is [as delightful] as [SIM] the dawn, as fair/delightful [to look at] as [the light of] the moon, as exciting as a [group/battalion of] troops holding up their banners?

Who is this who shines like the dawn, as fair as the moon, as bright as the sun, as majestic as the stars in procession?

11 I went down to some walnut trees to look at the new plants that were growing in the valley. I wanted to see if the grapevines had budded or if the pomegranate trees were blooming.

I went down to the walnut grove to see the blossoms of the valley, to see if the vines were budding or the pomegranates were in bloom.

12 [But] before I realized it, my desire [to make love caused me to be as excited as] a prince riding in a chariot.

Before I realized it, my desire had set me among the royal chariots of my people.

13 You who are the perfect one, come back [to us], in order that we may see you! Why do you want to look at this woman who is perfect, like [SIM] you like to watch two rows/lines of people dancing?

Come back, come back, O Shulammite! Come back, come back, that we may gaze upon you. Why do you look at the Shulammite, as on the dance of Mahanaim?