The Maidens to the Beloved:
6:1 Where has your beloved gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned?
Tell us, 1 that we may seek him with you. 2
The Beloved to the Maidens:
6:2 My beloved has gone down to his garden, 3
to the flowerbeds of balsam spices, 4
to graze 5 in the gardens,
and to gather lilies. 6
The Beloved about Her Lover:
6:3 I am my lover’s 7 and my lover is mine; 8
he grazes among the lilies.
The Lover to His Beloved:
6:4 My darling, you are as beautiful as Tirzah, 9
as lovely as Jerusalem, 10
as awe-inspiring 11 as bannered armies!
6:5 Turn your eyes away from me –
they overwhelm 12 me!
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from Mount Gilead.
6:6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
coming up from the washing;
each has its twin;
not one of them is missing.
6:7 Like a slice of pomegranate
is your forehead 13 behind your veil.
6:8 There may be sixty 14 queens,
and eighty concubines,
and young women 15 without number.
6:9 But she is unique! 16
My dove, my perfect one!
She is the special daughter 17 of her mother,
she is the favorite 18 of the one who bore her.
The maidens 19 saw her and complimented her; 20
the queens and concubines praised her: