The Young Women

1Where did your beloved go,

most beautiful of women?

Where did your beloved turn,

so we may look for him with you?

The Loved One

2My beloved has gone down to his garden,

to the beds of spices,

to graze his flocka in the gardens

and gather lilies.

3I belong to my beloved, and my beloved belongs to me.

He is the one who grazes his flockb among the lilies.

The Lover

4You are beautiful, my darling, like Tirzah,c

lovely like Jerusalem,

as awesome as an army with banners.

5Turn your eyes from me,

for they excite me.d

Your hair is like a flock of goats

coming down from Mt. Gilead.

6Your teeth are like a flock of ewes

coming up from being washed.e

All of them are twins,

not one has lostf her young.

7Your templeg behind your veil

is like a slice of pomegranate.

8There are sixty queens and eighty mistresses,h

and too many young women to count,

9but my dove, my perfect one, is unique.

She’s unique to her mother,

she’s pure to the one who gave birth to her.

Young women see her and call her blessed,

queens and mistresses praise her.

The Young Women

10Who is this who appears like the dawn,

beautiful as the moon,

bright as the sun,

awesome as an army with banners?

The Loved One

11I went down to the walnut orchard,

to look at the green sprouts in the valley,

to see whether the vine had budded,

whether the pomegranates had blossomed.

12Before I knew it,i I imagined myself

among the chariots of my noble people.j

The Young Women

13k Return, return, Shulammite,

return, return, so we may look at you!

The Lover

Why should you look at the Shulammite,l

like you watchm the dance of the two camps?n