< Song of Solomon 6 >
1 Whither hath thy beloved gone, O fair among women? Whither hath thy beloved turned, And we seek him with thee?
So where has your love gone, most beautiful of women? Which direction did he go so we can look for him with you?
2 My beloved went down to his garden, To the beds of the spice, To delight himself in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
My love has gone down to his garden, to his flowerbeds of spices. He enjoys feeding in the gardens and plucks lilies.
3 I [am] my beloved's, and my beloved [is] mine, Who is delighting himself among the lilies.
I am my love's, and my love is mine! He is the one who feeds among the lilies.
4 Fair [art] thou, my friend, as Tirzah, Comely as Jerusalem, Awe-inspiring as bannered hosts.
You are beautiful, my darling, as pretty as Tirzah, as lovely as Jerusalem—you look stunning!
5 Turn round thine eyes from before me, Because they have made me proud. Thy hair [is] as a row of the goats, That have shone from Gilead,
Please turn your eyes away from me—they're driving me insane! Your hair flows down like a flock of goats descending Mount Gilead.
6 Thy teeth as a row of the lambs, That have come up from the washing, Because all of them are forming twins, And a bereaved one is not among them.
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!
7 As the work of the pomegranate [is] thy temple behind thy veil.
Your cheeks are the blushing color of pomegranates behind your veil.
8 Sixty are queens, and eighty concubines, And virgins without number.
There may be sixty queens and eighty concubines, and countless more women,
9 One is my dove, my perfect one, One she [is] of her mother, The choice one she [is] of her that bare her, Daughters saw, and pronounce her happy, Queens and concubines, and they praise her.
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.
10 'Who [is] this that is looking forth as morning, Fair as the moon — clear as the sun, Awe-inspiring as bannered hosts?'
Who is this who is like the dawn shining down from above, beautiful as the moon, bright as the shining sun? You look stunning!
11 Unto a garden of nuts I went down, To look on the buds of the valley, To see whither the vine had flourished, The pomegranates had blossomed —
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.
12 I knew not my soul, It made me — chariots of my people Nadib.
I was so excited it was like I was riding in a royal chariot.
13 Return, return, O Shulammith! Return, return, and we look upon thee. What do ye see in Shulammith?
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?