Song Of Solomon 6

NASB — New American Standard Bible (NASB)

MSG — The Message Bible (MSG)

Verse 1

“^[a]Where has your beloved gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
That we may seek him with you?”

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

Verse 2

“^[b]My beloved has gone down to his garden,
To the beds of balsam,
To pasture his flock in the gardens
And gather lilies.

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

Verse 3

“I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,
He who pastures his flock among the lilies.”

— not in MSG

Verse 4

“^[c]You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,
As lovely as Jerusalem,
As awesome as ^[d]an army with banners.

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.

Verse 5

“Turn your eyes away from me,
For they have confused me;
Your hair is like a flock of goats
That have descended from Gilead.

— not in MSG

Verse 6

“Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
Which have come up from their washing,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has ^[e]lost her young.

— not in MSG

Verse 7

“Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate
Behind your veil.

— not in MSG

Verse 8

“There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,
And ^[f]maidens without number;

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:

Verse 9

But my dove, my perfect one, is ^[g]unique:
She is her mother’s ^[h]only daughter;
She is the pure child of the one who bore her.
The ^[i]maidens saw her and called her blessed,
The queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,

— not in MSG

Verse 10

‘Who is this that ^[j]grows like the dawn,
As beautiful as the full moon,
As pure as the sun,
As awesome as ^[k]an army with banners?’

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

Verse 11

“I went down to the orchard of nut trees
To see the blossoms of the valley,
To see whether the vine had budded
Or the pomegranates had bloomed.

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!

Verse 12

“Before I was aware, my soul set me
Over the chariots of ^[l]my noble people.”

— not in MSG

Verse 13

“^[m]^[n]Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
Come back, come back, that we may gaze at you!”

“^[o]Why should you gaze at the Shulammite,
As at the dance of ^[p]the two companies?

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.