Song of Solomon 6:1–12

Friends

6Where has your beloved^j gone,

most beautiful of women?^k

Which way did your beloved turn,

that we may look for him with you?

She

²My beloved has gone^l down to his garden,^m

to the beds of spices,ⁿ

to browse in the gardens

and to gather lilies.

³I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;^o

he browses among the lilies.^p

He

⁴You are as beautiful as Tirzah,^q my darling,

as lovely as Jerusalem,^r

as majestic as troops with banners.^s

⁵Turn your eyes from me;

they overwhelm me.

Your hair is like a flock of goats

descending from Gilead.^t

⁶Your teeth are like a flock of sheep

coming up from the washing.

Each has its twin,

not one of them is missing.^u

⁷Your temples behind your veil^v

are like the halves of a pomegranate.^w

⁸Sixty queens^x there may be,

and eighty concubines,^y

and virgins beyond number;

⁹but my dove,^z my perfect one,^a is unique,

the only daughter of her mother,

the favorite of the one who bore her.^b

The young women saw her and called her blessed;

the queens and concubines praised her.

Friends

¹⁰Who is this that appears like the dawn,

fair as the moon, bright as the sun,

majestic as the stars in procession?

He

¹¹I 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.^c

¹²Before I realized it,

my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people.^a