Young Women

1Where has your love gone,

most beautiful of women?

Which way has heA turned?

We will seek him with you.

Woman

2My love has gone down to his garden,a

to beds of spice,b

to feed in the gardensc

and gather lilies.d

3I am my love’s and my love is mine;a

he feeds among the lilies.

Man

4You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,

lovely as Jerusalem,

awe-inspiring as an army with banners.a

5Turn your eyes away from me,

for they captivate me.a

Your hair is like a flock of goats

streaming down from Gilead.b

6Your teeth are like a flock of ewes

coming up from washing,

each one having a twin,

and not one missing.a a

7Behind your veil,a

your browA is like a slice of pomegranate.

8There are sixty queens

and eighty concubinesa

and young womenA without number.

9But my dove,a my virtuous one, is unique;b

she is the favorite of her mother,

perfect to the one who gave her birth.

Women see her and declare her fortunate;c

queens and concubines also, and they sing her praises:

10Who is thisa who shines like the dawn,

as beautiful as the moon,

bright as the sun,

awe-inspiring as an army with banners?b

Woman

11I came down to the walnut grove

to see the blossoms of the valley,

to see if the vines were buddinga

and the pomegranates blooming.

12I didn’t know what was happening to me.

I felt like I was

in a chariot with a nobleman.A

Young Women

13Come back, come back, Shulammite!A

Come back, come back, that we may look at you!

Man

How you gaze at the Shulammite,

as you look at the dancea of the two camps!B b