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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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He

How beautiful you are, my darling!
    Oh, how beautiful!
    Your eyes behind your veil(A) are doves.(B)
Your hair is like a flock of goats
    descending from the hills of Gilead.(C)
Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn,
    coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin;
    not one of them is alone.(D)
Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
    your mouth(E) is lovely.(F)
Your temples behind your veil
    are like the halves of a pomegranate.(G)
Your neck is like the tower(H) of David,
    built with courses of stone[a];
on it hang a thousand shields,(I)
    all of them shields of warriors.
Your breasts(J) are like two fawns,
    like twin fawns of a gazelle(K)
    that browse among the lilies.(L)
Until the day breaks
    and the shadows flee,(M)
I will go to the mountain of myrrh(N)
    and to the hill of incense.
You are altogether beautiful,(O) my darling;
    there is no flaw(P) in you.

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Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 4:4 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.