Song Of Songs 6

NIV — New International Version Bible (NIV)

MSG — The Message Bible (MSG)

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

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

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

He

— not in MSG

Verse 4

You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,
as lovely as Jerusalem,
as majestic as troops 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 from me;
they overwhelm me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from Gilead.

— not in MSG

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.

— not in MSG

Verse 7

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

— not in MSG

Verse 8

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

— not in MSG

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

“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 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.

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

Friends

— not in MSG

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]

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.