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The Young Woman’s Beauty Extolled

How beautiful you are, my love,
    how very beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
    behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats,
    moving down the slopes of Gilead.(A)
Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
    that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
    and not one among them is bereaved.(B)
Your lips are like a crimson thread,
    and your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
    behind your veil.(C)
Your neck is like the tower of David,
    built in courses;
on it hang a thousand bucklers,
    all of them shields of warriors.(D)
Your two breasts are like two fawns,
    twins of a gazelle,
    that feed among the lilies.(E)
Until the day breathes
    and the shadows flee,
I will hasten to the mountain of myrrh
    and the hill of frankincense.(F)
You are altogether beautiful, my love;
    there is no flaw in you.(G)

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Groom’s Praise of His Bride

Oh my![a] You are beautiful, my beloved!
    Oh my![b] You are beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
    from behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
    that move down from the mountains of Gilead.
Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
    that came up from the washing,
all of them bearing twins,
    and there is none bereaved among them.
Your lips are like a thread of crimson,
    and your mouth is lovely.
Your temple is like pomegranate
    from behind your veil.
Your neck is like the tower of David,
    built in courses;
a thousand ornaments[c] are hung on it,
    all the shields of the warriors.
Your two breasts are like two fawns,
    twins of a gazelle that feed among the lilies.
Until the day breathes and the shadows flee,
    I will go to the mountain of the myrrh,
        to the hill of the frankincense.
You are completely beautiful, my beloved!
    You are flawless![d]

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Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 4:1 Literally “Behold!” Or “Look!”
  2. Song of Solomon 4:1 Literally “Behold!” Or “Look!”
  3. Song of Solomon 4:4 Literally “shields”
  4. Song of Solomon 4:7 Literally “There is no flaw in you!”