Song Of Songs 6

NIV — New International Version Bible (NIV)

AMP — Amplified Bible (AMP)

Verse 1

Where has your beloved gone,
most beautiful of women?
Which way did your beloved turn,
that we may look for him with you?

She

“Where has your beloved gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Where is your beloved hiding himself,
That we may seek him with you?”

(The Shulammite Bride)

Verse 2

My beloved has gone down to his garden,
to the beds of spices,
to browse in the gardens
and to gather lilies.

“My beloved has gone down to his garden,
To the beds of balsam,
To feed his flock in the gardens
And gather lilies.

Verse 3

I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;
he browses among the lilies.

He

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

(The Bridegroom)

Verse 4

You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,
as lovely as Jerusalem,
as majestic as troops with banners.

“You are as beautiful as ^[a]Tirzah, my darling,
As lovely as Jerusalem,
As majestic as an army with banners!

Verse 5

Turn your eyes from me;
they overwhelm me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from Gilead.

“Turn your [flashing] eyes away from me,
For they have confused and overcome me;
Your hair is like [the shimmering black fleece of] a flock of [Arabian] goats
That have descended from Mount Gilead.

Verse 6

Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin,
not one of them is missing.

“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 lost her young.

Verse 7

Your temples behind your veil
are like the halves of a pomegranate.

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

Verse 8

Sixty queens there may be,
and eighty concubines,
and virgins beyond number;

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

Verse 9

but my dove, my perfect one, is unique,
    the only daughter of her mother,
    the favorite of the one who bore her.
The young women saw her and called her blessed;
    the queens and concubines praised her.

Friends

But my dove, my perfect one, stands alone [above them all];
She is her mother’s only daughter;
She is the pure child of the one who bore her.
The maidens saw her and called her blessed and happy,
The queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,

Verse 10

Who is this that appears like the dawn,
fair as the moon, bright as the sun,
majestic as the stars in procession?

He

‘Who is this that looks down like the dawn,
Fair and beautiful as the full moon,
Clear and pure as the sun,
As majestic as an army with banners?’

Verse 11

I went down to the grove of nut trees
to look at the new growth in the valley,
to see if the vines had budded
or the pomegranates were in bloom.

“I went down to the orchard of nut trees
To see the flowers of the valley,
To see whether the grapevine had budded
And the pomegranates were in flower.

Verse 12

Before I realized it,
my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people.^[a]

Friends

“Before I was aware [of what was happening], my desire had brought me
Into the area of the princes of my people [the king’s retinue].”

(The Chorus)

Verse 13

Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
come back, come back, that we may gaze on you!

He

Why would you gaze on the Shulammite
as on the dance of Mahanaim?^[b]

“Return, return, O Shulammite;
Return, return, that we may gaze at you.”