16 Preserve me, O God, for in you I ^(B)take refuge.
² I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
    ^(C)I have no good apart from you.”

⁹ What is your beloved more than another beloved,
    O ^(A)most beautiful among women?
What is your beloved more than another beloved,
    that you thus ^(B)adjure us?

¹⁰ My beloved is radiant and ^(C)ruddy,
    ^(D)distinguished among ten thousand.
¹¹ His head is the finest gold;
    ^(E)his locks are wavy,
    black as a raven.
¹² His ^(F)eyes are like doves
    beside streams of water,
bathed in milk,
    sitting beside a full pool.^[a]
13 His ^(G)cheeks are like ^(H)beds of spices,
    mounds of sweet-smelling herbs.
His lips are ^(I)lilies,
    dripping ^(J)liquid myrrh.
¹⁴ His arms are rods of gold,
    set with ^(K)jewels.
His body is polished ivory,^[b]
    bedecked with ^(L)sapphires.^[c]
15 His legs are alabaster columns,
    set on bases of gold.
His appearance is like ^(M)Lebanon,
    choice as the cedars.
¹⁶ His ^(N)mouth^[d] is most sweet,
    and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
    O ^(O)daughters of Jerusalem.

6 Where has your beloved gone,
    O ^(P)most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
    that we may seek him with you?

² My beloved has gone down to his ^(Q)garden
    to ^(R)the beds of spices,
to ^(S)graze^[e] in the gardens
    and to gather ^(T)lilies.
^3 (U)I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine;
    he grazes among the lilies.