Song of Solomon 6-8

New American Standard Bible

6 “^(A)Where has your beloved gone,
O ^(B)most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
That we may seek him with you?”

² “My beloved has gone down to his ^(C)garden,
To the ^(D)beds of balsam,
To ^(E)pasture his flock in the gardens
And gather ^(F)lilies.
^3 (G)I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,
He who ^(H)pastures his flock among the lilies.”

⁴ “^(I)You are as beautiful as ^(J)Tirzah, my darling,
As ^(K)lovely as ^(L)Jerusalem,
As ^(M)awesome as an army with banners.
⁵ Turn your eyes away from me,
For they have confused me;
^(N)Your hair is like a flock of goats
That have descended from Gilead.
^6 (O)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 (P)Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate
Behind your veil.
⁸ There are sixty ^(Q)queens and eighty concubines,
And ^[a](R)young women without number;
⁹ But ^(S)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](T)young women saw her and called her ^[e]blessed,
The ^(U)queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,

¹³ “^[h]Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
Come back, come back, so that we may look at you!”

“Why should you look at the Shulammite,
As at the ^(AA)dance of ^[i](AB)the two armies?

7 “^[j]How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
^[k](AC)Prince’s daughter!
The curves of your hips are like jewels,
The work of the hands of an artist.
² Your navel is like a round goblet
That never lacks mixed wine;
Your belly is like a heap of wheat,
^[l]Surrounded with lilies.
³ Your ^(AD)two breasts are like two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle.
⁴ Your ^(AE)neck is like a tower of ivory,
Your eyes like the pools in ^(AF)Heshbon
By the gate of Bath-rabbim;
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon,
Which looks toward Damascus.
⁵ Your head ^[m]crowns you like ^(AG)Carmel,
And the flowing hair of your head is like purple threads;
The king is captivated by your tresses.
⁶ How ^(AH)beautiful and how delightful you are,
^[n]My love, with all your delights!
^7 [o]Your stature is like a palm tree,
And your breasts are like its clusters.
⁸ I said, ‘I will climb the palm tree,
I will grasp its fruit stalks.’
Oh, may your breasts be like clusters of the vine,
And the fragrance of your ^[p]breath like ^(AI)apples,
⁹ And your ^[q](AJ)mouth like the best wine!”

“It ^(AK)goes down smoothly for my beloved,
Flowing gently through the lips of those who are asleep.

¹⁰ “^(AL)I am my beloved’s,
And his ^(AM)desire is for me.
¹¹ Come, my beloved, let’s go out to the ^[r]country,
Let’s spend the night in the villages.
¹² Let’s rise early and go to the vineyards;
Let’s ^(AN)see whether the vine has grown
And its buds have opened,
And whether the pomegranates have bloomed.
There I will give you my love.
¹³ The ^(AO)mandrakes have given forth fragrance;
And over our doors are all ^(AP)delicious fruits,
New as well as old,
Which I have saved for you, my beloved.

8 “Oh that you were like a brother to me
Who nursed at my mother’s breasts.
If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you;
No one would despise me, either.
² I would lead you and ^(AQ)bring you
Into the house of my mother, who used to instruct me;
I would give you spiced wine to drink from the juice of my pomegranates.
³ Let ^(AR)his left hand be under my head,
And his right hand embrace me.”

⁴ “^(AS)Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem:
^[s]Do not disturb or awaken my love
Until she pleases.”

⁵ “^(AT)Who is this coming up from the wilderness,
Leaning on her beloved?”

“Beneath the ^(AU)apple tree I awakened you;
There your mother went into labor with you,
There she was in labor and gave birth to you.
⁶ Put me like a seal over your heart,
Like a ^(AV)seal on your arm.
For love is as strong as death,
^[t](AW)Jealousy is as severe as Sheol;
Its flames are flames of fire,
^[u]The flame of the Lord.
⁷ Many waters cannot quench love,
Nor will rivers flood over it;
^(AX)If a man were to give all the riches of his house for love,
It would be utterly despised.”

⁸ “We have a little sister,
And she ^(AY)has no breasts;
What shall we do for our sister
On the day when she is spoken for?
⁹ If she is a wall,
We will build on her a battlement of silver;
But if she is a door,
We will barricade her with ^(AZ)planks of cedar.”

¹⁰ “I was a wall, and ^(BA)my breasts were like towers;
Then I became in his eyes as one who finds peace.
¹¹ Solomon had a ^(BB)vineyard at Baal-hamon;
He ^(BC)entrusted the vineyard to ^(BD)caretakers.
Each one was to bring a ^(BE)thousand shekels of silver for its ^(BF)fruit.
¹² My very own vineyard is ^[v]at my disposal;
The thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,
And two hundred are for those who take care of its fruit.”

¹³ “You who sit in the gardens:
My ^(BG)companions are listening for your voice—
^(BH)Let me hear it!”

¹⁴ “^[w]Hurry, my beloved,
And be ^(BI)like a gazelle or a young ^[x]stag
On the ^(BJ)mountains of balsam trees!”