Song of Songs 6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
6 Where has your beloved gone,
O fairest among women?
Which way has your beloved turned
that we may seek him with you?(A)
2 My beloved has gone down to his garden,
to the beds of spices,
to pasture his flock in the gardens
and to gather lilies.(B)
3 I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine;
he pastures his flock among the lilies.(C)
The Young Woman’s Matchless Beauty
4 You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love,
comely as Jerusalem,
terrible as an army with banners.(D)
5 Turn away your eyes from me,
for they overwhelm me!
Your hair is like a flock of goats,
moving down the slopes of Gilead.(E)
6 Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
that have come up from the washing;
all of them bear twins,
and not one among them is bereaved.(F)
7 Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
behind your veil.(G)
8 There are sixty queens and eighty concubines
and maidens without number.(H)
9 My dove, my perfect one, is the only one,
the darling of her mother,
flawless to her who bore her.
The maidens saw her and called her happy;
the queens and concubines praised her.(I)
10 “Who is this that looks forth like the dawn,
fair as the moon, bright as the sun,
terrible as an army with banners?”(J)
11 I went down to the nut orchard
to look at the blossoms of the valley,
to see whether the vines had budded,
whether the pomegranates were in bloom.(K)
12 Before I was aware, my desire set me
in a chariot beside my prince.[a]
13 [b]Return, return, O Shulammite!
Return, return, that we may look upon you.
Song of Solomon 6
Common English Bible
[Daughters of Jerusalem]
6 Which way did your lover go,
you who are the most beautiful of women?
Which way did your lover turn,
that we may look for him along with you?
[Woman]
2 My lover has gone down to his garden,
to the fragrant plantings,
to graze in the gardens,
to gather the lilies.
3 I belong to my lover and my lover belongs to me—
the one grazing among the lilies.
An overwhelming sight
[Man]
4 You are as beautiful, my dearest, as Tirzah,
as lovely as Jerusalem,
formidable as those lofty sights.
5 Turn your eyes away from me,
for they overwhelm me!
Your hair is like a flock of goats
as they stream down from Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
as they come up from the washing pool—
all of them perfectly matched,
not one of them lacks its twin.
7 Like a slice of pomegranate is the curve of your face
behind the veil of your hair.
8 There may be sixty queens
and eighty secondary wives,
young women beyond counting,
9 but my dove, my perfect one, is one of a kind.
To her mother she’s the only one,
radiant to the one who bore her.
Young women see her and declare her fortunate;
queens and secondary wives praise her.
10 Who is this, gazing down like the morning star,
beautiful as the full moon,
radiant as the sun,
formidable as those lofty sights?
Transported
[Man]
11 To the nut grove I went down
to look upon the fresh growth in the valley,
to see whether the vine was in flower,
whether the pomegranates had bloomed.
12 I hardly knew myself;
she had set me in an official’s chariot![a]
Graceful dancer
[Man]
13 [b] Come back, come back, Shulammite![c]
Come back, come back, so we may admire you.
How you all admire the Shulammite
as she whirls between two circles of dancers!
Footnotes
- Song of Solomon 6:12 Or I hardly knew what happened; my passion set me in an official's chariot! LXX, Vulg Aminadab's chariots; Heb uncertain
- Song of Solomon 6:13 7:1 in Heb
- Song of Solomon 6:13 A name or title for the woman
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible