The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 Where is your loved one gone, O most fair among women? Where is your loved one turned away, that we may go looking for him with you?
1
Most beautiful of women, where has your lover gone? Tell us which way your lover went, so that we can help you find him.
2 My loved one is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to take food in the gardens, and to get lilies.
2
My lover has gone to his garden, where the balsam trees grow. He is feeding his flock in the garden and gathering lilies.
3 I am for my loved one, and my loved one is for me; he takes food among the lilies.
3
My lover is mine, and I am his; he feeds his flock among the lilies.
4 You are beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, as fair as Jerusalem; you are to be feared like an army with flags.
4
My love, you are as beautiful as Jerusalem, as lovely as the city of Tirzah, as breathtaking as these great cities.
5 Let your eyes be turned away from me; see, they have overcome me; your hair is as a flock of goats which take their rest on the side of Gilead.
5
Turn your eyes away from me; they are holding me captive. Your hair dances like a flock of goats bounding down the hills of Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep which come up from the washing; every one has two lambs, and there is not one without young.
6
Your teeth are as white as a flock of sheep that have just been washed. Not one of them is missing; they are all perfectly matched.
7 Like pomegranate fruit are the sides of your head under your veil.
7
Your cheeks glow behind your veil.
8 There are sixty queens, and eighty servant-wives, and young girls without number.
8
Let the king have sixty queens, eighty concubines, young women without number!
9 My dove, my very beautiful one, is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the dearest one of her who gave her birth. The daughters saw her, and gave her a blessing; yes, the queens and the servant-wives, and they gave her praises.
9
But I love only one, and she is as lovely as a dove. She is her mother's only daughter, her mother's favorite child. All women look at her and praise her; queens and concubines sing her praises.
10 Who is she, looking down as the morning light, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, who is to be feared like an army with flags?
10
Who is this whose glance is like the dawn? She is beautiful and bright, as dazzling as the sun or the moon.
11 I went down into the garden of nuts to see the green plants of the valley, and to see if the vine was in bud, and the pomegranate-trees were in flower.
11
I have come down among the almond trees to see the young plants in the valley, to see the new leaves on the vines and the blossoms on the pomegranate trees.
12 Before I was conscious of it, ...
12
I am trembling; you have made me as eager for love as a chariot driver is for battle.
13 Come back, come back, O Shulammite; come back, come back, so that our eyes may see you. What will you see in the Shulammite? A sword-dance.
13
Dance, dance, girl of Shulam. Let us watch you as you dance. Why do you want to watch me as I dance between the rows of onlookers?
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.