The Bible in Basic English BBE
New International Version NIV
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?
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Where has your beloved gone, most beautiful of women? Which way did your beloved turn, that we may look for him with you?
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.
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My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to browse in the gardens and to gather lilies.
3 I am for my loved one, and my loved one is for me; he takes food among the lilies.
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I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine; he browses 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.
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You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling, as lovely as Jerusalem, as majestic as troops with banners.
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.
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Turn your eyes from me; they overwhelm me. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from 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.
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Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing. Each has its twin, not one of them is missing.
7 Like pomegranate fruit are the sides of your head under your veil.
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Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate.
8 There are sixty queens, and eighty servant-wives, and young girls without number.
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Sixty queens there may be, and eighty concubines, and virgins beyond 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.
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but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the only daughter of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. The young women saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines praised her.
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?
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Who is this that appears like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as the stars in procession?
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.
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I 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.
12 Before I was conscious of it, ...
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Before I realized it, my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people.
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.
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Come back, come back, O Shulammite; come back, come back, that we may gaze on you! Why would you gaze on the Shulammite as on the dance of Mahanaim?
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.