Song Of Solomon 6

MSG — The Message Bible (MSG)

NLT — New Living Translation Bible (NLT)

Verse 1

So where has this love of yours gone,
fair one?
Where on earth can he be?
Can we help you look for him?

The Woman

Where has your lover gone,
O woman of rare beauty?
Which way did he turn
so we can help you find him?

Young Woman

Verse 2

Never mind. My lover is already on his way to his garden,
to browse among the flowers, touching the colors and forms.
I am my lover’s and my lover is mine.
He caresses the sweet-smelling flowers.

The Man

My lover has gone down to his garden,
to his spice beds,
to browse in the gardens
and gather the lilies.

Verse 3

— not in MSG

I am my lover’s, and my lover is mine.
He browses among the lilies.

Young Man

Verse 4

Dear, dear friend and lover,
    you’re as beautiful as Tirzah, city of delights,
Lovely as Jerusalem, city of dreams,
    the ravishing visions of my ecstasy.
Your beauty is too much for me—I’m in over my head.
    I’m not used to this! I can’t take it in.
Your hair flows and shimmers
    like a flock of goats in the distance
    streaming down a hillside in the sunshine.
Your smile is generous and full—
    expressive and strong and clean.
Your veiled cheeks
    are soft and radiant.

You are beautiful, my darling,
like the lovely city of Tirzah.
Yes, as beautiful as Jerusalem,
as majestic as an army with billowing banners.

Verse 5

— not in MSG

Turn your eyes away,
for they overpower me.
Your hair falls in waves,
like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.

Verse 6

— not in MSG

Your teeth are as white as sheep
that are freshly washed.
Your smile is flawless,
each tooth matched with its twin.^[a]

Verse 7

— not in MSG

Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates
behind your veil.

Verse 8

There’s no one like her on earth,
    never has been, never will be.
She’s a woman beyond compare.
    My dove is perfection,
Pure and innocent as the day she was born,
    and cradled in joy by her mother.
Everyone who came by to see her
    exclaimed and admired her—
All the fathers and mothers, the neighbors and friends,
    blessed and praised her:

Even among sixty queens
and eighty concubines
and countless young women,

Verse 9

— not in MSG

I would still choose my dove, my perfect one—
    the favorite of her mother,
    dearly loved by the one who bore her.
The young women see her and praise her;
    even queens and royal concubines sing her praises:

Verse 10

“Has anyone ever seen anything like this—
dawn-fresh, moon-lovely, sun-radiant,
ravishing as the night sky with its galaxies of stars?”

“Who is this, arising like the dawn,
as fair as the moon,
as bright as the sun,
as majestic as an army with billowing banners?”

Young Woman

Verse 11

One day I went strolling through the orchard,
    looking for signs of spring,
Looking for buds about to burst into flower,
    anticipating readiness, ripeness.
Before I knew it my heart was raptured,
    carried away by lofty thoughts!

I went down to the grove of walnut trees
and out to the valley to see the new spring growth,
to see whether the grapevines had budded
or the pomegranates were in bloom.

Verse 12

— not in MSG

Before I realized it,
my strong desires had taken me to the chariot of a noble man.^[b]

Young Women of Jerusalem

Verse 13

Dance, dance, dear Shulammite, Angel-Princess!
Dance, and we’ll feast our eyes on your grace!
Everyone wants to see the Shulammite dance
her victory dances of love and peace.

^[c]Return, return to us, O maid of Shulam.
Come back, come back, that we may see you again.

Young Man

Why do you stare at this young woman of Shulam,
as she moves so gracefully between two lines of dancers?^[d]