Mutual Delight in Each Other
The Chorus
O most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
That we may seek him with you?”
The Bride
2 “My beloved has gone down to his garden,
To the beds of balsam,
To pasture his flock in the gardens
And gather lilies.
3 I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,
He who pastures his flock among the lilies.”
The Groom
4 “You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,
As lovely as Jerusalem,
As awesome as an army with banners.
5 Turn your eyes away from me,
For they have confused me;
Your hair is like a flock of goats
That have descended from Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
That have come up from their watering place,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has lost her young.
7 Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate
Behind your veil.
8 There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,
And [a]young women without number;
9 But my dove, my perfect one, is [b]unique:
She is her mother’s [c]only daughter;
She is the pure child of the one who gave birth to her.
The [d]young women saw her and called her [e]blessed,
The queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,
As beautiful as the full moon,
As pure as the sun,
As awesome as an army with banners?’
11 I went down to the orchard of nut trees
To see the plants of the valley,
To see whether the vine had grown
Or the pomegranates had bloomed.
12 [f]Before I was aware, my soul set me
Over the chariots of [g]my noble people.”
The Chorus
13 “[h]Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
Come back, come back, so that we may look at you!”
The Groom
“Why should you look at the Shulammite,
As at the dance of [i]the two armies?
Footnotes
- Song of Solomon 6:8 Or virgins
- Song of Solomon 6:9 Lit one
- Song of Solomon 6:9 Lit one
- Song of Solomon 6:9 Lit daughters
- Song of Solomon 6:9 Or happy
- Song of Solomon 6:12 Lit I was not aware, my soul
- Song of Solomon 6:12 Or Ammi-nadib
- Song of Solomon 6:13 Ch 7:1 in Heb
- Song of Solomon 6:13 Or Mahanaim