Song of Solomon 6–7

Chapter 6

Young Women of Jerusalem

¹Where has your lover gone,

O woman of rare beauty?

Which way did he turn

so we can help you find him?

Young Woman

²My lover has gone down to his garden,

to his spice beds,

to browse in the gardens

and gather the lilies.

³I am my lover’s, and my lover is mine.

He browses among the lilies.

Young Man

⁴You are beautiful, my darling,

like the lovely city of Tirzah.

Yes, as beautiful as Jerusalem,

as majestic as an army with billowing banners.

⁵Turn your eyes away,

for they overpower me.

Your hair falls in waves,

like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.

⁶Your teeth are as white as sheep

that are freshly washed.

Your smile is flawless,

each tooth matched with its twin.

⁷Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates

behind your veil.

⁸Even among sixty queens

and eighty concubines

and countless young women,

⁹I 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:

¹⁰“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

¹¹I 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.

¹²Before I realized it,

my strong desires had taken me to the chariot of a noble man.

Young Women of Jerusalem

¹³ 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?

Chapter 7

¹ How beautiful are your sandaled feet,

O queenly maiden.

Your rounded thighs are like jewels,

the work of a skilled craftsman.

²Your navel is perfectly formed

like a goblet filled with mixed wine.

Between your thighs lies a mound of wheat

bordered with lilies.

³Your breasts are like two fawns,

twin fawns of a gazelle.

⁴Your neck is as beautiful as an ivory tower.

Your eyes are like the sparkling pools in Heshbon

by the gate of Bath-rabbim.

Your nose is as fine as the tower of Lebanon

overlooking Damascus.

⁵Your head is as majestic as Mount Carmel,

and the sheen of your hair radiates royalty.

The king is held captive by its tresses.

⁶Oh, how beautiful you are!

How pleasing, my love, how full of delights!

⁷You are slender like a palm tree,

and your breasts are like its clusters of fruit.

⁸I said, “I will climb the palm tree

and take hold of its fruit.”

May your breasts be like grape clusters,

and the fragrance of your breath like apples.

⁹May your kisses be as exciting as the best wine—

Young Woman

Yes, wine that goes down smoothly for my lover,

flowing gently over lips and teeth.

¹⁰I am my lover’s,

and he claims me as his own.

¹¹Come, my love, let us go out to the fields

and spend the night among the wildflowers.

¹²Let us get up early and go to the vineyards

to see if the grapevines have budded,

if the blossoms have opened,

and if the pomegranates have bloomed.

There I will give you my love.

¹³There the mandrakes give off their fragrance,

and the finest fruits are at our door,

new delights as well as old,

which I have saved for you, my lover.