Song of Solomon 6-7

English Standard Version

Others

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

Together in the Garden of Love

She

²My beloved has gone down to his ^(B)garden
    to ^(C)the beds of spices,
to ^(D)graze^[a] in the gardens
    and to gather ^(E)lilies.
³^(F)I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine;
    he grazes among the lilies.

Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other

He

⁴You are beautiful as ^(G)Tirzah, ^(H)my love,
    ^(I)lovely as ^(J)Jerusalem,
    ^(K)awesome as an army with banners.
⁵Turn away your eyes from me,
    for they overwhelm me—
^(L)Your hair is like a flock of goats
    leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
⁶^(M)Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
    that have come up from the washing;
all of them bear twins;
    not one among them has lost its young.
⁷^(N)Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
    behind your veil.
⁸There are ^(O)sixty ^(P)queens and eighty ^(Q)concubines,
    and ^(R)virgins without number.
⁹My ^(S)dove, my ^(T)perfect one, is the only one,
    the only one of her mother,
    pure to ^(U)her who bore her.
^(V)The young women saw her and called her blessed;
    ^(W)the queens and ^(X)concubines also, and they praised her.

¹⁰^(Y)“Who is this who looks down like the dawn,
beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,
^(Z)awesome as an army with banners?”

She

¹¹I went down to the nut orchard
    to look at ^(AA)the blossoms of the valley,
^(AB)to see whether the vines had budded,
    whether the pomegranates were in bloom.
¹²^(AC)Before I was aware, my desire set me
    among ^(AD)the chariots of my kinsman, a prince.^[b]

Others

¹³^[c] Return, return, O ^(AE)Shulammite,
return, return, that we may look upon you.

He

Why should you look upon ^(AF)the Shulammite,
as upon ^(AG)a dance before ^(AH)two armies?^[d]

7 How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
    O ^(AI)noble daughter!
Your rounded thighs are like ^(AJ)jewels,
    the work of ^(AK)a master hand.
²Your navel is a rounded bowl
    that never lacks mixed wine.
Your belly is a heap of wheat,
    encircled with ^(AL)lilies.
³^(AM)Your two breasts are like two fawns,
    twins of a gazelle.
⁴Your ^(AN)neck is like an ivory tower.
Your ^(AO)eyes are pools in ^(AP)Heshbon,
    by the gate of Bath-rabbim.
Your nose is like a tower of ^(AQ)Lebanon,
    which looks toward ^(AR)Damascus.
⁵Your head crowns you like ^(AS)Carmel,
    and your ^(AT)flowing locks are like purple;
    a king is held captive in the tresses.

⁶^(AU)How beautiful and ^(AV)pleasant you are,
    O loved one, with all your delights!^[e]
⁷Your stature is like a palm tree,
    and your breasts are like its clusters.
⁸I say I will climb the palm tree
    and lay hold of its fruit.
Oh may your breasts be like ^(AW)clusters of the vine,
    and the scent of your breath like apples,
⁹and your ^(AX)mouth^[f] like the best wine.

She

It goes down smoothly for my beloved,
gliding over lips and teeth.^[g]

¹⁰^(AY)I am my beloved's,
^(AZ)and his desire is for me.

The Bride Gives Her Love

¹¹^(BA)Come, my beloved,
    let us go out into the fields
    and lodge in the villages;^[h]
¹²let us go out early to the vineyards
    ^(BB)and see whether the vines have budded,
whether ^(BC)the grape blossoms have opened
    and the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my love.
¹³^(BD)The mandrakes give forth fragrance,
    and beside our doors are all choice fruits,
^(BE)new as well as old,
    which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.

Footnotes

Song of Solomon 6:2 Or to pasture his flock; also verse 3
Song of Solomon 6:12 Or chariots of Ammi-Nadib
Song of Solomon 6:13 Ch 7:1 in Hebrew
Song of Solomon 6:13 Or dance of Mahanaim
Song of Solomon 7:6 Or among delights
Song of Solomon 7:9 Hebrew palate
Song of Solomon 7:9 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew causing the lips of sleepers to speak, or gliding over the lips of those who sleep
Song of Solomon 7:11 Or among the henna plants